# Chapter 26
“How could…”
“Shut up.”
“How could you make me drink bathwater! …pfft, bwahaha!”
“Ugh… Please go away.”
“Hahaha!”
“That just shows how pure Dohyun Esper is~.”
Looking at his friend laughing like he’d lost his mind and the Guild Master offering no comfort at all, Dohyun wanted to crawl into a mouse hole and hide. Even Haegang, whose expressions rarely changed, was clearly trying to force down the corners of his mouth that were threatening to rise, which confirmed that Dohyun had definitely said something ridiculous.
Dohyun’s left hand trembled as he held his pen and signed the membership application. He was accepting the Guild Master’s proposal to officially join now that his ability had been identified.
Since he had used his ability without even knowing it, he needed time to get used to it, but from the guild’s perspective, there was no reason to delay his membership. Dohyun, who was in debt from the aftermath of the fire at his home, didn’t refuse either.
“Our guild’s basic contract period for Espers is 2 years, with 1-year extensions afterward. As I mentioned before, Dohyun Esper will have a 4-year contract, and extension requests will be the same as for other Espers.”
“Yes.”
“But for production-type Espers, guild membership is practically a formality. You’re affiliated with our guild, but the ownership of the items you produce remains with you.”
The Guild Master said this with apparent regret. It meant that since items created by production-type Espers were sold individually, there wasn’t much benefit for the guild. Wouldn’t that make it difficult to repay his debt? Dohyun was starting to worry that the path to clearing his debt would become more distant.
“Don’t worry about that. While the guild doesn’t have ownership, they do have priority purchase rights and discounted purchase options, which is still beneficial for the guild. Shouldn’t you have explained that properly, Guild Master Cheon Somyeong?”
“I was going to say that. Wait, it’s already written in the contract!”
“Seriously? Did you sign without reading the contract again?”
Dohyun quickly glanced at each of the three people and then scanned the contract with his eyes. It was just as Haegang had said.
‘Party A’ has the obligation to share the list of production items with ‘Party B’, and ‘Party B’ has the priority right to purchase.
“For your information, our contract terms are favorable to Espers, if anything, and certainly not unfavorable. They’re above industry standard.”
As the Guild Master claimed, Dohyun also thought these conditions weren’t bad. Joining the guild meant he could get help with income and tax issues from product sales, and thanks to being affiliated with the country’s top guild, he could produce more safely—giving them priority or discount rights wasn’t really a loss.
“There’s going to be a huge response. It’s going to get noisy.”
According to the research results so far, Dohyun’s ability was a type that had never appeared anywhere, from anyone. It wasn’t just the fact that he could make “potions capable of healing” that was rare. Originally, when using weapons made by production Espers, Espers had to use their own energy and thus needed an equivalent amount of Guiding. However.
“But this doesn’t seem to need that at all.”
Items made by Espers can usually only be used by Espers. Even if you give a sword or gun made by an Esper to a regular person, they can’t utilize the ability because they don’t have their own energy. Therefore, while they could protect themselves, they couldn’t exert the special power needed to tackle Gates.
But Dohyun’s potion was different. Considering it had worked on a cat…
“It means you don’t need your own energy to use it. So, we speculate that even ordinary people can use it.”
If so, it was an extremely broad ability. Of course, safety would need to be confirmed, but if as expected, it was highly likely that even ordinary people would want it.
Since it would be incredibly troublesome to manage direct sales himself, Dohyun signed an additional contract with the guild for proxy sales in exchange for a brokerage fee. Could this help repay some of his debt?
He wondered if he was asking too much, considering the guild was already investigating the incident that occurred at his home… But Dohyun knew that holding onto matters he couldn’t handle himself would only be a burden.
“Congratulations.”
“What? Oh, yes.”
