"The identity verification process is currently delayed. Please have your ID and pass ready before entering the checkpoint."
Gates 3-2 in the southwest of the Agrizendro territory. The location of the portal to Celestia, situated in the central airspace of Raina Logia.
It was already past midnight according to the local time in the territory, but people waiting to go to the sky city were lined up in front of the checkpoint. Celestia was a city built on a massive floating island, one of the areas where a special magnetic field near the equator conflicted with the mana stones in the geology to create an anti-gravity effect.
Therefore, to prevent personal metal objects from interfering with the magnetic field flow, there was a regulation that immediately stopped accepting outsiders when the acceptable population was exceeded.
Leonardo, wrapped in a black hood and cloak, was also buried among the crowd gathered in front of the gate. His appearance was that of an ordinary man, so unremarkable that one wouldn't remember even if they brushed past him. He peered at the sign at the front of the waiting line while holding his ID and pass.
'Will I be able to get in?'
Once he entered Celestia, it would be impossible for a large-scale pursuit team to follow him for at least a day. It was a suitable place to erase his tracks and hide immediately. However, he wasn't sure if he could pass through under the name 'Leonardo Blaine', and the current number of people allowed to enter seemed to be barely enough.
"Are we going to be cut off right here?"
"Nah, there's not much left."
By now, there were only three people ahead of him waiting to enter the checkpoint. The people in front and behind were constantly anxious, worried that it might be cut off at their turn due to bad luck.
Leonardo, biting his lip among them, pondered until the last moment.
'Should I just go now instead?'
He still hadn't decided whether to stop by His Excellency's villa or not. Honestly, he wanted to stay for a while, if only to appreciate his thoughtfulness.
But he soon shook his head and steeled himself. Staying here for too long would only breed lingering attachments and rumors. Baseless talk had already spread to nearby territories.
"Did you hear? Leonardo Blaine..."
"Ah, he was finally released, wasn't he?"
Looking down at the two people in front of him who were quick with news, Leonardo tightened the hood he was wearing.
Just then, a guard member with sharp eyes came out of the checkpoint. She announced the head count of the waiting line in a solemn voice.
"One, two, three, four. Up to here, four people, please enter the checkpoint."
After scanning the last man with a suspicious appearance, she added loudly:
"Please remove any items covering your face such as hats, hoods, or masks in advance. And from here on, passage to Celestia is not possible today. Please visit again at midnight tomorrow."
A sigh of disappointment erupted from the waiting people. Leonardo looked back briefly at the people lined up behind him and felt relieved.
Surprisingly, it seemed his turn was the last one. Leaving behind the people lingering in hopes of a possible chance, he followed the guide into the checkpoint.
Inside the wooden checkpoint were four examination booths separated by partitions. The previous numbers filled the seats from the inside in order. Leonardo entered the last seat.
He removed his hood and revealed his fake face, maintaining only his original golden eyes. This was to make it look like he was disguised using a wig or fake skin, rather than using magic, in case eyewitness accounts leaked out later.
"Please place your belongings here and present your ID and pass."
The guard member recited the routine lines. Leonardo put down his backpack on the examination desk, then hesitated for a moment holding his prepared ID. He thought about just presenting the fake ID he had been using, but wanting to use it properly at least once, he carefully unfolded the mage registration card he was holding.
He covered the striking face in the immediately visible photograph with the overlapping pass. They would check everything anyway, but he was reluctant to show it openly.
Swallowing dry saliva, he handed the documents to the other. The guard member who received them scanned the destination and stay schedule written on the pass and began to manually copy them into the inspection log.
Meanwhile, another guard member approached and picked up the small backpack placed on the examination desk.
"I'll check your belongings for a moment."
It was to check if he was carrying dangerous items or metal exceeding the allowed amount. Leonardo watched the two with an indifferent expression.
Just then, the guard member examining the submitted documents paused and asked:
"Sir, are you a war veteran? Veterans are subject to priority inspection without waiting, didn't you know?"
He seemed to be asking after seeing the 'War Veteran' phrase in the other information section. Though uncharacteristically flustered, Leonardo tried to answer calmly:
"Ah, yes. I didn't know."
'How would I know if I've never received such treatment before?'
