“You hope former Lieutenant General Logan will flee? Why?”
“If he escapes, he’ll be wanted as a villain, right? Then you’ll have a reason to arrest him, Major.”
“And?”
“How many people can handle an S-class ability user? The Investigation Bureau will naturally ask for your help, right?”
Brenda chattered, letting her imagination run wild. The Defense Force, protectors of the world, had the authority to arrest criminals like villains on the spot without a warrant, starting from the rank of second lieutenant.
“If the escaped guild master resists, no one will object if you rough him up a bit in the process… In other words, you can deal with him within legal bounds!”
Injuring a criminal to the point of near-death while subduing them was considered a justifiable act. Moreover, killing a villain didn’t result in punishment. Brenda thought even that outcome would be fine.
“Wouldn’t it be better if he gets taught a lesson by you before being caught, rather than being arrested without a scratch?”
“Haha.”
Iberis shook his head as if he couldn’t help it and let out a small laugh. Brenda’s voice carried a strong belief that her superior wouldn’t lose to a criminal like Livio.
“To be frank, you want to beat the hell out of that bastard too, don’t you? Am I wrong?”
Brenda giggled excitedly as Iberis’s reaction wasn’t bad.
“That’s true.”
Iberis didn’t deny her words. He realized through Livio that he could hate someone this much. Honestly, if given the chance, he wanted to return to Livio the sorrow that the Armand couple must have felt in their final moments, and the despair that Ryan and his team members must have experienced facing their unjust deaths.
“The problem is, I’m not sure I could stop myself from killing him…”
A voice tinged with subtle killing intent slipped out between his slightly parted lips. Iberis, who had unwittingly revealed his heavy sincerity, quickly composed his expression.
“Regardless of my feelings, Livio Logan mustn’t escape. If he resists, it could cause dungeon break-level chaos…”
An S-class esper turned villain is a calamity equivalent to the creation of an S-class rift. If Livio refuses arrest and attacks the military police, there would be enormous human and material casualties.
The concern that innocent people might be sacrificed was also one of the reasons why Iberis didn’t kill Livio in the past. If the two fought to the death, the surroundings would be devastated.
“Well, that’s true. Actually, I’m a bit worried. Given his personality, he doesn’t seem likely to be arrested quietly… What if he gets excited and causes a riot? The police won’t be able to subdue him.”
“That’s a concern, which is why a counter-terrorism unit will be deployed on the day of the operation.”
“Heck, really? But in that case, wouldn’t it be better if you just went, Major?”
“Huh?”
“I think if you’re there, the guild master Logan won’t easily think of resisting.”
“On the contrary, he might get excited seeing me. From his perspective, the Captain and I ruined everything.”
“Ah, that could be the case too.”
Brenda nodded, acknowledging the point.
“Anyway, for the reasons I mentioned earlier… and because the Military Investigation Bureau, whose face was smashed by the terrorist incident a few months ago, wants to recover its pride. It’s a decision made after consulting with Lieutenant General Bismarck.”
“I see. Well then… I guess the Investigation Bureau will handle it well. If there’s any trouble while escorting the suspect, it won’t end with just getting scolded.”
“For everyone’s sake, we should hope the transfer process goes smoothly.”
“Phew, I hope they arrest him quickly and proceed swiftly with the investigation and trial. Maybe the Captain will feel better once the special prosecution announcement is made.”
“Well… I wonder about that.”
“Hmm? Your answer doesn’t sound confident. Is something bothering you?”
“…I don’t know.”
“Pardon?”
Brenda blinked at the ambiguous answer.
“It seems Luke has some other worry besides the former Lieutenant General Logan issue, but I can’t figure it out.”
Iberis muttered with a sullen face. Even before he started having nightmares, Lucas often seemed to be pondering something. There had been several times when he was about to say something to him but then closed his mouth again.
“Um… Don’t you have any guesses?”
“Well, there is one…”
Iberis trailed off, glancing down at his ungloved hand. His special gloves, made of unique material, had the characteristic of blocking some of the cold energy leaking from his body. They also had the effect of preventing frostbite.
