It was an obvious fact that the security of the November Continent would be more dangerous than the June Continent, so was it okay to move around so freely? Even Gwen before his eyes had readily met alone with himself, who belonged to Northern Light, which could be called a hostile organization.
Jessica might be indifferent to dangerous situations for Guides since she was an Esper, but even Gwen seemed to lack a sense of crisis.
Though this was inside White Night, was it okay for Guides to move around without protection in a space where Espers also roamed?
Was there a protocol in place like at Northern Light for when an Esper suddenly turned and attacked a Guide? Even if so, to Chris, Gwen’s current situation felt extremely dangerous.
“Of course it’s dangerous. It’s just that we’re comfortable because this is inside White Night.”
Contrary to appearing calm and gentle, he seemed to have a bold personality.
Then a blonde woman strode toward them. Though she had bright blonde hair reminiscent of Nasthenka, seeing that Chris didn’t know her face, she must have business with Gwen.
“Gwen, here for a meal? Who’s upstairs?”
“Looks like Tanya’s here for a meal too. Upstairs are Evan and Russell.”
“I should go up soon too. The borscht that came out for lunch today is really amazing, so try it.”
The pale blonde woman who waved her hand gently came like the wind and disappeared like the wind. Listening to their conversation, she seemed to be a Guide too.
He’d thought that Gwen, the team leader, was bold, but other Guides belonging to that team were also strutting around White Night’s interior.
Chris’s gaze slowly scanned the cafeteria’s interior. At Northern Light, the clothes Guides wore were set, and the spaces where they were active were set, so even without holding everyone’s hand, you could tell if someone was a Guide. But here, that distinction was impossible.
Even with Tanya who just passed by, until she spoke to Gwen, he couldn’t tell if she was an Esper, Guide, or ordinary person.
But that sight didn’t look bad.
The fact that White Night’s Guides and Northern Light’s Guides lived in completely different ways struck Chris impressively.
After getting food, they sat in a suitable position. Chris put into words what he’d felt.
“White Night has more Guides than I thought.”
“Probably the most after Northern Light.”
Gwen, who had brought borscht as Tanya recommended, stirred the soup vigorously then took a spoonful. Seeing his nose wrinkle slightly, it seemed a bit spicy.
Chris pushed a water glass to him.
“Thank you,” he said, taking the cup Chris pushed and drinking water. Gwen, who put down the spoon and picked up bread, explained.
“Besides cleaning up drug dealers and addict rehabilitation, White Night does various things, and one of them is finding and destroying Guide kidnapping and trafficking organizations.”
“Ah…”
Chris blinked his eyes.
It was unexpected. No, was it unexpected?
Yuri Sobolev himself was a Guide. Even if he didn’t have an exactly righteous character, Chris thought he might have felt displeased about Guides in the same situation as himself being sold here and there.
“If it was an organization originally entrenched in the November Continent or other winter continents, I heard quite a lot of unregistered Espers belonged to it—wasn’t that dangerous?”
“Of course, we didn’t go with an all-out war from the start. Even I myself was a product purchased at an auction. That was before White Night had even established itself.”
Gwen’s face, fiddling with the glass, sank slightly.
“It was money I couldn’t even dream of at the time, but when I bowed my head to say thanks, the boss said…”
“…?”
“Earn your ransom and pay it back.”
That’s like Yuri.
Pretty sharp, but Chris thought that was probably what Gwen had softened and modified in his own way.
“I was at a loss for how to earn that much money, but he told me to work at White Night.”
Chris listened to Gwen’s words while cutting bacon with a knife.
“9 to 5, five days a week. Two hours for lunch. No vacation. Can’t rest on holidays and festivals either. But unlimited sick leave, room and board provided. I still remember the conditions I heard back then by heart.”
His eyes sparkled as if talking about a good memory.
“I met my hyung who came late to rescue me. My hyung, who suddenly treated him like a kidnapper and attacked, had his limbs broken by your hands. I recognized my hyung and begged for his life, but when I came to my senses, we were working together at White Night.”
At those words, Chris paused.
