Does Spring Come Even for a Dying Esper

“Hello.”

“Wow, even his voice is nice! He could be a voice actor or an actor! Major Hyun, you’re so lucky! To have such a handsome man giving you guidance!”

Clara Rose, the commander of N-2 unit, brightened her eyes at Lucas’s greeting. With a blush on her cheeks, she seemed genuinely taken with him. She kept exclaiming to Iberis how envious she was.

“The Major’s exclusive guide? Well…”

“Captain Illum, how is Lieutenant General Bismarck? I worked under him briefly in the past.”

“An S-rank Guide coming to such a humble place… You weren’t kicked out for doing something wrong, were you?”

“Hey, I’m also suffering from chronic lack of guidance. How about a quick session? Hm? If it’s a beauty like you, I’m okay with a man.”

The reactions of others were similar to Clara’s. Having seemingly done some research on Lucas already, the unit commanders all showed their favor towards him. Some even cast envious or jealous glances at Iberis.

“So, how is it, Major?”

“What?”

Iberis, who had been blankly watching Lucas greet the unit commanders, coldly stared at Carlos Norris, the commander of N-6 unit, who approached him with a grin. Carlos was a figure who had been disciplined and demoted in the past for forcibly demanding unnecessarily high-level guidance from guides and causing a scandal.

Originally, it was a serious matter that should have cost him his position, but thanks to his A-rank ability and being the nephew of a high-ranking conservative, it ended with just disciplinary action. Even after coming here, he hadn’t learned his lesson and kept pestering various guides, making many people, including Iberis, dislike him.

“Come on, don’t play dumb. How does the S-rank Guide’s guidance taste?”

“Taste? Don’t use such vulgar words.”

Iberis coldly retorted, glaring at Carlos. Knowing he would surely spout all sorts of lewd talk if left alone, Iberis decided to warn him in advance.

“If you utter any strange words about the Captain in front of me, I’ll freeze your mouth shut.”

“Geez, can’t even joke around. So sensitive.”

Carlos, who flinched at Iberis’s chilling gaze, closed his mouth with a yelp like a dog with its tail between its legs. By then, the rest of the unit commanders had all arrived.

“Alright, enough chatter, let’s take our seats. We didn’t gather here to laugh and joke around.”

Kyle Jonas, the host of the meeting, stepped forward and settled the overheated atmosphere. Following his lead, the unit commanders took their respective seats.

“Luke.”

Lucas, who was about to naturally stand behind Iberis like the aides of the other unit commanders attending the meeting, paused at the voice calling him. For a moment, he thought he had misheard.

This was because Iberis had asked if he could call him Luke first, but after the first day, he had consistently called him “Captain”. The reason was that he still felt awkward treating Lucas as comfortably as he did Brenda.

So for Iberis to call him by name in front of people, not when they were alone, Lucas couldn’t help but be surprised. He hid his startled expression and calmly answered.

“Yes, Major.”

“Sit next to me.”

Tap, tap. Iberis lightly tapped the chair next to him as he spoke. At his words, the gazes of everyone in the conference room turned towards them.

“Is that alright?”

Lucas asked, glancing sideways at the aides standing behind the unit commanders. Today, he was attending the meeting in place of Brenda.

“You’re not here as my aide, but to be introduced as the head of the medical office and Guide team leader. It’s fine, so sit down quickly.”

Iberis urged Lucas again, tapping the chair next to him once more. As he did so, he swept his gaze over the unit commanders who were observing the two with various expressions of surprise and interest. With both Carlos and Clara showing excessive interest in Lucas, it seemed better to have him sit right next to him.

It wasn’t strange for an Esper to care for their Guide, as it was natural behavior. Showing this kind of friendly attitude towards Lucas would prevent the unit commanders from approaching carelessly or trying anything strange.

“Well then, let’s start the meeting.”

As Lucas sat down next to Iberis and the boisterous atmosphere settled down, Kyle announced the start of the meeting.

“Doesn’t it seem like the frequency of rift occurrences has increased recently? Our unit’s analyst…”

“I think we need to do a major cleanup near the Land of Death before a monster wave occurs.”

“It’s too much for us alone. We should request support from Central Headquarters…”

It’s no different from a marketplace. Lucas quietly observed the unit commanders freely exchanging opinions. As he did so, he recalled the information he knew in his mind.

The N sector is managed by a total of ten units from N-0 to N-9. The numbers get smaller as they get closer to the demon realm known as the Land of Death, with Iberis Hyun’s N-0 region, Major Kyle Jonas’s N-1 region, and Major Clara Rose’s N-2 region being at the forefront.

