Does Spring Come Even for a Dying Esper

“That guy…”

Luke Illum? Alec muttered Lucas’s name blankly, seemingly recognizing him. He couldn’t not know him. After all, the E Zone where Alec originally served was closest to the central headquarters.

“Come to think of it, I heard you’re being guided by Captain Illum now.”

As Alec recalled this fact he had momentarily forgotten, sparks flew in his eyes. Gritting his teeth, he voiced his doubt in a sinister tone.

“How can a traitor receive support from an S-class guide? Have the old geezers in the high command gone senile?”

“Watch your mouth, Alec. I’ve never betrayed the military.”

“Huh? That’s ridiculous. You, a whistleblower.”

Alec snorted when Iberis became serious. While whistleblowing is considered a righteous act of exposing corruption and revealing the truth about one’s organization, that’s only the outside perspective. The internal perception was markedly different. Most organizations treated whistleblowers as traitors. The Defense Force was no exception.

There were some who saw Iberis’s actions as right, but far more people pointed fingers at him as a traitor. Iberis’s actions had tarnished the Defense Force’s reputation, earning worldwide criticism and reducing support from member countries.

Moreover, with many soldiers who followed Livio Logan resigning en masse and retiring, there was a gap in operations for a while. The aftermath still lingered, exacerbating the manpower shortage. People blamed all of this on Iberis.

“What I did was just. Former Lieutenant General Logan used the special team for his own benefit and killed innocent people.”

“Just? Do you know how much damage our military suffered because of your actions? I moved to the S Zone because of the shortage of personnel!”

“…”

“Besides, you didn’t report Former Lieutenant General Logan to maintain your conscience as a soldier, but because you wanted revenge for your dead comrades, right?”

Momentarily at a loss for words, Iberis fell silent. He quietly glared at Alec, his fists tightly clenched.

“Why can’t you answer? Hit the nail on the head?”

Alec, having mercilessly struck Iberis’s sore spot, smiled a sardonic smile when Iberis offered no rebuttal, as if he had won. Then, whistling briefly, he approached Lucas.

“It’s been a while, Captain Illum. We met a couple of times last year, do you remember? It was during the joint operation with the central headquarters and the Mediterranean area…”

“…I’m sorry. I met many people on business last year, so I don’t remember. So… Major Alec Roman? You’re the guide Lieutenant Colonel Louise mentioned earlier? The one who was in the same class as our Major.”

Lucas responded coldly to Alec, who was greeting him warmly. Seeing him up close, he vaguely remembered, but pretended not to know him because he found Alec’s sarcasm towards Iberis distasteful.

“You don’t know me…?”

The smile disappeared from Alec’s face when Lucas seemed not to remember him. He was an esper evaluated to be close to S-class, quite famous though not as much as Iberis. It was inevitable that his pride was hurt when Lucas said he didn’t know him.

“Haha! Well, it’s possible to forget! It’s not like you guided me, we just crossed paths a few times during joint operations with Lieutenant General Bismarck’s direct unit.”

Alec laughed heartily, trying to appear nonchalant. However, his forcibly raised mouth corners trembled. He continued speaking while barely maintaining his smile.

“My colleague who received guidance from you then still talks about you. Said it was the most ecstatic time of his life or something… Can I expect the same today?”

“I’m really sorry, but I won’t be guiding you today, Major.”

Lucas answered with an expression that didn’t look sorry at all. He could have placated Alec here and moved on smoothly, but the greed in Alec’s eyes was so disgusting that his words couldn’t come out nicely.

Above all, Lucas was very irritated by Alec’s harsh words to Iberis. It wasn’t a subordinate’s duty to stand by while a superior was insulted as a traitor.

“Why not?”

Although he didn’t expect immediate acceptance, Alec’s smile cracked when the rejection came back much more firmly than expected. His face contorted as he asked, clearly showing his displeasure.

“You may not know, but I’m currently Major Hyun’s dedicated guide. I don’t guide others unless it’s a special case.”

“Doesn’t that mean it’s possible in special cases? My role in this operation is quite important, you know? Isn’t that enough to be an exception?”

“It’s possible with my esper’s consent, but… I don’t think our Major will allow it. It’s a shame.”

