Chapter 41: The Colonel’s Guide and the Shock of Revelation

The Antares Unit’s camp was quietly buzzing with excitement.

Colonel Bliss Moore had been brought back unconscious, on the verge of a rampage after overusing his ability.

Despite this, the unit members were provided with a meal and some alcohol.

They quietly raised their glasses in a toast, half-believing that Bliss Moore’s Guide was truly his.

However, Bliss’s closest confidantes, those who had always believed Ethan Prescott was an ordinary person, were now lost in conversation. They anxiously awaited Ethan’s return from washing up and grabbing a quick meal, all while Doctor Sera bustled around Bliss.

“So, you’re saying Ethan was really a Guide? And not just any Guide…”

“He was said to be on the verge of a rampage, even if it wasn’t a full-blown one, right? To be such a powerful Guide… I still can’t believe it.”

Philip’s unfinished words were picked up by Doctor Sera, who was adjusting an IV drip, as she murmured distractedly.

Having known Ethan Prescott since the old Neruan village villa, their shock was twice as great as Liam’s, Kyle’s, or Captain Chase’s.

“But why did he hide it for so long! Ethan Prescott was by the Colonel’s side, yet he deceived him…!”

Captain Chase couldn’t finish his sentence, biting his lip in anger, but Doctor Sera, checking a needle, retorted sarcastically.

“That’s a narrow-minded way of thinking, considering only Colonel Bliss’s and the unit’s perspectives.”

“Doctor Sera!”

“Why on earth are you angry that Ethan didn’t tell Colonel Bliss he was a Guide? He’s a Guide who strongly affects even Liam and Kyle. Didn’t it occur to you that he could have become someone else’s Guide?”

“B-but…!”

“Listen carefully, Captain Chase. Ethan Prescott wasn’t born to be Colonel Bliss’s Guide. It’s because he gave Colonel Bliss some of his heart that Colonel Bliss was able to receive guiding.”

“And in the first place, do you even realize that if he didn’t have the ability to hide being a multi-Guide, there’s almost no chance he’d be standing before us right now?”

“…!!”

“…Indeed, he might have already gathered countless Espers and taken over a small autonomous region.”

Philip murmured, his voice trembling slightly.

Only then did Captain Chase snap back to reality.

“S-surely not.”

Doctor Sera offered a bitter smile.

“You should be thankful that Ethan Prescott, at least, doesn’t seem to want to become like Devon Green.”

****

“Oh…”

Ethan’s face fell as he gazed at the mountain of steak piled on his plate.

In front of him, the Guide and Esper squad members responsible for serving wore proud expressions.

Liam and Kyle chuckled wryly as they dished out their own portions of steak.

“We have a Guide in charge of rationing, so why are the Espers giving out more than their usual amount?”

The Esper squad member who had piled the steak so heavily shook his head as if to say, ‘What are you talking about?’

“Captain Liam, no, Sir Liam! You accomplished the incredible feat of preventing Colonel Bliss’s rampage, didn’t you! So eat plenty…”

Ethan offered an awkward smile.

“I didn’t really do anything that amazing…”

This time, a nearby Guide squad member chimed in.

“Even if it wasn’t a full rampage, but the stage just before it, Guides who can stop that are truly rare. It means the matching rate is at least 70%, which is amazing!”

“I can’t even guarantee I could stop my matching Esper from rampaging. Though, of course, I wouldn’t let them get that far!”

“…That’s right!”

Kyle, who was collecting his dessert, turned his head.

The shout came from the unit members in the dining hall, who had been subtly listening to their conversation.

“Eat well!”

“Please take good care of our Colonel!”

Voices, whistles, and applause erupted from various directions.

The Esper squad member, who had insisted on adding one more piece of steak, grinned triumphantly.

“By the way, it seems the Colonel’s Guide also has a rare affinity. I’m a water-type ability user, and I don’t feel them as a Guide at all.”

Liam and Kyle’s movements stiffened slightly, but then they naturally picked up their trays, placed their desserts on them, and spoke casually.

“That’s right. A Shadow affinity. That’s why none of the Espers here would have felt Ethan as a Guide.”

‘Of course.’

The Espers in the dining hall, hearing the deliberately loud declaration, shed any lingering doubts.

