Chapter 8: The Familiar and the Fading Path

Emil’s daily life upon returning to his dwelling was incredibly dull. He would wake before the morning dew, offer prayers, attend early mass, and then read the Bible in his room by the faint light of a lamp. When he felt stifled, he would take walks through the village, often exchanging greetings with people.

The village had changed considerably since he left for the seminary.

Unlike Emil, ‘the Esper’s son,’ the villagers were all favorably disposed towards Raphael, the seminarian. Whenever Emil saw the villagers approach him with smiles, he strove to forget old memories.

Even if their actions seemed detestable, he believed he had no right to judge or criticize them. From the day he bore the mark of God, he had resolved to serve humanity from the humblest position, just as the Messiah who saved him had done.

On days when he returned from meeting villagers who so readily offered him hospitality, he would pray for longer than usual. This was the only way he knew to love them.

Some equated Emil with God, while others regarded their kindness towards him as a form of indulgence. It was foolish to harbor resentment against these uneducated, ignorant people.

“Honestly, these people. They must be terrified of going to hell when they die.”

Unlike Emil, who strived to control and conceal his emotions, Jack was candid about everything. When they were alone, he would curse under his breath as he watched people deliberately approach Emil just to make their presence known.

“Be quiet, someone might hear you.”

“What does it matter? I’m already beyond saving anyway.”

No matter how much Emil tried to stop him, Jack had no intention of ceasing his gossip about others. He reasoned that since he wouldn’t go to heaven even if he died, it didn’t matter how he behaved.

Even in front of his friend, who had graduated from seminary and was awaiting ordination, Jack seemed unwilling to rein in his defiant actions.

While Emil did try to dissuade Jack, he never earnestly pressed him to stop. Secretly, Jack’s unreserved cursing and criticism of others offered Emil a strange sense of comfort.

Emil sat on a rotting tree stump, its trunk cut down to a mere base, and watched Jack train. Jack, who belonged to the lord’s army, would return home when not undergoing active training, just as he was now.

Unlike others, however, he continuously built his physique through rigorous physical training rather than resting. Even with his face flushed crimson and seemingly about to burst, he refused to stop pushing his body to its absolute limits.

“You’re very diligent.”

“About what?”

“Just, you seem to be putting a lot of effort into your training.”

“It’s always better to be prepared. Better than being lazy and getting kicked out.”

Jack’s demeanor as he replied seemed detached. It was almost unbelievable that this was the same boy who used to run around with him in childhood, indulging in terrible pranks.

After a long bout of push-ups, Jack belatedly added a remark.

“There are plenty of capable Espers, but not many Guides.”

“Ah.”

“Espers’ powers are obvious, but Guides’ aren’t, which is why they’re scarce. I bet a lot of Guides don’t even realize they are Guides.”

“True.”

This was also Jack’s personal experience. If not for Lauren, Jack might never have discovered his own abilities.

It was by helping Lauren, who couldn’t control her powers when she came to visit Emil, that Jack realized his own potential.

“Who knows? Maybe I’ll do such a good job guiding that I’ll even be granted a title someday.”

Jack added, laughing heartily. While his guiding abilities certainly had limitations, even that was considered valuable. Unlike Espers, whose powers were easily noticeable, Guides often went unnoticed.

The very reason an opportunity had come to Jack, a mere farmer’s son, was because he was a Guide.

If a Guide was paired with an incompatible Esper, it would take a toll on the Guide as well. Just as not all people’s temperaments align, a mismatched Guide and Esper pairing could lead to easy fatigue and even significant problems.

Jack consistently trained his body, hoping to compensate for his inadequate guiding skills with physical prowess. While physical training wasn’t a panacea, it could certainly build the stamina and endurance needed to withstand strenuous guiding.

And if push came to shove, he could always pick up a sword and fight.

As Emil watched Jack, a certain person suddenly came to mind.

“Jack.”

“Huh?”

“About Mr. Yanis…”

Jack, who never stopped his stream of gossip even while talking about people, suddenly furrowed his brow and halted.

“Uh, why?”

“…What’s wrong?”

“What do you mean?”

“No, you just suddenly stopped.”

“……I don’t get along well with that man. There’s a big age gap too. And since he’s a doctor, it just makes me uncomfortable. Maybe it’s because I can’t read.”

Jack resumed his push-ups, feigning indifference. Emil gazed thoughtfully at Jack, who was diligently moving up and down.

“But, why him?”

“Ah.”

Emil belatedly remembered what he had intended to say.

“I was just curious about Mr. Yanis’s capabilities as a Guide.”

“Hmm.”

Jack lifted one hand from the floor to his hip and began doing one-handed push-ups with the other.

“Well… among the people I know, *huff*, he’s definitely the most skilled.”

“Really?”

Jack’s head slowly bobbed up and down. His breathing was uneven from his continuous exercise.

“Lord Cezar, *gasp*, promised him the highest treatment. To grant him a title unconditionally… and a territory that would make anyone envious.”

