Chapter 25: The Doctor’s Clinic and the Esper’s Burden

While Yanis attended to his patients, Emil waited for him. Having no knowledge of medicine, he couldn’t offer any assistance to Yanis.

During his time in Yanis’s room, Emil observed more people than he had in the past few days. From minor cuts on fingertips to ailments caused by spoiled food, many sought Yanis’s help for a myriad of reasons.

Yanis knew all their names. He even remembered why they had visited him previously, often inquiring about their well-being. The villagers, in turn, accepted Yanis’s familiarity as a matter of course.

This sight struck Emil as profoundly unfamiliar. His mother, an Esper, had been shunned by the villagers, forced to live in a house built on the mountain, yet Yanis mingled freely with everyone. It was astounding to witness.

Was it because he was a Guide, indistinguishable from an ordinary person at first glance, or perhaps due to his profession as a doctor? Unlike Espers, Guides’ abilities weren’t outwardly visible, which might have been a factor. Hadn’t Jack also lived in this village his entire life?

Of course, Jack was a native, and his parents had settled here generations ago.

Regardless, for Emil, who had experienced discrimination in his childhood, it was a bittersweet sight.

“What? Why is Emil here?”

Whenever Emil, curious about Yanis at work, peeked through the crack in the consultation room door, villagers who spotted him would often acknowledge him.

“He’s agreed to help me. We’re preparing for the wedding, you see.”

Yanis would casually offer this excuse whenever excessive attention turned towards Emil. While it was true that Emil had agreed to assist whenever he had spare time, watching Yanis lie without a flicker of emotion always made him feel strange.

It often happened when he watched Yanis treating patients. His chest would flutter, his heart would pound rapidly, and a sudden fear would seize him.

Each time, Emil would quickly close the door and pull the blanket over his head. He was terrified of inadvertently freezing Yanis’s consultation room. He could hear Yanis and a patient, Mr. Thompson, conversing in the room.

“Ah, has it really been that long already? Are the preparations coming along well?”

“The villagers’ help has made everything go smoothly. All that’s left is to tidy and decorate the wedding venue. Lauren mentioned her dress is complete.”

“Oh. That must be quite exciting, eh?”

“Haha, it certainly is.”

Yanis replied, his voice laced with amusement at Thompson’s words.

“How is Lauren doing? It’s been ages since I last saw her.”

“She’s doing very well. She’s become even more beautiful. I visited her just last night.”

“At night? It’s dangerous to go there after dark.”

“Tag is with me, so it’s fine. I often go because I worry about leaving Lauren alone in that house. I actually asked if she’d consider staying at my place, but she prefers her own. Still, she promised to live here after the ceremony.”

“Yes, that area is dangerous… They say beasts cry out at night. And there are monsters too.”

“When did these monsters appear?”

“I don’t quite remember, perhaps fifteen or sixteen years ago? To be honest, I’ve never seen one myself. How many people could encounter a monster and survive? Yanis, you might be able to, since you’re a Guide.”

“Without an Esper, I’m no different from an ordinary person. I’d be utterly helpless.”

“Is that so?”

“Indeed.”

‘Monsters,’ Emil mused.

He recalled his childhood. When he first settled in the village, he hadn’t heard any tales of monsters. Then, at some point, rumors began to circulate that monsters roamed the mountains at night.

Sometimes they even wandered during the day, and it was said that the air itself changed in their vicinity.

A notorious prankster from the village once claimed to have encountered a monster and barely escaped. For a while, the child was treated as a hero among the others, but it turned out to be a lie, leading to much embarrassment.

Ordinary people simply could not contend with monsters. This was a fact Emil already knew. For instance, a lord once brought an army to slay a monster attacking the villagers, but the army disintegrated before a proper battle could even begin.

Some died from the monster’s assault, some fled, and others were wounded. So few soldiers returned unscathed that the lord was forced, albeit reluctantly, to invest vast sums of money and resources into training new troops.

“So, if Lauren were there, she could face that monster?”

“Hmm.”

Yanis pondered the question for a long moment before finally responding.

“She could likely inflict some damage, but she wouldn’t be able to defeat it entirely. To kill a monster, multiple Espers are usually required. While an exceptionally strong Esper might manage it alone, such individuals are rare.”

“I see. Remarkable. To think there are Espers who can face monsters far larger than humans alone. Have you ever seen such a person yourself?”

“I’ve seen a few during my time in the capital.”

Yanis then calmly recounted what he had seen and heard.

The lord, having lost his army, suffered immense losses due to the monster. Consequently, he had to invest heavily in recruiting soldiers and knights.

However, the blow of losing the trust of his people was far greater than the financial cost of his army.

The people distrusted a lord who couldn’t properly protect his own territory or its inhabitants. Stories of people deciding to relocate surfaced daily.