In the car on the way back home after finalizing the contract. Dohyun was startled by Haegang’s sudden remark but nodded his head. Remembering how he had understood the contract terms thanks to Haegang’s explanation when he hadn’t grasped them properly, Dohyun thought he should express gratitude for that as well. He awkwardly opened his mouth toward Haegang, who was driving.
“Um, thank you for your help.”
“…I only did what I had to do.”
“…Really, truly thank you.”
At Dohyun’s voice expressing gratitude again despite having already done so, Haegang glanced at him.
Though everyone had congratulated him, Dohyun still didn’t quite understand. He had been quite exhausted after unknowingly creating that “potion.” Thanks to Haegang’s Guiding, he was barely able to recover, but if he hadn’t received Guiding immediately, Dohyun might have gone out of control.
The saying that all Espers are incomplete beings who can only survive with a Guide felt newly real. The recoil after using an ability was more terrible than he had thought. Even though he considered himself fairly accustomed to pain, that was suffering he didn’t want to experience again.
“You seem lost in thought.”
“I’m… not sure.”
It was a strange answer. Dohyun continued speaking while looking at the sky and clouds passing by outside the window.
“Is it really… good? Is it okay?”
“Why are you so unsure?”
Dohyun liked being ordinary, but as of today, he had moved further away from that. The pain he had thought he never wanted to feel again had become inseparable from him. Dohyun stared at his hands for a moment. Was this really something worth celebrating, something good?
“You seem to be deeply troubled, but why do you look like that despite being able to use your ability?”
“Well… you could tell I was worried?”
“I know you were concerned about not being able to use your ability as an Esper.”
It showed, huh? Dohyun bit his lip in embarrassment.
Originally, Dohyun didn’t want a great ability. He was just frustrated because he didn’t know anything, and he felt burdened by others trying to help him develop his ability. At first, he thought it didn’t matter whether he had an ability or not, but as time went on, he grew increasingly anxious.
And now to obtain an ability he had never even imagined—it made him even more uncomfortable.
Should he say it? Would Haegang think it was strange? Intense deliberation cluttered Dohyun’s mind. Was this the kind of relationship where he could talk about such things? What if Haegang asked what it had to do with him?
After much contemplation, Dohyun carefully opened his mouth.
“Of course, I understand that carrying potions is more convenient than waiting for a healing Esper. But this was just discovered… There’s no guarantee it will be as effective as a high-ranking Esper’s ability.”
Nevertheless, the guild members reacted as if they had seen a high-ranking healing Esper. He understood that a healing ability was good. But what if it could only heal fresh wounds or minor external injuries—why did they react as if they’d seen a panacea? What if it only appeared to recover temporarily, but the condition could worsen? Such doubts constantly arose. If the potion could only treat very minor wounds, wouldn’t it be unnecessary?
As Dohyun haltingly expressed his thoughts, they arrived home, and Haegang, parking the car, asked curiously:
“Isn’t that enough?”
“Pardon?”
“Of course, it would be nice if it could heal major wounds, but I think it’s quite good even if it only treats minor injuries.”
“Why?”
Aren’t minor injuries unnecessary to treat? They’ll heal soon anyway. As Dohyun was about to retort with that thought, Haegang slightly furrowed his brow as if hearing something strange.
“Whether large or small, the most dangerous thing when injured is infection of the wound site. So even a small wound should heal quickly to reduce the chance of infection. Of course, Espers heal quickly, but Guides don’t, so it would be very helpful. And it’s the same for regular paramedics or injured people in accidents, not just at Gates.”
Hearing that explanation, the Guild Master’s comment that the potion could be used not only by awakened ones but also by ordinary people suddenly resonated with him.
“You could even keep it at home as emergency medicine. More importantly, aren’t you getting out?”
“Ah… yes.”
Dohyun stared blankly at Haegang, who had abruptly spoken and gotten out of the car. Even after following him out of the car, Dohyun stood there for a long time, unable to go inside.
“Quite… good…”
Dohyun repeated those words several times.
A very small smile gently hung on the corner of his mouth.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