That’s why Iberis always wore gloves when working. Although it was sometimes uncomfortable, he couldn’t carelessly expose his bare skin for fear of harming others.
However, as his body damage rate dropped to the 10% range, the cold energy emitted from his body decreased dramatically, and his average body temperature rose slightly. Thanks to this, he improved enough to be able to take them off briefly when doing paperwork like now.
With several positive changes like this, Iberis wasn’t anxious or worried even when the test results came back the same for the past few weeks. After all, he could now comfortably do things that were difficult to attempt before meeting Lucas.
But Lucas was different. He regarded the halt in Iberis’s physical changes as a negative phenomenon.
“…I think it might be because of my body.”
“What? I thought your treatment was progressing smoothly, Major.”
Brenda was startled by Iberis’s mumbling. She looked worried, wondering if his health had worsened.
“That’s right. I don’t see any particular problem… but Luke seems unsatisfied.”
“Why?”
“Well… the main indicators like body damage rate and mana circulation haven’t improved for several weeks.”
“Oh, isn’t that bad?”
“It’s just stagnant, not getting worse again. All the numbers are already close to the normal range.”
Seeing anxiety on Brenda’s face, Iberis explained as if to say there was no need to worry.
“I can feel that it’s completely different from a few months ago. It’s my body, so I can’t not know. Honestly, I think even this much improvement is a miracle.”
Iberis’s words were sincere. He was satisfied with the current situation. Although his stamina was somewhat lacking due to his energetic lover, his overall condition was excellent. His ability’s power had increased, and the duration of use had lengthened. In contrast, the intensity of the after-effects had noticeably decreased.
Then, an inexplicable confidence came to him. He thought that if he managed well like this, even if he couldn’t fully recover, he might live much longer than the doctors had said at the beginning of last year.
Lucas also agreed with Iberis’s thoughts to some extent. He recently judged Iberis’s condition as “not life-threatening, but a chronic disease that needs lifelong management, like hypertension or diabetes.”
Iberis thought this was enough to say he had escaped from being terminally ill with an uncertain death date, but Lucas’s view seemed different. He wanted to eliminate even the slightest risk factors completely.
‘Complete recovery and chronic illness are clearly different concepts. You seem to think it’s good enough to live with because you’ve been in poor health for so long, but you shouldn’t settle for that. You need to have the mindset of getting completely better.’
‘It’s not that I don’t want to get better. I’m just saying I don’t need to be declared fully recovered right away. You know, there’s a saying that the more urgent it is, the slower you should go.’
‘What if there’s no change even after a few years? If you remain at the same level?’
‘Can’t we worry about that when the time comes? It hasn’t even happened yet…’
‘I don’t have the confidence to watch you being sick for several more years. I don’t want to live in constant anxiety about when you might get worse again.’
‘Luke…’
‘I know it’s my selfishness, but… I want to make your body normal enough that you don’t need guidance for even two or three days, as soon as possible.’
‘Why?’
‘I’ll try to prevent such cases as much as possible, but you never know what might happen. You might have to be apart for a few days due to business trips and such. I don’t want to be worried sick every time that happens.’
Lucas cited his concern about being away as the reason for trying to recover Iberis by any means. It was a valid argument, and Iberis had nothing more to say.
“It hasn’t even been a year since Lucas became my guide. We could afford to take it slow… I’m worried he’s being too hasty.”
Iberis met Lucas in March last year, and now it’s January, so it’s been about 10 months. In this time, which could be considered long or short, Iberis had been through a lot with him and experienced significant changes.
“Hmm, from the Captain’s perspective, of course he wants you to get better quickly. It’s painful to watch your lover being sick. There’s also the risk that all the treatment so far could be for nothing if you encounter a strong enemy like the Black World Tree and experience mana overload. I completely understand his feelings, don’t you?”
“Is that so…?”
Iberis still wore an expression of not being fully convinced. Then his eyes widened at Brenda’s next words.
“If it’s so frustrating, why don’t you ask him first, Major?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
