By Zephyria 
Returning to the Guide Association, I first visited the neighboring team because I had something to say regarding the Gate dispatch I had attended in someone’s stead a while ago. However, the assistant manager’s desk in that team had been cleaned out completely.
“Where is the assistant manager who was stationed here?”
“Oh, they were transferred to a regional association.”
When I asked a nearby employee, I received an unexpected answer. Even for a transfer, they were here until last week… To disappear so suddenly?
As I stood there bewildered, a familiar face flashed through my mind. I rubbed my face and let out a shallow sigh.
It was Vasily’s doing.
I didn’t particularly feel any guilt. He had managed to demote someone he disliked without lifting a finger. If anything, I felt relieved that I would no longer be plagued by baseless quarrels.
…Surely he didn’t kill them.
Feeling a bit uneasy, I checked the association’s internal organizational chart, and the name was still registered. I guess he didn’t kill them after all…
After the meeting, I began to keep my distance from Vasily.
In a way, I avoided him almost openly. When requests for designated guiding came in, I rejected them with the excuse of being busy, and when he came to see me off on my way to and from work, I sent him back alone. If we happened to run into each other, I cut off any useless conversation instantly.
And after a few days…
It was time for my actual job for the first time in a while.
On the day the meeting ended, the Gate dispatch I had applied for was approved as soon as I returned to the office. Once the business trip was set, I contacted Vasily first for the first time in a while, and naturally, he followed.
As soon as we arrived at the Gate, Vasily approached me as if he had been waiting.
“It’s been a while, Guide Kwon Gi-dam.”
“Hello, Esper Vasily.”
“As soon as I heard that Guide Kwon Gi-dam was being dispatched to this Gate, I postponed all my schedules to participate in the conquest. I did well, didn’t I?”
Vasily spoke as if asking for praise.
But I knew it was all a lie. If it was Vasily, he would have been reported the very day I applied for the dispatch. He probably cleared his entire schedule early on and was just waiting for me to contact him.
Vasily was acting completely relaxed, unaware of what was about to happen. I sneered inwardly at the sight.
It’s an E-Class Gate for now, but once you enter, it’s a mutant Gate that changes to A-Class. Let him suffer a bit for a change. The thought that I could finally give him a taste of his own medicine already made me feel refreshed.
“Since we’ve been dispatched to the Gate, you’ll give me guiding today, right?”
“Of course.”
Since today is an A-Class Gate, Vasily will need guiding once the conquest is over. But I wonder if I, with a matching rate of 4 percent, will be enough… I should check Vasily’s condition and advise him to find a Guide with a higher matching rate.
“My condition hasn’t been great lately… Could you give me some guiding before we go in?”
“Well… alright.”
For someone claiming their condition was bad, he looked surprisingly the same as usual. It was probably just an excuse to receive guiding. Thinking it was typical of Vasily, I nodded nonchalantly.
I had been avoiding Vasily lately, but now that we were at the Gate, there was no excuse to refuse guiding. Even if I rejected him, he would likely take his anger out on other Espers like last time, which would only cause trouble. To avoid causing inconvenience to others, it seemed best to just quietly provide the guiding.
I led Vasily into the guiding tent. Perhaps because it was an E-Class Gate, there weren’t many temporary guiding personnel.
Everyone seemed to be participating in the conquest with a light heart today, and the atmosphere was good. There were no Espers requesting temporary guiding before the Gate departure; it was quite leisurely. Vasily was the only person to request guiding for a mere E-Class Gate conquest.
As I entered the tent with Vasily, all eyes shifted toward us. The Guides began to stir and their eyes sparkled upon seeing Vasily.
Everyone here was a low-rank Guide. To them, an S-class Esper would be an unreachable existence, an object of longing. I had been the same once.
Ignoring the pouring attention, I took a spot in the corner with Vasily.
“Then, I will begin the guiding.”
With a short announcement, I hugged Vasily.
A large, cool body I hadn’t embraced in a long time. I shivered as if hugging a block of cold ice. However, in today’s sweltering weather, his cold body was nothing but welcome.
A refreshing scent, whether it was perfume or his own body scent, brushed past the tip of my nose.
Ah, so cool.
