Does Spring Come Even for a Dying Esper

“That’s…”

Momentarily at a loss for words, Brenda silently moved her lips. This was something she had been secretly concerned about as well. She wondered if Iberis’s guiding deficiency symptoms had worsened and his physical condition had rapidly deteriorated because he was overexerting himself for their sake.

There was too much she had seen over the past few years to deny it. As Lucas pointed out, after being demoted to this unit, Iberis often tried to resolve things on his own.

At first, this led to misunderstandings among the squad members, thinking he was arrogant. Some even complained that he was a superior who didn’t trust his subordinates.

However, after carrying out a few missions with Iberis, they gradually realized. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the squad members. He simply hated seeing people he worked with get hurt.

Brenda understood Iberis better than anyone. After that incident a few years ago, Iberis came to utterly despise seeing anyone he considered his own get hurt or die. Although he hadn’t grown as attached to the squad members as he had to his deceased comrades, they were still people he was responsible for.

But even Iberis couldn’t protect everyone. Inevitably, injuries occurred when fighting monsters. So he came to believe that it was better for him to overexert himself a little than for someone else to get hurt. He actually had the ability to make that possible.

And Brenda herself couldn’t stop Iberis from doing this. That’s why she couldn’t refute anything Lucas was saying now. Unable to bear the overwhelming shame, she lowered her head.

“You might think I’m being presumptuous, making judgments based on just one day, not even an hour of combat, but that’s not the case. I’ve done quite a bit of research on the Major since my assignment was decided.”

Lucas continued, glaring fiercely at Brenda, who had turned pale as if struck at a vital point.

“Looking at the combat footage and rift attack reports kept by the military, I could see it. The only one who’s been fighting properly in this unit is the Major.”

A few squad members widened their eyes, bristling at the scathing assessment. However, no one directly opposed Lucas.

This was because Lucas held the rank of Captain. Except for Major Iberis, he was the highest-ranking person in N-0 unit at present. If they weren’t careful, they might face disciplinary action for insubordination.

No, in fact, more than the military discipline of obeying orders, everyone was thinking the same as Brenda. They too had been subconsciously aware of it. That Iberis was overexerting himself for their sake.

Knowing this, they deliberately pretended not to notice. Because when Iberis took action, everything was resolved easily. There were fewer injuries and missions ended quickly, so from the squad members’ perspective, it was better when he took the initiative. In fact, there hadn’t been a single casualty during missions in the past six months. So, knowingly or unknowingly, they had acted selfishly.

But now Lucas, who had just joined the unit yesterday, was exposing the truth they had been trying to ignore and criticizing them without restraint. It made them feel uneasy and ashamed.

“Why can’t you say anything? Make an excuse or refute me.”

“…No, sir. Everything you said is correct. I’m sorry, I failed to properly support the Major.”

Brenda readily admitted her fault. While she had worried about him overexerting himself, she ultimately couldn’t stop him. She wondered if at some point, she too had become accustomed to Iberis resolving everything, just like the other squad members.

“Lieutenant.”

Lucas leaned towards the dejected Brenda and lightly waved his hand. Using the surrounding mana to block out sound so others couldn’t hear their conversation, he whispered softly.

“You know about the Major’s condition, right?”

“…Yes.”

“Do you want to save the Major?”

“…! Of course, I do.”

Brenda raised her head and answered as if it was obvious. Her bloodshot eyes, reddened with guilt, shone with worry and loyalty for her superior.

“Then cooperate with me.”

“Cooperate…?”

“Yes. If the Major continues to use his abilities like this, even my guiding will be like pouring water into a bottomless pit. It might alleviate the pain from the side effects, but eventually, he will pass away.”

As Lucas mentioned Iberis’s death, Brenda’s complexion grew even paler.

“So, for the Major’s sake, I’d like you to cooperate with me.”

“What should I do?”

Feeling urgent, Brenda looked at Lucas with pleading eyes. Although she had visited the specialist hospital for ability users with Iberis, she had always waited outside and never directly met the doctor, so this was the first time she had heard explicitly that he might die. Perhaps because of this, her sense of crisis surged, and she became frantically anxious.

“We’ll discuss the details after we return to the unit. It seems the battle is almost over.”

Lucas’s gaze turned towards the ice storm raging in the distance. The air, which had been stuffy just moments ago, had suddenly turned cool.

“Wow…”

Someone let out an exclamation upon seeing the fierce ice storm. Some looked terrified. Although most of the soldiers here were ability users, only S-grade espers could display such overwhelming destructive power. When faced with an ability that could even change the weather, one couldn’t help but feel awe.

However, unlike the others who were either amazed or frightened, Lucas observed Iberis, who was slaughtering monsters, with a serious expression. As a military doctor and guide, he had treated and guided countless espers.

That’s why Iberis’s current behavior didn’t sit well with him. To Lucas’s eyes, he looked no different from a reckless novice, disregarding his physical condition.

Ordinary people might think that the higher an esper’s grade, the better, but in Lucas’s opinion, it was a double-edged sword. Especially for espers.

While ability users may have stronger bodies and abilities than ordinary people, they were still human in the end. They had to pay the price for using abnormal abilities. This was the aftermath caused by excessive use of their powers.

As if it were punishment for using power beyond what was allowed for humans, the higher the esper’s grade, the greater the intensity and pain of the side effects. This was also why espers needed continuous guiding.

Seeing someone who had received a terminal diagnosis due to chronic lack of guiding and long-term overexertion using their body like this made Lucas’s blood boil. It was like a doctor watching a patient with a set death date drinking alcohol right after being slightly treated.

Boom!

Unaware of Lucas’s thoughts, Iberis was focused on finishing the battle. He calmly gazed at the snow-white ground and the frozen monsters.

Even at this point, when they should have fled, the surviving Red Snakes flicked their tongues and took attack stances. The Flame Balls also approached Iberis, repeatedly flaring up and dying down like flickering lights.

Undaunted, he easily dodged a Red Snake lunging at him while roughly estimating the number of remaining monsters. Then he drew the surrounding mana into his palm.

Was it the effect of yesterday’s guiding? Recently, the longer a battle lasted, the harder it became to handle mana, but today he felt fine. Everything flowed according to his will, as if he had returned to his former self.

Whoosh…

The mana reacting to Iberis gathered in his hand, swirling with white light. The reason natural element espers were stronger than other ability users was that they could use the surrounding mana.

Air, water, earth… Nature existed everywhere in the world. And it became another weapon for natural element espers. Just like now.

“Hah…”

A white breath escaped between his small lips. Iberis aimed the gathered mana at the Flame Ball cluster that had merged into one large mass and the swarm of Red Snakes charging with fire spewing from their mouths.

There are mainly two ways for espers to catch monsters: using their unique ability or using weapons made of mana.

Iberis preferred the former. Overwhelming with firepower to end things as quickly as possible. As he flicked his index finger like firing a gun, a dazzling light spiraled out and engulfed the monsters. Then silence fell.

It’s over.

Iberis lowered his slightly trembling hand and blankly stared at the carnage before him. As he gazed with a tired face at the flesh and bones scattered in all directions, torn apart by mana, and the monsters frozen solid in their original forms, he sensed a presence behind him.

Crunch.

The sound of footsteps crushing the ice on the ground grew closer, and soon a piece of clothing permeated with someone else’s warmth was draped over his shoulders. It was a clean doctor’s coat, incongruous with the blood-splattered battlefield.