“Uh, uh…?”
Literally in the time it took to say “uh, uh,” Heichi was dragged away. Heewoo wanted to grab onto Heichi, but AJ’s restraint prevented him from even getting close.
Still, the last glimpse of Heichi’s complexion looked twice as good as when he’d been lying unconscious on the cylindrical bed, which was fortunate. Heewoo carefully asked AJ standing beside him.
“It’s not, like, something really serious happening…?”
“Something serious?”
“Like going to prison…”
“Ah.”
For Heewoo, an ordinary Korean, “dealt with according to law” meant going to a correctional facility. He had no way of knowing that Espers who committed illegal acts related to Guides would receive corresponding punishment according to military law. Instead of explaining in detail, AJ simply nodded.
“Yes, of course. He has duties to perform, so he can’t go to prison.”
Not knowing those words meant he’d be punished briefly and intensely instead of painfully and at length, Heewoo nodded with a relieved expression. Right, Heichi was even called ‘Captain,’ so he wouldn’t receive severe punishment.
AJ watched such a Heewoo steadily before changing the subject. Having encountered countless Guides, AJ knew it was better not to tell new Guides too much about Epsilon in advance.
“Shall I give you the battleship tour I couldn’t earlier, Guide?”
“The battleship? Can I just, like, wa-walk around?”
“Of course.”
The only outsiders who could enter the battleship interior were Guides who had chosen to go to Epsilon, but AJ shamelessly didn’t reveal that fact. After all, he himself had a history of putting his Guide Kzar on the battleship even before they’d formed a pair. Upon learning the truth later, Kzar had been coldly furious and hadn’t even looked at AJ for quite a while.
But AJ thought it couldn’t be helped. In the case of top-tier Espers, they couldn’t leave Epsilon’s jurisdiction, which inevitably meant forcing Guides to give up their home planet. For a living being to abandon their homeland was a very difficult thing, and AJ judged that forgiveness came faster than persuasion.
Moreover, the Guide before his eyes wasn’t just any top-tier Esper’s Guide, but the Guide of Epsilon’s one and only Captain. AJ’s mind whirred cunningly.
“If you wish, you can walk around anywhere, Guide.”
At those words, Heewoo’s heart soared. When AJ even added to make himself comfortable, it felt exactly like going on a field trip. The battleship interior was filled with objects and scenery Heewoo had never seen before, so there was much to see.
They left the recovery room and passed through the main hall and training area before entering the residential area. AJ walked quickly past the training area, saying there were many rough and scary Espers there, and didn’t let him look around in detail. Heewoo, who didn’t want to risk danger as he said, also gave up his curiosity about the training area.
Instead, upon entering the residential area, he was literally shocked. It was because an entire small urban center had been brought inside wholesale. Among the neatly erected buildings were not only houses for residence but also restaurants and shops. Heewoo pointed at one and asked.
“Are, are those all operated by Espers too?”
“Ah, yes. Only mid-level and above Espers can become soldiers, so the rest live with various other occupations. There are many Espers running their own businesses within the battleship.”
Come to think of it, the news had said Planet Epsilon was over 80% Espers. Since they couldn’t all be soldiers, there must be many Espers running their own businesses or with other jobs, though he hadn’t imagined that far. He was approaching out of curiosity about what Esper shops mainly sold when—
“AJ.”
It was an unfamiliar voice. No, not unfamiliar in the sense of never having heard it before, but rather that the structure producing the sound felt somehow different from humans. It was a bubbling voice, as if filled with foam.
When Heewoo turned his head, a large man was approaching AJ. The man’s big hands had webbing between them, and through his exposed nape, gill-like holes fluttered. Unlike the Espers who looked nearly identical to Earthlings, his appearance was extremely alien.
“Kzar!”
The moment he saw the man with gills, AJ’s face brightened immediately. Kzar. Heewoo repeated that name once in his mouth and planted it in his head. He had a premonition they’d be meeting often from now on.
