By Zephyria 
Should I just secretly check what’s in here?
It’s not spying; it’s just a quick glance. I lightly lifted the document on top, but it was just an ordinary exclusive contract.
“…….”
No wonder it was left out so openly, as if inviting me to look. I had expected some confidential documents, but my interest vanished in an instant.
Since I have some time, should I just fill it out and submit it? It was a document that had to be submitted to the association anyway, so it was better to get it done in advance. I picked up the pen conveniently placed next to the papers and began writing.
I flipped through the thick stack of documents one by one, filling in the details and signing. From the exclusive contract filled with clauses I had to abide by, to the non-disclosure agreement requiring me to keep everything I learned during work a secret. Since it was an exclusive contract with an S-class Esper, there were more than a few things to keep in mind.
Before the regression, when I first signed these documents, I had written my name with a fluttering heart. Back then, I didn’t know Vasily’s true nature and was simply overflowing with ambition. It was only after narrowly escaping death several times because of Vasily that I realized, with bone-deep clarity, that this contract was fundamentally wrong.
I finished signing everything. Now it was time to submit the documents to the responsible department. As I stood up and headed toward the door, the door opened before my hand even touched the knob, and I locked eyes with Vasily standing beyond it.
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam, where are you going?”
“I was going to submit the documents that were on the table.”
“Just leave those on the table. The responsible department will take them.”
“I understand.”
If there was no need to deliver them personally, then fine. I nodded and turned to leave, but Vasily continued.
“And take this.”
I took the single sheet of paper Vasily held out. Were there more documents to fill out? Tilting my head in confusion, I checked the paper; it was a component analysis report.
“Are the results out already?”
“Yes. The analysis just finished.”
It seemed the analysis of the medicine I had submitted two days ago was already complete.
I peered at the component analysis report Vasily gave me, but it was packed with technical jargon that I couldn’t decipher. When I looked at Vasily with a gaze that clearly said I had no idea what it meant, he added an explanation.
“The monster’s blood in the medicine has had its toxicity removed, so that shouldn’t be a problem. Instead, a highly addictive narcotic substance was detected. A strong drug of the kind typically used for Espers.”
That makes sense. After all, suppression chips are for Espers.
Perhaps because it was an illegal suppression chip, it seemed they had played a trick to make sure the user couldn’t stop taking the medicine.
To a normal person like me, it sounded a bit dangerous. If it was a drug that could even addict an Esper, it would surely be more fatal when I took it. If taken over a long period, severe withdrawal symptoms might even appear.
The person who made this probably didn’t expect a Guide to take the medicine. Even I couldn’t guarantee what kind of side effects would manifest.
As I looked down at the result sheet with an uneasy feeling, Vasily spoke again.
“Now you know, right? As soon as you go home, dispose of the medicine immediately.”
“……I can’t.”
When I shook my head firmly, Vasily looked at me as if I were a drug addict.
“Why can’t you?”
I kept my mouth shut and subtly avoided his gaze. The situation was complicated, and there were things I couldn’t tell Vasily, making it difficult to explain readily.
However, we were alone right now, and since we would be living together from now on, a moment would eventually come when I’d have to tell him the reason. Rather than letting misunderstandings pile up, it seemed better to explain and move past it now.
After a long hesitation, I finally opened my mouth.
“The thing I had inserted in the back of my neck is an illegal suppression chip. Perhaps because it’s not an official product, the chip gets hot and I get severe headaches whenever I perform guiding. That medicine came with the illegal suppression chip when I ordered it, and the symptoms only subside when I take it.”
“You’re not lying, are you?”
“What benefit would I get from lying to you?”
When I confessed honestly, Vasily seemed lost in thought.
“An illegal suppression chip……”
Since Vasily likely didn’t have detailed information on it, he would have no choice but to believe me. It was unsettling that it contained monster’s blood and even narcotic substances, but it couldn’t be helped.
As long as I only took one pill a day until the suppression chip was removed, it should be fine, right? Even if it contained narcotics, I didn’t seem to be addicted yet, and my primary goal was to reduce the pain.
