By Zephyria 
Among the Espers struggling to emerge from the Gate, only Vasily was seen walking out unscathed. I watched him approach me with a lukewarm expression.
“The conquest is over. I can go back now, right?”
“……Yes.”
I wanted to hold out a bit longer, but if I pushed any further, Vasily might actually lose it.
Left with no choice, I followed Vasily and quietly looked around. The temporary guiding from other Guides had only just begun, so I felt a bit self-conscious about being the only one leaving, but…
Since I was leaving under the pretext of guiding an S-Class Esper, no one would have anything to say to me. In fact, everyone might be grateful if I took Vasily and left early.
I climbed into Vasily’s car. I had come in an association vehicle, but I was returning in Vasily’s foreign luxury car. This was a situation I hadn’t even imagined when I was excitedly heading to the Gate.
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam, if you have a reason to come to a Gate in the future, tell me first.”
“……Why?”
“I intend to participate in the conquest of any Gate where Guide Kwon Gi-dam is dispatched.”
That meant he intended to follow me around from now on. I frowned deeply, my face twisting.
“I don’t want that. Are you planning to interfere with my work?”
“Why? Are you planning to step forward again like last time if a monster escapes the Gate?”
This time, I was silenced. Vasily continued mockingly.
“At least if I’m there, you won’t do any more of those reckless stunts that are practically suicide.”
“…….”
Now I truly had nothing to refute. Fearing that further defiance would irritate him, I kept my mouth shut.
After a moment of silence, I asked seriously.
“Esper-nim, why do you keep following me? I’m only a C-Class Guide, and my matching rate with you is low.”
“…….”
This time, Vasily remained silent and didn’t answer.
Right, I hadn’t expected an answer in the first place. However, I now knew that Vasily following me wasn’t just simple curiosity. Could it be…
I fiddled with the nape of my neck, hidden by my hair.
‘Did he find out?’
No, he couldn’t have. If he had, Vasily would have ripped out the suppression chip and demanded guiding.
Regardless, there must be a reason why Vasily is obsessed with me. I had to uncover it as soon as possible and detach Vasily from my side. For the sake of my peaceful future.
* * *
The weekend flew by. Thinking of the Espers who would be waiting for me starting Monday, my legs felt heavy as I headed to the association.
As I passed through the main gate of the association with a deep sigh, the ground suddenly surged upward beneath my feet.
“Ugh!”
Losing my balance, I fell, and cold ice touched my palms. I lifted my head while sprawled atop the ice.
1, 2, 3… I had assessed the situation.
‘This is Vasily’s doing.’
Looking down at the height—which was too awkward to jump from—I clutched my head in frustration atop the ice.
What the hell is he doing this time!
It was a similar situation to last time, but the difference was that then I was leaving work, and now I was arriving. People buzzed as they looked at me, isolated on an ice cliff. I honestly couldn’t live with the shame Vasily was putting me through.
“Vasily!”
As I shouted his name loudly, a familiar figure appeared in the distance.
Today, Vasily was wearing a suit in a silver-gray hue, matching his hair. His shirt and tie were a deep navy, almost black, and his shoes were luxurious black. He looked flawless and perfect from Monday morning.
Vasily walked toward me with an unwavering posture. He had a satisfied smile on his face, and upon noticing it, my expression twisted.
Then, as he approached right below me, I demanded angrily:
“Why are you doing this again today!”
“There’s a place I need to go with you for a moment.”
“You could have just told me that!”
“Then you would have run away like last time, wouldn’t you?”
While I was grinding my teeth, Vasily created a slope for me to come down. For a moment, a 60-story hell-slide came to mind, and my face turned pale. I tried to act nonchalant as I descended.
With my mouth shut tight, I followed Vasily toward the Esper Association.
With a face full of dissatisfaction, I got into the elevator with Vasily, but instead of going down to the underground parking lot, we were going up to the floor where the conference rooms were. Checking the slowly rising floor number, I asked belatedly.
“Come to think of it, where are we going?”