“Please, sit here!”

“We’ve finished eating!”

Ethan wore a sheepish expression as the unit members, seemingly anxious not to yield their seats, hurriedly crammed food into their mouths and stood up.

Even after they sat down, Ethan continued to feel gazes fixed on him.

Finally, Kyle abruptly stood up, glared around, and said coldly.

“We’d like to eat comfortably. I’d appreciate it if you’d withdraw your attention now.”

As he spoke, meeting their eyes as if to remember each one, heads quickly turned away.

Liam used telekinesis to pull over the temporary partition separating the serving line from the tables, shielding their table.

Only then did Ethan’s tense shoulders relax.

“Tomorrow morning, we’ll bring your meals to the Colonel’s quarters.”

‘Ah.’

Ethan, mid-chew on his steak, paused and looked up.

Kyle, interpreting Ethan’s expression as eagerness, quickly added.

“The Colonel will wake up soon. Doctor Sera is directly attending to him in his quarters, not the infirmary. Guiding shock, I’d only heard about it, but it truly exists. Don’t worry.”

“Not even a mouse will dare to approach the quarters… *Cough!*”

Liam, who had personally witnessed Ethan’s CPR-like guiding, elbowed Kyle in the side when he tried to make a mischievous joke, then smiled nonchalantly.

“Doctor Sera will explain, but don’t worry. The two of you sleeping in the same quarters is for the Colonel to adapt to Ethan’s guiding. I don’t know how it works, but right now, we don’t feel Ethan as a Guide at all. You just need to release that in front of the Colonel.”

Ethan’s stiff expression softened at Liam’s words.

Only then did Kyle realize it wasn’t the time for jokes and changed the subject.

“Anyway, that’s truly an amazing ability.”

The sound of Oweol the crow’s wings reached Ethan’s ears.

Feeling as though Oweol was quite proud, Ethan smiled and whispered softly.

“That’s a relief. And thank you for not revealing it earlier.”

They had deliberately exaggerated the rare Shadow affinity, thereby showing respect for Ethan.

This was an expression of gratitude for their consideration in taking appropriate measures to prevent anyone from even considering the possibility of Ethan being a multi-Guide.

Liam and Kyle grinned, shaking their heads.

“Please take good care of the Colonel.”

****

Bliss slowly regained consciousness.

As the distant murmuring gradually became clearer, he opened his eyes.

The crude, simple, yet familiar texture of the ceiling and outer walls came into view.

“Oh, Colonel Bliss. You’re awake! If you can properly recognize my voice, please nod your head!”

Bliss subtly frowned at Sera’s voice, which treated him like a patient, but still nodded.

As he became more alert, he realized that quite a few people were in his quarters.

Simultaneously, the events leading up to his unconsciousness flashed through his mind like a panorama.

“…I didn’t rampage?”

He raised his hand, as if unable to believe it.

Even without looking at his hand, he knew his condition wasn’t bad now that his headache was gone, but it was precisely because it was so unbelievable that he wanted to confirm something tangible.

“You didn’t rampage. Ethan… Ethan… guided Colonel Bliss.”

Philip’s voice, speaking, faltered midway and became choked.

As Bliss woke, the sudden reality that he had truly found his Guide overwhelmed him, making his throat constrict.

Unable to fully process Philip’s words, Bliss murmured distractedly.

“I thought I saw Ethan at the end. And Captain Liam too.”

As Liam and Ethan, who had been standing behind, approached his bed, Bliss’s eyes widened slightly.

Only then did Philip’s earlier words make sense in his mind.

“What I saw wasn’t a hallucination, then.”

Ethan’s face flushed slightly.

“Uh, I don’t know what you mean by hallucination, but it probably wasn’t… a hallucination.”

However, Bliss was not easily convinced.

He knew Ethan had come, but he simply couldn’t believe that Ethan had guided him.

“Are you hurt? Are you alright? Why did you think of coming to such a dangerous place?”

Bliss pulled Ethan towards him, examining him all over.

Though he was the one lying down, the sight of Bliss checking on him made a corner of Ethan’s heart ache.

Doctor Sera cautiously suggested.

“Ethan, is there a shield or something up right now? Please drop it.”

