Chapter 16. Champion
[117]
Chris had a dream.
He was standing in the middle of a desolate wilderness.
He wore a laurel wreath on his head, but that was all.
Chris was truly a desolate winner.
As he took a few steps, he could feel the sand dust crumbling beneath his feet.
At some point, he saw a blonde woman standing across from him.
For a moment, she felt so familiar that Chris thought it was himself.
“Anastasia.”
Chris’s lips moved as he recognized her.
“Oh. So this is possible too.”
The Esper who had given Chris the ability to transform into a wolf, the witch Anastasia, scratched the back of her head.
“Where… is this place?”
Though it seemed like a dream, there was a strangely awake feeling.
Anastasia grinned and answered Chris’s question.
“How would I know? I may have the nickname ‘witch,’ but it wasn’t earned through actual fortune-telling abilities.”
Anastasia, who had the ability to manipulate life force and beyond that, the Esper ability itself, was a dangerous person.
It was because her ability itself was special, not her combat power.
Just look at Chris—hadn’t he used Anastasia’s power to enter Northern Light with a new identity?
But there was an end to Anastasia’s escapes, where she would cut off her tail and flee using her special ability.
Captured by Yuri, Anastasia broke the deal regarding Chris’s life force and bestowed upon him the ability to transform into a wolf again for this mission.
“Did I come here because I’ve been using your power too often?”
“That might be the case.”
Anastasia shrugged.
“But I’m not sure either. I’ve only ever extorted life force from others, this is the first time I’ve given away my own and lived this long.”
“Why is this place so desolate?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
Anastasia answered indifferently.
“It’s my first time having such an empty dream. Hmm. Maybe it was a restless sleep.”
“Are you not sleeping well?”
“Not me. Not me, but you. You, Chris Danil.”
At those words, Chris slightly furrowed his brow.
Come to think of it…
‘I attended the banquet for participants.’
He wasn’t sure when he had fallen asleep. But he did seem to have met Yuri.
The warmth remaining in his hands and feet proved this.
He hadn’t drunk even a sip of alcohol, so he didn’t understand why he’d fallen asleep as if fainting.
‘Was it the guiding drug?’
Chris clicked his tongue as he came to a similar conclusion to Yuri’s.
If it had been an ordinary drug, he would have detected it immediately and held his breath or something.
Guiding drugs aren’t so easily identified.
Perhaps because the purpose of guiding drugs is to disrupt an Esper’s nerves and create the illusion of receiving guiding.
“Living alone, don’t you get lonely?”
Chris asked abruptly.
“I was alone outside anyway.”
Anastasia, an Esper who manipulated life, didn’t need a Guide.
So she must have lived a long time granting others’ wishes and maintaining her own life in return.
“So I’m not newly lonely.”
It was nearly impossible to read expressions on Anastasia’s face.
The topic seemed to have made her quite detached.
‘Perhaps it’s that woman’s own sore point.’
“Haven’t you thought about reclaiming your ability from me?”
“Not really.”
The answer came too quickly.
Reading the suspicion in the man, Anastasia sighed.
“I don’t particularly want to put you in danger. Yuri Sobolev would come after me.”
Anastasia grumbled that Yuri had even created age-progression montages of her.
“If you feel confined, I’ll arrange for you to move a bit more freely.”
“No need. I don’t particularly enjoy going outside anyway. Spending time knitting is quite enjoyable too.”
Chris slightly furrowed his brow, finding it difficult to understand.
“It feels like being an ordinary person.”
Anastasia explained in a low tone.
That word ‘ordinary’ stirred something in Chris.
“Have you… ever thought about losing your ability?”
“Occasionally.”
After her brief answer, she looked at Chris as if surprised.
“Does someone like you also wish not to be an Esper?”
“Let’s just say I have such moments too.”
“With a proper Guide, why would you… Ah.”
Anastasia’s eyes lit up.
“It seems we were drawn here because we had the same thought?”
“Hmm.”
“It shows that you think it’s nonsense. Closing your mouth doesn’t hide everything.”
“If I was rude, I apologize.”
Anastasia clicked her tongue at Chris’s prompt response.
“That’s even more rude… anyway.”
She rolled her eyes and scratched the back of her head.
“Now I know that having the same thought at a similar time can lead to a shared dream.”
“Not particularly useful, I suppose.”
“Since we’re here, tell your master to send me new patterns. And new yarn too. The more, the better.”
