“Imprinting… you say?”
Imprinting.
When an Esper becomes bound to a single Guide until death, able to receive guiding only from them.
Imprinting literally meant a Guide’s guiding becoming imprinted on a particular Esper’s wavelength. Especially in cases of imprinting that occurred without forming a pair, it happened particularly often when an Esper in a weakened state suddenly received dense guiding.
That was also why Espers were negative about begging for guiding from other Espers. If you bestowed guiding out of worthless sympathy and ended up getting imprinted, the matter became serious from that point on.
The problem was that such impulsive imprinting occurred especially frequently the higher up you went among top-tier Espers. Most top-tier Espers who couldn’t find Guides at a similar level to themselves couldn’t avoid a weakened state, and as a result, there were countless cases of them imprinting on a Guide they’d met with difficulty without even seeking consent. AJ before his eyes was no different.
“Have you already imprinted? You haven’t even… You haven’t even done third-level guiding yet.”
“It’s not completely imprinted.”
At those words, AJ let out a deep sigh of relief. He too, though not as much as Heichi, had been in a weakened state for a long time and met Kzar just before going berserk, immediately imprinting. Of course, even such an AJ had completely imprinted only after finishing all the way through third-level guiding—that is, sexual intercourse.
Heichi guessed his early imprinting was due to his long weakened state. No matter what, having signs of imprinting before even mucous membrane contact, which was second-level guiding, let alone third-level guiding, was unusual, but since Heichi’s very existence as a Prime-grade Esper was bizarre, it wasn’t strange when you thought of it that way.
“This… Would it be alright to continuously receive guiding from the Guide? Black, no, it’s not confirmed yet, but if he’s a Guide of that high caliber, guiding will keep flowing out just from being nearby until it’s perfectly controlled.”
“About that.”
Heichi, who had stood up, added with a serious face. It was a story he hadn’t told even AJ until now.
“Apparently, my Guide is a case where radiant guiding flows out when reaching emotional extremes.”
“What? …What?! Why are you only telling me this now?!”
To tell the truth, he’d never wanted to say it. Not just to AJ, but to the research institute or headquarters within Epsilon either. He didn’t want to carelessly mention anything related to his Guide, not even the number of moles on his face.
Still, the reason he had no choice but to speak was because the matter was that serious. Now AJ had learned that a Black Guide could do radiant guiding. But if it happened under the very simple condition of emotional extremes, the story changed.
“That’s… Isn’t that too dangerous? If an Esper passing by happens to get a taste, they’ll drool… I apologize.”
AJ, who had been chattering frantically, quickly apologized to the increasingly scarce oxygen in the atmosphere. Provoking Heichi, who was in poor condition, was foolish. Especially carelessly talking about Guide Lee Heewoo, who was no different from Heichi’s weakness.
“Right. It’s dangerous.”
“In my opinion, Captain. It would be best to bring the Guide to the battleship quickly. …Before it’s too late.”
“Was it like this with Kzar too?”
At those words, AJ recalled past memories. Kzar was the first White-grade Guide found after searching no less than 160 planets. At that time, finding a White-grade Guide was the first time since Heichi had commanded the First Strategic Forces, so the information immediately spread throughout all of Epsilon.
If meeting Kzar had been delayed just a bit more until the time when Heichi had entered a weakened state, or if AJ had been even slightly okay, Kzar would have had no choice but to be attached as Heichi’s pair. Of course, considering what AJ had done at that time, that would have been quite difficult too.
“No way. Kzar was a Guide who ranked high in control rather than sensitivity. He could control his guiding not long after meeting me.”
At those words, Heichi unconsciously let out a long sigh. AJ paid attention to his captain’s first display of creature-like aspects.
Unlike Espers who were graded solely by their abilities, Guides were evaluated in various ways to calculate their grade. The most important among these were sensitivity, control, and transmission. Control and transmission literally meant whether you could control your guiding and how much you could transmit without loss.
The problem was sensitivity, which was an area with much debate among Espers. Sensitivity was a question that examined how many Espers one could connect with. Guides with high sensitivity inevitably had no choice but to be tormented by numerous Espers. As a result, it was also an area where Espers would rather their Guide’s sensitivity be low.
