Chapter 12. Fake Guide
[75]
“All used up.”
The man opened the storage box, muttered to himself, and closed the lid.
It was filled with nothing but empty ampules.
‘I thought there would be one or two left.’
He scratched the back of his head. He thought he’d used two for the last customer, but looking now, it seemed he’d used three or four.
That was the problem with being intoxicated—he couldn’t remember what he’d done.
The man got up, put on his coat, and went outside.
Honestly, the weather outside wasn’t that cold. Rather, warm breezes were blowing, and flowers were beginning to bud.
Watching butterflies flutter over flower beds blooming with colorful flowers made him realize how lonely and desolate the snow-covered land had been.
‘I’m lucky. I came to the Spring Continent.’
The man continued walking, deliberately ignoring the bone-deep chill he felt.
Arriving at a building, he descended a spiral staircase to the basement.
A dark oak door appeared. There was no handle, but a ring hung in the center.
The man pulled the ring, which was engraved with a pattern resembling thorny vines, knocked five times, and spoke.
“I’m here.”
A small opening just above the door ring revealed an eye.
“Come in.”
After confirming his face, the person opened the door.
This time’s “manager” was a middle-aged man.
The visitor trudged to a stool from a long-closed bar and sat down. The manager brought over a device and pulled up a ledger.
“Let’s see. You’re January, right?”
He felt more uneasy than relieved that a stranger recognized him, sparing him the trouble of explanation.
“You’re here for the drug?”
“Yes.”
January hunched his shoulders timidly and nodded.
His straw-colored hair, brittle and lifeless, fluttered lightly.
“You’ve already used up what you took last time?”
“Yes.”
Though the manager wasn’t particularly interrogating him, January felt like he was being scolded.
He was uncomfortable in this place.
“Since this isn’t your first transaction, you know that one box contains twenty ampules. How many do you need?”
“…One is enough.”
“Payment method?”
“I’ll pay in cash.”
When January handed over an envelope, the other man deliberately opened it and checked each crumpled bill one by one.
It was strangely humiliating.
“Three thousand credits.”
January kept his mouth shut and lowered his head further.
“You’re five thousand credits short.”
“What?”
January involuntarily jerked his head up.
Making eye contact with the manager, he felt a moment of regret but stammered out a question.
“Eight thousand credits for one box? Wasn’t it six thousand credits before?”
How could the price jump two thousand credits at once?
But the manager’s gaze was cold.
“The price has gone up. It’s not easy to source the materials.”
“Ah…”
He knew that no amount of arguing would lower the price.
“I’ll add the rest to your debt.”
“…Yes.”
“At least you’ve been good about paying the interest.”
He couldn’t help feeling disgruntled.
The box of ampules, originally one thousand credits, had somehow become eight times that price.
He knew he should be grateful that the supply hadn’t been cut off, given his situation.
But no matter how hard he worked, there seemed to be no way out of his mountain of debt.
It was nearly impossible to find another job that would generate this much income now.
If he couldn’t pay the interest, they would take him away and make him generate profit somehow.
That had been the “agreement” from the first time he took on debt.
“Well… work hard.”
The manager closed the window on his device.
January staggered up the stairs.
He felt dizzy.
‘Of all designs, it had to be a spiral…’
Muttering that the stairs were making him dizzier, he clutched the box tightly to his chest.
No matter how tightly he wrapped his coat, the cold wouldn’t go away.
It felt as if the chill had penetrated deep into his bones.
As if the winter he had left behind long ago was chasing after him.
“No, no…”
Rambling and shaking his head, January continued walking and collided with an obstacle he hadn’t noticed in front of him.
“Ah!”
January flailed as he fell. The box containing the ampules was flying through the air.
‘My drug!’
This was terrible. If all the ampules broke, he wouldn’t be able to work at all.
If he had to go back and buy a new box, he’d incur another eight thousand credits of debt.
That would surely reduce him to someone who could only pay off the interest.
A bleak future flashed before his eyes in an instant.
“Are you alright?”
Fortunately, the person he had bumped into caught the box that had been thrown into the air.
As he helped January up, he handed over the box.
“Thank you.”
January hastily took the box and bowed his head repeatedly.
“I heard rattling sounds. You should check if anything broke.”
“I-It’s fine.”
When January looked up for the first time, he froze.
Only then did he see the face of the person he had collided with.
The man had brown hair and brown eyes, common in the Spring Continent, but his features were far from ordinary.
His tall stature. His features that would inspire admiration.
“I’ll be going now.”
January backed away hesitantly, then dashed off in the opposite direction.
Hiding in an alley, January opened the lid hurriedly while catching his breath.
‘They didn’t break!’
He let out a sigh of relief.
His heart was pounding.
He wasn’t sure if it was because of the man he had just encountered, or because he had almost broken all the drugs in the box.
