Does Spring Come Even for a Dying Esper

“It can’t be helped. They said they’d step down from their positions because they felt uncomfortable due to my rank.”

Lucas drank his Americano with several extra shots, his face impassive. He ended up taking on two positions unrelated to his original purpose because the head of the medical office and the Guide team leader in N-0 unit were both lieutenants.

In the military, rank is everything. Naturally, the head of the medical office and the Guide team leader were extremely uncomfortable with Lucas, who outranked them, from day one. It got worse especially after they were reprimanded by him when they went to support N-1 unit.

Eventually, a few days ago, the two went to Iberis and voluntarily gave up their positions. They insisted on resigning even after explaining that Lucas wouldn’t be treating or guiding anyone other than Iberis unless it was an emergency. As a result, Lucas ended up taking on both roles of medical office head and Guide team leader simultaneously.

“I’m sure you’ll handle it well, but be careful not to make mistakes. They all have short tempers. If you anger them, it’ll be troublesome.”

“Hmm.”

Instead of agreeing to Iberis’s advice, Lucas just hummed shortly.

“What? Not confident? Why don’t you say you understand?”

“…I’m confident I won’t make mistakes, but I’m not confident I won’t anger the unit commanders.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Iberis frowned, momentarily not understanding Lucas’s words.

“I’m saying this because I don’t know how things will turn out myself.”

“But why…”

Iberis felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding at Lucas’s meaningful attitude. It felt like he was laying groundwork before causing trouble.

“I’m sorry. I’m not certain myself yet. Even if I wanted to tell you, Major, I can’t.”

Lucas put down his coffee cup, cutting Iberis off before he could inquire further. Then he stood up as if trying to escape.

“Where are you going in the middle of our conversation?”

“You said you couldn’t eat, but you’ve finished almost everything. Well done. I’ll bring some warm tea, so please stay seated.”

Iberis’s mouth fell open in bewilderment as Lucas avoided giving him a chance to say more.

“Wait. Tell me what you’re not certain about…”

Iberis unconsciously reached out towards Lucas, then quickly withdrew his hand with a start. Although he had received guidance from Lucas every day for the past week and confirmed each time that Lucas wasn’t bothered by his cold aura, he still felt uncomfortable with physical contact with others.

“What’s going on, really.”

Unable to stop Lucas, Iberis pursed his lips. He pressed Lucas to explain properly when he brought the ginger tea, but didn’t get a satisfactory answer until they arrived at N-1 unit.

* * *

“Welcome, Major Hyun!”

As they entered the large conference room prepared in the N-1 unit building, Major Kyle Jonas greeted him with a broad smile. He seemed friendly, perhaps because Iberis had helped him last time.

“Thank you so much for last time. I wanted to thank you, but your aide said you were resting, so I couldn’t.”

“Ah, I was probably receiving guidance at the time.”

“Guidance? Come to think of it, I heard a new Guide arrived?”

Kyle’s gaze turned to Lucas standing behind Iberis. Although it had only been about ten days since he came to N sector, there was no one who didn’t know of his existence.

“So you’re the rumored Guide?”

“Hello. I’m Luke Illum.”

“Nice to meet you. We’re not strangers, are we? We’ve seen each other before, right?”

“That’s right.”

“We should have greeted properly then, but with the rift, things were hectic, so I’m only introducing myself now. I’m Kyle Jonas.”

Kyle, who seemed to be in a particularly good mood for some reason, laughed heartily and offered a handshake to Lucas.

“Ha ha, to think an S-rank Guide would come to this remote place! Can I request guidance later?”

“I’m sorry, but I’m the Major’s exclusive Guide, so unless it’s an emergency, I don’t guide others.”

“What? Exclusive?”

Kyle’s eyes widened at Lucas’s response. He turned his head towards Iberis as if to confirm what he had heard.

“It’s temporary.”

Iberis, who had been watching the two greet each other with a nervous heart, wondering if Lucas would cause trouble after the breakfast incident, emphasized the word “temporary” in response to Kyle’s questioning look.

“Even if it’s temporary, an exclusive Guide, and an S-rank at that! It seems headquarters has finally come to their senses!”

Kyle said, genuinely delighted. This was understandable because N-0 unit and N-1 unit were right next to each other and often worked together.

