Chapter 46
“Even A-zone Guides don’t speak carelessly to me. They know their place. So who are you to do so?”
At Chahun’s words, someone somewhere let out a stifled laugh. Jo Heeseo jumped up at the sound and glared around. Chahun looked at her indifferently and offered a sandwich to Yeonwoo.
“I answered your question, but why aren’t you answering mine?”
At Chahun’s words, Heeseo’s lips quivered as she looked down. Even someone like Heeseo apparently couldn’t claim she was better than A-zone Guides.
“I asked why you’re not answering.”
In a flat tone, Chahun placed a sandwich in Yeonwoo’s hand and gave him a drink as well. Heeseo’s face contorted at this attentive behavior, enough to make Yeonwoo mistake Chahun for a Pair Guide. Her expression grew even more hostile when Bae Jaeyoung entered her field of vision.
She should have been the one sitting beside Bae Jaeyoung and Kang Chahun, being treated well. Then she could have walked proudly among the people who finally recognized her worth, however belatedly!
Heeseo glared at Jaeyoung, who was taking care of her Guide, then looked at Chahun, who wasn’t even giving her a glance. Not just them, but none of her team members showed any interest in her.
How dare they.
Her flushed face was covered with shame. When Heeseo jumped up and ran out of the cafeteria, Park Seohyun picked up her spoon with a displeased face.
“It’s not worth our attention, we’ll only look foolish. Let’s finish our meal.”
At those words, Choi Dongwon looked at the exit before picking up his chopsticks. Seohyun looked down at the pieces of egg garnish and smiled slightly.
“Honestly, well. There’s nothing left for us to look more foolish about.”
Seohyun and Dongwon let out self-deprecating laughs as they began to eat, but Yeonwoo put down his half-eaten sandwich. If he ate any more, he might throw up what he’d already eaten.
Espers with unstable abilities were classified as ability instability cases and had to live their entire lives wearing mana restraints. Both the Training Director and team members thought Yeonwoo’s ability was unstable because he didn’t receive guiding, but what if that wasn’t the case? What if his ability fluctuated even with guiding?
The Esper Association, having determined that Yeonwoo couldn’t protect Yeonhwa, would easily strip him of his guardianship. And then they would exploit Yeonhwa’s abilities like before.
I’d rather die again than see that.
Pressing his throbbing head, Yeonwoo looked down at his palm where mana was rippling. Since Yeonwoo had changed Chahun’s future, the futures of the book’s protagonists would inevitably change as well. If Yeonwoo’s unstable ability was the price for interfering with numerous protagonists, it was a cheap trade…
If Chahun just gave up his resolve to leave the Center, there would be nothing to fear. As long as Chahun stayed at the Center, causality would guide him according to the predetermined future, and Chahun would eventually enter the dungeon with the dragon. He could trust a Chahun who became Center Director with the future.
Could he make Chahun the Center Director before Yeonhwa became an adult? If something happened to Yeonwoo, who should take care of Yeonhwa? Would the same chaos as before come after Chahun left the Center? As Yeonwoo was pondering these questions, he looked up at Seohyun’s call.
“You said you were classmates with Guide Jo Heeseo? Was she like that there too?”
It didn’t seem like a question expecting an answer, as Seohyun’s tongue moved sharply before Yeonwoo could open his mouth.
“Most Guides from the military academy are like that. Without systematic training, they don’t know the size of their own vessel, whether it’s large or small, and are just full of arrogance.”
Dongwon nodded vigorously at Seohyun’s words. Watching Dongwon vent about how this would never happen at Muyeong Academy while Seohyun spoke sarcastically, Yeonwoo bit his lip. It seemed the team would fall apart before Chahun became Center Director.
He didn’t know about other zones, but in the C-zone, teams with discord were torn apart and became gate exploration teams. It was a simple job of just walking around Center-designated areas, and since it was a job done by D-class awakened ones with no abilities, it was a profession looked down upon even in the C-zone.
There were many team members who forcibly reconciled to avoid becoming exploration teams, but with Heeseo showing such attitude, the team’s dissolution was imminent. Clicking his tongue, Yeonwoo organized his tray with the team members.
“Is that all you’re eating?”
Looking down at the kimbap that looked good enough to resell and the sandwich he had barely taken a bite of, Chahun opened a fruit pack, urging him to at least eat this. Seeing the blueberries automatically reminded Yeonwoo of the jewel snake.
“Have you seen the jewel snake since then?”
“No?”
As Yeonwoo nodded, relieved, Seohyun, who was accepting the fruit pack that Chahun offered, made a puzzled expression.
“A jewel snake? Don’t those come from magical beast beads?”
“Ah, it keeps appearing, maybe it escaped from the magical beast research lab.”
At Yeonwoo’s words, Seohyun let out a scoffing laugh. She said that two years ago, a pack of Lant mice had escaped and invaded the C-zone. They had dealt with them as trained, but ended up being cursed for a year.
“Jewel snakes don’t have lethal abilities, but still, you should report it just in case.”
At Seohyun’s words, Chahun leaned towards Yeonwoo. His broad shoulders hunched, making his large frame look slightly smaller.
“Can’t you check around once, hyung?”
Maybe I should. It wouldn’t be bad to teach him how to handle magical beasts before he started actual field work. As Yeonwoo, chewing on an orange, nodded, Dongwon’s eyes narrowed.
“By the way, how did you two become close?”
“We knew each other before imprinting.”
“Kup!”
As Yeonwoo covered his mouth after swallowing an orange incorrectly, a startled Chahun patted his back. While Dongwon stared at Yeonwoo with round eyes, Yeonwoo, who had managed to swallow the orange by thumping his chest, hurriedly corrected himself.
