By Zephyria 
It had become certain that if I could just hold out for three years, I could remove the illegal suppression chip embedded in the back of my neck. Moreover, I quite liked my job as a temporary Guide. In this situation, there was no reason for me to volunteer to be the Guide for someone as difficult as Vasily.
“If that’s the case, isn’t it sufficient as it is? As long as Esper Vasily doesn’t do anything strange, I have no reason to refuse guiding.”
“But Guide Kwon Gi-dam might suddenly sign an exclusive contract with another Esper.”
“Don’t worry. I intend to remain a temporary Guide.”
I decided I would play along with him for just three years until Vasily left Korea. It seemed there was no one else who could provide him with guiding besides me.
Furthermore, if I didn’t guide him, other Guides would likely be rushed to the hospital with severe frostbite while trying to guide Vasily. I felt a slight sense of guilt, knowing that those people wouldn’t have to suffer such terrible fates if I became his Guide.
As I said, as long as Vasily didn’t cause any trouble, I truly intended to get along with him and not refuse his requests for guiding. Then, in three years, we would share a beautiful parting with smiles on our faces.
And then, my rosy future as an S-class guide, living a life of leisure, would unfold before my eyes!
“Hmm…”
Lately, the number of Espers coming in for guiding had decreased significantly.
I wasn’t the only one who felt this way; everyone in the temporary guiding department on the same floor thought the same. Previously, personnel from up to Team 10 were deployed just to handle the flood of waiting clients, but these days, more than half of each team was idling. Consequently, we were just taking turns handling the few Espers who did visit.
I heard that temporary Guides in other regions were still frantically busy, but for some reason, only the association headquarters had become strangely relaxed…
“It’s summer, so more Espers should be visiting. This is strange…”
Jo Woo-yeon also spoke, looking puzzled as he stared at the empty waiting room.
Since the Guide Association headquarters where I work is located in central Seoul, it was normal for the most people to flock here. Jo Woo-yeon mentioned that this was the first time such a phenomenon had occurred since he joined the company.
While minors or elderly Espers visited steadily, the number of visits from Espers in the age group typically deployed to the field had dropped sharply.
For a moment, Vasily’s image flashed through my mind, but I couldn’t easily suspect him. It might truly be a coincidence.
Beep.
Just then, the sound of a waiting ticket being pulled echoed. An Esper had finally arrived.
I sprang up from my seat.
“I’ll take this one.”
Perhaps because we weren’t used to such leisure, the atmosphere was such that everyone scrambled to offer guiding as soon as an Esper arrived. This time, I beat them to it.
Since I couldn’t submit the report I had to write before clocking out with blank spaces, I had to guide someone. If I couldn’t perform a single instance of temporary guiding by the end of the day, I might have to beg Vasily to please apply for designated guiding.
My first guiding of the day.
I’m full of energy, so I should guide them properly before sending them back. Thinking this, I opened the door to the guiding room, but the Esper who had entered first to wait flinched in surprise upon seeing me. I looked behind me, but there was no one. Did he get surprised by me?
“I-I have an urgent matter… I’m sorry!”
“Pardon?”
The Esper rushed past me and bolted out of the guiding room. I blinked, watching his receding figure.
What was that? For some reason, this situation felt familiar.
Trudge, trudge. I returned to the office with lifeless steps.
“Gi-dam-ssi, didn’t you go in for guiding?”
“The Esper suddenly rushed out, saying something urgent came up.”
“Really? A lot of strange things have been happening lately…”
I returned to my seat. I clasped my hands and lowered my head, sinking into deep thought.
“…”
As I thought… Vasily did something, didn’t he?
It could be a coincidence, but I couldn’t forget the face of the Esper who looked horrified—as if he had encountered a monster—and fled the moment he saw me. It was also strange that Vasily had been excessively well-behaved lately…
“Sigh…”
Vasily hadn’t applied for designated guiding, but it seemed I had to go find him.
I stepped out to the emergency stairs and called him. After a few rings, Vasily answered.
“Esper Vasily, are you in your private room right now?”
[No, I’m on an external schedule. Is something wrong?]
“It’s nothing like that… I called because there was something I wanted to ask, but if you’re busy, I’ll tell you later.”
