#7

“Hey, latecomer.”

“……”

“You must have had a really fun night. Late for the first time ever.”

“…Shut up.”

When he opened his eyes, it was already past noon, 1 PM. His body, drained of energy, had fallen asleep as if unconscious, and the constant rain made the afternoon feel like a dark morning, allowing him to sleep deeply.

Ignoring Thearot’s teasing as he followed behind, Banteon sat in his study and leaned back deeply. His eyelids felt as heavy as lead.

Noticing something unusual, Thearot asked worriedly.

“What really happened? It’s the first time I’ve seen you this exhausted.”

“I get tired too.”

“You even attended all your classes and went to the emergency room with a calm face when you had a fever. It’s surprising that someone who values appearances so much missed the morning schedule.”

Indeed, skipping the morning assembly had even prompted a call from the center director, concerned about his well-being. So one could imagine the reaction of those around him. Instead of writing a report, he had received a heap of concerned questions. Despite having slept a lot, his body felt like a waterlogged piece of tissue.

Since he had already missed the morning, he thought it might be best to cancel all remaining classes and rest.

“Could you write a leave of absence for the afternoon classes for me?”

“Tsk, tsk. You really don’t even have the strength to pick up a pen, huh?”

“There are blank forms in the third drawer.”

Even after Banteon explained the location, Thearot remained seated, staring blankly. He leaned back in his chair like Banteon and spoke nonchalantly.

“No need to write that. All afternoon classes are already canceled anyway.”

“What?”

“You didn’t know? All morning classes were canceled too. Didn’t you check your terminal?”

Upon checking his terminal, Banteon found a short announcement. It stated that due to an unfortunate incident within the center, classes would be canceled for three days, and a thorough investigation would take place.

“No wonder no one asked for a report.”

“It’s impressive that your first thought was about that. Aren’t you curious about what happened?”

The words to ask what happened stopped in his mouth. He didn’t need to ask. It was obviously about the SS-class mess that had collapsed last night.

“Delroz was attacked last night. It seems like the attackers were well-prepared and even drugged him beforehand. It was a drug that temporarily suppresses an esper’s power, and because of that, the lab was in chaos last night.”

No wonder Delroz had been so unstable; his energy had been deliberately disrupted. Only now did Banteon understand the situation from the previous night.

Whoever it was must have been desperate, with the date for assigning Delroz’s temporary guide approaching.

“If they couldn’t bring Delroz to their side, they intended to eliminate him. Foolish move.”

“Can an SS-class be suppressed by drugs?”

“That’s why it’s more serious. They suspect illegal substances were mixed in.”

Banteon rubbed his temples lightly.

“The culprit?”

“No idea. They left no traces, so it’s a difficult situation. It seems like it will take longer than expected.”

“It’s going to be noisy for a while, then.”

“Already this morning, Building C got wrecked. It will take five months to restore.”

Just as he feared, things were heading in the worst possible direction. The prolonged chaos made Banteon’s already throbbing head ache more. An SS-class who couldn’t even recognize drugs and caused this mess…

Once he started disliking someone, everything looked negative. Even Delroz, who was innocently drugged, seemed displeasing. Actually, he wasn’t completely innocent. Banteon, as another victim of the attack, frowned at the memory of the previous night.

He had tried to save him, only to have his energy drained without consent. If he reported this to the Guide Rights Committee, Delroz would be sentenced to solitary re-education for at least two weeks.

The feeling of having his entire body’s energy drained in an instant was so unpleasant he never wanted to recall it. The cold realization of the danger he had narrowly escaped made his spine tingle. The forced loss of control was a hard sensation to forget.

“So, about Delroz’s temporary guide. The designation has been postponed. Indefinitely.”

“…I see.”

Given the incident, postponing the schedule was understandable. Assigning a temporary guide without knowing who the culprit was would be reckless. But indefinitely? The prolonged situation left a bitter taste in Banteon’s mouth.

“If he used that much power to destroy Building C, wouldn’t it be better to assign a guide quickly?”

“He didn’t even break a sweat. I saw it up close, and it was terrifying. He’s on a different level from S-class.”

“Is he that powerful?”

