Does Spring Come Even for a Dying Esper

“It’s an honor to meet you, Guild Master Logan!”

“Ho ho, no need to be so tense, Major Norris.”

Logan greeted Carlos warmly as he bowed stiffly.

“Haha, please call me Carlos comfortably. In two days, I won’t be a soldier anymore.”

Carlos said with a bitter smile, his tension easing slightly. A few weeks ago, he had been referred to the disciplinary committee for negligence of duty and was about to be dismissed. While negligence itself wasn’t a major offense, he had a history of multiple disciplinary actions, and two guides from N-6 unit had filed additional complaints of sexual harassment, escalating the situation.

‘I can’t protect you this time. Go to Mars Guild.’

Carlos’s uncle, Major General Norris, who had been a strong supporter throughout his military career, advised him to resign voluntarily rather than face a dishonorable discharge. Instead, he had found him a new job.

“I’m truly grateful for accepting me when I had nowhere else to go.”

“Not at all. I received a lot of help from Major General Norris when I was in the Defense Force. I’m just repaying that debt. Of course, this is possible because of your outstanding abilities.”

Livio smiled kindly at Carlos expressing his gratitude. In truth, he had no intention of recruiting Carlos. Although an A-class Esper, he was a problematic individual who would likely cause more harm than good to the guild.

However, considering his relationship with Major General Norris, he had no choice but to take Carlos in. If he wanted to return to the Defense Force later, it was better to have as many allies as possible. There was also hope that he might obtain some useful information from Carlos, who was the commander of N-6 unit.

“You’ll start in ten days. I’d like to give you more time, but our guild has been quite busy lately with a lot of work.”

“That’s plenty of time.”

“Good. By the way, since I’ve met you, there are a few things I’d like to ask…”

“Please, ask away.”

“How’s the atmosphere in N-zone these days?”

“N-zone?”

“Yes. You know our guild has been selected as a cooperating guild with the Defense Force, right? It’s not certain yet, but we’re likely to be assigned to the Northern Defense Zone.”

“Oh, I see.”

“That’s why I need information from you, who led the N-6 unit for several years. You must know it much better than we do.”

“Of course, N-zone is my specialty. What would you like to know?”

Livio looked at Carlos with disgust as he answered pompously. Then, as if nothing had happened, he smiled slightly and spoke slowly.

“Well, where should I start… Ah, do you know anything about Major Hyun’s recent situation?”

“Major Hyun?”

Carlos’s expression twisted at the mention of Iberis. It was understandable, as Iberis was one of the reasons he was being disciplined.

“Come to think of it, you also have a deep connection with Major Hyun, Guild Master.”

“That’s right. If we take charge of the Northern Defense Zone, we’ll likely have many interactions with him, so I want to be prepared. I heard he recently got a dedicated guide…”

“You mean Luke Illum. He’s a guy who acts up with Major General Bismarck’s backing. He recently attended the unit commander’s meeting, hiding his identity as a special inspector, and caused chaos. If it weren’t for that bastard…”

Carlos gritted his teeth, revealing his hostility towards Lucas. Lucas was the enemy who had driven him out of the Defense Force.

“I understand your feelings, but please calm down.”

“I’m sorry. I got carried away…”

“What do you think is Major General Bismarck’s purpose in sending Captain Illum to Major Hyun?”

“Well… The official reason is to address Major Hyun’s chronic lack of guiding. A few months ago, the Major experienced mana runaway and fell into a coma. I heard that incident led to increased voices in the leadership for more support for Major Hyun. Recently, many high-ranking Espers have been scouted by guilds and leaving the military…”

“So the leadership, worried that Major Hyun might quit the Defense Force, decided to finally take care of him, abandoning their previous attitude?”

“Yes. It must be unpleasant from your perspective, Guild Master… but he is an S-class Esper, after all. Anyway, to address Major Hyun’s chronic guiding deficiency, they conducted compatibility tests among the guides in the Defense Force, and Captain Illum showed the highest compatibility, so he was dispatched.”

“From what I’ve heard, their compatibility is barely over 60%… It doesn’t make sense to assign an S-class guide who could take care of dozens of Espers exclusively to Major Hyun with a compatibility rate that doesn’t even qualify as a pair.”