“Ah, yes.”

And so, Oweol the crow’s shield vanished.

“…Gasp!”

Captain Chase, experiencing Ethan as a Guide for the first time, let out a small gasp.

Horror was etched in Bliss’s eyes.

“Th-this is…!”

Ethan, whose hand was held, murmured, his ear tips coloring.

“I-I’m sorry, Bliss. But it took me some time to make up my mind too. Was it very… difficult?”

The same place, the same people, yet everything Bliss perceived changed subtly.

Through training to close off his senses, he had lived ignoring everything that assaulted his five senses, but he could never completely avoid them.

The light that assailed his eyes, the sounds that pierced his ears, the needlessly stimulating smells—they all became ordinary, even without him consciously closing off his senses.

It was the moment Bliss’s world was redefined.

“……No, I’m fine. Thank you.”

Bliss pulled Ethan into an embrace.

As the area of contact widened, he felt his entire body rejoice.

‘I want to touch more.’

The Esper’s instinct urged him on.

His handsome face curved into a smile, solely to entice his Guide.

Ethan gasped, seeing those beautiful, curving eyes so close, fixed on him.

It was an intoxicating smile.

“…Can I kiss you?”

‘Let me.’ A pitiful plea shone in his urging eyes.

Ethan’s Adam’s apple bobbed.

His beauty, which was never hidden even when he wore a stoic expression and exuded coldness, was now deliberately used for seduction, making Ethan’s mind reel.

“Th-”

Just as he was about to unconsciously agree, saying, ‘Yes, you can.’

“No.”

With a cold, firm voice, Doctor Sera’s tablet chart intruded between their faces, which had drawn so close.

“…Damn it.”

Bliss, ruthlessly interrupted just as his goal was within reach, snarled.

In contrast, Ethan, having snapped out of his daze, abruptly lifted his head.

Liam, Kyle, and Captain Chase, whom he had forgotten, stood with their mouths agape, shocked by Bliss’s unprecedented display.

Meanwhile, Doctor Sera and Philip, who had been wiping away tears of emotion that Colonel Bliss had finally found his Guide, now regarded them with chillingly cold eyes.

“The two of you are forbidden from kissing for a month.”

“…!!”

“What!”

Ethan’s face turned crimson, and Bliss, still somewhat dazed, erupted in anger.

However, Doctor Sera snorted, delivering words that would surely snap him back to reality.

“Oh, Colonel Bliss, you seem to have forgotten, but you fainted from a single kiss from Ethan. It’s called guiding shock.”

“No, that was, mucosal contact… guiding…”

Ethan softly expressed his wish not to label such an unromantic thing as his first kiss, but Doctor Sera and Philip were in complete agreement.

They had worried about Bliss rampaging, fretted, and even obtained His Highness Herace’s approval to prepare the airship.

As if that wasn’t enough, they had pleaded with Liam, persuaded him, rushed Espers to the battlefield on the airship, and worried themselves sick.

And then, after finally waking up their superior, who had fainted from joy after one guiding session, the first thing he did upon waking was to immerse himself in a world of two, ignoring everyone around them, and trying to seduce his Guide with all sorts of beautiful expressions they had never seen before—what an Esper!

Philip’s sharp voice followed Doctor Sera’s cold pronouncement.

“Forgive me, Colonel Bliss, but there’s something you need to know. Ethan is a ‘multi-Guide’.”

At Philip’s words, implying ‘he’s not just *your* Guide,’ a fierce aura exploded from Bliss.

“Gah!”

“Urgh…!”

Ethan wore a dumbfounded expression as Bliss, to monopolize his Guide, silenced the surrounding Espers.

The Espers in the room, affected by the psychic silence, choked and hunched over, unable to breathe.

However, the two ordinary people, completely unaffected, boldly placed shackles on Bliss.

“So, if Colonel Bliss doesn’t behave, Ethan will go to someone else.”

Doctor Sera’s eyes curved nastily.

“You still need guiding, so for today, you can just hold hands and sleep. Conveniently, the beds are separated, aren’t they?”

“…!!”

Liam and Kyle, gasping for breath, exchanged glances.

It was the first time they had felt fear from ordinary people.