Chapter 4: The Late-Blooming Esper and the Lucky Pouch

[Arrived at the Espers and Guides Center parking lot in Morapolio City. Terminating drive.]

With a stiff mechanical whir, the capsule-shaped car, which had been hovering about ten centimeters above the moving rail, gently descended and docked. As it did, the door of the vehicle they were in smoothly opened.

It was Uncle Hans’s latest capsule-shaped car, belonging to a man quite wealthy within the village. Fortunately, they had only needed to drive themselves for about ten minutes after leaving the village before smoothly transitioning onto the moving rail.

Even with this expedited travel, the journey had taken nearly an hour. Scott let out a whistle, musing that if they had opted for the tram, it would have surely been a two-hour ordeal, making him grateful to have latched onto Uncle Hans. As they disembarked, the moving rail glided the capsule car away into a designated parking space.

“We’ll have to split up here. Let’s meet back here in three hours. You know where to go for the examination, right?”

“Uncle Hans, why do you look so drained, especially when you’re going for guiding?”

At Scott’s buoyant tone, Ethan’s gaze shifted to Uncle Hans. Given the nature of the place, several individuals who appeared to be Espers were circulating, yet none wore an expression as complex or nuanced as Uncle Hans’s.

“…You should get your guiding soon. It seems your exhaustion is showing on your face.”

Uncle Hans’s excuse was somewhat convincing, so Ethan decided against asking what was wrong. Instead, he pushed away Scott, who had inexplicably latched onto his arm.

“Back off a bit.”

“No way. If I let go, you might run off.”

Ethan had heard that the last person Scott dragged along, Jamie, had been so mortified by the center researchers recognizing Scott by name that they’d fled. It was true that, having anticipated his own embarrassment upon hearing that story, he had indeed considered making an escape. Concealing his sudden prickle of discomfort, Ethan feigned nonchalance.

“Anyone watching would think you and I were matched partners.”

“Oh really? So who would look like the Esper and who like the Guide? Ethan, you’re pretty, so you’d look like the Esper, right? Wow, does that mean they’d recognize me as a Guide?!”

Scott, having completely ignored Ethan’s request to back off and instead doubled down with a cackle, caused a surge of anger to rise from deep within Ethan’s core. Swallowing it down, he offered a perfunctory wave towards Uncle Hans. He noticed a flicker of pity cross Uncle Hans’s face, who was still observing them.

“I told you to stop saying that!”

As they walked down the corridor, Ethan’s irritation mounted. Yet, Scott, buoyed by the fervent hope that today might finally be the day he was confirmed as a Guide, absorbed all of Ethan’s annoyance without a ripple.

“Ethan, I’m just stating facts. Statistically, when you look at Espers and Guides, there are more handsome men and beautiful women among Espers. Why get annoyed about being called good-looking or pretty? If you think about it, Guides can live perfectly well without Espers, so the theory that Espers have anthropologically evolved to attract Guides isn’t entirely absurd.”

“Yes, you’ve made your point. Men are called handsome, not pretty. And Scott, you’re shattering my resolve. I came with you despite you having undergone over five examinations without a Guide diagnosis. I was prepared to endure the researchers at the testing center remembering your name, calling out to a perfectly ordinary young man who is neither Esper nor Guide, and asking questions like, ‘Oh, is this friend a Guide?’ If you’re going to keep spouting nonsense, I’ll just skip the test and take the tram home.”

Knowing full well that Ethan’s words were not an empty threat, Scott finally snapped his mouth shut. A peaceful silence ensued as they rode the elevator to the testing center, much to Ethan’s satisfaction. Upon reaching the center, Ethan found himself able to tolerate Scott, who had once again begun to buzz with excitement. They proceeded to the reception desk.

“Hello, Scott. Are you here again today?”

As the middle-aged nurse, who had been alternating her gaze between a monitor and a tablet at the reception desk, greeted Scott familiarly, all eyes in the waiting area turned towards them. Oblivious to the attention, Scott cheerfully returned her greeting.

“Hello, Carolina. I’m not late, am I?”

“Of course not, Scott. You’ve never been late for an appointment. Is your friend here, by any chance, an Esper?”

Ethan, watching Scott beam with pride even as he publicly revealed his numerous past visits for examinations, inwardly clicked his tongue before replying.

“I’m just accompanying him…”

“You know, Scott, this friend you’ve brought seems to be the prettiest of them all. I hope they bring you good luck.”

“Absolutely. I have a good feeling about today.”

Scott, seeing Ethan grimace at being called ‘pretty,’ wore an expression that clearly said, ‘See? What did I tell you?’

One corner of Ethan’s mouth twisted into a petulant sneer.

“I’ll come with Scott next time too, Carolina.”

“Oh my, really? My eyes are truly blessed.”

“Hey! Next time?! I’m getting my Guide diagnosis today—!”

