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“Cough…!”

The supernatural power bursting from Kang Juha’s body choked the life out of me. I couldn’t tell if he perceived me as an enemy or if this was simply resistance born of survival instinct. The pain, as if my internal organs were being twisted and coiled, was vivid.

I found myself thinking—quite inappropriately for the situation—that he wasn’t called an S-Class combat Esper for nothing, before hurriedly sucking in a breath.

“Ah… I should have just killed them all.”

Kang Juha muttered the chilling words apathetically.

“Kang Ju… ha…!”

Finding it difficult to even call out his name, I had no choice but to reach my hand toward his eyes. His clouded, out-of-focus eyes stared into the unknown until my hand covered them.

I fired my concentrated supernatural power into his brain in a single burst, and Kang Juha slumped over, losing consciousness as if a fuse had blown.

“Whew…”

Only then was I able to pull my hand away from Kang Juha; it was glowing bright red from the rush of blood. Because of the throbbing sensation, it wasn’t even easy to bend my fingers.

“We’re both S-Class Espers, but isn’t the difference too extreme?”

Where on earth did this monster-like grip strength come from?

I was about to head out while shaking out my hands when Kang Juha, who had been as quiet as the dead, let out a pained groan and laboriously opened his mouth.

“…Don’t… go.”

That’s possible?

Right now, Kang Juha’s mind was in a state where I had physically severed the connection. It meant this wasn’t something that could be defied with ordinary willpower. In other words, Kang Juha was speaking to me while in a state of blackout.

You really have to be at that level to be a combat Esper, I thought in admiration, attempting to pass by him.

“Don’t… leave.”

Kang Juha called me once more.

“Sigh, how can I leave if you do this?”

In the end, I had no choice but to take my seat by the bed again.

How many more hours had passed since then? It was right when I had finished reading all thirty volumes of the fairy tale books—the only items permitted for entry—by myself.

“…Teacher?”

Kang Juha called out to me with a voice that had settled into a dry rasp. My back felt stiff, so I stretched slowly before looking at him.

“Are you awake?”

“Yes… what time is it now?”

He had a wristwatch too, but I willingly checked the time for him myself.

“It’s around nine in the evening.”

It was well past the time to leave work. This wouldn’t even be recorded as overtime pay.

Upon hearing the time, Kang Juha looked even more bewildered.

“But why are you here, Teacher?”

“Because you told me not to go.”

“…Pardon?”

“Mr. Kang Juha, you said not to go, so I didn’t.”

While it was true I stayed because of those words, it was also true that I was worried about Kang Juha’s condition. Fortunately, since waking up, he didn’t show any aggressive speech or behavior… His face was a bit flushed, but when I touched his forehead, he didn’t seem to have a fever.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because it’s fascinating.”

“What is?”

“Because when I asked someone not to go, you’re the first person who actually didn’t leave and stayed by my side, Teacher.”

Saying that, Kang Juha looked truly, purely happy. No, it seemed he was beyond happy and actually moved.

I didn’t know he would like it this intensely.

“Do you remember anything?”

“Right now?”

“Yes. Anything at all.”

“Uh… I don’t know. Right now, I’m just so happy that you’re in front of me when I opened my eyes…”

Kang Juha smiled shyly and lowered his head deeply. The tips of his ears were burning red.

“Tell me if you remember something. But don’t try too hard to dig into it.”

“Yes.”

Kang Juha—who had become much gentler than usual, no, who had become submissive to the point of docility—nodded his head.

Since I’d seen him wake up and confirmed his mental state was fine, I thought I should head back now, so I packed up and stood up.

“…Are you leaving?”

“Yes. I have to get off work now.”

“Ah…”

His voice was dripping with regret, but he didn’t hold me back. Instead, just before I stepped out of the Special Treatment Room and closed the door, he spoke.

“But, Teacher.”

“Yes?”

“I’m not seven years old right now.”

“…Pardon?”

“Goodbye, see you tomorrow.”

༘⋆

Saying he’s not seven years old all of a sudden. Should I consider that an extension of that “thirty-forty” whatever-it-was talk?

“Why aren’t you eating?”

Juyoung, who was sitting at the office table neatly opening and setting out the delivered steak rice bowl, tilted his head.

“I’ve dealt with many humans until now, but this is the first time it’s been this difficult.”