“Are you planning to knit a castle?”
Anastasia laughed.
“That wouldn’t be bad either.”
For someone who could only use her ability by taking others’ life force, she quite enjoyed productive activities.
Perhaps she immersed herself in activities like knitting because of her own ability.
Chris swallowed his speculation.
“I’m using the wolf transformation ability well.”
“It’s stronger than you might think. If you use your sense of smell well, you might discover unexpected treasures.”
Anastasia clicked her tongue and added.
“Sensitive senses can also be a weakness, so be careful about that.”
“Don’t you have any healing abilities among your powers?”
“Why? For your Guide?”
Anastasia shook her head.
“All I can do is steal others’ life force to extend my own lifespan. I can also transfer a specific person’s ability to another using myself as a medium. But I don’t have the power to heal others.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“Just protect him well. With a loyal hound standing guard, who would dare hurt him?”
Chris maintained a tight-lipped, awkward smile.
He sometimes thought that he himself might hurt Yuri again someday. And this often led to fear. But there was no way he could share such inner thoughts with Anastasia.
‘It’s better to remain just an Esper who overprotects his Guide.’
“By the way… if I were you, I wouldn’t think about making another ‘deal’.”
Anastasia blinked.
“What do you mean?”
“What I take in exchange for a deal is life, you know.”
Anastasia shrugged.
But there was something quite chilling about what she was saying.
“If it weren’t for Yuri Sobolev’s special ability, do you think I wouldn’t have taken my payment?”
“Of course not.”
The other party was clear in her calculations.
She hadn’t given up on taking Chris’s life force out of some inadequate compassion.
Wasn’t it solely because of Yuri’s threats that she had yielded?
“When you have someone you love, you at least take care of your life.”
“I certainly wasn’t thinking of dying.”
Chris muttered.
“As if I had completely forgotten that you could extort from me.”
He truly hadn’t thought that a new ‘deal’ could involve risking his life.
Anastasia clicked her tongue.
“That’s understandable. Chris, you are strong.”
It wasn’t an entirely unfamiliar expression. But coming from Anastasia’s mouth, it made him ponder carefully to understand the context.
“Strong people tend to be arrogant.”
Arrogant?
Chris reflected on the word that felt so unfamiliar.
“Just because you kneel before Yuri Sobolev doesn’t make you newly humble. You’d still look down on everyone else anyway.”
“I don’t recall disrespecting others.”
“But you’ve probably never considered them a threat either.”
Anastasia wiggled her finger.
“Stay sharp. Espers with special abilities like mine are rare, but not entirely non-existent.”
Chris tensed at those words.
Anastasia was right.
“I appreciate the advice.”
His desire for the healing power the other might possess was due to his reunion with Susanna Godrin.
It reminded him of the time when Yuri was seriously injured.
“That’s enough. Well… let’s consider your master’s actions as payment for saving my life.”
“Is that your rule too?”
“I tried to steal a jewel and got caught by the owner. I’d have nothing to say if my head rolled, but if he kept my limbs intact and let me live, I should settle the account.”
In some ways, she was quite meticulous with her calculations.
“…I’ll make sure to tell Yuri about the new patterns.”
“Good.”
Anastasia clapped her hands.
“It’s about time for you to wake up. And next time, fill in this desolate space a bit.”
“What?”
“Ah, I realized it halfway through, but it seems you haven’t become aware.”
Anastasia clicked her tongue and whispered.
[This is inside your heart, Chris.]
***
Chris rose from his place.
Except for Anastasia’s last words, the conversation he had with her was gradually dispersing like fog.
‘A restless dream.’
As with all dreams, they seem entirely real while asleep, but upon waking, one realizes it wasn’t reality.
This dream was like that too.
‘There were some quite meaningful parts, but…’
From the moment Anastasia, who was far away in the Winter continent, appeared, it was already just a nonsensical dream.
Chris paused as he was getting up.
He seemed to have fainted just as he was after attending the party, but somehow, he was now lying in bed properly dressed in pajamas.
Wiggling his toes, he confirmed he wasn’t wearing socks either.
“Were my sleeping habits always this neat?”
Yuri answered Chris’s inadvertent self-talk.
“It was quite a sight. With a flushed face, either from alcohol or something else, you neatly folded your clothes and lay down on the bed.”
Leaning against the doorway, Yuri took a sip from a steaming mug and asked.
“So, was the party enjoyable?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