“Chris Danil, that is, I broke your hyung’s arms and legs.”
“I heard you lost your memory.”
Gwen said, putting down the bread he was eating.
“…You’re showing a remarkably generous attitude toward someone who treated your family harshly.”
“We’re not close, but we’ve been together for quite a long time.”
Though it was a bland attitude for dealing with someone he knew, Gwen himself seemed to have a very quiet personality.
“You won’t remember, but in other organizations, people often coveted me since my face became known from being put up at auction. There were times I was almost kidnapped, and the boss started wars under the pretext of coveting someone else’s property, and your hyung, you, and White Night’s Espers went out to fight. When you won and returned, the territory expanded and the organization’s power grew, but there were also crises. Each time, you helped a lot.”
The grateful feelings from Gwen felt awkward, like ill-fitting clothes.
“You saved my hyung who was dying from fatal injuries, risked your life to extract the boss who’d fallen into a trap because of a traitor, and I remember the day you went out alone for an assassination to end the conflict and killed four executives of the opposing organization. The tilted board completely flipped.”
Hearing about his own past when he remembered nothing was quite thrilling. Though he was talking vaguely probably due to security issues, he could tell that Chris Danil had greatly contributed to thoroughly establishing White Night’s foundation.
Looking at it now, Chris Danil’s notoriety spread to the June Continent seemed to be less than half. No matter how great Northern Light was, they wouldn’t have detected the underwater struggles of forces belonging to the back alleys.
“Thanks to the boss and you, White Night grew a lot, and nowadays we rescue Guides instead of buying them. There’s also a choice. It’s fine to do other work instead of Guiding. We didn’t have that luxury before…”
Gwen smiled bitterly.
“Do you regret being forced to do Guiding?”
“No. I’m satisfied because it’s the same workplace as my hyung. I also negotiate my annual salary every year, so I’ve paid off my ransom and am saving money.”
Gwen boasted that though he couldn’t deposit it separately because the November Continent’s banks charge storage fees, he’d saved up quite a fortune in a secret safe.
Chris keenly noticed that the other person held goodwill toward him.
“You don’t need to give thanks to someone who’s lost their memory.”
“I couldn’t do it before, so I’m doing it now. Of course, I didn’t have the chance to say it then, but… I found out that if I put off my grateful feelings, I might never be able to convey them.”
He seemed to be mentioning Danil’s disappearance.
“Thank you for coming back. Mr. Danil.”
In front of Gwen’s sparkling eyes, it was also difficult to say he wasn’t Danil. Starting with Yuri, Gwen who must have known him for a long time was also calling him Danil.
At this rate, he was worried about when he returned to Northern Light. If someone mentioned Chris Danil, he might unknowingly answer “yes.”
Chris changed the subject to put the awkward feelings behind him.
“It’s amazing that you now have enough leeway that rescued Guides can do other work. Even with all those Guides at Northern Light, full Guiding is difficult.”
Northern Light’s scale was large. It was no exaggeration to say all registered Espers belonged to the Esper Union. And all registered Guides likewise belonged to Northern Light.
Regardless of rank, if you only counted current numbers, one Guide had to handle four Espers. Moreover, high-rank Espers required more Guiding than low-rank Espers.
So it was no exaggeration to say there were no Espers receiving satisfactory Guiding. Some Espers even argued that the range of contact Guiding should be expanded further. Northern Light repeatedly rejected this, citing Guide fatigue and mental stress.
“Hmm. I can do full Guiding for about five people a day.”
“Full Guiding? Are you by any chance an S-rank Guide?”
Chris looked at him in surprise.
“No. I’m A-rank.”
“I heard that no matter how high the rank, everyone complains of headaches just from Guiding two to three people, let alone full Guiding… How do you do five people, and full Guiding at that?”
Northern Light strictly controlled Guides’ schedules. Because Guiding didn’t work properly until fatigue recovery.
Rather, Gwen explained step by step with a more surprised face.
“Even if the compatibility is somewhat poor, if you share steady Guiding and emotional exchange, the efficiency rises at some point.”
Chris’s eyes widened.