[Then I’ll return immediately. I’ll be there soon, so wait for me in my private room.]
Thinking it might just be my imagination, I tried to hang up, but Vasily spoke first and ended the call. Hearing the noise around him, it sounded like he had just come out of a Gate.
I looked down at the screen with an uneasy expression and headed toward the Esper Association.
Anyway, there are no Espers coming to request guiding right now. Leaving my post for a moment shouldn’t cause any problems.
“Esper Vasily, are you inside?”
I arrived in front of Vasily’s private room and knocked twice. When no answer came after a short wait, I opened the locked door and stepped inside.
A quiet, empty private room. This was the first time I had been here alone since the regression…
I looked around, but I stopped because I felt like I was peeking into someone else’s room.
It felt a bit hot since the air conditioner was off. I didn’t turn it on, figuring it would get cool quickly once Vasily arrived. The silent space, where not even the sound of the air conditioner could be heard, was peaceful.
Vasily said he would be back immediately, but it would still take some time.
I leaned back on the sofa intending to close my eyes for a bit, and before long, the door clicked open.
“Did you wait long?”
“No. I thought you went to a Gate… you arrived sooner than I expected.”
“It was a Gate. I took a helicopter because I was worried Guide Kwon Gi-dam would be waiting.”
Vasily entered, closing the door behind him.
His appearance was so pristine that I doubted if he had actually been to a Gate. Not a single drop of blood had splattered on his collar.
Vasily approached me as I sat on the sofa.
“You said there was something you wanted to ask, right? Let’s talk while guiding.”
“Alright. Since I stepped out during work hours, please apply for designated guiding as well.”
Vasily nodded at my words and took a smartphone out of his pocket. After confirming that he had applied for designated guiding, I immediately pressed the accept button on my end and began the guiding.
While hugging his large frame, I cautiously brought up the subject.
“Esper Vasily, have you done anything recently?”
“Such as?”
“Like telling Espers not to receive temporary guiding…”
“Hmm… I wonder. I have no memory of that.”
Vasily denied the accusation with a bright smile.
Sigh…
I couldn’t tell if he was truly innocent or just lying. I narrowed my eyes and tried to discern the truth, but his expression was so composed that I couldn’t judge with my level of intuition.
It really could be a simple coincidence. Since the association headquarters is always crowded with Espers, people might be trying to visit on different days, like people playing a guessing game to avoid crowds at an amusement park.
But it was strange that this had repeated for a whole week for a mere coincidence. I figured it would be faster to grab an Esper the moment I returned and ask for the reason.
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam, I’m going to conquer a Gate tomorrow. Do you want to come along?”
Vasily asked me. Perhaps because I had mentioned before that I would accompany him on his business trips, this time he asked for my opinion instead of kidnapping me without a word.
Of course, I intended to go if possible. However, telling me it’s tomorrow so suddenly was a bit rushed. Fortunately, since the number of visiting Espers had decreased lately, it seemed a sudden request for dispatch wouldn’t be rejected.
“I’ll submit the application as soon as I return after guiding.”
“I’ll tell them in advance that you’re accompanying me, so you don’t need to apply separately.”
“Understood.”
One tedious process removed. I nodded, thinking I should let the Team leader know as soon as I got back.
It was a bit bothersome, but considering that he returned in a state of nearly collapsing after I let him go for a week last time, it would be much more peaceful for my mind to go along and guide him.
* * *
From early morning, Vasily personally drove to pick me up.
Since I wasn’t going to the Gate as a temporary Guide today, I didn’t travel in an association vehicle but headed to the Gate with Vasily. Being like this, it felt strange, as if I had returned to the days when I was truly Vasily’s Guide.
My original plan was to distance myself from Vasily somehow, but I don’t know how it ended up like this. It probably started from the day I learned Vasily’s secret. That was when I stopped avoiding guiding him.
What can I do when I’m the only Guide in Korea who can properly guide him? Although I’m a C-Class Guide with a 4 percent matching rate, he is a precious S-class Esper, so I must serve him with the utmost care.
Before I knew it, we entered the highway. Come to think of it, I hadn’t even asked where we were going.