Chapter 21
Ji Yeohoon, who received the candy bag, stared intently at the people wearing different uniforms.
He’d seen my and Yoon Cheong’s uniforms many times since our transfer, so there was nothing surprising about them, but his eyes were directed toward Baek Da-hyuk and Yoo Ji-ae.
“Hyung seems to have a lot of Espers following him around.”
Ji Yeohoon said with a hint of displeasure as he held the candy.
He had a sullen face despite the fact that I hadn’t asked them to follow me.
“They’re not following me.”
Ji Yeohoon, who had been grumpy about Espers following me, nodded in understanding when he saw Baek Da-hyuk and Yoo Ji-ae looking at a Guide who was offering plenty of candy.
Yoon Cheong was also staring at the two Espers beside me.
“Is that Guide kid high-ranked?”
“No. I think she was D-class?”
I guess rank doesn’t matter when Espers get fixated on a Guide.
Baek Da-hyuk was a B-class and Yoo Ji-ae was a C-class Esper.
The middle school seniors who were fixated on the friendly-looking female Guide student were grinning stupidly at the elementary schooler who bowed her head saying “thank you” after receiving candy.
“But I heard her matching rate is quite low. She’s not the type to guide multiple people. There’s no one in our grade who matches with Do Yoon-seo.”
“Even though those two are totally entranced by her, I wonder if she matches well with them?”
“Maybe not? Matching rate doesn’t matter when it comes to getting fixated.”
“Who says that?”
“Our homeroom teacher.”
The 6th grade Esper class homeroom teacher was someone who had achieved imprinting, which is quite difficult.
Imprinting was one of the rare phenomena that became possible when emotional exchange between an Esper and Guide was deep.
We didn’t learn the exact method for imprinting. They didn’t teach it at all because if the method became known, there was concern that Espers desperate for Guides might forcibly attempt it.
They only informed us that when the conditions for “imprinting” are met, the individuals themselves would know, and even those who were normally negative about imprinting would lose their aversion to it when the time came.
In fact, I didn’t know the imprinting method even before my regression, so it might be natural that they don’t teach it in school.
Imprinting wasn’t all good either. Espers tend to strongly prefer receiving guiding only from their imprinted Guide, and Guides tend to want to guide only their imprinted Esper, which creates a situation the Association doesn’t welcome.
The biggest problem is that when imprinting occurs, if the Guide dies, the paired Esper may go out of control, and if the Esper dies, the paired Guide often becomes dysfunctional.
That’s why the conclusion of Esper and Guide education always included “exercise caution to avoid hasty imprinting.” Imprinting doesn’t happen easily anyway, but they wanted to reduce what little risk there was.
The 6th grade homeroom teacher was a case where the matching rate with her imprinted Guide was only 20-30%.
Typically, it’s believed that the higher the matching rate, the higher the probability of imprinting, so imprinting in a relationship with a low matching rate was rare—a rare case even among rare imprinting cases.
“So what does she do during afternoon classes?”
“She reads books, watches others doing guiding, and talks with the teacher.”
Coming to the 3rd school despite having a low rank already meant she was likely affiliated with a guild.
On the other hand, Baek Da-hyuk and Yoo Ji-ae weren’t affiliated with any guild. If they didn’t join a guild during their school years, I thought they would likely follow that Guide girl into the same guild.
The 6th grade children who saw the candy approached familiarly and held out their hands.
When asked what they wanted, they chattered excitedly, “Hyung, I want strawberry,” “Oppa, I want mint.”
This was thanks to Ji Yeohoon’s frequent visits since his transfer, which had made us quite friendly with those kids.
After the children who had gathered around took one candy each and disappeared to talk among themselves again, I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Hyung, don’t you have any other candy besides these? I prefer sweet over sour.”
Ji Yeohoon looked up at me and wrapped his arms around my waist, whining slightly. This kid, I could clearly see him trying to act cute.
Since becoming an Esper, he seemed to be trying to use his face rather than his ability, and that makes me, huh? Makes me, what?
“Chocolate?”
…I’ll let it slide because he’s cute.
I searched through the candy I had, found something sweet, unwrapped it, and put it in his mouth. Ji Yeohoon smiled happily.
I had felt it since he was young, but he really did have a handsome face.
“How about me?”
“What kind do you want?”
“I want something sour.”
Yoon Cheong, who had been staring at Ji Yeohoon, grabbed my shoulder and pointed to the bag full of candy.
When he specified lemon, I said “sure, sure” and looked through the bag.
Yoon Cheong doesn’t show much expression and doesn’t tend to act cute, but he seemed to know he had a handsome face as an Esper and occasionally used it deliberately.
Unlike when he was young, he didn’t look at me with wide round eyes but rather with a steady gaze, which suited him so well that I thought he would attract many fans once he graduated and his face became known.
I held out a lemon candy to Yoon Cheong, but he just looked at it quietly, so I put it in his mouth despite feeling a bit absurd. Only then did he seem satisfied as he rolled the candy in his mouth.
Having raised them since they were young, I wondered if I was being too soft.
“Hyung, lunch is almost over. I’ll come to your room when we finish.”
“Alright. Play safely.”
So I don’t have to deal with you getting hurt.
