Does Spring Come Even for a Dying Esper

– What? Already?

Winfried exclaimed in surprise at the unexpected news. He had expected it would take at least half a year for Lucas and Iberis to officially become a pair, so he couldn’t help but be surprised that they showed results in less than three months.

– Didn’t you just say it became 70% recently?

Winfried muttered as if amazed. Although it’s common for the matching rate to increase when a guide consistently provides guidance to one esper, this speed was exceptionally unusual.

– It was 62% at first… so it increased by 13%? This is really surprising. I expected good results when I sent you to the Major, but not to this extent. Are you two actually name matches? Hahaha.

“The current Major has suffered from a lack of guidance for a very long time. It’s probably the result of his body responding to the first well-matched partner that appeared.”

– You mean the Major’s survival instinct activated in a way that increased the matching rate with you? Hmm, that could be possible. Anyway, it’s very impressive. At this rate, a complete cure seems to be just a matter of time.

“No. I think it’s premature to talk about a complete cure yet. The treatment effect will certainly increase as the matching rate has gone up… but the body’s recovery is a different matter.”

– Is that so?

“Yes. He overexerted himself a bit during this S-zone support operation, which worsened his condition.”

– What? I did watch the combat footage… Has it gotten much worse?

“The mana pollution level and circulation in his body are stable, but the physical damage rate has risen back to the most severe level.”

– Oh no…

Winfried, who had been quite excited, sighed at the news of Iberis’s worsened physical condition.

“Anyway, I’d like you to approve the pair as soon as possible. It’s becoming annoying in many ways as there are a lot of people who keep pestering me.”

– I understand what you mean. I heard there was friction with Major Roman in the S-zone? Colonel Louise contacted me directly to apologize.

“Yes. Even when I say I’m the Major’s dedicated guide, there are always people who try to provoke or test me, which is giving me a headache.”

Lucas sighed softly. In the few months since he came to the N-0 unit, he had received several scout offers. Besides Carlos and Alec, there were already a truckload of people who approached Lucas asking him to guide them or secretly contacted him proposing to join their units.

A pair could only be dissolved with the agreement of both the esper and guide and the approval of the higher-ups. However, Lucas was merely a ‘temporary’ guide to Iberis, not even an exclusive contract, let alone knowing when he might quit.

That’s why people persistently approached him even when he drew the line saying he was currently dedicated to Iberis. They seemed to think there was still a possibility for them since he hadn’t formed a pair yet.

– Judging by the irritation in your voice, it seems you’ve been quite annoyed.

“They’re all so unreasonable. I have a lot to do and don’t want to worry about such trivial matters.”

Lucas said firmly. Although it wasn’t particularly new, as he used to receive such scout offers every few days when he was in the central unit, becoming an official pair with Iberis would reduce such incidents.

– By the way, it’s a bit unexpected. I thought you’d be reluctant to form a pair with Major Hyun.

“…I just judged that it wouldn’t be bad to get closer to the Major from here on.”

– Oh? Have you grown attached already?

“Well… a little.”

Lucas hesitated for a moment before answering ambiguously. He acknowledged that Iberis was special to him, but he hadn’t yet named his feelings for him. He knew that if he defined this current feeling, it would truly become irreversible.

Yet unable to completely deny it, he ended up showing an ambiguous attitude. However, it seemed to be a sufficient answer for Winfried.

– Haha, this is interesting, isn’t it? Well, you wouldn’t apply to be a pair unless you liked him quite a bit.

“…So please put some effort into it, Major General.”

– I’ll try. But I can’t guarantee it will definitely happen.

“Pardon?”

– Well, as you know, pair approval requires agreement from more than half of the review committee members. The conservative faction members will naturally oppose… So besides our side, the neutral faction members need to agree for it to pass… Many people think it’s a loss for an S-class guide like you to be tied to a single esper.

Lucas’s eyes hardened at Winfried’s words that the pair approval might not come through. It was indeed a concern he had while applying for approval.

“The higher-ups are really ridiculous. I’m already guiding only the Major, so what’s there to quibble about?”

– Simply being dedicated to Major Hyun and becoming his exclusive guide as a pair have different weights after all… There’s a high chance they’ll argue whether there’s a need to form a pair. Anyway, I’ll try my best.

“Please do.”

