Does Spring Come Even for a Dying Esper

“It wasn’t luck when you hit only the Red Snake’s heads in a row last time.”

“Haven’t you hit every single shot so far? I think you’re the best shooter among us.”

“Good looks and incredible skills. You’ve got it all…”

The unit members who had gathered around Lucas sent envious and jealous glances his way. Over the past few weeks of living with him, they had personally experienced Lucas’s value.

Lucas was exceptionally skilled as a guide, a doctor, and a soldier. In particular, the medical officer and guide of the N-0 unit had already become Lucas’s fervent supporters. Even the former head of the medical office and the former guide team leader.

It wasn’t just the medical officer and guide who were enthusiastic about Lucas. The unit’s administrator and cafeteria staff liked him too. Unlike the rough-mannered soldiers, Lucas was somewhat taciturn but consistently polite and courteous. Even in his gait and table manners, there was a subtle sense of class.

Some praised him, saying that as expected of someone from a noble family, he was elegant and full of dignity. Others, less kindly, wondered if people were just smitten because of his good looks. However, most fell into the former category.

Even the espers had taken a liking to Lucas. At first, they were displeased with him for reprimanding them, but as they spent time together, they couldn’t help but become interested. He had striking looks even when standing still, and he excelled in every aspect.

“Did you see how he quickly subdued Jonathan, who was brought in a few days ago due to mana overflow, and then handed him over to the guide? He just pressed him down without even touching him…”

“When I asked how he did it, he said he used the surrounding mana to restrain him. Not even his own mana, but the one floating in the air… Wow, for a moment I thought he was a telekinetic esper, not a guide. I wonder how good his mana control is.”

“I heard somewhere that S-class guides can even do group guiding without physical contact.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yeah. It’s less effective than one-on-one guiding since it’s done for multiple people at once, but it seems they sometimes do it on the battlefield. But it can lead to mana depletion, so only in really urgent situations?”

“Huh… that’s interesting.”

One of the espers watching Lucas’s shooting marveled. Many espers tend to be weak against strong opponents and strong against weak ones, so Lucas’s exceptional strength as a guide naturally became a topic of conversation among them.

“Ah, I’m curious. What would it feel like to receive guiding…”

“A friend of mine in the central headquarters received it from the Captain once, and he said it was incredible. Said it was like going to heaven and back.”

“I heard that too. They say there are many espers who became addicted to the Captain’s guiding and started following him around like stalkers.”

“In our unit, only the Major has received guiding so far, right?”

One of the esper unit members licked his lips. Since Lucas was Iberis’s exclusive guide, he wouldn’t guide others unless it was an emergency situation. Chances rarely came.

“Do you want to receive guiding from the Captain?”

“Of course, gasp! Major?”

One soldier who was answering absentmindedly jumped up in surprise at the voice from behind. The other unit members were equally startled. Iberis had been standing at the doorway watching them, though no one knew when he had arrived.

“Should I tell the Captain? To give you all a guiding session?”

“No, no!”

“How could we dare…!”

The unit members shook their heads or waved their hands at Iberis’s question. Meanwhile, Lucas’s hologram monster massacre had ended.

[You have eliminated all one hundred monsters.]

Lucas, who had killed every single one without missing, finally put down his gun and removed his earplugs. He looked at his record with his characteristic expressionless face, showing no sign of joy at his performance. Then he turned his head at the sound of soft applause from the side.

“Your shooting skills are impressive.”

“…Major?”

Lucas noticed Iberis in workout clothes and put down his score sheet.

“When did you arrive, sir?”

“Just now. Thanks to you, I got to see a good show. I didn’t know the Captain’s marksmanship was this excellent.”

“It’s still lacking.”

“Lacking? Isn’t it a perfect score?”

Iberis glanced at the score sheet that proved Lucas hadn’t missed a single shot. Although he was quite confident in his own shooting, he couldn’t be sure of getting a perfect score every time.

“Did you come from working out, sir?”