“The conference room. Guide Kwon Gi-dam will also be attending the meeting.”
“A meeting? What on earth…”
I thought we were going to a Gate, but it was a meeting?
When I served as his Guide, I had often attended meetings with Vasily. But now, I was an ordinary C-Class Guide. Under normal circumstances, there was no reason for me to enter a meeting with Vasily…
What kind of meeting is it that he’s bringing me along?
My face frowned instinctively. Surely he isn’t trying to designate me as Vasily’s Guide again like last time? Since Vasily had made a similar proposal before, I could no longer be certain that he didn’t want me.
If that’s the case… I need to run away right now.
“Here it is.”
By the time I snapped out of it, we were already in front of the conference room. While planning my escape and feeling tense, I followed Vasily inside.
A large screen was displayed in front of the wide conference hall, and a long table sat in the center. The chairs, lined up at appropriate intervals, were already filled with people, except for one seat.
As Vasily and I entered the room, all eyes focused on us.
Sweat trickled down in the suffocating tension. It seemed I was late. I saw people of high rank here and there, and even other S-Class Espers were visible.
Does this mean all the S-Class Espers are gathered in one place? This is a rare occurrence. At this level, it’s almost a national disaster… It seemed like such an important meeting that my desire to run away became desperate.
Cold sweat beaded on my skin. I suppose it was a relief that I wore a light suit today.
“Sit.”
As I stood there awkwardly and hesitantly, Vasily instructed me to sit. However, among the chairs prepared according to the number of attendees, there was no seat for me. Was there an extra chair? As I looked around, Vasily added belatedly.
“On my lap.”
…Is this crazy bastard serious?
Vasily patted his lap, signaling me to sit quickly. Having spent so many years without a Guide, it seemed his mind had finally snapped. I looked at Vasily as if he were a lunatic, and the reactions of the people around us were not much different.
“N-no thank you.”
I hated it so much that I even stuttered.
However, Vasily forcibly pulled me, who was resisting, and eventually sat me on his lap. Dragged like a piece of paper, I was forced onto his lap. It was so frustrating that an ordinary Guide could not overcome the strength of an S-Class Esper.
The cold, hard thighs touching my lower body were horribly unpleasant. I tried to stand up immediately, but the soles of my shoes were stuck to the floor and wouldn’t budge.
Looking closely, my shoes were frozen and connected to the floor. As I panicked and tried to pull them free, Vasily suddenly grabbed my buttocks and whispered in my ear.
“Ugh!”
“Sit still before I freeze this too.”
My face froze completely.
The faces of everyone in the conference room, including mine, turned pale. Right, even if he whispered in my ear, the surroundings were so quiet that there was no way they hadn’t heard.
I could feel people looking at me with pity. Damn it, if you’re going to pity me, at least say something to Vasily.
In the end, the meeting began with me sitting on Vasily’s lap.
I wiped my face, feeling the cold body temperature beneath me. A grown adult man… attending a meeting… sitting on another adult man’s lap…
‘Damn it…’
My social standing had plummeted to the ground. Vasily often tormented me with crazy antics, but he had never violated my human rights in this manner.
With a haggard face, I glanced at the screen. It was clearly a meeting where classified information was being exchanged, and I wondered if it was right for me to be listening.
Then again, with a lunatic like Vasily staring with wide eyes, who would dare kick me out? Thinking that I should just let it go in one ear and out the other, I looked away from the screen.
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam, is there anything unusual among those Gates?”
However, in the middle of the meeting, Vasily suddenly threw a question my way.
I was flustered, feeling the gaze of everyone suddenly shift toward me. No, why is he asking me, who is practically a civilian, this?
…Actually, I do know.
One of the Gates currently displayed on the screen had been judged as E-Class, but it was actually an A-Class Gate. It was a notorious disaster where more than half of the Espers deployed according to the rank had been sacrificed.
If I gave just a small hint, the number of victims could be reduced.
“…….”
But guessing a mutated Gate twice… that would be openly telling Vasily that what happened last time wasn’t a coincidence.