Lucas glanced at Iberis standing behind Alec and rejected him again. Unlike his words, his attitude showed no trace of regret.

“Hmm, hmph. Fine. You’re quite haughty, just as I’ve heard.”

Alec muttered to himself, suppressing his anger. Like esper, like guide – both superior and subordinate were insufferably arrogant.

“Phew…”

Alec took a deep breath as if trying to calm his boiling insides, and composed his disheveled expression. If it were someone else, he might have thrown a punch, asking who they thought they were. But he couldn’t do that to Lucas. He knew how much Winfried, one of the military’s power players, cherished Lucas. He had seen it firsthand during last year’s joint operation.

In fact, the reason Lucas could act so arrogantly towards him, despite being of lower rank, was all due to Winfried’s backing. That’s why Alec held back once more. To climb higher, he needed a rope like Lucas.

“Then let me make a formal proposal. How about me instead of that guy?”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“Come on, do I have to spell it out for you? I’m saying become my guide.”

Alec pointed at Iberis with his thumb and leaned towards Lucas, whispering secretively.

“Iberis, that guy is already finished. He’s been marked by the higher-ups, so promotion is out of the question for him. I don’t know what Lieutenant General Bismarck was thinking, assigning someone like you, an S-class, to clean up after Major Hyun…”

“Obviously, it’s because Major Hyun’s value is significant.”

Lucas, his eyes hardening, cut off Alec’s words. He felt like his ears would rot if he kept listening. He knew Alec’s type very well.

Trash who don’t make efforts to develop their own abilities, yet have strong pride and greed, envying those more talented and coveting what others have. Major Norris, whom he met in the N Zone, was just like this.

“An A-class esper calling a natural type S-class esper finished… Interesting. Even if out of favor with the high command, an S-class esper’s future would be brighter than an A-class. And if we go by achievements rather than rank, our Major is overwhelmingly superior, as far as I know…”

Lucas tilted his head askew, trailing off. It was clearly a dismissive tone towards Alec.

“Besides, not everyone in the high command dislikes our Major. Just look at Lieutenant General Bismarck, who sent me to the N-0 unit. He personally ordered me to become the Major’s guide.”

“Lieutenant General Bismarck…?”

“Yes. So I’ll pretend I didn’t hear Major Roman’s proposal.”

Lucas, having hinted at Winfried’s backing of Iberis, stepped back as if distancing himself from Alec. Then he added, “Ah.”

“If I may add one more thing, I’d appreciate it if you’d stop being disrespectful to my esper.”

“Damn it! You’re so arrogant. You’ve really crossed the line…”

Alec, his face flushing red and blue, raised his voice as if he couldn’t hold back anymore. As his emotions intensified, static electricity crackled around him.

“Alec!”

As the excited Alec raised his mana, Iberis, who had been watching the conversation between the two with a nervous expression, called out to stop him. However, he hesitated when Lucas’s calm gaze reached him.

“It seems it’s not me who’s crossed the line, Major. Calm down.”

Lucas, sending a look to Iberis telling him to stay put, lightly grasped Alec’s arm. Immediately after, the electricity that had been sparking as if about to run wild disappeared.

“W-what? What is this, you, you bastard! What did you do to me?”

Alec stammered, confused by what had happened to him. Even when he tried to draw up mana, it didn’t work well, as if something was interfering.

“I didn’t do much. I just disrupted your magic power with ‘reverse guiding’.”

“What…?”

Lucas calmly explained Alec’s curiosity. Guides calm an esper’s mana and purify internal contamination. This means they can also make it go berserk. Reverse guiding was a technique developed by guides to respond to espers who forcibly try to take them.

It has disadvantages: it’s only possible with physical contact with the esper, and the guide needs to have more mana or superior control than the opponent. But for Lucas, an S-class, these didn’t apply.

“Damn it! You bastard, how dare you!”

“How dare I? My actions are clearly self-defense. Guides have the right to defend themselves when they feel threatened by an esper. Didn’t you try to attack me first, Major?”

“Shut up! I’ll kill you!”

Losing his mind for a moment, Alec shouted and reached out to Lucas. Unable to use his ability, he intended to settle it with his fists. Just as he was about to grab Lucas’s collar, a frosty voice was heard from behind.

“You shut up, Alec.”