“Isn’t Kang Juha’s backstory on the better side? Compared to the people captured and brought in here, it doesn’t seem that terrible.”

“The backstory isn’t the problem.”

“Then what is?”

“The problem is that I can’t handle him carelessly.”

“Ah, that way?”

Juyoung smacked his lips, then scooped up a large spoonful of the steak rice bowl, put it in his mouth, and chewed.

“Every time you’re like that, I’m really scared of you, Team Leader.”

“What about it?”

“It’s a relief you’re doing good deeds at least. If you were on the enemy side, whew.”

Juyoung shuddered, his body trembling.

“Yeah. If I join the Anti-Alliance, I’m going to make you my minion first.”

“…You’re joking, right?”

I twisted only one corner of my mouth up with a meaningful look. While enjoying the sight of Juyoung breaking into a cold sweat and making a pitiful expression, I poked a piece of steak with my chopsticks and put it in my mouth.

“Anyway, how was the effect of the fairy tale books? Was it okay?”

At the mention of the fairy tales, another deep sigh escaped me. How on earth was I supposed to interpret the story of The Little Mermaid?

“Do you know the story of The Little Mermaid?”

“I know it. Is there anyone who doesn’t?”

“Fine, let’s assume you know it. What do you think?”

“About what?”

“The Little Mermaid.”

Juyoung chewed on his wooden chopsticks with his front teeth, pondering before speaking.

“…She’s pitiful?”

“…”

“Isn’t everyone like that? A pitiful and sad love story, something like that.”

“Fine, let’s go with that. If you were the Little Mermaid, what would you do? The Prince is trying to marry a princess from a neighboring country. And if those two get married, you die; to not die, you have to stab the Prince to death with a knife.”

“…Is the original story that cruel?”

“It seemed so.”

Hmm. While Juyoung fell into thought again, I focused on my meal.

“Ha… sips. It’s hard. I don’t want to die, but if I kill the Prince, that’s murder. Does the Little Mermaid not get punished by the law because she’s not human?”

What kind of useless imagination is this guy having? He should just give a proper answer.

When I looked at him with a rotten expression, Juyoung grumbled indignantly.

“This is a really important issue!”

“Ha, forget it. It’s my fault for asking you.”

“Why? What did Kang Juha say? Somehow, I feel like Kang Juha would have just stabbed the Prince to death and lived.”

“Why?”

“He has that kind of image. Cold-blooded, like he has no blood or tears, doesn’t like people… Talking like this, he seems similar to you, Team Leader.”

Kang Juha and I are similar?

In an instant, the scenes I saw in Kang Juha’s memories yesterday flashed through my mind. In the sense that other people harbor hostility for no reason, we were similar, if one were to say so. If he came to dislike people because of that, he would be similar to me in that regard as well.

“Why? What did Kang Juha say?”

“He said he’d kill the Princess.”

“Oh.”

“He asked if it wouldn’t be fine as long as the Princess was gone.”

Juyoung stroked his chin with a serious expression.

“Wow… He made a choice that wasn’t even among the options? You said he’s in a seven-year-old ego right now, right? Wow, are all S-Classes like that? They really are different. He’s incredibly smart and incredibly scary.”

As if his spine had gone chilly, Juyoung trembled again and asked.

“You’re not going to write that in the report, right?”

“Yeah.”

“As expected… Thinking about it again, it’s a relief that Esper Kang Juha doesn’t have a dedicated Guide. Suppose another Esper appeared for his dedicated Guide while he was reported missing. He would have said he’d kill that Esper.”

I hadn’t thought that far. For some reason, I felt sorry for the nameless future dedicated Guide of Kang Juha. Whoever it is, they’re going to suffer quite a bit.

“Ah, right. Team Leader.”

“What.”

“The Center Director contacted us saying he wants to have a meal together; what should we do? He says he’ll match whatever day is convenient for you.”

“Wow… You received such a burdensome contact?”

“Tell me about it.”

“You should have rejected it moderately.”

“Aey, where do I have the guts for that? I’m just B-Class mental-type trash.”

Juyoung waved his hands around, making a fuss. That sight was strangely annoying, so I narrowed my eyes and glared at him before letting out a long sigh.

“Ha… I get it for now. Just set it up for a day when I have some free time.”

“Yes sir.”