[156]
“Is that really true?”
Chris asked again.
– I bypassed the security system using my temporary authority as coalition leader to confirm it. It was half-hidden so I had trouble getting in, but I’m certain.
The Winter Continent.
That vast frozen land had not yet been completely explored.
The deeper one ventured, the more one felt a cold that cut into human flesh.
Naturally, the further from cities one went, the more savage wild beasts lived there compared to other continents.
Like wolves or white bears.
‘Especially wolves that move in packs…’
That was enough to understand why combat-type Espers were needed.
“But I don’t think that Esper was dispatched alone for that mission. Am I correct?”
In response to Chris’s question, Anong on the screen made an ambiguous expression.
It was neither confirmation nor denial.
– Many Espers were going on secret missions at that time. But I never thought to look into it… shamefully.
Anong immediately added:
– I’ve brought the list of Espers who were moved at that time. Excluding those who returned to the Summer Continent.
“Please send it over.”
It would be useful somewhere.
After ending the call, Chris checked the information that arrived on his terminal.
At the top was Maribel, whom they had seen.
B-class, Enhancement-type Esper.
“I thought she’d be at least A-class,” Chris muttered.
“Maybe she developed her abilities later.”
While one might become more skillful with using their power, increasing the total amount of power was nearly impossible.
Just like how one person couldn’t possess two abilities.
‘But exceptions do exist.’
Chris, who had received power from Anastasia, knew all too well about the existence of Espers with special abilities.
Perhaps somewhere in that vast land, there might be more Espers with special powers.
‘Even the leader, according to what’s been revealed, possesses multiple abilities.’
He read through the list.
At the bottom, it was noted that the Espers named in the list were limited to cases where “bodies” had not been confirmed.
“What could they be plotting?”
Chris muttered while fidgeting with his terminal.
His body felt lighter, but his mind was complicated.
“Who knows,” Yuri replied in an ambiguous tone.
It also meant he hadn’t made up his mind yet.
“But one thing is certain.”
His purple eyes, looking straight at Chris, shimmered like amethyst.
“…We’ll eventually meet our enemy in the Winter Continent.”
“At least we seem to know why they harassed Baekyah…”
Whatever it was that Rosenhauser wanted and the leader of Thorns Order was searching for was clearly sleeping in that frozen land.
It wasn’t just about attacking the Winter Continent relentlessly because they didn’t want to leave Yuri Sobolev as an enemy behind them.
“When the person in the sack they were trying to dispose of wakes up, I need to meet with them immediately.”
The man in the sack who was dragged to the printing complex to eliminate both evidence and witness.
Chris nodded at those words. “I’ll ask Peter.”
He fiddled with his terminal for a moment. Just as Yuri turned his head at the alert sound:
“A reply came in…”
“What does it say?”
“It says people aren’t ice cream?”
Confused by the strange metaphor, Chris relayed exactly what he saw on the screen.
“- That’s what Hannah asked him to tell us.”
It came with a crudely drawn picture of two hands clasped together with a crying face.
It really didn’t seem like Peter sent it of his own accord.
“Hannah.”
Yuri’s lips moved slightly.
“The pharmacist we assigned to investigate the guiding drug.”
“Yes. She was running a candy store for children.”
“…I suppose she means that while ice cream returns to its original state if you just wait a bit in the freezer, people have no such chance.”
He immediately grasped the meaning. Chris’s eyes widened.
“How did you know?”
“She wouldn’t suddenly say something so abstract without reason.”
Chris urged Peter to explain what it meant.
The answer came without much wait. It wasn’t far from Yuri’s guess.
“…It seems they used a very potent drug when they put him in the sack. As a result, he’s unable to wake up. They’ve completed all possible treatments for now, but we should allow plenty of time for recovery.”
There was more, but Chris swallowed it.
There was no need to relay to Yuri that Peter was saying Hannah was scary when she glared at him.
“So… we have to wait,” Yuri muttered in a low voice and sat down in a chair in the temporary lodging.
The cushion sank a little, but it was the softest thing next to the mattress.
“Aren’t you angry?”
At those words, Yuri gave him a disbelieving look. He explained in a calm voice:
“She seemed competent, so she wouldn’t make up lies. More importantly, I momentarily forgot that normal people recover more slowly than Espers.”
Yuri added:
“Tell them to call us when he’s able to have a conversation.”
***
“I am a Guide.”
The clearly ill middle-aged man barely raised himself and said.
Those were his first words, even before anyone asked who he was.
“Ah.”
