By Zephyria 
“Esper Vasily, come to think of it, which region is the Gate located in?”
“Taean.”
“…….”
Damn it, I should have asked beforehand…
Unlike me, who is only deployed to my jurisdiction, I overlooked the fact that Vasily is dispatched nationwide. Taean-gun, Chungnam? If I had known it was this far, I would have brought a neck pillow. Even without traffic, it takes over two hours one way.
Sigh… we’ve already left, so there’s nothing I can do. I asked him, hoping to hear some information about the Gate.
“Do you know any details regarding the Gate?”
“It’s a C-Class Gate that opened off the coast of Taean. No special anomalies.”
“Then the conquest should be finished in a day.”
“Yes.”
Taean… even if the conquest ends early, it’ll be late at night by the time I get home. If it ends too late, it might be better to just sleep nearby for a night and head back to Seoul the next day. Since I’ll have to provide guiding to Vasily anyway, I decided I’d casually ask him about it once he emerged from the Gate, and I turned my gaze toward the window.
I had my doubts when he said it was off the coast of Taean, but we really did arrive at the seaside. Looking at the ocean stretching out before my eyes, my feelings became a bit complicated. As soon as I stepped out of the car, a breeze mixed with the scent of salt welcomed me.
Since it’s summer, there are many people visiting the beach, but the coastline is restricted due to the Gate, leaving the bathing beach deserted. Instead, temporary tents have been set up on the shore. However, I couldn’t see the Gate.
As I looked around, I spotted a bluish light in the distance toward the sea. He said it was off the coast, and it seemed a Gate had indeed opened in the ocean.
Vasily left, saying he had some matters to handle. I wandered around looking for a suitable spot of shade and stopped when I saw Guides and Espers performing temporary guiding inside a tent.
Hmm… everyone looks busy.
Regardless, there are plenty of seats here. I didn’t come as a temporary Guide, but since I am a Guide, wouldn’t it be okay for me to go inside the tent and sit down?
I hesitated. But since I wasn’t wearing even a temporary combat suit right now, I felt self-conscious about going in and pretending to be a Guide.
“Ah, Guide-ssi. We meet again.”
Just as I was fumbling to put my Guide registration card around my neck, fearing they might mistake me for a civilian and kick me out, a familiar voice called from behind. Feeling that he was talking to me, I turned around and saw a familiar face.
I remembered where I had seen him. He was the Esper who told me I was good at guiding at the previous Gate. If I recall… he said he was A-Class.
“Hello. Were you dispatched to this Gate?”
“Yes, that’s right. I didn’t expect to see you here, Guide-ssi. I’m lucky.”
“Ha, haha…”
The Esper continued speaking with a sociable smile.
I nodded with an ambiguous smile. As for the fact that I came as Vasily’s companion… there was nothing to gain from mentioning it, so I decided to keep it hidden for now.
“I came to receive temporary guiding… could I ask for your help, Guide-ssi?”
Hmm… I didn’t come as a temporary Guide today, but Vasily is currently away, and my matching rate with the Esper in front of me is quite good. It would be more efficient for me to do it than to leave it to another Guide.
Furthermore, since this Esper is scheduled to enter the Gate with Vasily soon, providing proper guiding would be helpful for Vasily as well.
“All right. Let’s go inside.”
I entered the tent with the Esper and sat in an empty seat.
“Then, I will begin the guiding.”
“I’m in your hands.”
With a brief greeting, I began the guiding.
As I lightly embraced the Esper’s body, the wavelength flowed in immediately. His condition wasn’t bad, but his wavelength management wasn’t particularly well-maintained. I continued the guiding, calmly organizing the erratic wavelengths.
With just a bit of concentration, the wavelength began to stabilize quickly.
“As expected, you are very good at guiding, Guide-ssi.”
Not long after I started, the wavelength settled down so quietly that the guiding ended in an embarrassingly short amount of time. The Esper, checking his condition, hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“My dedicated Guide retired recently, so I’m looking for a new one. If you’re okay with it, would you consider becoming my dedicated Guide?”
“But I am a C-Class Guide… didn’t you say you were an A-Class Esper?”
“Still, you guide much better than any other Guide I’ve received guiding from so far. I think the matching rate is high, too. At this level, I don’t think the difference in rank matters…”
Hmm… I felt that too. It seemed the side effects of illegal suppression chips didn’t affect this Esper.
