“Eh, it’s not some grand reason that moved me to cooperate after being touched by your words. But if you’re that curious, I’ll tell you.”
Rohan twisted the corner of his lips in a mocking grin.
“I just couldn’t stand how the pathetic ones strutted around like they ruled this place. That’s all. I wanted to crush everything.”
“You mean the royals and nobles?”
Was it the same sense of aversion Delroz felt toward the nobility? Testing the waters, the question was posed, and Rohan murmured while stroking his chin.
“They are especially arrogant, sure. But I wasn’t just talking about them. I meant all of you… Ah, maybe this is too complicated to get into.”
“What?”
“Nah, I think it’s still too early. Even if I told you, none of you would ever understand.”
Rohan abruptly cut off and cast his gaze downward with a subtle smile. The condescending air, like a teacher lecturing a child, drew a frown between Banteon’s brows. His gut told him this was the root of Rohan’s hostility. He had to dig deeper somehow.
“Come on, considering how far I’ve come, you could at least share that much.”
Their gazes locked, so close now that even the dilation of each other’s pupils was visible—yet still, there was no trace of red energy around Rohan. When Banteon grabbed Rohan’s arm, the man smiled with satisfaction.
“If you’re being this cooperative, I have to say I’m grateful. Though it’s a bit hard to adjust to how obedient you’re suddenly being.”
“If you don’t like it, I can go back to how I was.”
“No thanks. I’m in an exceptionally good mood right now.”
Rohan took hold of Banteon’s arm in return. He restrained the instinctive urge to recoil, calming the stiffening limb. Unlike before, Rohan didn’t attempt a forced Guiding the moment he made contact.
“Hmm… You really came alone? Where’s your Esper?”
“That’s none of your concern.”
“If he finds out you came here, he might be the one to destroy the kingdom—not me.”
“Not everyone goes around breaking and killing things for no reason like you do.”
“Hahahaha!”
Rohan burst into laughter at Banteon’s pointed jab, the sound echoing through the quiet woods, reverberating between the trees as he doubled over with mirth.
“Ah, that was a good one. So he’s playing it tame over there, huh?”
“You speak like you know him well.”
“Of course. There aren’t many people who know your Esper as well as I do. We’re the same, after all.”
In terms of being unstable and unpredictable, Banteon agreed completely. But to call them the same—Delroz didn’t deserve to be lumped in like that.
Difficult to understand, rude, and brash—yes. But he never looked at people with that kind of gaze.
“……”
The last image of Delroz suddenly surfaced, making it hard to breathe. That dawn, when his mind slipped into darkness, his face had twisted in a pained, almost tearful expression as Banteon kept rejecting him to the end. Now wasn’t the time for these thoughts, yet they surged uncontrollably, crowding his head. He forcefully pushed them aside.
“Think what you want. My coming here has nothing to do with him.”
“Well, I appreciate it either way. He’s kind of a pain to deal with.”
Rohan gave a nonchalant shrug and turned slightly to the side.
“Are you done asking questions now?”
“You didn’t really give any proper answers.”
“I do appreciate your eagerness, but don’t rush. Stick with me, and you’ll learn everything eventually.”
Rohan stepped in so close he was almost nose-to-nose with Banteon, his gaze blank and dazed like he was entranced. When Banteon stared into those crimson eyes, it felt like something vile was slithering through his bloodstream—he shuddered instinctively.
“Who said I was going anywhere with you?”
“You look even prettier up close. I think he’ll be very pleased.”
His eyes narrowed in a snake-like grin, the tone soaked with a strange sense of satisfaction.
“The conversation’s gotten too long. Shall we move?”
As soon as he spoke, a strong wind whipped up from somewhere. Despite the biting air, Rohan’s face remained unchanged in color. Not even a hint of chill, though he wore clothes far too thin for winter. Banteon, bundled up in warm layers, felt the cold starting to creep into his fingers.
The chill pierced even his yak-leather-lined gloves. It was drawing closer to deep winter. In another week or two, the snow would likely start falling. Only now, as the tension eased, did he start to feel the cold.
Rohan seemed ready to start moving in earnest, and it was unlikely Banteon would get anything more out of him. His body was tired, too—it was about time to end this.
He turned his gaze toward the deeper, darker part of the woods. Fixing his eyes on an empty stretch of nothing, he pulled out a small cigar case from his chest.
“Want me to lend you a light?”
“Don’t need one.”
He hadn’t taken it out to smoke anyway.