“There are rumors that Major General Bismarck is trying to recruit Major Hyun into his faction. My uncle suspects the same.”

“I see… What do you think?”

“Well, I’m not sure about the political aspects, but… Major Hyun seemed to care a lot for Captain Illum.”

“Oh?”

Livio’s eyes lit up at the first piece of useful information.

“Yes. During the unit commander’s meeting, when the Captain acted arrogantly… I tried to reprimand him, but Major Hyun actively defended him. Well, it’s common for Espers to become attached to their dedicated guides. Being S-class, his guiding ability must be top-notch, and he’s quite good-looking too…”

Carlos licked his lips as he recalled Lucas. Despite his annoyance, he had to acknowledge Lucas’s appearance and abilities.

“Hmm, how was Major Hyun’s physical condition that day? Did his guiding deficiency seem to have improved? Did he appear to have any other issues?”

Livio voiced the question he most wanted to ask. After receiving reports suggesting something was wrong with Iberis’s body, he immediately launched an investigation but couldn’t find any decisive evidence. The doctors who examined Iberis and their medical records had vanished as if they never existed.

Because of this, Livio actually thought the information was credible. That’s why he had probed Winfried when they met at Defense Force Headquarters. Only a few people could erase traces so thoroughly.

But he couldn’t act on suspicion alone. The cautious Livio wanted concrete evidence of Iberis’s health issues.

However, a week ago, news came that Iberis had demonstrated incredible abilities while supporting S-zone. The hastily obtained combat footage showed Iberis instantly freezing a tidal wave dozens of meters high. Seeing this, Livio became confused. Iberis in the video looked fine, contrary to the information about his illness.

“That day… he looked better than when I met him before, so I thought the guiding was working.”

“He looked fine?”

“Yes. He seemed more lively. Oh, I heard that after that, the Major and Captain visited a military hospital in N-9 zone. They reportedly used the intensive examination room alone for hours, dismissing all medical staff… I remember Major Berk, who manages the hospital, telling me it was strange that no records were left on the server…”

“I see. Thank you for the valuable information.”

Livio smiled gratefully at Carlos, who was trailing off while watching his reaction. Although he gained some insights from their conversation, most of it was information he already knew. Hiding his disappointment, he stood up.

“I’d like to talk more, but I have an important appointment. Our guild’s information team is waiting outside with my secretary. Could you share information about N-zone with them?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Then I’ll see you again on your official start date.”

After finishing his conversation with Carlos, Livio left the guild master’s office. He instructed his secretary, Yuki, to deal with Carlos and walked towards the elevator. It seemed he would have to confirm Iberis’s condition with his own eyes after all.

* * *

Tap, tap.

A rhythmic sound echoed in the quiet office. Lucas, who had been tapping his desk with a pen, sighed and leaned back in his chair.

Ten days had passed since he safely returned to N-0 unit after completing the S-zone support mission, but his worries only deepened with each passing day. So much so that he couldn’t rejoice even though he had achieved his target compatibility rate this morning.

75%

Lucas stared at the compatibility test result with troubled eyes. If he had received this result ten days ago, he would have felt accomplished for reaching the target sooner than expected. And he would have immediately called Winfried to apply for official pairing.

But now, the situation had changed. The Lucas who would have done anything to increase his compatibility with Iberis was gone. Instead, he was now hesitating whether he should continue guiding Iberis at all.

The reason was simple: Iberis’s existence was shaking him to his core. For the past ten days, Lucas had been wavering, caught in emotions he found difficult to define clearly.

Since his parents’ death, he had lived solely for revenge. The Defense Force was merely a means to achieve that end. For this reason, he always drew a clear line with the people he met in the military. He couldn’t carelessly form attachments, not knowing who might be connected to his parents’ death. It could lead to regrettable situations later.

So he tried not to form any relationships. He didn’t want to ruin things with unnecessary emotions at a critical moment.

Above all, Luke Illum was a fake identity that would disappear from the world once his revenge was complete. Despite his circumstances, it was a luxury to form friendships or exchange deeper emotions with others while deceiving everyone. In the end, it would only leave both himself and others hurt, so it was right not to start anything from the beginning.