Chapter 15: He Was Avoiding Me

At the mention of “guiding,” Captain Russell’s expression stiffened slightly.

It was the face of someone who knew where Colonel Shan was, what he was doing, and why he wasn’t coming to receive guiding.

Instead of pressing the issue, Juju merely puckered his lips and continued.

“Do you happen to know where the colonel is?”

The one at fault was Colonel Shan, so there was no reason to take it out on Captain Russell.

Besides, if the colonel wouldn’t come, Juju could simply go find him.

This was absolutely not because Juju was harboring a grudge over being neatly laid on a bed and abandoned while in the middle of indulging in a perfectly good daydream.

When Juju finally looked up from stabbing his food viciously with a fork, Captain Russell was watching him with a subtle, unreadable expression before slowly resuming his chewing.

Their eyes met, and Juju gave him an awkward smile.

“Is guiding… very exhausting for you?”

“Not particularly. I rest often, so I’m fine.”

“How would you feel about taking a week-long vacation starting next week?”

“Vacation?”

“Yes. It was a direct order from the colonel. The official document should arrive at the infirmary sometime today.”

Captain Russell added that he would also send a list of recommended resorts for the vacation period.

He even mentioned that Juju should be compensated for his work, and that if he wished, a temporary ID could be issued so his pay could be deposited into a bank account.

It was excessively delicate, almost affectionate consideration.

The same esper who once eyed Juju with open suspicion now looked ready to hand over his liver and gallbladder without hesitation.

His eye color, now a calm gray similar to his hair, reflected that change.

Captain Russell wasn’t the only one like this.

Most of the espers were the same.

Because guiding was so unfamiliar to them, they tended to view Juju’s work as a form of service and felt overly apologetic about it.

When they treated him like a savior to the point of discomfort, he would tell them to stop, but he couldn’t very well tell them not to be considerate.

The more guiding they received, the stronger that tendency became.

“Honestly…”

Captain Russell’s shoulder twitched.

“He doesn’t show his face to me at all, but he sure has plenty of messages to pass along. It’s fine, Russell. I’m not going anywhere during my vacation anyway.”

“…Yes.”

Juju spoke while cutting his fried egg into tiny pieces, his expression openly sour.

He wasn’t managing his face well at all.

Thirty days of continuous guiding by an S-class guide had produced excellent results.

Every esper passing by now sported eye colors they could proudly show off.

At last, Juju could conduct easier guiding in a safe environment.

All except for one person, Colonel Shan Pei.

He knew now that there was no immediate danger of rampage, but still, leaving an esper with pitch-black eyes alone felt wrong on a moral level.

At first, Juju assumed the colonel was yielding guiding opportunities to his subordinates.

By the second and third times the colonel failed to appear, Juju even began to wonder if he wasn’t just skeptical of guiding, but afraid of it.

It was only when Juju went to look for him directly, and saw Captain Russell closing an open window with a blank face while asking what Juju needed, then something finally clicked.

Come to think of it, no matter how many places he checked – the mess hall, the infirmary, even cycling through three different facilities, he never ran into Colonel Shan.

The colonel had been deliberately avoiding him.

‘How did he know I’d try to guide him the moment we met?’

After fuming for a long while, Juju returned to the infirmary that very day and submitted a vacation request through Michael.

The reason for the vacation was simple.

It was Juju’s declaration of war against Colonel Shan.

Operation: Capture the Blue Butterfly.

No matter how exhausting guiding was, it was still far easier than forced marches through rifts.

Once he guided Colonel Shan as well, every esper here would have passed through Juju’s hands at least once.

That would be a perfectly clean conquest.

On the first day of vacation, Juju resolved to rest and spent the day rolling around on his bed.

From the second day onward, he began actively searching for Colonel Shan.

Following proper procedure, Juju visited the colonel’s office and quietly stared at Captain Russell as he closed the window with an impassive face.

“Juju-nim? What brings you here? I thought you were on vacation starting yesterday.”