“My heavens.”

“But he refused.”

Jack clicked his tongue in displeasure, then pushed himself up. Sweat poured from his entire body.

“If it were me, I would’ve accepted it instantly.”

“…Is he that good?”

“At the very least, among the Espers living in this vicinity, there’s probably no one he can’t handle.”

Emil said nothing.

For Emil, who knew nothing of the lives of Espers and Guides, this seemed like a distant tale. He had never experienced the ‘resonance’ said to occur between Espers and Guides.

The act of ‘guiding,’ where a Guide aids an Esper’s physical and emotional stability, was merely a theory he had learned in seminary.

Suddenly, his heart began to pound wildly. The thumping was so loud it almost deafened his eardrums.

“Then, Mother would be alright, too, wouldn’t she?”

Jack paused.

Jack, who had been wringing sweat from his shirt, furrowed his brow once more. Unable to discern its meaning, Emil watched him with anxious eyes.

“As you know, Mother is-“

“I know, I know.”

Jack cut Emil off, muttering as if bored. Several vertical lines creased the bridge of his nose.

After stubbornly keeping his mouth shut, Jack finally gave his answer.

“If it’s him, it’s definitely possible.”

At that reply, Emil breathed a sigh of relief.

****

“Ah.”

After parting ways with Jack, Emil had walked so far from the village while lost in thought that he found himself in a remote area. The day had grown dark, obscuring his surroundings.

As the weather turned colder, the sun had set earlier than usual. Although the south was generally warmer than other parts of the continent, winter was still winter.

He tried to retrace his steps by recalling his memories, but the area was hazy to him, having visited it only a few times in his childhood.

With every step, his ankle twisted upwards. Emil was currently ascending a slope.

Even though he clearly realized he was climbing a mountain, not heading towards the village, Emil found it difficult to change direction. He had no certainty that he would find the village even if he did turn back.

He thought he could simply find a suitable place to rest, endure the night, and descend the next day, but such a spot was also elusive.

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, his vision sharpened. A faint mist of breath escaped his lips with every exhale.

Fortunately, Emil was quite resilient to the cold; he had never been sensitive to it, even as a child. He had managed to endure even the most severe blizzards in the dead of winter.

“I wish there were somewhere I could rest for a bit…”

The mountain at night was perilous. There was no telling what kind of wild animals he might encounter.

Wolves would occasionally descend to the village and attack. If he were unlucky enough to face a top predator, he might meet his maker sooner than expected.

Moreover, rumors circulated among the villagers about an unknown monster dwelling in the mountains. Although it was merely a ghost story, it wasn’t surprising that the tale suddenly surfaced in his mind.

As Emil had anticipated, he was steadily climbing towards the mountain’s summit. Jagged grasses and untouched trees, where human footsteps were rare, obstructed his path.

His clothes snagging and brushing against branches with every step was a common occurrence.

After his surroundings completely darkened, the moon rose in the night sky. Realizing that night had fully descended, Emil calmly composed himself.

Regretting his earlier indulgence in unnecessary thoughts was pointless now. He chided himself for his momentary lapse in focus and scanned his surroundings.

“…!”

At that moment, he heard footsteps.

More precisely, it was the snap of a small twig. It wasn’t a sound made by Emil himself, who was cautiously moving through the wary surroundings.

Was it a person? An animal? If an animal, what kind? Where was the sound coming from?

Emil swallowed hard, focusing all his senses on his hearing. At that instant, he heard the low, fierce growl characteristic of a beast.

*Grrrrrrrr…*

A wolf! It was unmistakably a wolf’s growl. Emil squinted, trying to locate the direction of the sound.

The night was so dark he couldn’t see an inch in front of him. If he acted calmly, he might avert immediate danger.

Remembering that the path he had just walked was relatively flat, he slowly, cautiously, began to back away.

The wolf continued to growl fiercely, but it made no move, as if it hadn’t detected a human, or perhaps it was biding its time. Emil, noticing the sound gradually fading, quickened his pace slightly.

At that moment, his heel caught on a stone, and his balance faltered.

“Hngh…!”

*Woof! Woof!*

The moment he gasped in surprise at the unexpected situation, the beast barked loudly and quickened its steps. In a flash, Emil recalled the wolf howls he had heard as a child.

This sound was different from a wolf’s!

‘Could it be a dog? Oh…!’

The dog, sensing Emil’s whisper, charged at him. Even in the pitch-black darkness, he could discern its large silhouette rushing towards him.

This situation felt remarkably familiar. A wave of déjà vu washed over Emil as he squeezed his eyes shut.

“Tag, stop. Halt!”

At the familiar voice that followed, Emil’s eyes snapped open. The large dog that had charged at him landed right beside him, panting heavily.

“I told you not to attack without permission.”

The man disciplined his dog in a low, authoritative voice. The dog sat obediently on its hind legs, listening to its master.

And Emil knew the owner of that voice.

“…Yanis?”