Chapter 45: Unexpected Arrivals and Unconventional Guiding

Bliss and his party landed their transport ship on the outskirts of Langs, the seat of the Lord of Riga’s main residence. They considered their stay temporary, planning to depart again in a few days.

Accordingly, they established an encampment primarily with structures that were simple to deploy and dismantle. The unit members were tasked with defending the estate’s periphery until the Lord of Riga and his son had organized their forces.

Bliss had meticulously built the Antares Unit, staffing it entirely with his most trusted personnel.

For Bliss’s physical assessment and testing, Doctor Sera urgently summoned additional researchers from the Moore family.

The researchers who had originally assembled solely for Bliss seamlessly joined the team, as they were already exchanging data with the unit’s internal scientists.

The unit’s researchers, expressing astonishment at both Ethan and Bliss’s conditions, then signed the same stringent confidentiality agreement that the Moore family researchers had already ratified.

While these researchers would receive a surprising amount of additional pay from the Moore family for their future work, the confidentiality clause was severe. It stipulated that any breach of secrecy would harm not only themselves but also their families, effectively acting as an expensive form of coercion.

However, this measure was feasible precisely because the researchers had always harbored a profound sense of deprivation and intense rivalry towards the Center. Betrayal was simply not in their nature.

Doctor Sera and her research team decided to conduct a simple matching test using the transport ship’s equipment. Their aim was to find a compatible Guide for Violet.

However, Violet, an Esper from Riga who had tragically lost her Guide husband, adamantly refused the prospect of a new match.

“No!” Violet’s voice rose sharply. “I don’t want to be matched with any Guide other than my husband. What about Emma? How is Emma?”

Doctor Sera endeavored to calm her. “Emma is safe. It was fortunate the fork wasn’t sharp, and she’s recovering well now. Doctor Chen is looking after her. Violet, being re-matched with a Guide doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be intimate. We’ll find a Guide with a compatibility rate higher than 30%, so at the very least—”

“What about the thing that stopped my last outburst?” Violet interjected, her voice laced with desperation. “If that works, then surely I don’t need a Guide?!”

Sera and the research team, already privy to the item’s true nature, shook their heads, a collective look of discomfort on their faces.

“Ah… that was experimental,” Doctor Sera explained, her words coming out in a rush. “The success rate is far too low, and it kept… exploding. Yes, it caused explosions. It just so happened that the Colonel possessed the only successful prototype.”

Hearing Sera’s hastily concocted answer, one of the Moore family researchers sighed softly towards the sky, visibly frustrated. ‘If we could create something like that ourselves,’ they thought, ‘why would we be stuck doing this?’ ‘To think that pouch we found, as if playing hide-and-seek at the villa, contained that kid’s guiding.’

Violet bit her lip, a defiant glint in her eyes.

“Then drop me off at the Zaisler camp where Spencer is,” she demanded.

“Violet…” Doctor Sera began, her voice trailing off.

The doctor was rendered speechless, understanding Violet’s implicit desire to go berserk and perish alongside Spencer. Just then, breaking the heavy silence, the door swung open.

Doctor Chen and Elliot entered, the only Guide and Esper among the Lord’s guards who had remained fully intact after the recent battle.

“I knew you’d be like this, Violet,” Doctor Chen stated, his tone firm yet gentle.

“Accept a matched Guide,” Elliot urged. “Only then can you truly get your revenge.”

“Chen, Elliot,” Violet murmured, her voice thick with emotion.

“Let’s live,” Elliot continued, his gaze unwavering. “And let’s get our revenge together.”

At their earnest words, Violet’s eyes, which had been steadily welling with tears, finally overflowed. She burst into loud, unrestrained sobs.

After weeping for a considerable time, Violet finally spoke, her voice thick with emotion as she tearfully pleaded with Doctor Sera.

“I want to meet the Lord and Colonel Bliss,” she implored.

That very day, the decision was made to dispatch both Emma and Violet to the Moore family’s care.

****

[Ethan, would you let go of Lord Bliss’s hands and embrace him?]

As Doctor Sera’s voice echoed within the room, meticulously constructed from ekanetium and special glass, Ethan sighed. He released Bliss’s hands, which he had been holding with both of his own, and then wrapped his arms around Bliss’s waist.

Bliss, standing there encased in much thicker and heavier ekanetium restraints, raised one eyebrow in a clear expression of displeasure.

Liam and Kyle, the ones who had fastened the restraints, had already retreated to the wall and were standing by. Yet, Bliss’s voice was clearly directed elsewhere.

“…Doctor Sera,” he stated, a distinct edge of annoyance in his tone. “I’d appreciate it if you’d cease treating me like a common criminal.”

Through the transparent glass wall, Doctor Sera could be seen scoffing in overt amusement.

[Lord Bliss, this is Langs. If you don’t wish to destroy the Lord of Riga’s facilities, then you would do well to quietly follow my instructions. You should consider yourself fortunate that the Lord even constructed these shelters and training grounds for his Esper guards. Had it not been for them, I would have postponed your contact with Ethan even longer.]