Come to think of it, not only civilians but Guides also recovered slowly.
Yuri realized he had unintentionally excluded himself from that consideration.
It was probably because of Chris’s overprotectiveness. He treated his Guide as if he were a kite that would fly away in the wind.
So it was rare for Yuri to suffer serious injuries.
“Now, now. The patient needs absolute rest.”
Hannah said with a stern face. Peter added from the side:
“That’s right. Absolute rest. Hannah stayed up all night looking after the patient.”
“All I did was check the IV.”
She reluctantly looked at each man she had let into her store and warned:
“I don’t know what you’re planning… but it’s not happening here. Understood?”
“I understand your concern,” Yuri said in quite a polite manner.
“We won’t disrupt your store.”
“…Good.”
The pharmacist’s sharp demeanor softened.
“You knew it was dangerous but still readily helped?” Peter asked, to which Hannah replied dismissively:
“Still, it’s about saving a life.”
“Hannah…”
His voice was filled with admiration. But Hannah, without showing a hint of wavering, stood up from her seat.
“Well then, talk amongst yourselves. I need to open the store, so absolutely do not come out of this back room.”
After giving her warning, Hannah swiftly left.
“This place is always fascinating. It has an analysis lab and even this infirmary.”
“Hannah apparently made this space to catch some sleep, but it ended up being used like this. I hear she often brings in injured animals too.”
It seemed she was harsh to uninvited guests but gentle to patients.
Chris felt sorry for continuing to intrude on Hannah’s peace.
Once the host left, all their attention turned to the patient on the bed.
“Rare to see a Guide from outside Northern Light,” Yuri said, to which the man smiled bitterly.
“I was a regular person during my first examination. I manifested later.”
After confessing this, the man noticed the people around him staring blankly and added, “An artificial manifestation.”
“What?”
Peter looked at the man with an astonished face.
“I carried you instead of Hannah, but I didn’t feel any guiding at all.”
It was a reasonable question.
The middle-aged man explained carefully:
“Unlike innate Guides who can transfer guiding energy just through contact without conscious effort, I need to concentrate separately to transfer guiding energy.”
“Ah…”
“Would you like to try?”
Peter reluctantly extended his hand.
The man carefully grasped it and closed his eyes. Peter’s expression gradually softened.
“He really is a Guide.”
Yuri, who had been quietly observing him, muttered in a low voice.
Meeting his gaze, Yuri asked, “Let’s start with your name.”
“Ah, my name is Conrad.”
The man willingly revealed his name.
“I’m originally from the Winter Continent.”
Peter looked surprised again. But he swallowed his shock.
That was understandable, as cases of crossing to other continents without going through Barrel Society were rare.
Especially for a Guide…
‘He might have been forcibly taken.’
“I should clarify to avoid misunderstanding, but I’m an archaeologist who was invited to the Autumn Continent for research. I also carried out projects there with sponsorship.”
“But this is the Spring Continent.”
“I know.”
Conrad made a bitter face.
“After discovering… something. I’ve probably set foot on every land there is.”
“If you’re deliberately not saying what it is…”
Just as Yuri began to speak, the middle-aged man hastily replied:
“…There’s a prohibition placed on me.”
“They seemed intent on killing you anyway. Yet they still placed a prohibition. Thorns Order’s mental-type Espers must be quite impressive.”
Though it was sarcasm directed at Thorns Order, the patient shrank his shoulders.
In contrast to the expressionless Yuri, he looked quite pitiful.
“Now, now,” Peter intervened smoothly.
“We weren’t just sitting around doing nothing, so we can break it or bypass it. Isn’t that right?”
“I’m not saying this because it’s troublesome.”
Yuri said, rubbing his eyes as if tired.
Conrad, who had been listening to their conversation, hesitantly opened his mouth.
“I think… not all of the prohibitions they placed are still intact.”
“…”
The attention of all three focused on Conrad.
Though he seemed nervous, clutching the sheet tightly, he explained slowly:
“Even if I can’t say the exact words, in the past I wouldn’t have been able to even utter that sentence.”
“I see.”
Yuri rubbed his chin and asked another question.
“You said you’ve set foot on every land. Does that mean you’ve returned to the Winter Continent?”
The man pursed his lips tightly. His eyes rolled around as if figuring out how to answer without triggering the ‘prohibition.’
However, Yuri seemed to have already gotten his answer from just that expression, and his lips loosened.
“You did return.”
He muttered in a low voice.
“Whatever you discovered is also in the Winter Continent.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