A cold air blower was running, but it was powerless under the strong midsummer sun. As expected, an S-class dry ice is much better.
It would be best to keep Vasily stuck here as long as possible before entering the Gate. Ah, before we leave, I should tell him to make a huge block of ice. A solid one that won’t melt.
“….”
However, looking at Vasily’s expression as he received the guiding, he seemed dissatisfied with something. Wondering if I had done something wrong, I asked while gauging his reaction.
“Is there a problem?”
“The guiding feels exceptionally weak today.”
“Ah, is it because of the combat suit… I suppose it’s because the clothes are thick.”
I answered while looking down at the combat suit. Even if it was a simple combat suit for Guides, the thick vest could cause that.
Even before the regression, Vasily didn’t like receiving guiding while wearing his combat suit. That’s why he always had to take it off as soon as he came out of the Gate. I was slightly surprised to see him showing the exact same reaction. I guess he really is the same person.
“I don’t know why they even made such useless things…”
“But it can’t be helped. We are near the Gate, and if an unexpected accident occurs, Guides have no means to protect themselves.”
“….”
Vasily remained silent for a moment and then pulled away. Feeling the cool ice pack leave my embrace, I asked in a regretful voice.
“Esper Vasily? Are you not receiving guiding?”
“I’ll receive guiding after I return. I don’t think it’ll have much effect if I receive it now.”
After saying his condition was poor and wanting guiding, he suddenly says he’ll receive it after returning. In the first place, the matching rate is 4 percent; even if the vest interferes with the guiding, isn’t it basically the same? I couldn’t understand.
Vasily didn’t leave his spot and continued to talk to me.
“Have you been very busy lately?”
Vasily wore a meaningful smile. I spoke without panic.
“Yes, well… as the weather gets hotter, there are more Espers who find it difficult to control their wavelengths, so I think that’s why.”
I had been openly avoiding him lately… There was no way Vasily hadn’t noticed. But I am a C-Class Guide. Feeling burdened and keeping distance was a perfectly normal reaction.
Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the tent. Vasily glanced at the hot light landing on the back of his hand and naturally moved his hand into the shade.
Come to think of it, Vasily has always been exceptionally weak to summer sunlight. Being an ice-type ability user, he tended to avoid sunlight and heat.
The sun is blazing today; is it really okay for him to walk around outside like this?
Just then, a call signal was heard from afar. It seemed they were about to depart for the Gate soon.
“I should be going now. Don’t forget to get your guiding after I return.”
Vasily reminded me and stood up. I hurriedly caught him.
“Esper Vasily…”
Vasily paused and looked back at me. With my gaze slightly lowered and my eyelashes trembling, I asked him cautiously.
“Could you… make some ice before you go?”
Preferably large and solid.
* * *
“Ah, so cool.”
Cold air wafted from the large block of ice placed in the center of the tent.
Having heard the rumor that this spot had become a natural refrigerator, all the association employees had gathered here to rest. Since they were all struggling through professional life together, they settled amicably around the ice to catch their breath for a moment.
The atmosphere was still harmonious. Perhaps because it was an E-Class Gate, it felt more relaxed than usual, almost like being on vacation. Once they realize the Gate’s rank has changed, it will become chaotic. I should enjoy this leisurely atmosphere until then.
“Um… Guide-nim.”
While I was sprawled out comfortably during this rare break, a Guide next to me spoke. I only turned my head to look at the person.
“I saw you guiding Esper Vasily earlier… is the rumor true?”
“That’s a false rumor. I am just an ordinary temporary Guide. A C-Class one, at that.”
“Ah…”
As soon as I revealed my rank, the misunderstanding seemed to be cleared instantly.
That’s right. S-class Espers usually pair with fellow S-class Guides or at least A-class Guides. C-Class is a rank so mediocre that they wouldn’t even spare a glance.
I was used to this kind of misunderstanding by now. I quickly clarified and slumped my body back down.
Just then, one of the association employees sitting on the opposite side received a radio transmission and bolted upright.
“What? The Gate rank has changed?”
Wring!
Almost simultaneously, a siren began to wail outside the tent. People’s expressions hardened and they began to murmur. Only I, knowing the fact that it was a mutant Gate, remained sitting there indifferently.