“Who is this?”
“Ah, this is the Captain’s… Wait, Kzar, are you jealous of me by any chance?”
“…”
AJ glanced at Heewoo and was about to answer Kzar’s question when he stopped mid-sentence and asked with an expression full of expectation. Kzar said nothing and just stared at AJ blankly, yet even so, AJ spoke while unhesitatingly revealing his happiness.
“Yeah, y-yeah, this is the Captain’s prospective Guide. Haha, Kzar and I are absolutely not the kind of relationship you’re thinking of. You didn’t misunderstand, did you? Ahaha. Did Kzar get all jealous from misunderstanding too? Hm?”
From Heewoo’s perspective, the expressionless Kzar didn’t seem jealous at all, but rather AJ seemed quite excited and kept requesting that he be jealous. AJ, who had seemed calm and composed every time they’d met, was somehow loosened up at this moment and even appeared somewhat frivolous.
“Ah, something happened to make Kzar jealous of me? I can’t believe it, I definitely need to write this in my diary today. Kzar, my heart is beating so hard right now…”
“AJ. Calm down.”
Bubble bubble.
Even though there was no water nearby, the voice that seemed to create water droplets made Heewoo stare at Kzar in fascination. Then, sensing the gaze, Kzar lowered his head and glanced down at Heewoo. Even at a rough estimate he looked at least 2 meters tall, so Heewoo had to crane his neck up high. Then, when their eyes met—those teal pupils—he shyly lowered his head.
“Name.”
“Name? Kzar, now you’re curious about the name too? I told you we’re really not that kind of relationship, okay? Don’t be too jealous.”
“I-I’m Lee Heewoo… Hello.”
When Heewoo said his name quietly, Kzar gave a slight nod. Heewoo, who easily caught on that this was Kzar’s greeting, also bowed at the waist in greeting.
“Earthling?”
“Ah, yes. …Can I call you Kzar?”
“It’s Kzar, not Kkeujakjar.”
“Yes, yes! Kzar!”
Fortunately, Kzar and Heewoo, with the excited AJ between them, were having a normal conversation. Heewoo, who had been looking down slightly, suddenly noticed barnacles attached to Kzar’s hand.
“This, barnacles…”
“Ah. I just came from swimming.”
He had no idea how one could swim inside a battleship in a way that got barnacles attached, but Heewoo nodded for now. Kzar plucked off the barnacle stuck to the back of his hand and tossed it to the floor as he spoke.
“Is this the one. Bloo…”
“Shh, shh. Kzar. That’s still classified information, not a confirmed fact. Let’s be careful with our words.”
Fortunately, the properly-minded AJ cut off Kzar’s words sharply. Kzar also twitched his eyebrows as if understanding.
“But why alone without an Esper?”
“Ah, the Captain was dragged to the military tribunal. He probably won’t be able to come out until after he’s punished.”
At AJ’s explanation, Kzar frowned with one eye and looked at Heewoo. To Heewoo’s perception, he looked exactly like he was angry, but however AJ interpreted that expression, he laughed and said,
“No need to worry. That’s why I’m following along. Once the tour is over, I’ll safely send him back.”
“I see.”
“Yeah, if you want, Kzar can come along too. How about it, are you busy right now? Kzar?”
“No.”
Kzar cracked his neck with his webbed hand, making a crack sound. Perhaps because of his large build, even though he’d just made a sound, it felt quite imposing to Heewoo.
“For a young Guide.”
“…The problem is you’re too kind to Guides, way too kind. If you act like that, other Guides fall for you. Why do Guides keep getting attached instead of Espers…”
While AJ grumbled, Kzar began to walk. Confirming that damp footprint-like marks remained on the floor with each step he took, Heewoo followed Kzar in fascination.