‘Because of these stupid drugs.’
The fact that he had to feel relieved about this was pathetic.
January leaned against the cool stone wall, sniffled a bit, then got up.
***
“How was it?”
When Chris returned to the car, Yuri asked.
The person January had encountered was Chris, with an illusion making his hair and eyes brown.
“He seemed like a Guide.”
At Chris’s words, Yuri frowned.
“Either he is a Guide or he isn’t. What do you mean by ‘seemed like’?”
“My body felt better, similar to when receiving guiding, but… no.”
Chris stopped mid-sentence and shut his mouth firmly.
“Tell me.”
“The guiding… doesn’t seem to have taken place.”
“You mean there was no change in your physical condition?”
“Yes.”
Having been constantly with Yuri, Chris’s power was immediately replenished even when he used it.
That’s why Chris, who deliberately collided with the target, used telekinesis to catch the box.
He felt a sensation similar to guiding at the moment of contact with the target, but as soon as they separated, nothing remained.
Deep in thought, Yuri muttered to himself:
“It seemed like a precious item. He didn’t immediately try to check if the contents were safe.”
“Yes.”
Chris was bothered by the same thing.
“It seems like something he couldn’t show to others. What do you think?”
“Should I retrieve it?”
“You want to steal it?”
Yuri shook his head.
“There’s no need to secure something when we don’t know how it’s used or why.”
“We have the pharmacist that the locksmith introduced us to, so I think we could request her help again.”
Yuri looked at Chris, who had Hannah in mind with his suggestion.
“You don’t seem to like this assignment.”
“I’m uncomfortable with contacting someone other than Yuri.”
This was quite an honest statement for Chris.
Yuri was a bit surprised. The Chris he knew never expressed his dissatisfaction outwardly.
It’s not as if what’s inside disappears just because you keep your mouth shut.
Chris was particularly stubborn in that regard.
“…I’m not an Esper, so I can’t identify Guides.”
Yuri explained unusually patiently.
“In our group, only you and the locksmith are Espers, and Peter Garrett is away at an internal meeting of the Barrel Society. Since our purpose here is to search for Guides secured by Thorns Order, an Esper is absolutely necessary.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
Chris was silent for a moment.
He didn’t want to receive guiding from any Guide other than Yuri.
Though he knew intellectually that it wasn’t a betrayal, emotionally it felt uncomfortable.
The problem was how to express these childish feelings.
‘He’ll think I’m pathetic.’
“I… I’m sorry.”
Chris bowed his head out of habit.
Yuri was silent.
When he reached out his hand, Chris docilely offered his face.
It wouldn’t be strange to be punished for disobedience.
“Look up.”
Yuri’s gaze was peculiar as he looked at Chris.
“I now understand that you keep quiet to avoid lying.”
“Ah.”
“But why do you keep quiet when I ask you to tell me why you don’t like it?”
Yuri whispered softly to Chris, as if coaxing a dog.
“I’m not trying to scold you.”
After hesitating, Chris moved his lips.
“It felt… good.”
Yuri gestured with his chin as if telling him to continue.
“The euphoria gained from guiding is immediate. The higher the matching rate, the greater the satisfaction, but it doesn’t disappear even if it’s low.”
“…”
“It’s a joy that’s felt instinctively, regardless of whether there are emotions involved.”
Isn’t that almost bestial?
The one fortunate thing was that Chris was imprinted on Yuri.
Because of this, while drifting through Northernlight with lost memories, he never happily received guiding from Luka or other Guides.
But this time was different.
“But the recent contact was clearly that ecstasy of receiving guiding.”
Chris gritted his teeth.
He didn’t want to be reminded of being an Esper in this way.
“It always disgusted me before. For the first time, it felt good. That’s why my mind changed right after contact.”
His voice fell heavily.
Chris examined Yuri’s face. For now, he couldn’t tell what Yuri was thinking.
After a deep silence, as if pondering the words of a loyal dog, Yuri finally spoke:
“Then don’t receive guiding.”
Surprised by the unexpected solution, Chris was bewildered.
“…Pardon?”
“We’ve found a suspicious person, so focus on monitoring him.”
“But… how will we investigate then?”
So stubborn despite claiming you don’t want to do it.
Instead of criticizing Chris’s lack of tact, Yuri spoke softly:
“You’re not being negligent in your duty.”
His white fingers moved slowly from the top button of Chris’s clothes downward.
His downcast eyes looked seductive.
As if peering at skin through fabric.
“It’s my order.”
“Ah…”
Chris’s eyes trembled slightly.
“You said it felt good?”
Yuri laughed softly and pulled Chris closer by his collar.
“Try being frivolous if you can.”
With their lips almost touching, Chris tensed his body.
“Go ahead and drool over other Guides.”
The man’s purple eyes gleamed coldly as he whispered:
“If you’re prepared to face the consequences.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
