Banteon pressed his lips tightly together at the shocking revelation. He could sense the unstable energy stirring around him—it was far from normal. He found it odd that someone from a Center overflowing with Guides could be this unbalanced, but now the reason was clear.
The situation was more dire than he had imagined. An Esper who never received Guiding would inevitably go berserk and die. Even among lower-ranked Espers, a rampage would be several times more destructive than their normal abilities. And if an SS-rank were to go berserk without Guiding?
Just like the first naturally awakened Esper, the center of the continent would be split in two.
At first, he had wondered why Delroz, someone with no provisional Guide and who hadn’t even completed training, had been sent here. Only now did he begin to understand the Center’s intent behind sending him.
An Esper who couldn’t find a Guide was a ticking time bomb—a catastrophic disaster the kingdom couldn’t afford to keep in the Center, the heart of its territory. That’s why they were trying to isolate him as far away as possible.
“So I came to see if there was even a chance with you… but I just ended up hurting my eyes.”
Everyone except a minimum team would be sent to join the Subjugation Squad. If things continued as they were, the outcome was already written. Either the monster den would be cleared, or Delroz would lose control and die from the rampage…
No. More than that—did Delroz know he had been stationed out here just to die in some remote backwater?
Banteon raised his head and studied his face. He looked for even a trace of shadow in that perpetually expressionless face. But Delroz looked no different than usual.
It was a hopeless situation where all Guides and Guiding were impossible.
Even if his training wasn’t complete, Delroz had to understand the gravity of the situation. Any Esper would know it instinctively. Especially someone like him, who had already experienced the brink of a rampage—he knew just how grueling it was.
“What happens next?”
“You already know. I go berserk or… Why the hell am I even explaining this?”
Delroz abruptly stopped speaking and roughly tousled his hair. His face hardened into a scowl, arms crossed in irritation, and he turned away with an air of disgust.
“As if anything was ever going to work with another guy. That was a mistake.”
“……”
“Just a waste of time and a foul mood. Forget everything you heard today.”
Delroz marched out of the tent without another word. Just like when he had first appeared, he disappeared again without notice. Banteon stood in place, silently watching him walk away.
Left alone, Banteon aimlessly wandered the tent in slow steps, biting his lip with mounting anxiety. He pressed a hand against his chest to calm the pounding that refused to settle.
What was going to happen next?
He couldn’t get the thought of Delroz going berserk out of his mind. An SS-rank rampage was nothing short of a cataclysm. Half the continent could be wiped out again.
Banteon had taught lectures on rampages to his students. He had studied countless materials on the topic—he knew better than anyone how devastating such an event could be.
Suppressing the tightness in his chest, he lay down on the bed. Why had someone who had been receiving proper Guiding suddenly become immune to it?
No matter how far back he searched in his memory, no clear reason surfaced.
In the hundreds of years the Center had been in operation, there had never been an Esper with symptoms like Delroz’s. Plenty had escaped the brink of rampage, but there were no records of anyone experiencing issues with Guiding afterward.
Could it have been the drug that had forced him into rampage? The chance that it contained illegal substances was high, and that might have caused the side effects.
“Mmm…”
As Banteon sorted through his thoughts, another question surfaced. Why had Delroz sought him out among all those available Guides?
Espers had instincts sharper than animals. If he had approached Banteon despite knowing he was male—and despite thinking Banteon wasn’t the one who had stopped his rampage…
‘Could it be that I’m actually able to Guide him?’
What if, due to the side effects of the drug he had taken that day, the energy from Banteon’s Guiding had imprinted itself so strongly on him that Delroz was instinctively drawn to him, even without realizing it?
Banteon shook his head violently as the thought spiraled further.
If he was the only one who could Guide Delroz, he would end up tethered to him against his will. That was the last thing Banteon wanted. Naturally, he should be doing everything he could to stay far away from him…
But this wasn’t just a personal issue. It was a matter of safety for the entire continent. This wasn’t the time to be hiding away in fear for his own wellbeing.
“……”
Could things possibly get any more twisted?
Should he have ignored Delroz that day? But if he had gone berserk then, the entire capital would’ve been blown to bits. Even thinking it over again, the conclusion didn’t change.
Banteon had two options. Attempt to Guide Delroz and end up bound to him, or flee to the capital and wait for Delroz to die in his rampage.
Either way, it was a nightmare.
Banteon picked up his terminal, sinking deep into thought.
