Does Spring Come Even for a Dying Esper

“To Major Hyun? I thought I saw him going out just a moment ago…”

“What?”

Lucas stopped abruptly at Caleb’s words from behind. He turned his head and gave Caleb a look that demanded an explanation.

“What do you mean by going out? How do you know that?”

“Oh, well… I saw him in the training room a couple of hours ago. We had a brief sparring session…”

“You sparred again?”

Lucas’s eyebrow twitched at Caleb’s response. Perhaps because he had fewer field missions lately, Iberis had been frequenting the training room recently. He said it was because he felt restless just sitting around.

Naturally, Lucas didn’t like this. While moderate exercise is good for health, Iberis preferred to move as if he were in actual combat. As a result, he had come back with a bruise on his wrist a few days ago. Although it healed quickly due to him being an S-class Esper, the fact that he got injured during sparring was very irritating to Lucas, as it was evidence that his physical condition wasn’t good.

“It just happened… The Major suggested it first…”

Caleb fumbled with his words, as if making excuses under Lucas’s inexplicably sharp gaze.

“Didn’t I tell you last time to refrain from sparring with the Major?”

“I’m sorry. It was difficult to refuse.”

Caleb bowed his head at Lucas’s reprimand. While it wasn’t a lie that it was hard to refuse a superior’s suggestion, he felt guilty because he secretly enjoyed sparring with Iberis. He learned a lot every time they sparred.

“The Major also teaches me various things…”

Unable to bear the guilt, Caleb made excuses in a small voice. Since the day he first sparred with Iberis and lost, he had faced him a total of three times, including today. And he lost all of them.

It was a blow to his pride, but he gained a lot from it. That’s why, even after hearing Lucas’s warning to refrain after the second sparring session, he couldn’t refuse Iberis’s offer when they met in the training room today.

‘Lieutenant, you’re too honest.’

Today too, after sparring with Caleb, Iberis gave him advice that would be beneficial. He pointed out that there was a problem with Caleb’s attack pattern.

‘What do you mean by honest?’

Finding it difficult to let go of such advice, Caleb, sprawled on the floor, got up and asked. He was also aware that his attacks weren’t very effective against Iberis. But he didn’t know why.

In fact, before losing to Iberis, Caleb had been quite confident. After awakening his abilities of body enhancement and gigantification, he had learned various sports including boxing, martial arts, Taekwondo, wrestling, judo, and fencing. This was because he needed to use his body to fight in combat.

After mastering various martial arts, Caleb had become strong enough to win consecutive championships in the Central Headquarters’ fighting tournament. However, none of what he had built up over time worked against Iberis.

‘It’s exactly as I said. Your patterns are visible, shall I say? I can predict when you’ll throw a punch, when you’ll attempt a kick.’

‘What…’

‘You lack adaptability and quick reflexes. In the end, it’s a lack of experience.’

‘Hmm.’

Caleb couldn’t refute Iberis’s assessment of his lack of experience. Even he thought that the Central Headquarters was relatively peaceful compared to the N-zone.

Moreover, his mission was primarily to guard Lucas. Although he went on missions to attack rifts or subjugate magical beasts, he worked more in the rear than the front. He only dealt with monsters that occasionally appeared in relatively safe places, so he naturally had less experience than the people in the N-0 unit.

On the contrary, Iberis’s movements were specialized for actual combat. Although he had learned various sports and martial arts in the military like Caleb, he had already established his own style, perhaps because he had been gaining experience in the field since he was 15. He also knew clearly what his strengths and weaknesses were.

‘Lieutenant, you’re big and strong, but you lack flexibility and speed. Your speed is still good considering your size, but… your flexibility is quite lacking.’

‘Then should I focus on training that aspect?’

‘No, no. You should increase your destructive power even more. If you lack speed, then don’t give the enemy a chance to counterattack from the start.’

‘Not giving a chance to counterattack means…’

‘Build up your power so you can end most monsters’ lives with a single attack. Of course, assuming that doesn’t work, you should still raise your flexibility and speed above average.’

Iberis didn’t hold back on advice for the pondering Caleb. Because the battlefield was a place where the weak couldn’t survive, he wanted Caleb to grow stronger than he was now. As an A-class Esper and still young, he had plenty of potential.

