By Zephyria 
I didn’t open my eyes until well past noon.
Between the Gate conquest lasting late into the night and returning home only after guiding Vasily, I hadn’t fallen asleep until dawn. The association provides a day off the day after a dispatch. Since I had been in the field yesterday, I intended to rest at home today.
Buzz…
“…And I only just made that resolution.”
The phone rang the moment I decided to rest. Checking the caller ID, it was, as expected, Vasily.
I frowned deeply. I contemplated ignoring it for a moment, but considering he had just come back from the Gate, I answered the call in case there was an important message.
“Esper Vasily.”
Guide Kwon Gi-dam, did you sleep well?
“No, I got home late yesterday, so I’m tired.”
That’s problematic… My condition isn’t great either…
I frowned again. Why was his condition bad again?
“I guided you yesterday; why is your condition poor?”
I’ve been feeling unwell lately. It happens periodically.
Letting out a long sigh, I pushed myself up from the bed.
I turned my head toward the window and saw a clear sky. The sunlight was intense, fitting for summer.
Come to think of it, Vasily used to request guiding particularly often during the summer. It seemed he was currently struggling with wavelength management because he had no Guide. It hadn’t been this severe during the six years I was his dedicated Guide.
“Did you not receive guiding after I left yesterday? I’m sure I told you to make sure you were properly guided.”
I thought I’d be fine because Guide Kwon Gi-dam guided me so sincerely.
“Sigh…”
He was talking absolute nonsense. No matter how much care I put into the guiding, the matching rate was barely 4 percent. He must know that wouldn’t be enough to make him feel better…
So, about that—could you come over and guide me?
“I refuse.”
I rejected him flatly. Today wasn’t a workday; it was an official holiday. Furthermore, guiding on a day off didn’t even come with an allowance.
Was his poor condition my fault? It was because he hadn’t received guiding from a Guide with a high matching rate. I had gone through the trouble of having a Guide on standby for him, but it had all gone to waste.
Are you really going to refuse?
“Yes.”
At this rate, I might accidentally freeze everything nearby…
“…”
I pressed my palm to my face. He was implying that if I didn’t come, he would freeze the entire surrounding area. If that happened, there could be casualties.
“Are you threatening me right now?”
Threatening? I’m just saying it’s a possibility.
It was definitely a threat.
Ever since coming out of the Gate yesterday, his personality seemed to have become even stranger. It felt as though his true nature was subtly leaking out.
“…Where should I go?”
My house. My condition is too poor to make it to the association.
“Understood.”
In the end, I was the first to wave the white flag. To think he’d ask me to come to his house rather than a private room. He truly had no conscience, no matter how hard I looked for it.
Left with no choice, I told Vasily I would head over immediately and hung up.
“Should I wash up first…?”
Since I had just woken up, I went into the bathroom and showered first.
I had planned to rest at home all day. Preparing to go out as usual, even the day after working overtime, made me feel a bit cheated. If I had known in advance, I would have just resigned myself to it and accepted it more easily.
I changed into outing clothes and headed straight for Vasily’s house.
After leaving my home, I checked the address he had sent via text. The address was different from the last time I visited his house. Well, since the place had been completely flooded, it would take months to repair, so he naturally would have moved.
Checking the location on the map, it was nearby. Since it was within walking distance, I decided to just walk.
It was hot. It had been spring when I regressed, but it was already summer now. The temperature had risen considerably, and the sky was blazing.
Unlike when I usually commuted to the association, I headed to Vasily’s house wearing a comfortable t-shirt and training pants. Since I was only there for guiding, this attire shouldn’t matter.
Arriving at Vasily’s house, I entered by punching in the passcode he had provided. Cool air greeted me first.
Ah, it’s cool right from the entrance. The only advantage of Vasily was that he didn’t need an air conditioner in the summer. Thanks to the chill emanating from him, the indoor temperature was always pleasant.
“What is this…?”