If Delroz went berserk, the damage would be catastrophic. Even if it happened in the outer regions, the destruction would be unimaginable. Lives would be lost. The land reduced to ruins would take centuries to recover—if ever.
He had never thought of himself as particularly virtuous. He had lived freely, enjoying the privileges of his position. He had walked the line between legality and crime for a comfortable life. Words like guilt, responsibility, and justice were the farthest things from Banteon’s life.
So this time too, he could just turn his back and leave, not caring whether Delroz lived or died. After all, there was no certainty that Banteon’s Guiding would even work. Even if he ran away, it wouldn’t be his fault.
Even if Delroz went berserk and there were casualties, no one would blame Banteon for it.
“Ah, seriously.”
He abruptly sat up from the bed, glaring daggers at the screen of his terminal that refused to change. Caught in a brutal struggle between reason and emotion, the scales had finally tipped.
Nothing was certain yet. The idea that he might be able to Guide Delroz was still just a guess.
He just had to check—once.
All he had to do was confirm that Guiding with Delroz wasn’t possible, then return to the Center. That way, even if he later heard that Delroz had died from a rampage, he wouldn’t be wracked with guilt.
He shoved the darkened terminal aside with a rough hand and threw himself back onto the bed. His entire body sank into the plush mattress. Turning onto his side, he buried his face in the pillow.
“I must be out of my goddamn mind.”
The muttered lament slipped out before he could stop it.
***
“Are you insane?!”
“……”
“No, seriously—this can’t be happening unless you’ve lost it. Are you sick? Should I schedule a psych eval or something?”
“……”
“Say something, at least!”
Tearot shouted loud enough to rattle the walls. Banteon gave no reply, only fueling his frustration as he clutched at his chest in exasperation.
After agonizing all night, Banteon had made a decision. If he was going to confirm things, he would do it quickly—by being near Delroz—and then flee back to the Center.
Staying at the headquarters where he currently worked meant little chance of running into Delroz. So after thinking it over until dawn, Banteon had submitted a request to be transferred to the mining ruins unit—the one Delroz belonged to.
It was a move driven by sheer urgency to find out the truth. The moment Tearot found out, he stormed in at dawn and had been causing a commotion ever since.
“I should’ve known the moment you suddenly volunteered for the Subjugation Squad. I should’ve dragged you to the psych ward back then!”
“Calm down.”
“Do I look calm to you?!”
Tearot shook the terminal displaying the team roster with wild energy before slamming it down in front of Banteon with a loud thud.
The emotional outburst made Banteon’s eardrums sting.
“You’re really not going to tell me the real reason? Even now, when it’s gotten this bad?”
“……”
Banteon hesitated as he watched Tearot stomp his feet like an angry child, unable to contain his overflowing fury. Maybe it wasn’t too late—maybe he should explain.
“Please, just say something. Why are you doing this all of a sudden?”
Tearot’s voice dropped, low and brittle, almost as if he were about to cry.
If it was Tearot, there was no risk of the secret getting out. He was the only person Banteon could truly trust here. And yet, Banteon was still hesitating—because he hadn’t even sorted through his own feelings yet.
But with things spiraling this far out of control, it seemed better to come clean now. At this point, he needed at least one person on his side.
“…Fine. Sit down.”
“Good.”
At Banteon’s signal, Tearot immediately took a seat across from him, posture full of tense energy, as if ready to hang onto every word. Banteon exhaled deeply.
“How much do you know about Delroz?”
“What? That he clashed with every Guide at the Center and got banished out here? That he might go berserk and die any day now?”
As expected of someone always quick with intel—he knew everything already.
“That’s right. But I think… I might be able to Guide him.”
“Why? Everyone else failed—what makes you think you can?”
“I don’t know if you’ll believe this, but actually…”
Tearot crossed his arms with a skeptical look, like he was waiting to hear what kind of wild story Banteon was about to spin. Banteon wasn’t sure if this was the right choice, but the die had already been cast.
He swallowed hard and opened his mouth.
“I’m that Guide.”
“What Guide?”
“The Guide Delroz is looking for.”
“…Huh?”
“……”
“Huh? …Wait, what?”
Tearot’s eyebrows shot up as he let out a dumbfounded noise. Tilting his head, he replayed the words in his mind. Then, when the full weight of what Banteon had said hit him, his eyes flew open in utter shock—so wide it looked like they might pop right out.