*BANG—!*

Just as the entrance to the testing center began to bustle slightly with their presence, the examination room door burst open with a violent force.

“A late-blooming Esper is in an agitated state! Carolina, hit the emergency bell and call the guards!”

Chaos erupted in an instant. A late-blooming Esper? Most people here were either late-blooming Guides or those who had come for their mandatory 12-year-old examination.

Most manifestations occurred around the age of twelve, with irregular, rare manifestations continuing until adulthood at twenty. Manifestations after the age of twenty were virtually nonexistent. The government had wished to monitor and intervene with potential manifesters until they reached twenty, but faced strong opposition, ultimately mandating only the 12-year-old manifestation test, where the onset was clearly defined.

Manifesters not detected in the mandatory examination remained unknown to the center unless they voluntarily presented themselves. They typically appeared after adulthood, often due to various reasons. These individuals were categorized as late-blooming Guides, a group that included both those who had genuinely manifested before twenty and those who had hidden their abilities, only reluctantly revealing themselves later.

Esper manifestations, however, were different. Even if an Esper didn’t manifest at twelve, they would begin emitting power the moment their abilities awakened, making them relatively easy to detect. Consequently, late-blooming Espers after the age of twenty were exceedingly rare.

Therefore, the Esper causing such an uproar inside was truly a late-blooming Esper who had manifested quite suddenly. Their power was so overwhelming that even the C-rank Esper researcher conducting the examination struggled to contain them.

Naturally, Ethan had no interest in such matters. They were inside the center, and there was ample staff trained to handle such situations. Even the people in the waiting room, despite the urgent shouts, merely murmured and moved towards the evacuation zone rather than fleeing in panic, knowing that B-rank Espers were stationed as guards here. Ethan, too, looked at Scott, ready to evacuate.

“Let’s go. Today isn’t the day…”

“Wow. Incredible. I’ve never seen an Esper above C-rank before, other than the guards.”

This would have been fine, had Scott, whose naive adoration for Espers and Guides, fueled by unwavering faith in government propaganda, bordered on foolishness, not started approaching the examination room.

Of course, the government wasn’t exactly lying. The only difference was that the Espers and Guides portrayed in their promotional materials were highly trained and refined individuals, whereas the person inside the examination room was a late-blooming Esper, an ordinary citizen for twenty-odd years, who had suddenly been struck by this bolt from the blue.

“Scott, you absolute idiot!”

‘Chilbok. Chilbok. Chilbok. Chilbok.’

Ethan frantically called out to Chilbok internally, but Chilbok remained unresponsive. This was understandable, as Ethan had not yet received the silk he was promised.

Ethan squeezed his eyes shut and shouted.

“Five sheets of silk!”

*Poof!* With an immediate response, a fist-sized red silk lucky pouch appeared. Surprisingly, it wasn’t patched together haphazardly but crafted entirely from a single piece of fabric. It felt as if the pouch, content with the five sheets of silk it was about to receive, had generously gone above and beyond. Ethan gnashed his teeth.

‘Damn it, you loan shark of a lucky pouch!’

Inside the examination room, the man’s sunglasses shattered and his hat flew off. His face, looking more annoyed than surprised, was revealed. Most people, moving away from the examination room towards the evacuation area, failed to see him. However, Scott, standing close by, froze in shock.

“Enoch… Cloud?”

Standing there was Enoch Cloud, the second son of Count Cloud’s family and currently the most famous star in the Aitoolian Empire, whose life even before his manifestation could hardly be described as ordinary.

Half-crazed and unfocused, his pale green eyes turned towards the person who had called his name. As a target suddenly materialized, his convulsing power began to surge towards Scott.

“DAMN IT!”

Without a moment to spare, Ethan hurled the lucky pouch with all his might towards Cloud.

*Thwack,* the rather large lucky pouch struck Enoch’s silver hair and burst open. In that instant, the rampaging power, as if doused with cold water, subsided.

The guards burst in. However, they hesitated upon seeing Enoch in the examination room. Astonishingly, his fit of power was subsiding.

After his silver hair, which had been floating erratically in the air due to his power, slowly settled, Enoch Cloud picked up something that had fallen nearby and slipped it into his jacket pocket. Then, he approached Scott, who was still standing at the examination room door.

“It seems my efforts to come all the way to this rural corner for a quiet, unnoticed examination weren’t in vain. It appears I’ve just met my Guide, haven’t I?”

“…Huh?”

Towards Scott, who had stupidly forgotten how to speak and merely blinked, Enoch’s clear, pale green eyes curved into a beautiful arc.

“Shall we, perhaps, undergo the examination together?”

Watching the two of them, seemingly lost in their own world, Ethan quietly withdrew and vanished. Soon after, the entire center was plunged into chaos at the news of Enoch Cloud’s appearance.