‘Let me use my case as an example. I’m the opposite of you, Lieutenant. Flexibility and speed are my strengths, and power is my weakness. So I chose to increase my attack speed and use overwhelming firepower with my abilities to kill multiple enemies at once.’

‘…’

‘Also, to compensate for my lack of power, I went for quickly subduing the enemy by aiming for vital points. That’s why I persistently target your legs when fighting you. Your ankles are weaker compared to other parts.’

‘I understand what you’re saying. Maximize strengths and minimize weaknesses, right?’

‘That’s right. I’m glad you understand quickly. Anyway, until now, your enemies have been weaker than you, so pushing through with strength and speed might have worked in actual combat… but there’s no guarantee it will always be like that. If you want to become stronger, you’ll have to work hard continuously.’

‘Thank you.’

‘Then let’s end it here for today. I have to go out for a bit this afternoon.’

Iberis, signaling the end of the long conversation, left the training room first while adjusting his disheveled clothes. That was the situation a few hours ago.

“So you readily accepted the Major’s offer?”

“…I’m sorry. I won’t do it again. Anyway, after finishing sparring with me, he said he had some business to attend to… On my way here, I also saw Lieutenant Cali seeing the Major off.”

“He went outside the unit?”

Lucas’s expression grew even more grim at the news that Iberis wasn’t in the unit.

“Yes. I don’t know where he went.”

“…I see. You can go now.”

Instead of going out himself, Lucas dismissed Caleb. Left alone, he sat in a chair and took out his phone. Then he immediately called someone.

* * *

“Kyahaha!”

“Push harder, Dad!”

“Mom, over here!”

“Ahaha!”

Joyful laughter echoed throughout the playground. Iberis smiled faintly as he watched children riding swings and climbing slides. Then he turned his head at a voice from beside him.

“Aren’t you cold?”

“I’m fine.”

Iberis gruffly replied as he accepted a paper cup offered by the man who had spoken to him. It seemed to be vending machine coffee, brought out of consideration for him being outside for an hour.

“They all have good stamina. I’d think they’d get tired quickly playing like that…”

Iberis sipped the sweet mixed coffee and marveled at a child running across the playground like an unbridled colt.

“Haha, don’t underestimate children’s stamina. When it comes to playtime, they’re no less than S-class Espers.”

“Seems so.”

“…Thank you for coming today like this.”

The man who had been staring at Iberis opened his mouth cautiously.

“No need for thanks. You already did earlier…”

Iberis waved his hand as if telling the man to stop expressing gratitude.

“I can never thank you enough, Major.”

However, the man smiled innocently while expressing his gratitude to Iberis again. His appearance resembled someone Iberis missed, making him feel a twinge in his chest.

“My uncle would be grateful too.”

“…”

At these words, the smile disappeared from Iberis’s face. His silver-gray eyes, showing complex emotions, took in the man. Perhaps due to aging, he was becoming more and more like the person Iberis knew. It couldn’t be helped. The man was Adrian, the nephew of Major Ryan Jackson.

“Well… I wonder about that.”

Iberis avoided eye contact and bitterly scoffed, chewing on the innocent paper cup.

“Of course. If it were the uncle I knew, he would have cried his eyes out in gratitude to you, Major. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to become independent like this, meet someone I love, start a family, and have a child.”

“I only did what Major Jackson would have done if he were alive.”

Despite Adrian’s words, Iberis’s face remained dark. He seemed to truly believe it wasn’t something to be thanked for.

“Not just me, other people are always grateful to you, Major.”

“Not everyone, though?”

Iberis retorted with a deflating sound. When Iberis alone survived from the hidden dungeon, the bereaved families showed various reactions. Some worried about him and felt sorry, but others were displeased and looked at him with suspicion, asking why only he survived.

It was the same when Iberis reported Livio. While some were grateful to him for revealing the truth, many resented him. Because of Iberis’s report, rumors spread that there were also problems with the investigation team members, resulting in some families not receiving the pension given to those who died in the line of duty.

When Iberis learned of this, he used his own wealth to establish a foundation for his colleagues’ bereaved families. He spared no expense in supporting them, sending monthly living expenses and more.