Don't Support the Guide - Chapter 25

“Dr. Alex?”

“Hello, Second Lieutenant Samuel Nora. You don’t need this, do you?”

“…Are the results out?”

The three new recruits exchanged glances, seemingly wondering what they were talking about.

“At least one is.”

Alex smiled meaningfully.

“I have your sample, so you don’t have to waste your energy. You’ll be short on energy guiding someone else anyway.”

“The results…”

“Wait. I’ll match them with the other Espers and deliver them all at once.”

“Understood.”

Samuel barely swallowed his blatant impatience and nodded. As soon as Alex left, Peter stuck to him like glue.

“What is it? Did you meet the medical officer, no, Dr. Alex, before? What results?”

Despite Peter’s questioning, Samuel only shook his head.

But somehow, he had a good feeling. Alex’s expression when he looked at him seemed positive.

Samuel quietly held onto the anticipation that only he knew.

***

Adrian was always closer to misfortune than unexpected luck. So, she was cautious even about the good news Alex delivered.

The figure of 98% was certainly high, but there was no guarantee that a guide with 99% or even 100% compatibility wouldn’t appear, so she waited until all the unit members had completed the compatibility test.

“Here, take this.”

The results went to the battalion commander first. The test results listed the names and compatibility scores of the top 10 in compatibility.

Adrian read hers. Samuel was ranked first in compatibility, and the number 98% was overwhelmingly higher than the others.

“Second Lieutenant Samuel’s top match is also the battalion commander. Even if it wasn’t, you would naturally be ranked first in terms of importance.”

“But I thought it went up to 10th place.”

“Usually, it does.”

“Why are only the top 3 on mine? Is this battalion commander discrimination? Or is it because my level is unmeasurable?”

“I’d be glad if it were the latter. I told you, Battalion Commander, you’re notoriously picky, to the point of having a severe guide allergy.”

“…So, there are only three guides in this unit with tolerable guiding for me?”

While testing all the unit members, Adrian also rechecked her compatibility with other guides.

Even so, Adrian’s results were sparse compared to others. Even the 2nd and 3rd ranked guides showed poor scores of 11% and 8% respectively at the Bronze level.

It was shocking compared to the 10th-ranked guide of other unit members, who showed a compatibility of approximately 20-30%.

“To be precise, it means that you can’t be guided by anyone other than Second Lieutenant Samuel.”

“……Linton?”

Alex held up four fingers with a blunt expression.

“Four percent.”

“…I thought he was bearable?”

“You won’t think that now. You’ve met a 98% guide.”

That was certainly true. Only after meeting Samuel did she realize what real guiding was like, and why Espers were so crazy about guiding.

Four percent and 98 percent.

Since meeting Samuel, Adrian’s life had become much richer than the difference between those two figures.

What if she kept him as her exclusive guide and stayed with him?

What if she called that man every day? No, it would be nice to give him a desk in her office. Maybe they would spend more time in the bedroom attached to this office than in the office itself.

Samuel always unintentionally stimulated Adrian, and Adrian would waver at every glance of his like an unprincipled Esper.

Adrian looked down at her results and smiled faintly. It was truly the first time. It was the first time she felt so lighthearted thinking about an exclusive guide.

“Here, take this. It’s an application for an exclusive guide.”

Alex suddenly handed over the application. Adrian raised her eyebrows slightly.

“I thought you might not hear from the battalion commander for a while, so I took it in advance.”

“Was I that untrustworthy?”

“Isn’t that obvious? No one trusts the battalion commander in this matter, right?”

Alex even took out a pen and put it in Adrian’s hand.

Adrian chuckled and took out the same paper from her drawer. It was an exclusive guide application with her name and signature in the Esper section. Alex’s eyes widened.

“Battalion Commander…?”

“Those big eyes, a little disrespectful.”

“I, I’ll correct it!”

Even as he said that, the size of his eyes did not change at all.

He never dreamed that Adrian Brillante would have prepared an exclusive guide application in advance. Her reaction wasn’t good the day Alex visited.

Moreover, he knew a little about why Adrian was reluctant to bring in an exclusive guide.

Fortunately, Adrian’s expression was light. She gathered the results neatly and handed them over with a nonchalant look.

“Take them and distribute them.”

“What wind blew you to make up your mind?”

“Hmm.”

Adrian didn’t continue. But her mind was busy recalling the events of yesterday.

Adrian hadn’t called Samuel in the meantime. She barely maintained her condition with guiding medicine.

But as long as they worked in the same building, they were bound to run into each other a few times.