“Hm? Ah, yes, a little… I’ve been feeling stiff lately from not moving much.”

“Aren’t you cold?”

“This much is fine. I’m dressed warmly, you see.”

Iberis smiled faintly at Lucas’s question, as if to say not to worry. Indeed, unlike others who mostly wore short sleeves and shorts, he was wearing long sleeves and pants.

“The weather was a bit chilly today…”

Although N-zone’s weather was so unstable due to the rifts occurring every few days that there was almost no point in distinguishing seasons, being geographically in the north meant it was generally cool. Especially today, the sky had been overcast since morning as if it might rain, and the wind was quite strong. It might be cold weather for Iberis, who suffered from chills from time to time, if not for others.

“Chilly? This isn’t even cold. These days, my condition is pretty good thanks to someone.”

Iberis shrugged and jerked his chin as if to say let’s go out now. He seemed bothered by the unit members who kept glancing at them and pricking up their ears to hear their conversation.

“Did you learn shooting? When I saw you sparring with Lieutenant Denver last time, your practical swordsmanship was quite proficient too.”

“The era of guides waiting in the rear is over. I need to know how to protect myself.”

Lucas, who had left the shooting range with Iberis, answered as if it was no big deal. In the early days when rifts began to appear in earnest, ability users faced monsters using their unique abilities. Because of this, although guides had sufficient mana, they were considered to have much lower combat abilities than espers due to their lack of special abilities.

Even without the ability gap, the most important thing for guides was to calm and purify ability users who had overused their powers. Naturally, their role was limited to guiding espers.

However, as technology advanced, the role of guides also changed. With weapons utilizing mana such as mana guns, mana swords, and mana bombs becoming capable of killing monsters, some guides began to play active roles in combat. This was because guides generally had higher mana levels than espers.

Above all, as it became possible to guide espers without physical contact, and as complaints about the forceful attitude of the ability user society that disregarded guides’ wishes led to issues of sexual exploitation, there was also a change in consciousness. Guides began to actively go to the battlefield.

Although they lacked special abilities, high-ranking guides possessed strong bodies and vast amounts of mana comparable to espers. Thanks to this, if they consistently trained and improved their combat skills, they could easily defeat lower-ranked ability users. Realizing this, guides focused on building their physical strength and learning combat skills like shooting.

As a result, the number of guides active in the field increased exponentially. Of course, there were some restrictions as mana always had to be left for guiding espers, but this didn’t apply to Lucas. He could always draw mana from his surroundings if he was running low.

“Right after my awakening, I learned various things with Major General Bismarck’s help. I tend to exercise at least a little every day unless there’s an urgent matter.”

Lucas had been training his body without missing a day since learning that Livio might be the enemy of his family. Even knowing that the chances of catching an S-class esper with his own hands were slim, he didn’t give up. Even if he couldn’t win, he wanted to be able to at least grab his ankle.

Moreover, Livio wasn’t the only enemy. There were others who had committed misconduct with him at the time. Lucas hoped to catch at least one of them with his own hands. So he pushed himself even harder. To be able to win no matter when he faced them.

“Come to think of it, I feel like I’ve only seen you exercising whenever it’s not work hours… Is that why? Sometimes I wonder if you’re not a robot.”

“A robot?”

“Yeah. I’ve never seen anyone with such a regular routine as yours. It’s difficult to make plans here because you never know when something might happen. It’s even harder to stick to them consistently. Since rifts occur every few days, everyone tends to live a bit carelessly.”

Iberis now addressed Lucas as “you” or “Captain” interchangeably. Perhaps because they spent several hours together every day for guiding, counseling, and meals unless something else came up, the two were growing closer faster than expected.

“I suppose there are more variables the further you go to the frontier. I think it’s fine as long as one’s not neglecting self-care and living dissolutely like Major Norris.”

“Ouch, that stings a bit…”

Iberis winced. Although he hadn’t lived dissolutely indulging in wine and women like Carlos, he had completely failed in taking care of his body.