However, as soon as I took off my shoes and stepped inside, the floor was lukewarm. What, is the heating on? While I was bewildered and checking the soles of my feet, Vasily walked out from the inner room.
For some reason, Vasily was dressed in a shirt and suit trousers. He wasn’t in a full suit today. I wondered why, as he usually wore a three-piece suit every moment except when sleeping.
“You’re here?”
“Yes. But why is the floor so hot?”
“I was afraid the house would freeze. Snowstorms have been trying to form for a while now.”
As Vasily approached, the surrounding temperature dropped even further.
Could it be that his comment about freezing the neighborhood earlier wasn’t a threat, but the truth? If so, I might have arrived just in time before an accident occurred. If Vasily couldn’t control his ability, a few meters around him would freeze in an instant.
Regardless, a snowstorm. The memory of dying while being swept away by Vasily’s rampage at the Gate resurfaced, and my trauma began to flare up.
“Did you walk?”
“Yes. The weather was nice and the distance wasn’t that far, so I walked.”
“It must have been hard in this heat. Still, you can guide me right away, right?”
The moment I arrived, Vasily predictably pressed for guiding. Sigh. Sure, whatever… I gave a vague nod and stepped further into the house.
Despite having moved recently, Vasily’s house was extremely clean. Perhaps due to his sensitive nature, he hated filth. I wondered if I’d be kicked out immediately if I showed him how I lived. Thinking of my already messy room, I perched myself on the living room sofa.
“Shall I get you something to drink? Rum? Whiskey? I have vodka too.”
“Who drinks alcohol in broad daylight… I’m fine. Just give me some water.”
“Water… how boring.”
I frowned at Vasily’s reaction, which seemed disappointed. Does he think I’m an Esper, capable of drinking high-proof alcohol in the middle of the day and remaining perfectly fine?
Vasily brought a bottle of mineral water and set it on the table. It was Evian. He only drinks things like that, even his water.
My throat was parched from walking in the heat. After quenching my thirst and setting the bottle down, I saw Vasily sitting beside me, staring intently.
He said his condition was bad… but his face looked more refreshed than mine, and I was the one who hadn’t fully recovered from fatigue.
Vasily stared blankly at my arm and then spoke.
“A scar remained.”
“Ah, this?”
I looked down at my arm, which had been torn by a monster’s claws. Unlike when I went to work, I was wearing short sleeves today, so the scar was fully exposed.
It had healed quickly after I was hospitalized for treatment, but a mark inevitably remained. It wasn’t severe; it was simply the trace of where the claws had passed.
“The doctor said it’s a relief that it didn’t fester and ended as just a scar. As you know, Esper-nim, I am a civilian.”
I emphasized the word ‘civilian.’ Look, do you think a fragile body like this could enter a Gate?
Vasily looked at my arm with an unreadable expression. He reached out and touched the scar. His finger slowly traced the length of the scar. I felt a strange sensation involuntarily and pulled my arm away, asking,
“Can we start the guiding now?”
“Yes, that’s fine.”
I began the guiding by hugging him as usual. For some reason, he received the guiding quietly today without any idle chatter. However, after leaning against me in silence for a while, Vasily spoke softly.
“Are you not going to guide me like you did yesterday today?”
“Yesterday?”
Yesterday… I searched my memories upon hearing his words.
After thinking for a moment, I realized. Was he talking about when I had taken off my top and guided him skin-to-skin? My suspicion quickly turned into certainty.
“Yesterday, I only did that because your condition looked truly dire. There won’t be a second time.”
“My condition is bad today too.”
“Wait, don’t tell me… were you waiting for me dressed like this because of that?”
Vasily smiled without a word, avoiding the answer. That was the correct answer.
I let out a long sigh and pressed my hand to my forehead. What on earth was he expecting? I thought it was strange that he was wearing only a shirt and trousers today, but…
Knowing that he had waited for me with such an absurd expectation made my fatigue double.
I was so flabbergasted that my desire to scold him quickly vanished. If I tried to address every single problem, I felt like I would be the one to collapse from exhaustion first.