Does Spring Come Even for a Dying Esper

Lucas, momentarily at a loss for words, opened his mouth but closed it again. Iberis’s expression, though smiling, betrayed exhaustion—a look often seen in those who had long battled chronic or rare diseases. Treating an incurable illness was like a marathon, and patients worn out by the endless fight often dropped out first.

Only then did Lucas realize the nature of the strange discomfort he had felt from Iberis. He possessed a self-destructive depression and learned helplessness. The lack of a will to live stemmed from the absence of hope that his situation would improve.

Naturally, Lucas was very displeased with Iberis’s attitude. While understandable given his long-suffering from insufficient guiding and terminal diagnosis, Iberis’s current demeanor suggested he had no expectations of Lucas, who had come here to heal him.

“Well then… let’s try some guiding.”

Lucas spoke with a slightly harder expression than before, feeling inexplicably upset. The other’s attitude had sparked a sense of defiance in him.

“Guiding? Now?”

“Yes, what’s urgent for you now is reducing your mana contamination levels and physical damage rate. Receiving effective guiding immediately after using your ability would prevent further deterioration, but that’s just maintaining the status quo, not healing. So I think it would be good to conduct regular guiding for a while, even if you’re not on missions. If we lower the numbers bit by bit every day…”

“You’re going to guide me every day? Will you be alright?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

Lucas countered seriously to the question that hinted at concern for him. As he had felt during the handshake and palpation, Iberis was clearly treating him as a weak person.

Considering that as an S-class esper, Iberis had rarely encountered someone stronger than himself, and had never received proper guiding before, Lucas could understand why he might think that way, but it was highly unpleasant. It felt like Iberis was lumping him in with all the mediocre guides he’d encountered before, which subtly wounded his pride.

“You seem to have forgotten, but I came here as your personal physician and guide. If the results are good, I’m slated to become your permanent pair.”

“Pair? With me?”

Iberis’s eyes widened as if hearing this for the first time. A pair referred to an esper and guide forming a team to carry out missions together. In other words, it meant Lucas would become Iberis’s exclusive guide.

“Assigning an S-class guide exclusively to someone? The higher-ups wouldn’t allow that…”

Iberis didn’t readily believe Lucas’s words. This was because the reason S-class guides were so valued was their ability to guide multiple people at once due to their large mana reserves, and their capacity to provide a certain degree of guiding even without matching compatibility or affinity.

When dozens of espers struggling to find compatible guides could be helped by a single S-class guide, making them exclusive to one person? It seemed preposterous.

“If I were becoming exclusive to just any esper, there might be talk, but you’re one of the Defense Force’s few S-class espers, Major. If they can keep you by using me, it’s a profitable deal for the military.”

“No…”

“And it’s not like we’re ‘imprinting’, so what’s the problem? In a pairing, we can guide or receive guiding from others in emergency situations through mutual agreement, and we can dissolve the partnership at any time.”

Unlike the flustered Iberis, Lucas remained calm. Imprinting was a special act that connected the souls of an esper and guide, possible only between those with Names.

Espers and guides who imprinted on each other experienced a dramatic increase in abilities, sometimes surpassing their original grades, but in exchange, they became unable to receive or provide guiding to others.

Moreover, because they became blindly devoted to their imprinted partner, when an esper and guide were from different countries, it was common for one to change nationality to follow the other. In an era where every high-ranking ability user was precious, most countries didn’t particularly welcome imprinting between espers and guides.

Furthermore, if one of an imprinted pair died, it affected the other. For this reason, many ability users kept their imprinting with their Name partner secret, even if they did it. Although rumors would eventually spread over time, they tried to hide it as much as possible because they could become targets of those who were wary of their existence if not careful.

In comparison, pairing was safer than imprinting as it was a professional arrangement. Of course, it had its drawbacks. The most problematic was the phenomenon of ‘guiding addiction’. This issue stemmed from the unique characteristics of esper and guide mana.

The guide’s mana that entered an esper’s body inevitably mixed with the esper’s mana during the guiding process. If an esper consistently received guiding from their paired guide, their mana gradually changed to become similar to the guide’s.

At some point, symptoms appeared where the esper rejected mana from other guides. They began to desire only the mana of their exclusive guide, as if addicted to it.

Guides also experienced a maximized mental satisfaction when guiding their paired esper, which could lead to strong possessiveness and excessive attachment to their partner.

“I heard directly from General Bismarck about becoming your exclusive guide. He said that unless your Name partner appears, we should continue working together and naturally form a pair.”

Name partner. Iberis’s body flinched slightly at those words. Though it was a subtle tremor, Lucas didn’t miss his reaction.

“Did the General really say that?”

“What would be the point of lying about this? You could easily confirm it with the General and I’d be caught out.”

He must have a Name. Lucas’s eyes narrowed as he responded casually. He recalled the name situated near his own shoulder blade as he stood up.

“Currently, our matching rate is 62%… Objectively, it’s not a high figure, but it should be fine since I’m an S-class guide. Still, we should check how well we match just to be sure.”

Squeak. Lucas rose from his seat and leaned his upper body towards Iberis, placing both hands on the armrests of Iberis’s chair. The chair, now bearing the weight of both men, made a creaking sound as it shifted slightly backward.

“As a guide, I can’t fully understand or empathize with the pain of espers suffering from guiding deficiency… but I’ve met many like you over the past few years. And…”

Lucas, now in a posture that trapped Iberis between his arms, trailed off as he met his gaze. Then, as if sharing a secret, he whispered softly:

“All of them showed noticeable improvement in their condition after receiving my guiding.”

Slide. Lucas’s hand moved smoothly, overlapping Iberis’s hand that was gripping the end of the armrest. In this position, his blunt thumb slowly caressed the slightly rough skin.

“I do hope you’ll find my guiding to your liking, Major.”

“…Captain.”

“May I proceed with the guiding?”

Gulp. Iberis swallowed hard, feeling the unfamiliar warmth rubbing against the back of his hand. He stared blankly at the person asking for his permission. Though their hands were merely overlapping, he could feel his mana stirring. A guide’s mana was the most effective medicine for an esper, causing his body to react instinctively.

Nevertheless, Iberis couldn’t answer easily. He had already confirmed several times that there was no problem with Lucas making physical contact with him, but simple touch and guiding were different. No one knew yet what situation might unfold when they proceeded with full-fledged guiding.

So while his mind thought he shouldn’t hastily agree, that it would be better for both of them to receive guiding after ensuring the Captain’s safety, his mouth moved on its own:

“…What’s your guiding method? How will you do it?”