“…It seems the Captain’s Guide will likely receive a very high grade in the sensitivity area.”
At the words that flowed out like a notification, Heichi deeply lowered his eyes. It would be a lie to say he hadn’t guessed. The incident that first brought him close to Heewoo had happened while blocking some mid-to-low-level Esper trying to approach him. Since then, Heewoo had been continuously involved with various Espers even without wanting to.
“Sensitivity… We can’t artificially lower it, can we?”
Heichi spoke unknowingly with greed fully loaded. It was something that shouldn’t come from the Admiral’s mouth, even for Epsilon’s better future. However, if the one who would make Epsilon better was none other than his Guide.
Then Heichi even had the thought of hiding Heewoo, staking his own future and everything he had.
“Control… Control is an area that can be developed plenty even later, so if he practices, he’ll definitely become fine. Don’t worry too much.”
“Did you say your Guide had excellent control?”
“…”
AJ paused for a moment at the question about his Guide that followed like a ghost. Because an instinct that he shouldn’t answer somehow flashed through his mind.
“Well… Compared to a Black Guide, it’s a paltry level…”
“It would be good to have my Guide meet him when there’s time.”
“…”
Even though Guides meeting didn’t mean they could do guiding, and there was no reason to be extremely wary like with Espers, AJ somehow couldn’t hide the discomfort that settled around his eyes.
“Anyway, be careful not to get imprinted. You could really have a big problem.”
What Espers without pairs were most cautioned about was rashly imprinting before even completely becoming pairs. If that happened and the Guide’s heart changed to choose another Esper, then literally the only remaining option was going berserk. Even if not that, if something dangerous happened to the imprinted Guide…
“Right.”
Heichi answered relaxedly.
“I’ll be careful.”
While lightly dismissing his words in his head.
* * *
Heichi, who had returned after rescuing Heewoo from a berserk Esper, looked quite calm, but internally he was barely suppressing rage trying to erupt like an active volcano.
Heichi, who had barged straight into the training area, called out Jet, who had been leisurely training there.
“…You called for me?”
Other Espers who had sensed the unusual atmosphere withdrew like a tide, and eventually only Jet and Heichi remained in Training Area 1. Heichi looked at Jet before him and spoke.
“Were you connected with him?”
CRASH…!
Even as he uttered it with his own mouth, Heichi couldn’t endure his rage any longer and sliced one wall of Training Area 1, collapsing it to the floor. Jet looked at the wall with absurd eyes.
Jet.
A high-speed movement ability user and one of the top-tier Espers, he had recently been interested in the Brown-grade Guide ‘Kim Sowoon’ who had emerged from Korea. Heichi had no interest whatsoever in which Guide a lower Esper paired with, but he also knew the fact that Kim Sowoon was the first high-grade Guide to emerge from Korea, excluding his own Guide.
It was rare for a top-tier Esper to be interested in a mere Brown-grade Guide. However, Jet, who was still young, seemed to be growing impatient as he gradually approached a weakened state.
“Ha… Don’t tell me Team Leader Dumor was dealt with like this too?”
“Answer the question first.”
“…Yes. I felt guiding in the air, so unknowingly I reached out my hand, puh-huk!”
Jet spewed blood from his nose and mouth. He’d even been thinking of using his ability, which was first-rate at running away, to escape just in case, but as if mocking such plans, Heichi used his ability without any sign. It was a moment to keenly realize what level of power a Prime-grade Esper had.
“This… Hah. This is a military law violation, Captain.”
“Do you know who establishes that military law?”
Heichi gave a long sneer. Lowering the sound of his footsteps to the maximum, he approached Jet, who was spewing blood.
“Don’t tell me you want to have an awakened battle with me, Jet?”
“…”
“You should know your life is precious.”
Heichi gently patted the back of Jet’s head, which was tilted from spewing blood. Like dealing with an Esper twice as young as himself, it was an extremely weak and affectionate touch.
“It means get lost while I’m still talking. Understand?”