The guard member looked at him quizzically, as if he really didn't know, but soon smiled kindly and guided him politely:
"In the future, when visiting areas with limited floating population, if you give a heads up to the guard members in front of the gate, they will guide you to the checkpoint first. You're lucky though, you became the last person to pass through. Are you visiting for a mission? Ah, that's enough with the baggage inspection..."
The guard member, while saying various things, gestured to his junior who was inspecting the belongings to do it moderately. Then he separated only the pass, which had finished being checked, from the overlapping submitted documents and placed it in front.
"Do you belong to a guild? Even if you're a short-term mercenary, you need to tell us."
Leonardo stared blankly at his now-revealed photograph. He lowered his voice more than necessary and answered nonchalantly:
"No, I don't belong to a guild. It's a personal schedule."
"I see. Then—"
Soon, the guard member's gaze fell on the photograph shining golden. As he looked down at the assertive features, he blinked and suddenly raised his head.
"Oh, but this is..."
He alternately looked at the person in the photograph and the face in front of him, then started to hold up the registration card to compare.
In fact, there was no need to compare. Unless he had been covered in gunpowder on the battlefield, he looked inexplicably different.
"..."
Leonardo stared blankly at the guard member with a cold gaze while maintaining the fake skin of another person. He hadn't done anything wrong, but he felt like he needed to escape from here for no reason. After discovering the name, the guard member looked at the registration card with a rather serious expression.
After confirming 'RANK: S4', he seemed to be certain and took a small breath.
Gradually pulling his upper body back, he urgently whispered to his colleague beside him:
"Quickly bring the chief."
The atmosphere was somehow strange. The wary golden eyes slowly rolled.
* * *
The local time in Celestia was around 3 AM, about a 2-hour time difference from the Agrizendro territory.
When Leonardo came out of the gate, it was a quiet dawn with moonlight hanging on the dim sky in the distance.
Here too, the area in front of the gate was crowded with people trying to leave, but being on the outskirts of the city, there were no lights except on the main road just a short distance away. He quickly slipped through the crowd and headed towards a deserted forest path with few people. He covered his face with a medical mask he had previously pilfered from the Council's hospital ward.
It had been over three years since he had last presented his real ID at a checkpoint, so he had actually been a bit scared of being suddenly arrested. However, the checkpoint chief who had hurriedly come running immediately raised his hand in salute, and after that, everything proceeded quickly as he had already sent word ahead to Celestia's checkpoint.
When he left, all the guard members came out to see him off with a hand salute. The only flaw was that the people who had entered together whispered, wondering who he was.
Anyway, since this was his first such experience in a public place while alone since that day three years ago, Leonardo couldn't hide the smile that spread across his face even as he felt dazed.
'He's really someone who keeps his word.'
Remembering His Excellency who had been considerate of him until the end, he moved his footsteps that had become particularly light due to the anti-gravity characteristics of the area.
Leonardo hummed a tune as if deliberately wanting to be heard. He chose a shitty military song as the melody so as not to be confused with someone else.
As he was slowing his pace, he suddenly stopped in the middle of the forest path.
'Have they all followed?'
The sound of startled footsteps also stopped in unison.
To Leonardo, it was at an embarrassing level to even call it tailing. He held his breath for a moment and gauged the direction of the presence.
In fact, he had noticed that two or three people had been following him since inside the Agrizendro territory, but he thought they had fallen off due to the population limit before entering Celestia. However, as soon as he crossed the portal and escaped to this side, he felt about a dozen people who had been positioned like background in the plaza moving secretly with him at the center.
Given the characteristics of the limited floating population area, it was unlikely that they had urgently pushed in personnel as soon as they identified his destination. This meant that followers were likely waiting in advance not only in Celestia but wherever he went in the nearby territories.
'Five in front, six on the left rear, seven on the right.'
As a result of dragging them along like the Pied Piper, a total of eighteen were now on his tail.
'They really sent them with determination.'
His golden eyes flashed like a beast's in the darkness. Whoever it was, it didn't seem like they had attached this many people just to poke at him once.
It couldn't be bodyguards attached by His Excellency either. If so, for the sake of his future whereabouts, he needed to cleanly deal with those he had brought along in this forest.
Leonardo cracked his knuckles, making a popping sound. His smile now gone, he moved behind a thick tree trunk.