Lately, Heichi had been thoroughly on edge, to put it bluntly.
The Heichi who had lain in his quarters doing nothing until coming to Earth was nowhere to be found. He deliberately made time to stride around every corner of the battleship, showing himself in the training areas and residential zones. The problem was that his presence while walking around was anything but peaceful.
After learning that his guide was currently the one and only Black Guide within Epsilon, had exceptionally high sensitivity, and furthermore wasn’t well-controlled yet so radiant guiding often leaked out, Heichi stopped just stepping back and watching how things played out. He decided to directly handle some of the work he’d only been approving and giving orders for until now.
Of course, there were hardly any Espers who welcomed that change. Heichi was the type whose mere presence affected the surrounding Espers, and every time he walked around, a tremendous sense of intimidation crushed them.
This had intensified somewhat more after Jet… that is, after the Esper rampage incident in front of Gudeok Station that happened recently.
“Captain.”
Today too, instead of staying in his quarters, Heichi came outside and remained in the Admiral’s exclusive strategic bridge located at the very center of the battleship. The strategic bridge connected to the central control room was a space that had only been accumulating dust since Heichi had been confining himself until now.
“Communication has come from Epsilon.”
“Relay it.”
Heichi, who had been simply handling work with the computational pad in front of him, raised his head at the report that didn’t immediately come back. Then he saw AJ’s tense face hesitating to speak for some reason. An uneasy feeling brushed past his toes.
“…It’s an order to immediately transport the Black Guide discovered on Earth to Epsilon.”
Crrrrrack.
The wall of the battleship crafted with only the most cutting-edge of Epsilon’s modern science and technology, the rear wall of the strategic bridge, caved in. Confirming the state that would have the top blown off completely if he watched a bit longer without saying anything, AJ squeezed his eyes shut and hastily added.
“It’s not that, they seem to have conveyed it from a protective standpoint!”
“Protection?”
A faint sneer was added to Heichi’s lips. As he gestured for him to say more, AJ spoke like a sigh.
“It seems the existence of the first Black Guide has recently spread through the Space Federation community. Because of this, reports have come in that not only galaxies close to Earth but even autonomous planets not included in the Space Federation Government are showing suspicious movements.”
Space Federation Government.
An organization created with Epsilon as its axis, which included a total of forty-five galactic clusters as well as smaller-scale galaxies and planets. It was also the reason why Heichi, who was born in Epsilon and rose to Admiral, was called the ruler of the entire universe.
If they were intelligent life forms, they would have more than noticed whose the first appearing Black Guide was. Yet sending threats meant they were literally unintelligent or implied they would make an enemy of the entire Space Federation Government.
“Fortunate.”
“What? What is?”
“I was just judging whether it would be faster to stage a rebellion alone or to resolve it including a few others even if bothersome.”
He meant that if they took Lee Heewoo from him, he would overthrow even Epsilon’s leadership. Heichi casually made statements that not only violated military law but would be more than enough to get him imprisoned in the underground prison called Epsilon’s bottomless pit if someone reported it.
The more frightening point was that Heichi was more than capable of doing so. With Heichi’s abilities, he could overturn Epsilon’s leadership, the axis of the Space Federation Government, in just one day and rule the entire universe himself.
Therefore, Epsilon had always been wary of Heichi, but the reason there had been no problems until now was because Heichi was a life form with no greed or goals compared to his abilities. All he wanted was roughly to meet a guide at his level and receive guiding to prevent rampage. Epsilon’s leadership probably knew this fact well, which was why they hadn’t taken any particular action until now.
“It seems there are those who have given up living as intelligent beings.”
“…Yes. We’re judging them not to be greatly threatening, but still, you never know. Currently, your Guide is living quite freely on Earth.”
Even with Kzar, as soon as AJ discovered him, he used almost every method available to protect Kzar. For instance, operating several small battleships with reliable cloaking functions so that one team unit of Espers would follow him around. Of course, it was also something done so Kzar would never know even if a lifetime passed.
