Chapter 56
There was a guild called “Seohan.”
It was a four-member guild specializing in assassination—a term that didn’t quite fit the 21st century.
Should I call it assassination? Private sanctions? Bounty hunting?
Of course, they didn’t target ordinary people. If they had, they would have become targets for elimination by the Association.
Even among Espers, there were vicious criminals who ignored the law and acted as they pleased.
Such Espers were often involved with large criminal organizations, harmed ordinary people, or kidnapped innocent Guides for their own guiding needs. Both the government and the Association dealt with them firmly.
Despite these strict and somewhat cruel measures, Esper criminals consistently emerged, and it was the Seohan Guild that went around eliminating these criminals.
While their member information was unknown, it was common knowledge that they were all Espers with exceptional killing abilities.
There was talk that the Esper who suppressed Ye Han-dam during his rampage—dying in the process—was a member of Seohan.
I remembered hearing within the Association that the guild leader’s name was similar to the guild’s name.
Thinking “No way, it couldn’t be Ye Han-seo,” but seeing how the students in our class unanimously praised Ye Han-seo’s movements, my speculation didn’t seem entirely groundless.
“Aren’t you going to eat? There’s still a lot left.”
“I should eat.”
My mind was complicated.
Assassination itself isn’t a good thing.
Most Espers act to stop all kinds of powerful monsters emerging from Gates and to prevent Gate explosions.
But the Espers of Seohan were like a necessary evil.
Should I call them a lesser evil created to eliminate the worst evil?
I don’t know if the Association created the guild, but it was a fact that both the Association and the government managed it.
Seohan began its activities when I turned twenty-one, and if it wasn’t that they became famous later after existing for a while, but rather that they were formed around that time, then it would be correct to conclude that it was created by the twenty-year-old Ye Han-seo.
What kind of fate is it to die killing your own brother?
“What’s with them, are they like characters from some manga?”
“Huh?”
“Nothing.”
You just be a savior, don’t worry about these outlaws.
Shaking my head, I placed some of my side dishes onto Yoon Cheong’s tray.
Sensing that I didn’t want to talk more, Yoon Cheong quietly continued eating.
I had a rough idea of why Ye Han-seo was acting this way.
Somehow, I felt I was about to hear a predictable yet heavy story, which made the food hard to swallow.
My prediction wasn’t wrong.
After finishing lunch and returning to the classroom, I finally had to listen to the middle schooler’s somber story.
“So your aunt raised you since you were young?”
The boy, nodding, looked uncertain about how to speak to me.
Perhaps because he wasn’t used to speaking formally, he didn’t seem to use honorifics like the students in my class did with me.
In today’s world, I wouldn’t criticize a middle or high school student for not using honorifics.
When I told him to speak comfortably, Ye Han-seo finally looked more at ease.
In fact, only a few of Ji Yeohoon’s classmates used honorifics with upper-grade students like me and Yoon Cheong because of Ji Yeohoon’s influence; most weren’t familiar with formal speech.
Plus, some kids only used honorifics with me because Ji Yeohoon always did so with me.
But that’s a different story.
“I guess Ye Han-dam and your aunt had a terrible compatibility rate.”
“The Association and everyone else said the same thing.”
It was a predictable story.
When Ye Han-dam Manifested, his aunt—who was a Guide—urgently tried to guide him, but unfortunately, being a novice F-class Guide, she died from reverse guiding.
While Ye Han-dam would have been shocked as well, Ye Han-seo, who wasn’t an Esper at the time, came to hate Ye Han-dam because of it—a predictable narrative.
Moreover, perhaps due to the nature of his ability, Ye Han-dam caught the Association’s attention and joined Chaehwa, a guild under the Association. With no guardian, Ye Han-dam was transferred to a school specializing in Esper-Guide education.
Ye Han-seo was raised under the Association’s protection because he was an Esper’s family member.
This happened when Ye Han-dam was 8 years old.
Since it happened when they were both young, they grew up building walls between each other instead of talking.
Misunderstandings accumulated, and when Ye Han-seo recently Manifested, the Guide who helped him was perfectly fine, which made Ye Han-seo see Ye Han-dam even more as an enemy.
“Did you come to the third school knowing Ye Han-dam was here?”
“No, that’s not it. The Association told me to choose a school I wanted to transfer to, so I came here.”
Before my regression, these brothers would never have met.
Ye Han-seo would have come to the third school as he did now, but Ye Han-dam, who had transferred to a different school, wouldn’t have come to the third school if I, an S-class Guide, hadn’t been here.
Since the emotions arising from distrust of Guides caused reverse guiding, Guides should have been careful with guiding, but most Guides, thinking reverse guiding wouldn’t easily occur if the compatibility rate was good, went full throttle.
The two who had fought hard since morning were scolded by the teacher, but it seemed the misunderstanding wasn’t cleared yet.
Ye Han-seo was breathing heavily and looking with raised eyes toward where Ye Han-dam might be.
“But what do you want to do?”
“What?”
“With Ye Han-dam.”
“I’m going to kill that bastard. He made my aunt…”
“Do you really think that will make you feel better?”
At Yoon Cheong’s question, Ye Han-seo, who had been angry at my inquiry, closed his mouth.
Even if Ye Han-dam were to die, it wouldn’t bring his deceased aunt back to life.
Typically, newly Manifested Espers tremble in fear at the unfamiliar sensation, so it’s a principle to guide them carefully even if they have a high compatibility rate.
While Ye Han-seo, being a close-range attack-type Esper, might not have devastated his surroundings if he had stayed still, Ye Han-dam, being an explosive type, would have had things exploding all around him.