This was nothing short of a humiliation for the lord. Having lost the trust of his people and suffered a blow to his honor, the lord hired a mercenary Esper for a substantial sum.

This individual was rumored to be capable of facing hundreds, even thousands, of soldiers alone. They were renowned as the most powerful among those with no clear affiliation.

The Esper demanded immense riches and even a portion of the lord’s land. They argued that this was a reasonable request, as a share also had to be given to the Guide who accompanied them.

In the end, the lord, though reluctantly, signed a document ceding most of the rights the Esper demanded. However, if the Esper failed to properly deal with the monster, the lord intended to seize the opportunity of their struggle and have them killed.

The mercenary Esper, upon encountering a monster more than ten times their size, showed no fear whatsoever. Instead, they casually yawned or even cracked jokes with their Guide, displaying an air of utter nonchalance.

The lord, observing from afar, concluded that the Esper was merely boasting without any real ability. Believing he had been swindled, he ordered his archers to shoot the Esper dead.

Yet, in the very instant the archer drew their bowstring and aimed at the Esper, the Esper vanished from the lord’s sight.

More precisely, the lord simply couldn’t track their speed. The Esper swiftly and effortlessly approached the monster, twisting and crushing its entire body, effectively choking it.

The monster that had terrorized the villagers and decimated the lord’s army met a futile death less than ten minutes after encountering a single Esper.

“…To face a monster alone. That’s incredible. Such people must truly be like monsters themselves.”

“Hahaha. Such individuals are exceedingly rare. Moreover, unlike monsters, they possess reason. They don’t attack people indiscriminately.”

“But they kill creatures many times their own size.”

“In that respect, they’re far more terrifying than monsters. Monsters lack self-awareness, but these individuals attack their opponents based on their own judgment.”

“Remarkable indeed. Goodness, that’s frightening.”

“Hahaha.”

Yanis chuckled softly at Thompson’s exaggerated fear.

A power greater than monsters, people truly like monsters.

Emil did not want to become such a person.

****

After seeing off his last patient, Yanis locked the door.

“Though emergency patients sometimes arrive unexpectedly, today is your first day, so I’d prefer to focus on you as much as possible.”

Emil nodded at Yanis’s words. In a sense, Emil was also a patient. While not physically ill, he still required Yanis’s assistance just the same.

The two sat facing each other and ate dinner. Although they had shared meals before, Emil felt an odd sensation.

Neither Emil nor Yanis spoke much during the meal, leaving only silence to fill the house.

Emil simply tried to focus on the act of eating. He knew he was there for treatment, but his emotions kept soaring, forcing him to suppress them.

After finishing dinner, Yanis changed into comfortable clothes and sat down facing Emil.

“First, Emil, I have a favor to ask of you. I’ve mentioned it to others as well, but we need to clear the area for the wedding ceremony. I’ve found a spot not far from Lauren’s house. It’s perfectly suited for a wedding, with abundant flowers and ample space. The only issue is that it’s quite overgrown with weeds and needs tidying.”

“I’ll help with that too. My mother would prefer it that way.”

“Thank you. That will certainly make things easier.”

At Emil’s reply, Yanis’s face relaxed further into a smile. A wedding was typically the bride’s prerogative.

Usually, once the groom and his family had selected the venue and prepared invitations, the bride’s family would arrange the food.

Since both Lauren and Yanis had lived elsewhere before settling in this village, they had no intention of inviting many people. After all, they were an Esper and a Guide, and even if Yanis, as a doctor, maintained close ties with the villagers, a distinct barrier still existed between them.

The two simply intended to hold an intimate ceremony, just for themselves, in a beautiful and charming location.

After securing Emil’s cooperation, Yanis turned to the main subject.

“Emil, you’ll first need to learn how to control your power. If you keep freezing the entire residence every night, it will continue to cause problems.”

“Yes. But… when I slept here before, did that not happen?”

“Nothing of the sort occurred then. In fact, I felt a peculiar sense of peace, perhaps because you were sleeping beside me. I attributed it to divine grace.”

“Ah…”

Emil nodded at the man’s words. Indeed, if Yanis had known, he would have surely informed him earlier.

‘Why did nothing happen when he was beside Yanis?’ ‘Was it because Yanis was a Guide that his power didn’t manifest unconsciously?’ ‘Upon reflection, he didn’t even know why his power emerged every night.’

“Guiding is typically used in two scenarios: when an Esper needs calming after using their power, and when an Esper and Guide need rest through empathy. In this instance, it’s the latter. One could say you currently require rest.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Emil himself didn’t know why he was using his power. Since regaining consciousness, he had only frozen the room’s walls once, yet he hadn’t been able to undo it.

As Emil nodded, seemingly understanding, Yanis extended his hand.

“Give me your hand.”

As Emil offered his hand, Yanis clasped it firmly in his own. Startled, Emil gasped and tried to pull his hand away, but Yanis held it tightly, preventing his escape.