With that thought in mind, I spoke, and Ji Yeohoon said okay and moved away.
When Yoon Cheong said we should return to the classroom, I turned my head to call Yoo Ji-ae and Baek Da-hyuk, only to find them staring at me blankly.
“What?”
“…”
As I looked at them with an expression that said “What’s wrong?”, the two shook their heads.
“Nothing, forget it if you don’t know.”
How bland.
We returned to class, and the Espers went outside for afternoon ability-related lessons. Surprisingly, Ji Yeohoon’s father entered our classroom.
Why was this amazing person coming to our humble—no, why was this humble person coming to our amazing place, instead of going to his son’s class?
The five Guide students in the class remained in the classroom, staring blankly at the person who entered.
The homeroom teacher stood in the center, seemingly about to briefly explain the man’s background.
“Guide Oh Chan-seok is the representative Guide of the Calling guild. As an S-class Guide, he helps guide many Espers within the guild. Today, he will explain about the life and mindset of a Guide.”
Our homeroom teacher, who normally didn’t use honorifics, spoke with a slightly flushed face.
Even for a teacher, Mr. Oh was a celebrity from a Guide’s perspective.
One of the common phrases Guides hear is “act like Guide Oh Chan-seok.”
He was regarded as the most Guide-like figure among all Guides.
“Hello. I’m Guide Oh Chan-seok, in charge of today’s special class.”
S-class Guide Oh Chan-seok, the Guide husband of Ji Seon-young, an Esper in the rare healer position even among Espers.
Despite being in a relationship that had progressed beyond dating to marriage, he didn’t remain exclusively as his wife’s dedicated Guide.
According to what was revealed in the future before my regression, despite being in a situation where imprinting was possible, he didn’t imprint and remained a general Guide for other Espers in the guild.
Nevertheless, he was always harmonious within his family, dedicated to his wife Ji Seon-young, and most famously, didn’t spare his own life even when Yoon Cheong’s outburst occurred.
After a brief introduction and greeting, Mr. Oh said to ask if we had any questions.
“Um, Guide Oh Chan-seok…”
“You can call me teacher.”
Mr. Oh smiled kindly at the student who raised a hand saying they had a question.
It was a smile resembling Ji Yeohoon’s.
“Teacher, why didn’t you become a dedicated Guide?”
“Well, what reason do you think?”
“For the guild’s Espers?”
“That’s one reason, but I take great pride in being a Guide. What do you think a Guide is?”
“Um, someone who helps Espers?”
“Someone who can guide and keep Espers from feeling pain.”
The basic principle of a Guide is “offsetting an Esper’s pain with one’s own power.”
Guides don’t have tremendous strength or abilities like Espers, but they occupy a peculiar position where they can soothe or neutralize powerful Espers.
“Each Guide has a different idea of their role. Some focus on keeping Espers from feeling pain, while others think it’s about enabling Espers to use their abilities more.”
“Are they different?”
“Not greatly different. The difference is in mindset. I wanted to make it a little less difficult for Espers who enter Gates to protect us. Because I have the power, and it’s something I can do.
I’d like you all to think about what you want to do for Espers while guiding them. There’s a difference in effectiveness between guiding with the thought ‘Guiding will happen when we touch’ and guiding while thinking ‘I hope they feel a little less pain.’
When you guide your Esper friends, rather than just holding hands and ending it there, even the simple thought of wanting them to be less tired next time can make your friends feel more comfortable physically.”
This was the first time I’d heard this.
I knew that a Guide’s positive feelings toward an Esper helped with guiding by making the Esper more comfortable, but how many people actually practiced it that way?
As Mr. Oh finished his explanation, he looked into my eyes and winked.
The special lecture, if you could call it that, wasn’t long.
Since the Espers in our class, whose strength was gradually increasing, often started playing around and then grimaced in pain if left alone for a while, the time spent in separate classes was very limited.
After about an hour of questions and discussion, when the Guides in our class got up to move, Mr. Oh approached me.
“Mr. Oh, why did you come to the first-year middle school class?”
“I came to see Soo-young.”
As I looked up with a face that said “Really? Why? How come?”, Mr. Oh tousled my hair vigorously.
“I’m grateful that you’ve been looking after Yeohoon, so I came to see your face. Usually, the longer someone attends an Esper-Guide school, the harder it is for them to get along with others. But when I occasionally see our son after he comes out, he has less of that issue. I heard from the 6th grade teacher that first-year middle school students often come to visit and talk to him.”
I had taken care of them more childishly because I didn’t want to see Espers becoming too arrogant in society, but I never expected it to be perceived this way.
In the end, he was saying he came to see me because he was grateful for how well I took care of the kids.
I learned that his wife had gone to give a special lecture to the 6th grade.
“I’m always grateful that Soo-young is so mature. Thanks to you, the children seem to lean on you more childlike.”
“Well…”
Unable to be a child myself, I could only watch from one step behind.
I just took care of them a little more when they came to lean on me, but the children who were trying to build walls among themselves had become children appropriate for their age.
I had only taken care of them a little more.
“Thank you so much. It’s really fortunate that Soo-young is an old soul in a young body.”
What? Mr. Oh, could you say that one more time?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