Could a boy scared of his own ability fully trust himself to not harm an approaching Guide, especially one who had raised him in place of his parents?
In such anxiety, reverse guiding occurred.
I let out a deep sigh.
This wasn’t anyone’s fault. It could only be described as extremely unfortunate.
Of course, I can say this because I’m not directly involved.
“Don’t get swept up in feelings of revenge. You’re an Esper too, so you should understand.”
Surprisingly, Yoon Cheong spoke up, as if he had quickly grasped the situation.
“You know how it feels when you first Manifest. I was scared because I couldn’t control it, and even when guiding bigar touched me, I didn’t calm down right away.”
Though Yoon Cheong was held by the man who immediately came when he Manifested, he couldn’t stop objects from flying around.
“My mind starts getting dizzy, and only when a Guide touches me does it start to feel okay, which is scary.”
He was already a quiet person.
But back then, he was even more reserved, only surveying his surroundings with anxious eyes.
“Everyone around says you need to transfer schools immediately after Manifesting, and suddenly you’re moving with barely packed belongings.”
Sitting in the departing car, Yoon Cheong had eyes that looked like he was being left behind, even though he was the one leaving.
Ye Han-seo seemed to sense something subtle in Yoon Cheong’s words.
Perhaps recognizing that it felt like Yoon Cheong was telling his own story, the anger-filled expression on Ye Han-seo’s face softened.
“And even if reverse guiding happens, as an Esper needing guiding, you cling to the Guide even knowing they’re in pain.”
“…Cling?”
“Just having a Guide nearby makes you feel better. But being guided means the bigar is transferring to me, and just because there’s reverse guiding doesn’t mean the bigar stops. You can’t stop the guiding because it feels good.”
It’s been a very long time since Yoon Cheong spoke at length.
Somehow, his expression looked troubled, as if remembering the time in middle school when reverse guiding occurred while attacking a Gate.
I sighed.
I tapped his back with my fist, and Yoon Cheong finally returned to his usual expression.
You’re thinking too much about the past.
It’s already hard with the unresolved imprinting of these two, and remembering the reverse guiding incident will only make your mind more complicated.
“It’s okay to be angry if you want to be angry. It’s okay to blame if you want to blame.”
“…?”
Ye Han-seo looked at me blankly at my words.
Usually, people would teach not to get angry, not to be enraged.
I thought stopping everything wasn’t always good, and after hearing Yoon Cheong’s words, his emotions might have nowhere to go.
“Try talking to Ye Han-dam once. Tell him it’s because of him. Get angry, curse a lot. But also listen to what he’s thinking, what he’s been thinking.”
“…Me?”
“Yeah. You listen too. He’s probably been alone as well.”
With parents gone and their guardian aunt dying at the young age of twenty-two, linked to a brother who can’t be resented or angered, emotions would naturally twist.
It might be natural to think, “It’s because of him, so killing him would solve it.”
Especially when a young person is engulfed in anger, it’s hard to predict where those childish thoughts will lead.
But the same goes for Ye Han-dam.
Even if it wasn’t intentional, someone like a parent died because of him.
I find it difficult to understand how he must feel.
“Talk to him later. If you think you’ll fight again now, wait until later. That’s okay too. After all, you both lost someone who should have been there for you. Just stop destroying things around you.”
The conversation was over.
Though his expression showed he didn’t understand why he should listen to me, he agreed not to fight.
While I didn’t have an obligation to untangle this mess, these guys were still young.
There are many emotions to learn and things to do, too many to live solely with negative feelings like anger or revenge.
Seeing a boy whose face was still full of childishness, I wanted to try to stop him early, knowing that as he grew older, he’d be involved in what they called “assassination.”
“Hyung!”
“Oh. Ah, looks like it’s time.”
“Yes. The teachers will be here soon.”
Ji Yeohoon came looking for Ye Han-seo, saying he needed to take him back.
He clung to me so naturally that I sighed deeply and patted his back.
As it was almost class time, I told them to go back, and Ye Han-seo left with a dissatisfied face.
“Yoon Cheong, shall I tell you something?”
“…What?”
“The probability of a Guide experiencing reverse guiding during an Esper’s awakening.”
“What?”
“One in five thousand times, a Guide beside a Manifesting Esper gets injured or dies from reverse guiding. Usually, they get slightly injured and that’s it, but…”
I brought up my phone and showed the lesson material provided to Guides who had guided at least once to Espers after awakening.
Since cases of simultaneous awakening of a Guide and an Esper were almost non-existent, this was information given to awakened Guides.
Among Guides, there were a few cases where F-class Guides were not familiar with guiding.
While all Guides could fundamentally perform guiding, some F-class Guides had significantly less bigar and engaged in activities other than guiding.
No matter how valuable Guides are, you can’t force someone who isn’t suitable to perform guiding.
Some even worked as regular office staff rather than field staff at the Association.
Probably, that boy’s aunt was such a person.
A pitiful person who, though unfamiliar with guiding, knew she had to guide a newly Manifested Esper and recklessly guided her beloved nephew.
One in five thousand isn’t such a low probability.
She just happened to be one of them.
“That… we shouldn’t tell him now, right?”
“That’s right. Would he be okay if he knew his aunt did that guiding without knowing much? He needs to grow up a bit more before learning this.”
Yoon Cheong nodded in understanding.
My heart felt heavy and complicated.
“But just being nearby provides a very weak guiding effect. Even if you’re just standing still, it makes you feel really comfortable.”
“She probably was unfamiliar with guiding and was too panicked to remember that.”
An aunt raising her deceased brother’s children, seeing her newly Manifested Esper nephew’s surroundings exploding, couldn’t have just stood still.
It was too bitter a story.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