For Thearot, who was often told he was lacking for an S-class, to describe it this way, it must mean Delroz was truly exceptional.

“If he were an enemy, it would be hopeless. He’s like a natural disaster.”

“Hah…”

An annoyingly overpowered individual. Banteon sighed in his unpleasant situation.

“Don’t worry too much. It might end sooner than you think.”

Contrary to Banteon’s gloomy mood, Thearot spoke lightly.

“Delroz proposed new conditions this time. More specific ones.”

“What conditions?”

“He specified a female guide with long silver hair.”

“…Silver hair?”

Banteon asked again, feeling an ominous premonition. Thearot nodded.

“Yes. Silver hair might be rare, but it’s not non-existent. There are about twenty people in the center who meet that condition? It won’t take too long.”

“……”

“But why silver hair? Well, if you’re going to choose, it might as well be your type. Manly of him.”

Banteon’s face hardened. Thearot was pleased, thinking that a temporary guide would soon be decided, but Banteon couldn’t share in that joy. He knew all too well why Delroz was specifically looking for someone with silver hair.

“Damn bastard.”

“Whoa, did you just curse?”

“This is driving me crazy.”

“Are you feeling really unwell? Want to go back to your quarters? Should I take you?”

Banteon covered his face with both hands and rubbed it harshly. Even after being shocked with electricity, Delroz had remembered Banteon’s disguise with long silver hair. Internally cursing him as more persistent than a cockroach, Banteon lamented his situation.

---

“What on earth are you thinking?”

“What do you mean?”

“Isn’t destroying a building enough? Why are you suddenly searching for someone with silver hair?”

Delroz ignored his subordinate’s disgruntled words and opened the file provided by the center.

“You never even had a preference for silver hair before. Did you even have a preference? You never cared about other people’s appearances…”

“Shut up.”

Paton, who had been a subordinate since the mercenary days, sighed deeply. Paton was an illegitimate noble who had followed Delroz after being classified as a D-class esper in the recent assessment. A D-class esper wouldn’t typically make it to the Royal Esper Center’s main division, but he was specially admitted as Delroz’s right-hand man.

Even though he had entered the Royal Esper Center, where everyone wanted to be, Paton’s stomach was in knots every day. His commander, who had been taciturn and rational in the mercenary days, was now causing trouble daily.

He understood. The guides swarming like bees around sugar were tiresome, and the wary gazes of the others were unpleasant even to Paton. When the commander showed up at dawn, covered in dirt and vowing to kill those who ambushed him, Paton had silently applauded.

He hadn’t expected the commander to blow up an entire building, but the situation was serious enough to warrant such retribution. Even the strict center director had only apologized without holding him accountable, recognizing the danger Delroz had faced.

But this was different. Paton’s jaw dropped when Delroz demanded documents, saying he would match with a guide with long silver hair.

The man who had delayed and delayed designating even a temporary guide now declared he would choose a permanent guide.

If the commander had always preferred silver hair and boldly claimed that he wanted to match with a silver-haired guide, Paton might have admired his decisiveness.

However, it was bewildering to see someone who had previously satisfied his desires without any specific conditions now demanding a guide with silver hair, specifying even the length between the collarbone and chest.

If he told the other mercenaries, they would suspect Paton of being on drugs.

“Is this all that’s arrived?”

“That’s all the Royal Esper Center has sent so far. Should I request documents from other centers as well?”

“No. It’s definitely someone from here.”

Delroz’s tone suggested he had a specific person in mind. Paton, frustrated by his lack of understanding, asked again, hitting his chest in exasperation.

“When did you see this person? Wouldn’t it be easier to find them if there were more distinguishing features? Surely you remember them.”

With his monstrous memory, Delroz wouldn’t forget even someone he saw briefly. However, Delroz’s frown only deepened.

“It was too blurry to see.”

“Blurry for you?”

“I saw them at dawn. I was barely alive; do you think I had the presence of mind to remember clearly?”

“Ah…”

So he was looking for the guide he met during that ambush. If they were a lifesaver, it made sense to search for them so desperately. Understanding at last, Paton nodded vigorously in agreement.