Thanks to this, Kyle vaguely guessed that Iberis’s health wasn’t good. When he heard the news that Iberis had fallen into a coma due to chronic lack of guidance leading to mana overload, he thought it was inevitable.

“Well…”

Has headquarters really come to their senses? Iberis trailed off with a faint cynical smile.

“I thought you looked a bit better today, so this is why?”

Kyle stepped closer and examined Iberis’s face. Though still pale without a hint of color, his complexion seemed oddly improved. Should one say he looked slightly more lively? Even his lips, which were always chapped and white, had a slight sheen and softness today.

“Well… the effects are good.”

Iberis agreed with Kyle’s words. Indeed, he had been feeling quite good these past few days. The constant chill remained unchanged, but when he received guidance, his body warmed up for a while. Perhaps because of this, he could sleep more deeply and wake up feeling refreshed.

Although he complained to Lucas that eating like this would give him indigestion, eating three regular meals a day definitely brought vitality to his body.

And that wasn’t all. Over the past week, Iberis had been excluded from three rift attack missions. Brenda, who had become Lucas’s collaborator, insisted on tackling C-rank and lower rifts without Iberis.

Naturally, Iberis opposed Brenda’s opinion. But she didn’t back down either. She even tried a tearful strategy.

‘I want the Major to get healthy.’

‘Brenda…’

‘If I had supported you better, if I had been stronger, this wouldn’t have happened in the first place…’

‘What are you saying?’

‘Please. Give me a chance to prove myself worthy to you.’

‘What?’

‘If we objectively judge that we can’t handle it ourselves, we’ll call you immediately. We won’t be reckless. We’ll be extra careful not to get hurt. So please trust me and the unit members. I don’t want to see you overexerting yourself alone anymore.’

Brenda, with tears in her eyes, pleaded that Iberis’s health was her top priority. Even the unit members asked him to trust them. Something about their pride being hurt after being dismissed by Lucas.

In the end, Iberis had no choice but to accept Brenda’s wishes. Fortunately, all three attacks ended with only a few minor injuries. Though overshadowed by Iberis, Brenda was also an A-rank Esper. She thrived like a fish in water. Caleb, who came with Lucas, also shone. As an A-rank Esper like Brenda, he rampaged across the battlefield using his ability of gigantification.

In this situation, Iberis couldn’t insist that he had to be involved in every mission. Thanks to their efforts, he spent a leisurely week for the first time in a very long while. And he fell into somewhat complex feelings.

It seemed that Lucas was right – his actions, which he claimed were for the sake of the unit members, were indeed stubbornness stemming from not wanting to lose anyone else. He began to think that perhaps he had been too autocratic all this time.

“Of course the effects would be good with an S-rank Guide!”

Kyle laughed boisterously enough to shake the conference room. He had been worried seeing Iberis’s health deteriorate over the past few months. He couldn’t help it, as his N-1 unit relied heavily on Iberis.

“Major Hyun, you’re an indispensable presence in our N sector. So take good care of yourself.”

Kyle, who was about to unconsciously put his hand on Iberis’s shoulder, quickly withdrew his arm with an “Oops!” As a B-rank Esper, he found it difficult to withstand the cold aura emitted by S-rank Iberis.

“Ahem, ahem.”

Seemingly embarrassed about showing fear of Iberis in front of Lucas, Kyle cleared his throat with a slightly reddened face.

“Captain Illum, I’m counting on you from now on. Please support our Major Hyun well. Give him plenty of guidance!”

“…Yes.”

Lucas responded glumly to Kyle, who was asking him to take good care of Iberis. At that moment, other unit commanders of the N sector entered the conference room.

“What’s this? Why is it so noisy?”

“As I thought, it must be you, Major Jonas! Did you boil your vocal cords? How is your voice so loud! We could hear you all the way outside the conference room!”

“Major Hyun is here too! It’s been a while!”

“Oh, who’s this new face?”

“So we finally meet the talk of N sector, the S-rank Guide! I hear Lieutenant General Bismarck has nurtured this talent carefully?”

The unit commanders who appeared one by one immediately surrounded Lucas. They couldn’t help but show interest in the precious S-rank Guide who was rumored to be favored by Winfried, one of the military’s influential figures.