“So, I will take it only until the suppression chip is removed, and I’ll throw it away immediately after that.”
“…….”
Vasily still looked dissatisfied.
Regardless, I had given all the explanations I could. I felt that if the conversation continued like this, he would ask something I couldn’t answer, so I subtly changed the subject.
“What is today’s schedule?”
“Nothing special.”
“I believe there’s a meeting on Monday mornings; aren’t you attending?”
Every Monday, the association’s weekly meeting is held. The very meeting Vasily had kidnapped me to attend last time. By now, the meeting should be in full swing.
“I don’t have to go today. I can already predict what the content will be.”
I nodded upon hearing his words.
Indeed, the topic of this meeting would likely be that Vasily now has a Guide. Since the conversation would revolve around me and Vasily throughout the meeting, it wouldn’t be particularly pleasant. Vasily didn’t seem to want to attend and listen to it either.
In that case, I really had nothing to do today. Unless a Gate suddenly opened and Vasily was called, nothing particular would happen.
Then, should I finish organizing the belongings I left at my old house? Come to think of it, I just remembered that I had to cancel the truck I requested from the moving company to move to the countryside.
“I’m thinking of having lunch at the usual place and then heading home; do you have any remaining schedule?”
“I don’t have anything either.”
“Then give me guiding until then.”
It was a request for guiding that flowed naturally.
I wore a slightly reluctant expression for a moment before nodding. There was no particular reason to refuse. Four times a week. Since I had agreed to guide him the set number of times, it was better to exhaust those four sessions quickly and rest in peace for the remainder of the period.
As usual, I began guiding while hugging him on the sofa.
It was definitely much better to perform guiding in the private room than guiding a half-naked Vasily in his bedroom. At least here, he wasn’t stripped.
Thinking that I should conduct guiding in his private room whenever possible in the future, I spoke up.
“By the way, how on earth did you know there was a suppression chip in the back of my neck?”
On the day the suppression chip was discovered, Vasily had acted as if he already knew something was there. But I had never done anything that would reveal the existence of a suppression chip to him, so I became curious about how he found out.
“Do you remember when Guide Kwon Gi-dam collapsed in front of me?”
“……”
It happened so many times I don’t know which one.
“The day I applied for designated guiding for the second time.”
“Ah, I remember.”
As Vasily continued his explanation, I finally remembered.
It was the day when I had just started working as a temporary Guide, and Vasily had applied for designated guiding for every single time slot from morning to afternoon to come see me. I had guided him all day and collapsed in the middle of it. When I regained consciousness, Vasily was cooling down my fever.
“While I was laying the collapsed Guide Kwon Gi-dam on the bed, my hand touched the back of your neck, and I felt a prickling sensation.”
Sigh…… A sigh escaped me involuntarily. It seemed I had been caught much earlier than I thought. Moreover, since I had lost consciousness, I couldn’t have known that Vasily had noticed.
“I had a strange feeling about the wavelength whenever I received guiding, but that was when I became certain.”
Vasily’s senses were keen, so he seemed to have noticed that the suppression chip was suppressing the wavelength. If that was the case, everything had gone wrong from the moment guiding began when I first touched him.
Damn, so that’s why he chased me so persistently. Vasily’s obsessive behavior finally made sense.
“Why did Guide Kwon Gi-dam put in a suppression chip?”
“…….”
“Did you put it in knowing in advance that you would match with me?”
I quietly swallowed hard. This was the same question he had raised on the day the suppression chip was discovered. I knew he would ask again someday, but……
I had to answer this carefully. If he found out I had put in the suppression chip specifically to avoid matching with him, I couldn’t predict how Vasily would react.
“……I didn’t know.”
“Really?”
“I…… when the awakening pain came, I thought I would awaken as an Esper. But after hearing that it’s hard to endure without a Guide if you awaken as an Esper, I hurriedly found a suppression chip and had it inserted.”
Did it work? Since it was an excuse I came up with on the fly, I wasn’t sure if it would pass. For now, Vasily’s expression remained unchanged.