There were truly many amazing things in the residential area. Among them, what surprised Heewoo most was a vehicle that rode on wind circulation flowing from the floor to the sky for transportation. They said it was similar to Earth’s elevators made using gravity, but to Heewoo it seemed like something from another world.
He wanted to look more closely into their lives like this, but Heewoo had one problem. Language. Strangely, all the speech was understandable, but he couldn’t read the writing here. Heewoo asked AJ about this curiosity.
“But how does everyone… speak Korean?”
“Ah. Epsilon has a chip that includes a multi-civilization translation function called ‘Link.’ It’s inserted and used behind the ear—shall I put one in for you too, Heewoo?”
Heewoo hesitated for a moment at the mention of inserting it behind the ear for use. On Earth, there weren’t many items used by inserting something inside the body. Then Kzar, who had been watching from the side, stepped forward.
“Hey, Heewoo.”
“Yes, yes!”
At the blunt voice calling his name, Heewoo unconsciously straightened his posture and answered. Then Kzar asked.
“Are you prepared to abandon Earth?”
—
These days there’s not much talk about being kidnapped if you become a Guide?
When the national emergency first broke out, there were tons of kids asking if you get kidnapped when you become a Guide lololololol
I just feel envious when I see people who became Guides these days…
I wish I could win the Guide lottery too ㅠ
‣Likes(12)│Comments(6)
Anonymous1: Agreed
Anonymous2: Guide kidnapping lololololol Right, at first it was like that… But looking at Espers’ faces sometimes I think it’d be fine to be kidnapped ^^
⤷Anonymous3: With that face I’d even cook and clean if I got kidnapped;
⤷Anonymous4: There’s always kids making immature comments like this sigh
⤷Anonymous6: Fucking hell Anonymous4, just pass by without ruining the mood
Anonymous5: But really, there’s no cases of people becoming Guides and disappearing???
—
If they find their pair on Earth
Do Espers who found their pair on Earth live on Earth forever???
They say the battleship leaves after missions are done
But I wonder how they stick with their Guide.
Doesn’t seem like they’d separate from their Guide either;
‣Likes(56)│Comments(7)
Anonymous1: I’m a Guide and my Esper asked my opinion. Whether I’d stay on Earth or go together
⤷Anonymous2: Whoa is this real?…
⤷Anonymous3: Wow so interesting then if you follow do you live on Epsilon forever??
⤷Anonymous4: Oh yeah yeah they arrange permanent residency or citizenship and stuff and give support funds too
Anonymous5: Saw the comment above but still going to live on another planet is kinda; it’s not even another country…
⤷Anonymous7: Well it’s the Guide’s choice~
Anonymous6: I like adventure so I’d follow lololol
—
These days they do power plays with high-ranking Guides during diplomacy
Which countries have high-grade Guides out now? Korea, Sudan, Germany, Malaysia or so?
Lololololol Conveniently none came out in America or China so they were awkward at recent summits lololol
Seeing the US President say our country’s KSY’s name made me realize this is the status of Guides
Really every time I see KSY my national pride just soars…,
‣Likes(76)│Comments(10)
Anonymous1: These days KSY’s stock is insane there’s nowhere without his ads
⤷Anonymous2: How long has it even been since he became a Guide?;
⤷Anonymous3: Fucking hell ads update every other day.. Makes me wonder if he has two bodies
Anonymous4: KSY lol he’s my school classmate and his personality is trash won’t a bullying scandal break?
Anonymous5: If you film KSY, high-grade Espers follow along in a line so there’s no way they’d leave it alone…
Anonymous7: So that Gudeok Station incident was ultimately concluded to have been resolved by KSY?
⤷Anonymous6: Yeah what else?
⤷Anonymous8: Oh but the way I see it, no matter how I look at it, it wasn’t KSY but that civilian who did something…
⤷Anonymous9: Wasn’t that civilian also a Guide?
⤷Anonymous10: Fucking hell2 Please stop spreading these rumors… This is why we get criticized;