In terms of matching rate alone, perhaps he was even higher than Vasily, who was at 91 percent. Perhaps because he was A-Class, the burden I felt while guiding wasn’t great.
He had a clean, sturdy look—the typical image of a reliable Esper. His personality seemed nice, unlike Vasily’s. If it’s an Esper like this, it might be okay to become his dedicated Guide… but the fact that there are still three years left before Vasily leaves weighs on my mind a bit.
While I was unconsciously seriously considering the proposal, the surroundings began to buzz. Sensing something strange, I turned my head and saw Vasily leaning against the entrance of the tent, staring at me.
“…….”
Vasily’s face was excessively expressionless. He didn’t say a word, but sometimes that kind of silence is scarier than anger.
The way his gaze looks particularly cold today… is probably just my imagination, right?
But it’s not like I was caught in the act of guiding; he probably only saw us talking, so it should be fine. I decided to act as brazenly as Vasily does.
As I kept glancing at Vasily and failed to focus on the conversation, the Esper stood up.
“Then please think about it and give me an answer. I’ll apply for designated guiding later, so you must accept it.”
I couldn’t bring myself to answer and instead checked Vasily’s reaction.
“…….”
He definitely heard.
Vasily is just watching to see how far I’ll go. Though the distance is far, an S-Class Esper would be able to hear every word of the conversation we had here. I barely managed to resist the urge to tear my hair out.
Why do I have to feel this lingering guilt, as if I’ve cheated? In the first place, I’m not Vasily’s dedicated Guide, and providing temporary guiding is my job!
I saw the Esper leave after saluting Vasily on his way out of the tent. Vasily only watched him and didn’t do anything.
Now it’s my turn. I approached him hesitantly and spoke.
“Um… you came back quickly…”
“I was worried Guide Kwon Gi-dam might get bored. But it seems that was a needless worry.”
“…….”
Vasily is being sarcastic. As expected, he seems to be in a bad mood.
I spoke while cautiously gauging his reaction.
“The Esper asked, so I just gave him a bit of guiding. He was someone I had a good guiding connection with when we met at the last Gate… so it was more efficient for me to do it than others—”
Vasily shut his mouth even tighter. Damn it, was that actually a minus? In a hurry, intending to soothe his mood by guiding him, I pulled his arm toward the inside of the tent and asked.
“Esper Vasily, don’t you need guiding before you depart?”
“I’ll receive it after I return. We’re departing soon.”
He even rejected the guiding. I can’t tell how sulky he is. It’s rare for him to refuse guiding, which made me even more worried.
‘Nothing bad will happen, right…’
I checked Vasily’s expression as I stepped out of the tent.
As I came outside, I felt a chilling cold from somewhere. I turned my head toward the direction of the cold wind, and the sight of the open sea being frozen wide came into view.
‘He said he had something to do; did he freeze the ocean?’
I thought he would take a boat, but it seemed he intended to walk across the ice to where the Gate had opened. Then again, the distance wasn’t that far.
Come to think of it, even before the regression, Vasily conquered most of the Gates that appeared near water. Since it becomes incredibly easy to approach the Gate if the water is frozen like this.
Regardless, it really is a spectacle. A landscape that looks as if giant glaciers are floating in the sea. It’s summer, but it feels as if I’ve come to the Arctic.
While I was blankly admiring the massive ice bridge leading to the Gate, the departure signal sounded. As Vasily began to move toward where the Espers were gathered, I hurriedly grabbed his sleeve. Vasily turned his head to look back at me.
“Um… please be safe.”
I spoke hesitantly, trailing off without being able to meet his eyes.
Vasily looked down at me in silence for a moment, then slightly curled the corners of his mouth and spoke.
“…Wait here quietly.”
With those words, he turned around and headed straight for the Gate.
Across the frozen sea, the Espers began to step forward. Vasily also blended in with them and started walking toward the Gate beyond the horizon.
Recalling the expression Vasily had when he looked back at me at the end, I felt inwardly relieved. I only told him to be safe, but I could feel that his mood had improved again at those words.
To think I have to live while walking on eggshells around Vasily even after regressing…
“This is really exhausting…”