Holding the cigar in the middle, Banteon snapped it clean in half. Instead of tobacco leaves, a small device glowed red from within. Without hesitation, Banteon hurled it into the sky.
-Pheeew-
The slender flare shot into the sky like a firework, then exploded high above. A signal bright enough to be seen from afar burst above the mountain.
The flame that had rocketed into the sky vanished in a pale blue glow, and from that point, a powerful light cascaded over the dark forest. A blinding flash, like it would tear through corneas, spread brilliantly across the sky—so bright it could be seen from every city in the capital.
It was the lights Banteon had installed in the forest days before his arrival, now switched on.
Anticipating the situation, Banteon instinctively raised his arm to shield his eyes and squinted forward, waiting for his vision to adjust.
“Just lights? What kind of prank is this supposed to be?”
Banteon glanced up at the moon, now beginning to tip away from its peak above them.
“I was a little surprised when they turned on, but in the end, it’s just some light. Were you hoping to watch fireworks with me?”
As Rohan moved more quickly than expected, Banteon tried to yank his wrist away. But Rohan suddenly stepped in, closing the distance with a threatening air. There was nowhere to run or hide here. Banteon held his breath and turned around—
“Hey there, handsome mister? That Guide might look calm, but he’s got one hell of a temper. Touch him the wrong way and you might get bit.”
A laid-back voice rang out from beyond the brightly lit forest as a silhouette emerged.
A man trudged forward with his hands in his pockets. Despite the darkness of night, he wore heavy, dark goggles over his eyes and oversized headphones that completely covered his ears. Beneath the headset that wrapped around the crown of his head, his silver hair fluttered—exactly the same shade as Banteon’s.
“He doesn’t hit hard or anything, but damn, it puts me in a foul mood.”
“Who’s that?”
“Didn’t expect my dear older brother’s popularity to come back and bite us like this. Can’t believe I had to come all the way to the capital just to clean up. Then again, he’s always been picky and painfully slow on the uptake. I guess younger siblings really are born to clean up after their big brothers.”
“Ha…”
Just hearing him gave Banteon a headache. Sure, he was the one who asked for help, and yes, the timing was perfect—but regret still bubbled up. ‘Should I really have called him…?’
Rohan, eyeing Baiheron from head to toe, curled his lips upward.
“Ah, so this is that infamous S-Rank Esper brother of yours.”
“Yes, indeed. I’m Baiheron Esrante, the notorious troublemaker little brother of the one and only Banteon Esrante. By the way, would you mind telling me your name? I tend to hate one-sided relationships.”
“Just one rescue agent? You know what I’m capable of.”
Given Rohan’s behavior so far, calling in backup would normally be meaningless. But that wasn’t the point of bringing Baiheron here.
“What the hell is he wearing?”
The goggles and headset were already eye-catching, but even more noticeable were the fine circuits running across his tightly sealed outfit—all the way up to his neck. He looked like his entire body had been armored in advanced machinery. Rohan let out a snort.
This time, it was Baiheron who responded instead of Banteon.
“What, this? This is the cutting-edge of the Center’s high-tech advancements—uh… what was it called again? Whatever, it’s the latest Esper response suppression suit or something like that. Damn, the name’s too long.”
Banteon didn’t want to agree with Rohan, but even he had to admit his brother looked utterly ridiculous. If there was anything more embarrassing than the outfit, it was his brother’s behavior. He wanted nothing more than to grab Baiheron and drag him away for a stern lecture—but chose not to badmouth his blood relative and instead changed the subject.
“When you broke into the Center before, I looked into the records. Something didn’t add up.”
“And?”
“You can’t manipulate machines, can you?”
The data showed Rohan had left behind plenty of traces. He’d even appeared on surveillance footage, never bothering to erase his presence. The cameras clearly captured his blond hair and red eyes.
“I wasn’t there long enough to bother with that kind of hassle.”
“Not that you didn’t do it. You couldn’t.”
This was the same guy who’d once shut down the senses of every person in the Yasen building just to speak privately with Banteon. He wouldn’t have been careless when infiltrating the Center to approach Delroz.
Tracing the evidence Rohan left behind at the Center led to one conclusion: Rohan’s abilities were limited to ‘suppression’ and ‘memory distortion.’
There had been worries that, after seeing him control monsters, he might be able to manipulate humans too. But that wasn’t the case. If he could control people, he wouldn’t have needed to brainwash Seira’s impersonator or bribe the researchers.
No—if he had the ability to control people, it would’ve been far simpler. He could’ve just taken over the Center Director and other key personnel and targeted Delroz directly.
