Confinement Constitution Guide

Kidnapping and Confinement Welcome (3)

The first time I was kidnapped was when I was twenty. And around that time, Guide kidnapping started to spread like a trend among Espers.

The reason for the rise in Guide kidnapping was simple. Shortage of Guides. While the number of awakening Espers was increasing day by day, the number of Guides was significantly lower in comparison. As a result, even the fairly active pairing decreased noticeably.

Especially, pair applications for high-ranking Guides were mostly rejected unless it was a very special case. The reason for this was also simple. Since the number of Guides was much lower compared to Espers, high-ranking Guides needed to work harder for the greater good.

S-class and A-class Guides had higher average matching rates and guiding efficiency than lower ranks, making them assets that the headquarters didn’t want to lose, or rather, couldn’t afford to lose. One A-class Guide could do the work of four B-class Guides, so each one of them was extremely valuable.

And guilds had been prohibiting pairs between Guides and Espers even earlier. Generally, it was taboo for a Guide with their own pair to guide other Espers. There were countless incidents of internal fights breaking out because of this.

So it’s perhaps natural that the Ability Management Headquarters, or Ability Department, and guilds, which need to secure as many Guides as possible, don’t welcome pair applications from high-ranking Guides. Even though they’re holding onto many S-class ability holders, including myself, for long periods with special clauses in the contracts, the numbers are still woefully insufficient.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I intend to understand the pair control of high-ranking Guides by the headquarters and guilds.

Anyway, while these things resulted in ‘Guide kidnapping’, this is just the surface cause. The real reason for the kidnappings was the Espers’ anxiety.

The fact that there were significantly fewer Guides than Espers was already more than enough to cause anxiety, but when Guides started forming pairs with specific Espers and guiding only them instead of guiding everyone fairly, it eventually led to an explosion of anxiety.

What if there are no Guides left to guide me? If all existing Guides form pairs, who will guide me? Such anxieties gripped the Espers, and eventually, they were consumed by the desire to have their own pair Guide, a Guide who would exist solely for them in any situation, in order to receive stable guiding.

However, to form a pair, a matching rate certificate and an application form filled out with mutual consent were needed. So Espers kidnapped Guides to obtain the application form, and then tried everything from sweet-talking to showering them with gifts.

And I was a Guide with a somewhat unique hobby of ignoring all the Espers’ sweet-talking and gift offensives, and simply enjoying the vacation.

I haven’t revealed this hobby to those around me yet, but some perceptive ones might have already guessed. After all, I’ve reacted to kidnapping and confinement with a composure that others found strange, and even after the confinement ended, I returned to my daily life as if nothing had happened.

It was in stark contrast to other Guides who complained of PTSD and went to counseling.

Maybe that’s why. On the day I returned after being released from my third confinement, someone scolded me, saying I lacked awareness or caution about kidnapping as a Guide.

But that’s wrong. It’s not that I lack awareness or caution, but that I’m actually making periodic efforts because I truly desire kidnapping and confinement.

“…Isn’t there anyone who would kidnap me?”

It was already 2:30 PM, even though it felt like I had just closed my eyes. To join on time, I needed to leave home by 3:30 PM at the latest. As I yawned while roughly stretching my stiff body from fainting at the entrance, Cream looked at me while eating her food.

Her eyes, which seemed to mix jade and topaz, somehow showed a hint of being fed up. Meeting those eyes made my conscience prick. In the end, unable to ignore Cream’s intense gaze, I had to ask the reason.

“…What?”

“Meow.”

“You’re asking if I’m going out again? I can’t help it. I need to earn money for your food, and litter, and toys, and snacks. You understand, right, daddy?”

“Meow.”

Seemingly not mollified by my explanation, Cream turned her head sharply and started eating her food again. After gazing at that pitiful and affectionate sight, I headed to the bathroom. I wanted to lounge around at home with Cream, but as a social animal and the head of a household, it was time to work.

I quickly finished preparing and packed my bag, then put on my shoes. Cream, who would normally follow me around being a nuisance, showed no particular reaction.

“Daddy’s leaving now.”

“Meow.”

Cream, who had finished her meal and grooming and was now sprawled on the sofa, wagged her tail and responded halfheartedly. It seems she was seriously upset. I regretted not having time to comfort her before leaving, but I had no choice. I waved my hand at her round, shiny back of the head and left through the front door.

And then.

“Good afternoon!”

“Ah!”

I encountered the neighbor man smiling brightly right in front of my door.

“W-What is it?”

“Did I startle you? I’m sorry.”

I was so surprised that I jumped on the spot, and when I asked back in a sharp tone, the man apologized with downcast eyes.

As I quietly observed his face, which clearly showed remorse, a speculation I had momentarily forgotten came to mind. The speculation I had before falling asleep that he might not be an ordinary person but an Esper, once again flashed through my mind. At that moment, the man asked kindly.

“Are you on your way to work?”

“…Ah, yes.”

“I see. So I came at the right time.”

The man exclaimed softly, his ears turning red.

“Um, I need to go to work. Could you please move aside?”

“I know. It’s the perfect timing for a kidnapping, right?”

After asking that, the man reached out to me with a pleasant smile. His large, unusually hot hand lightly grasped my cheek, and then an unfamiliar wave flowed in. He must have used an artifact.

‘…Am I really being kidnapped like this?’

I never expected to be kidnapped by my neighbor. What an unexpected windfall.

What overcame me, overwhelmed with emotion, was a blackout. It was enough to give me goosebumps, a sensation I hadn’t felt in a very long time.

* * *

I slept so deeply that all the fatigue in my body was completely gone. My mind, which had been hazy and cloudy for a whole month, cleared up nicely. Unlike my usual drowsy state, my consciousness was very clear. Yes, this is the positive function of kidnapping. I was extremely satisfied.

As I woke up and gathered my senses to some extent, I was able to grasp my situation without even opening my eyes. A soft and cozy bed perfectly supported my body, and a pillow at the right angle was taking care of my neck health.

That’s not all. This warm yet light sensation enveloping my body. My kidnapping experience was telling me. This must be an expensive goose down comforter. …It was perfect. Everything was so perfect that my heart was racing.

This comfort, coziness, sense of security. This was the kidnapping I wanted. This was the kidnapping environment I had been longing and wishing for.

“Are you feeling a bit more awake?”

As if he had heard my intense heartbeat, the soft voice of my neighbor, no, this admirable kidnapper, tickled my ear. I was so grateful that I wanted to answer right away, but I couldn’t.

If I respond too calmly, the kidnapper might be perplexed, so I should at least tremble a bit to respect his efforts. I slowly opened my eyelids to secure my vision. As I had observed before, a very handsome man was gazing at me with a kind look.

I pretended to be flustered and asked in a trembling voice.

“…What’s going on here? Did you kidnap me?”

The man’s gaze was very familiar. Of course it would be, as I had seen it countless times during my five kidnappings. In the early stages of kidnapping, most Espers look at me with eyes dripping with honey, as if they would grant any request I make. Then, as if they had been waiting for this moment, they would get to the point.

Even without racking my brain to recall, my body remembered. I saw the man’s lips move and immediately opened my mouth.

“Yes, I did kidnap you. And I didn’t prepare the shackles because I wanted to choose them together. Is that okay?”

“How can you talk about forming a pair when we’ve just met… What?”

“Huh? Pair?”

“Huh? Shackles?”

But breaking my expectations, what came out of the man’s lips was a word I never expected.