“I came to see Colonel Shan.”

“Oh.”

Captain Russell suddenly turned his gaze toward the window.

Juju followed his line of sight.

“I see.”

That line just now sounded way too scripted.

Juju narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

Captain Russell avoided his gaze.

A long, uncomfortable silence settled between them.

“Ahem.”

Captain Russell cleared his throat.

“If you tell me the purpose of your visit, I’ll pass it along.”

“Tell him to come receive guiding.”

Juju said it without hiding the stiffness creeping into his voice.

Captain Russell, normally so sharp and unyielding, still couldn’t meet Juju’s eyes.

‘Was the colonel hanging from the window ledge or something?’

Juju snorted.

“I’ll be in my room for the entire vacation. I won’t move a single step.”

“Yes. I’ll pass that along.”

Captain Russell replied slowly.

That evening, Sergeant Michael knocked on Juju’s door.

Juju, who hadn’t expected the colonel to come even a little, flung the door open and glanced around.

He truly hadn’t expected anything.

He’d only wondered if Colonel Shan might be lurking somewhere outside his line of sight.

Seeing the faint disappointment on Juju’s face, Sergeant Michael cleared his throat.

Only then did Juju look up at him.

“The colonel says he does not require guiding.”

“Nonsense.”

Juju’s voice was thick with irritation.

He sighed and rubbed his forehead.

“You’ve received guiding too, Michael, you know this. There’s no such thing as an esper who doesn’t need guiding. I can’t even guess what the colonel is thinking. He could rampage like that.”

“We do not rampage unless it is time to die.”

“I know that.”

Juju shook his head in frustration, and Michael fell silent for a moment.

“But that doesn’t mean it isn’t dangerous. Or painless…”

“The colonel awakened as an esper at the age of seven and survived induction. You don’t need to worry-”

“Espers need guides, not drugs!”

The sharpness slipped out before Juju could stop himself.

Despite that, Sergeant Michael replied gently.

“Well, Juju-nim. As the colonel’s NCO, all I can do is relay his orders. I can never take his place.”

“I know. I’m sorry for snapping at you, Michael.”

Juju muttered weakly.

Michael wasn’t wrong.

No matter how much he pressed a mere messenger, Michael would never become Colonel Shan.

No matter how exceptional of a guide he was, what could he do?

Even a C-class esper could disappear without a trace if they truly wished.

And the colonel was an esper beyond measure.

“If I wait long enough, maybe something will happen.”

Should he give up on searching for him?

As Juju stared into the distance with a gloomy expression, an unexpected voice spoke.

“But I can tell you where the colonel is.”

At Michael’s mild addendum, Juju’s head snapped up.

“He’s probably… at the open ground behind the base.”

“There’s an open ground behind the base?”

Juju tilted his head.

“Yes.”

Michael smiled.

****

To put it plainly, the position of non-commissioned officer was lower than that of an officer.

Did that mean they were stronger in combat?

Not at all.

An NCO was, in essence, a veteran soldier seasoned enough to care for the rest of the troops with a mother’s heart.

Such people were never common.

While a company might have two or three officers, there was always exactly one senior sergeant, making the scarcity of NCOs only natural.

Among them, Senior Sergeant Rascal was a father figure revered and loved across multiple companies.

Michael was a sergeant favored by Rascal.

When Colonel Shan Pei, abandoned by his family at a young age and assigned to the Center, was still a child, Rascal took pity on him.

He designated the similarly young Michael as Shan’s caretaker, forging the bond between them.

Because of that, Michael understood better than anyone what kind of person Colonel Shan was.

And why he refused to receive guiding.

To be honest, if this was how it would turn out, Michael believed they never should have let an unidentified guide like Juju into the company.

Otherwise, they would never have allowed this precious guide to wear such an expression.

After emphasizing “the open ground behind the base” several times, Michael glanced at Juju’s excited retreating figure before turning away.

Once Juju had completely disappeared, a distorted-faced Colonel Shan stood there, as though he had been there all along.