In contrast, even after discovering Lee Heewoo, Heichi hadn’t put in place any particular protective or safety measures. He hadn’t even attached small-scale personnel under the pretext of protection. Every time AJ saw such a Heichi, he thought he was either crazy or actually didn’t cherish his guide.
“Don’t think about infringing on my guide’s freedom.”
Heichi said quietly.
Having only said that much, Heichi waved his hand at AJ as if telling him to go. Then he suddenly put down the pad he was holding and stood up abruptly. Surprised by the sudden movement, AJ looked at him with a puzzled face.
“Is something the matter?”
“It’s time to get off work.”
“…What?”
Heichi hurriedly put on the uniform coat engraved with the mark of the Epsilon Space Federation Government that he’d taken off, then belatedly remembered that wasn’t it and threw it off. Then, shoving his arms into a black long coat of the most normal design currently popular on Earth, he said.
“It’s time for my guide to get off work.”
As soon as the words ended, Heichi disappeared from before his eyes. Left alone in the strategic bridge, AJ could only let out an empty laugh at the sight. The ruler of the universe, who had shown a calm face even at the story that enemies might come from nearby planets or galaxies, had belatedly realized his guide’s quitting time and disappeared in such a fluster.
A long sigh burst from AJ’s mouth.
* * *
It was no exaggeration to say that starting from the jjimjilbang, Lee Heewoo was gradually learning how to guide on his own. Considering that ordinary guides only displayed one hundred percent efficiency after receiving formal education, it was remarkably excellent learning ability.
The problem was that thanks to that remarkable learning ability, Heichi was becoming increasingly agonized.
“So, so today at the shop… …huh?”
Heichi, who had been struggling to calm his wavelength that was being unruly and rampaging especially today, felt his wavelength wriggling to burst out the moment he held Lee Heewoo’s hand, and his brow furrowed for an instant. It was a type of ‘overload’ phenomenon that had happened before—his wavelength, which had spent a long time broken, tasted guiding so delicious it could go mad and was clamoring to give out more, more.
It was also a phenomenon that arose as Lee Heewoo gradually began guiding in earnest. Heichi knew his condition today was different from usual, but judged it would be something he could somehow endure as always. That judgment probably also included the thought that he didn’t want to let go of Lee Heewoo’s hand that he was currently holding.
However, that meager thought didn’t last long. Heichi lost his body’s balance and collapsed to the ground as soon as they came out of the sushi restaurant he’d looked up in advance.
Heichi gasped for breath in embarrassment and bewilderment at not being able to properly control his body. Lee Heewoo beside him was also startled, stuttering his words and trembling with contracting pupils. Heichi tried to calm his wavelength if only to soothe his anxious guide.
However, the wavelength that had once tasted guiding, far from becoming docile the more he tried to calm it, rampaged even more and shook even Heichi’s consciousness. Eventually his vision went completely white, and his mind became distantly separated from reality like when entering a zero-gravity state.
“Captain… …return… please.”
“…what? Why…”
“…so?”
“…please let me go in.”
His distant consciousness conveyed in fragments the voices of those conversing with Lee Heewoo. Then he felt the sensation of being moved somewhere, and Heichi soon realized he’d been separated from Lee Heewoo and confined in the recovery room pod.
If it was fortunate, was it fortunate?
That he didn’t have to show such an unsightly appearance to his guide.
Entering a weakened state was accepted as a very shameful condition among Espers. Because you’d be treated as someone who couldn’t find a guide or, even having a guide, couldn’t receive guiding—in other words, as a fool not loved by their spouse.
Being confined in a recovery room pod in that state made him feel not just shame but even self-loathing. Heichi resolved that as soon as his body recovered even a little and he regained consciousness, he would immediately go meet his guide. He had to meet and explain. That what he saw then was nothing, and assert that he was a robust and powerful Esper…
“Heichi-ssi.”
A familiar voice instantly grabbed Heichi’s distant consciousness and returned it to reality. Heichi tried to open his eyes to look at the owner of the voice, but his unrecovered body found even that burdensome.
He had been anxious because there was no voice heard after that. Heichi tasted the illusion of his whole body trembling at the touch that reached his nape. Something…
Something was being ‘connected.’