One peculiar point was that all the unit commanders managing the N sector were majors. The reason given was that having hierarchical relationships among unit commanders would reduce efficiency during mission execution, but the reality was different.

The N sector was a danger zone that no one in the Defense Force wanted to go to.

Being assigned here meant either being demoted after being marked by someone like Iberis, causing an incident, or being pushed to the fringes where no one applied after losing in competition. Those who were essentially exiled couldn’t have high positions.

Perhaps because they all had the same rank, the unit commanders conversed comfortably with each other regardless of age. Iberis didn’t particularly show respect to them either.

Lucas was inwardly surprised to see Iberis speaking casually to unit commanders who looked much older than him, but soon understood. Among these seasoned individuals, Iberis stood out too much.

The youngest but strongest person among the unit commanders gathered here.

Lucas easily imagined the past situation. Even if Iberis had shown respect, he would have been looked down upon, so he probably took a strong stance from the beginning. He had to show that he wasn’t an easy opponent to be ignored.

It would have been good if he had shown such determination in carrying out missions too.

Lucas listened attentively to the unit commanders’ conversation while feeling regret inside. As he did so, he discreetly lowered his hand under the table to check his phone for the message he was waiting for.

“These days, monsters appear in the city from time to time. Whether villain organizations are bringing them in or if some hole has opened up somewhere…”

“Besides the monster wave, the public safety in the N sector’s central city and surrounding villages is serious.”

“It’s because monster hides and bones are valuable. They keep snooping around, not knowing how precious their lives are.”

“These days, there are many high-ranking villains too, which is giving me a headache.”

Yurina Russell, the commander of N-7 unit, frowned. People often think only soldiers would be in such places, but in fact, there were more civilians. This was because people with nowhere else to go flocked to the defense zones. There was a perception that areas protected by the Defense Force were safer.

80 years ago, when large-scale rift incidents occurred simultaneously, more than half of the countries on Earth disappeared. And tens of millions of refugees were created. Those who lost their hometowns wandered to various places to escape monsters and villain organizations. Naturally, most countries didn’t have the capacity to accommodate refugees.

There weren’t many options for people who lost their homes due to rifts and monsters. If they awakened as high-ranking ability users, they could naturalize to any country, but for low-ranking ability users or ordinary people, it was difficult to obtain a new nationality. Eventually, they headed to regions governed by the World Defense Force.

The Defense Force, wanting to escape excessive interference from World Alliance member countries, accepted all refugees and stateless persons. They aimed to solve manpower shortages and develop ownerless areas through these people. In fact, it had some effect.

As people gathered and villages formed, shops were established and various facilities were created. As they began collecting taxes from these people, the Defense Force’s finances improved a bit. Thus, the areas managed by the Defense Force came to form cities with refugees, Defense Force families, and others gathering together.

The problem was the villain organizations. Ability users who had committed crimes in their home countries and fled, and those who gathered for purposes such as monster trafficking, formed organizations and caused incidents almost daily.

“If only tax collection was going well… They pay protection money to the organizations controlling the back alleys but don’t pay taxes to us.”

Yurina sighed heavily with a weary face. The rear units N-7 to N-9 were in charge of public safety and administration in the N sector’s central city and surrounding villages. She had a headache due to the recently increasing crime rate.

“Major Hyun, could you come to the civilian living area sometime when you’re free? No, rather than that, could you support us in the upcoming villain organization sweep operation…”

“Hey, wait a minute. Major Hyun is scheduled to participate in the monster population control operation with me, so don’t bother him unnecessarily.”

“Bother?”

Yurina, who was about to ask Iberis for support, raised her eyebrows as Carlos interrupted her.

“The residents are anxious!”

“Come on, preventing a monster wave is more important than villain organizations, right?”

“No, wait… I also have something to ask Major Hyun…”

Clara hurriedly joined in as she saw the two arguing. She also had something to ask of Iberis.

“They’re fighting again.”

“What can we do? It’s to win over Major Hyun.”

As if this was a daily occurrence, other unit commanders watched the three bickering with familiarity, shaking their heads or chuckling. Iberis too sat quietly as if it was none of his business. Only one person was dissatisfied with this situation.

Lucas, who was looking disapprovingly at the unit commanders squabbling among themselves to borrow Iberis’s power, lowered his gaze to look at his phone. After checking the message he received, he slowly opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry, but may I say something?”