“Awak-! Awakening! Before awakening!”
“Ah. Isn’t that the same thing?”
Watching Chahun ask so nonchalantly, Seohyun’s mouth fell open as she looked at Yeonwoo, moving only her eyes. No, it’s not. How can Espers imprint on each other! Waving his hands, Yeonwoo mouthed to Chahun.
Seriously, how can you learn things in a way that makes you think awakening and imprinting are the same thing?
As Dongwon was moving his lips, Seohyun jabbed him in the side. Sending a strange look to Yeonwoo, Seohyun stood up, and Dongwon followed. Wanting to escape this situation quickly, Yeonwoo also stood up, but Chahun grabbed his training uniform.
“Why are you getting up, hyung? You haven’t finished eating.”
“I’m done. And I need to move with my team members…”
“So I eat alone?”
You’ve been eating alone just fine until now, haven’t you? After checking the small amount of food left, Yeonwoo evaded Chahun’s hand and folded space.
“I’ll see you when I’m done later.”
Leaving Chahun clutching at empty air, Yeonwoo exited the cafeteria and let out a deep sigh. He didn’t want to enter the training room. Having a low rank didn’t mean he had no pride. Just like Yeonwoo, he didn’t want to train with Jo Heeseo, who so clearly showed she didn’t want to be with him.
* * *
Team members excluded from all missions returned to basic mana ball training. While sitting in a circle with team members passing mana balls back and forth, Heeseo watched the mana balls falling from Yeonwoo’s fingertips. Thoroughly sick of Heeseo trying to find fault with him in any way possible, Yeonwoo got up as soon as the training bell rang.
For the first time, Yeonwoo left the training room without organizing the training tools and nearly suppressed a scream when he saw employees gathered in front of him.
Avoiding the employees, Yeonwoo continued walking even when he saw a pattern being drawn arbitrarily beneath his feet. He was sick of it all. Heeseo, the employees, his phone that had died because of the constant messages.
He thought everything would end then!
“Hyung?”
Feeling liberated as if his body was decomposing, Yeonwoo sat down as soon as his feet touched ground. He rested his forehead on his knees, breathing heavily.
“Why did you come so early today? Is it okay to use your ability like this?”
Carefully regulating his breathing, Yeonwoo looked around. Tension drained from his shoulders as he saw the familiar training room behind Chahun, who was crouched next to him. He lay down flat and looked up at the ceiling.
The expression of the employee whose eyes he had met when folding space came to mind, causing worry to flood in, but he decided not to care. Slowly exhaling to calm his rapidly beating heart, drowsiness washed over him. Perhaps because he had been suffering from nightmares for a long time, he welcomed his heavy eyelids.
“Hyung? Hey, are you sleeping?”
Yeonwoo, who had fallen asleep to Chahun’s voice as a lullaby, opened his eyes abruptly.
Sitting up, Yeonwoo spotted a sandwich package with a hole in it and looked around. The container with fruit was overturned, and on top of it, a jewel snake was coiled.
The tapping sound he heard was the jewel snake striking the container with the tip of its tail. As Yeonwoo carefully approached, the jewel snake, which had been looking down at the container, raised its head and wiggled its body in various ways. It was unclear whether it was welcoming Yeonwoo or urging him to open the damn lid.
Meeting the golden bean-like eyes, Yeonwoo unknowingly knelt down and lowered his gaze. Looking closer, he wondered if it was different from the jewel snake from before, as only the eye color was the same while the length was different. The jewel snake, about a span long, quivered its tail. It looked like it was greeting him, so Yeonwoo waved back.
“Hello.”
At Yeonwoo’s greeting, the jewel snake tilted its head, then jumped off the container and wrapped itself around Yeonwoo’s finger. Then it nodded toward the fruit pack, jabbing repeatedly. Judging by how it ordered people around with a chin gesture, it seemed well-accustomed to human handling. When Yeonwoo took out a blueberry, the jewel snake eagerly moved its small mouth to eat it. From its glossy black scales that shone brilliantly and its smooth body line, one could immediately notice it had been well cared for.
Well, the corpse of a jewel snake was traded at prices higher than most jewels, so it made sense to treasure it. After finishing the blueberry and still nodding for more, the jewel snake was fed an apple by Yeonwoo, who whispered quietly.
“Did you escape?”
He knew how research magical beasts were treated.
Yeonwoo himself had wanted to escape from the military academy more than once or twice. He could easily imagine the circumstances under which this small jewel snake had risked its life to flee the magical beast research lab. The jewel snake, which had been moving its mouth without rest, now seemed full as it finished its meal and preciously held a piece of apple. Then suddenly, it raised its head.
“You’re awake?”
Chahun, who opened the door and came in, was shaking his wet hair but stopped to lift Yeonwoo, who was sitting on the floor.
“What kind of training do they do in your zone? Do you know you fainted as soon as you arrived here yesterday?”
It was difficult to tell Chahun the truth when he asked seriously what had happened. The fact that his ability was unstable, or that his team member was trying to drive him out—these weren’t things he could tell anyone.
“Just… Training has been tough lately.”
At Yeonwoo’s answer, Chahun clicked his tongue and said he should at least eat a hearty meal before leaving, then looked for a booklet only to discover the messy fruit pack.
“Did that thing appear again?”
As soon as Yeonwoo answered yes, ice flowers bloomed beneath Chahun’s feet and began to search every corner of the room. Watching the ice flowers being retrieved without any results, Chahun gestured to Yeonwoo.
“Let’s eat first.”
Led by Chahun’s hand to the outside, Yeonwoo looked around the room one last time, but he didn’t notice the jewel snake wrapping around his ankle just before the door closed.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