– Alright. Oh, and there’s one more piece of news to tell you. It was just finalized that Mars Guild will be in charge of the Northern Defense Zone.

“Pardon?”

– We tried to prevent it somehow… but Mars Guild was the only one that applied for the Northern Defense Zone, so there was no choice. I’m sorry.

“No need. You don’t have to apologize, Major General. That’s just how the situation turned out.”

Lucas didn’t waver as it was a somewhat expected result. It was far more productive to plan for the future rather than regret what had already happened.

– Instead, the selection of the military supply company established by Mars Guild as a partner company has been put on hold. Thanks to you.

“That’s a relief. It seems Thomas did well.”

As they say, where there’s bad news, there’s also good news. Lucas’s expression softened slightly. To interfere with Livio, he had his companies, Blake Pharmaceuticals and Blake Medical Devices, enter the bidding for selection as Defense Force cooperative companies.

Following Lucas’s orders, Thomas proposed to supply medicines and medical equipment to the Defense Force at a groundbreaking price that would leave almost no margin for a year. For the Defense Force struggling with financial difficulties, this was an offer they couldn’t refuse.

– But are you sure it’s okay? For Lucas Lowell Blake to attract former Major General Logan’s attention at this point…

“It’s fine. I started this prepared for the consequences.”

Lucas cut off Winfried’s words as if to say not to worry. Then he continued calmly to ease her concerns.

“Former Major General Logan’s goal is to return to the Defense Force. He can’t cause problems right after being selected as a cooperative guild, so he can’t pick a fight with me right away. And I’ve been quiet for over 10 years, so it’s about time I made a move.”

– That’s true, but…

“Given the timing of Blake companies getting involved in the selection of cooperative companies is coincidental, former Major General Logan is probably wondering if Armand couple’s son might know something about the past incident. He might think I’ve appeared to take revenge on him.”

– Hmm. Given his personality, that’s highly likely.

“He’ll probably try to investigate me from the beginning again. He might even suspect that ‘Luke Illum’ is ‘Lucas Lowell Blake’ like before. I’ll leave this part to you, Major General.”

– Don’t worry about that. No matter how many times he investigates, former Major General Logan won’t find anything. However, I’m worried you might be in danger. You have to deal with former Major General Logan as Luke Illum, but you’re also becoming bait as Lucas Lowell Blake…

“To catch the opponent, we have to take some risks. The more former Major General Logan is bothered and irritated by my existence, the more likely he is to show an opening. When that happens, don’t miss the chance and dig in reverse, Major General.”

– Of course.

“Then I’ll await good results on both this matter and the pair issue.”

– My, aren’t you putting too much pressure on me? Alright, alright. I’ll run until my feet catch fire for you.

“Thank you. That’s very reassuring. I’ll contact you again next time.”

After ending the call with Winfried, Lucas rubbed his face tiredly. He had applied to be a pair because he couldn’t bear the thought of handing Iberis over to someone else, but he wasn’t sure if it was the right decision.

Chapter 5. 78%

“Huff, huff, Major. Can’t we take a short break?”

Brenda, drenched in sweat, pleaded with Iberis while catching her breath. It was good to train with him after a long time, but it was too hard.

“A break? How long have we been at it for you to complain already?”

“No, we’ve done stretching, running on the drill ground, shooting practice, and now mana control training. It would be stranger if someone was fine.”

Brenda protested, feeling wronged. It wasn’t just her; all the other unit members were also on the verge of collapse. The only ones who seemed fine were Caleb, boasting his monstrous stamina, and Iberis, who was directing the training.

“…We still have tactical training and individual sparring to do. Do you think you can manage?”

“Not right away. This isn’t just whining; we’re really about to collapse. Huff, can’t we take a short break before continuing?”

“Alright. Let’s take a short break then.”

“Thank you.”

As soon as Iberis gave permission, Brenda plopped down on the ground. The other unit members did the same.

“Has your stamina decreased compared to before?”

“Sigh, I’m ashamed. I have been neglecting my physical conditioning lately due to the increased workload, but I didn’t think it had dropped this much…”

“Are you very tired?”

Iberis’s expression darkened slightly. One of the reasons for her increased workload was him. As he reduced the number of times he went into the field, the individual workload of the unit members naturally increased.

“Ah, I’m not blaming you, Major!”

Brenda, realizing Iberis’s expression had turned gloomy, quickly stood up.