She thought Samuel had been quietly greeting her and passing by. She somehow felt that her senses were subtly dulled when she was in the same space as him, but she thought it was just the way the radiated guiding naturally flowed.

“Hello, Battalion Commander.”

She had just received such a light greeting and passed by. Adrian, who was looking through the documents, found something important and stopped for a moment.

At that moment, guiding poured in as if someone had scooped it up and dumped it on her.

Adrian instinctively turned to the side where the guiding was coming from. She made eye contact with Samuel, who had not yet withdrawn his hand extended towards her.

Perhaps flustered, Samuel froze in an awkward position. Adrian’s facial muscles contorted strangely. The current situation pointed to only one thing.

Every time he met Adrian, Samuel Nora secretly radiated guiding.

It was absurd. Adrian let out a hollow laugh.

Samuel turned red from the neck up. He turned his body and hung his head like a child caught doing something wrong.

The new recruits found him like that and asked him what was wrong, but he didn’t answer. Adrian didn’t bother to step in either.

The hollow laugh had already turned into a glossy, genuine smile. She didn’t even realize it until she suddenly saw herself reflected in the window.

‘Ah……’

Adrian was very embarrassed.

She had never seen such an expression on her face in her entire life. It was the first time she knew that she was someone who could smile like that at someone.

Even as the smile gradually faded and her expression twisted strangely, it didn’t look that bizarre.

It looked rather good. It was as if some lingering joy that still deeply enveloped her was lingering.

“My beloved Aidy, you must seize the moment you think you have found happiness. They are so light that they will soon leave if you hesitate.”

Why did her father’s words, which were now so faint that even his voice was blurred, come to mind?

Adrian immediately turned around. The place she arrived at was not the postal management office she was going to for work, but the archives. To get the exclusive guide application there.

It was an impulsive act. But she didn’t hesitate or regret it.

All the processes of writing her name and signing the application went by quickly. Then, Adrian suddenly realized that she was looking forward to it.

While bringing that application, while reading the contents without missing anything and writing her name, she was imagining what kind of face Samuel would make if she showed him this document.

“I thought it might be okay when I thought about it.”

That long and amazing realization was summed up in one very simple and nonchalant word.

But her expression wasn’t. Alex, who read the expectation that was slightly reflected on Adrian’s face, who was pretending to be calm, smiled crookedly.

“So, how are you going to say it?”

“What?”

“…Battalion Commander, you’re not going to just hand over an application and order him to be your exclusive guide, are you?”

Adrian froze.

It was clear. That’s what she was going to do. Alex opened his mouth wide as if he had discovered the world’s worst rogue. The only reason he refrained from pointing his finger was to avoid insubordination.

“Weren’t you almost lovers?”

“I never asked him to date me.”

“You know you both have feelings for each other!”

“…Should I say feelings?”

“Of course…! Oh, wow, I’m going to die of high blood pressure.”

Alex, who was groaning with his hand on the back of his neck, slammed his desk. His red eyes were more passionate than ever.

“Listen carefully. If you don’t want to be nagged by your exclusive guide for the rest of your life, you have to make this proposal properly.”

“Isn’t it a bit funny to call it a proposal when we’re not getting married?”

“In a way, aren’t they even closer than spouses! Don’t act like a shameless Esper and listen to me!”

Anyone who heard it would never think it was a conversation between a battalion commander and a unit member. But Adrian couldn’t even think of pointing out this insubordination.

When she thought about it, Alex was right. An exclusive guide is a partner comparable to a spouse. As an Esper who entrusts his life to him, he has no right to weigh and measure things.

Adrian humbly nodded.

“Then what’s the best way? Give me some recommendations.”

“Second Lieutenant Samuel Nora is a commoner, so the best thing to do is to make it visible.”

“Really? Like a jewel?”

“Something that stands out even more.”

Alex meaningfully raised the corners of his lips.

The compatibility test results were out.

The defense forces were very noisy because of the results. Everyone looked at their results and checked who the Espers and guides were in the top 10.

Some Espers were relieved to find out why they were attracted to someone, and some guides were overjoyed that the Esper they had secretly kept in their hearts was in the top ranks.

Second Lieutenant Peter Rudd was slightly shocked.

“1st place… Second Lieutenant Ricola Alvard?”

Even the compatibility was very high at 79%. The difference was stark when considering that the average compatibility of the top ranks was in the 60% range.

Moreover, Peter’s 2nd ranked Esper had a mere 41% compatibility score, making it ambiguous to say that they had good compatibility.

“No way, why does it have to be that kid who always argues with me about everything?”