“Are you alright?” Ethan asked, his voice soft with genuine concern.

Bliss offered a gentle, reassuring smile to Ethan. “…I’m fine. We’ve practiced this much already, haven’t we? Doctor Sera. Next step.”

Captain Chase, observing them alongside Doctor Sera, narrowed his eyes. Just moments ago, during a video meeting with the Lord of Veliki about the Veliki forces who had pulled out of a feint operation at the last minute, his superior had been utterly ruthless.

This was the same meticulous and cold superior who had ordered elite troops to Veliki to assess the situation while he and the Lord of Riga had been dragging their feet for days. Chase simply couldn’t get used to seeing this formidable superior completely melt into a puddle only in front of Ethan.

[Now, press your body closer and hug him tightly.]

Ethan embraced Bliss even more closely. He could feel Bliss’s muscles subtly tense. The Guide in front of him, drawing him into a closer embrace and increasing their skin-to-skin contact, let out a soft sigh of exasperation. Bliss then lifted his restrained arms.

“I want to hug you too.”

At his suggestive words, inviting Ethan further into his arms, Ethan playfully fanned himself. The chuckles and teasing words of Dongja could be heard.

‘Wow, he really doesn’t notice anything around him.’

Feeling the playful presence of the gwi, which, though still indistinct, was clearly there, Bliss tried to persuade Ethan once more. “Ethan, this is nothing. It’s no different from when you hugged me tightly before.”

“Is that so?”

As Ethan hesitated, Bliss took a step forward, enveloped Ethan, and lowered his arms. It had been fine when he’d boldly agreed to Doctor Sera’s proposal to gradually increase the guiding stages, checking for shock prevention.

However, having this process of increasing physical contact displayed so explicitly caused considerable embarrassment for Ethan, who had been armed only with theory. He buried his face in Bliss’s chest.

Bliss’s muscles tensed in response. Before his eyes, Ethan had hidden his face in his chest, but his reddened ears were clearly visible.

‘His ears are pretty,’ Bliss thought idly.

[Ethan, would you try guiding in that state now?]

‘Oh, no.’ Bliss gathered every ounce of patience he had left. He had tried simply embracing Ethan while his shield was down, but this was the first attempt at intentionally guiding him.

“Ha…!”

A soft, gentle energy, unlike a mere embrace, surged in instantly, causing an involuntary gasp of admiration. ‘My Guide.’

As that thought flashed through his mind, Bliss tightened his arms around Ethan and lowered his head.

“Ah…!”

Ethan gasped in surprise, lifting his head as he felt a sensation of being sucked in around his ears. Bliss’s eyes were unfocused.

[Ethan! Stop guiding immediately and activate your shield!]

However, Ethan simply froze, his face bright red. Oweol, the raven who had been listening to Doctor Sera’s instructions, let out a sharp ‘Caw!’ at the unresponsive Ethan and automatically deployed a shield.

Bliss, who had been about to lick Ethan’s ear, paused momentarily. But he quickly resumed his actions.

“Ah, aah!?”

He finally kissed Ethan’s ear and subtly licked it with his tongue, then raised his head with a satisfied expression. By the time Liam and Kyle rushed over to carefully pull Ethan away from Bliss, Bliss’s eyes were already clear, and he wore a triumphant expression towards the glass wall.

“…My goodness. Ethan has fallen for Lord Bliss’s tricks again!”

Doctor Sera pressed her temples firmly, as if suffering a headache. Chase let out a hollow laugh.

“Huh, is Colonel Bliss, in his right mind, licking Ethan’s ear right now…? Right? That’s what’s happening?”

Chase fully utilized the advantage of the mirror wall, which prevented them from being seen. He pointed at his superior, who was now pretending to have just regained his senses for Ethan’s benefit, and made no effort to hide his incredulous expression.

“It’s fortunate that he didn’t touch Ethan’s mucous membranes, but… I never imagined he’d exploit it like this.”

“Heh heh… he must be desperate. A perfect match Guide, and a multi-type at that. He’s probably anxious about not even being able to kiss yet. Especially since he has to return soon. While his unit members are all his loyal subordinates, the capital, Ashilton, is where the Empire’s greatest number of Espers gather. Still, to see the Colonel like that…”

Sera nodded, listening to his words, and turned her gaze back to the room. Inside, Ethan was actually comforting Bliss, who was feigning remorse. Liam and Kyle, standing behind them, already wore expressions of resignation.

“I was the one who proposed this test, but I can’t fathom why I dislike this time so much.”

“…Surely, we aren’t going to have to watch the Colonel flirt with Ethan using all sorts of illicit methods from now on… are we?”

As Chase spoke, both his face and Sera’s, who was listening, grew increasingly pale. Just as they felt they would die of envy for Philip, who had excused himself early for work, Philip himself rushed in, his face utterly blanched.

“Marquis Douglas Moore has arrived for a secret visit! Mr. Henry is with him!”

“…!!!”