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“Did you perhaps put on the wrong size?”

Given Kang Juha’s history of coveting my clothes, it was a reasonable suspicion. Judging by his size alone, he should have been wearing an XXL, but he looked like he was wearing a Small.

It wouldn’t have been strange if the clothes burst right then and there. It felt as if the moment Kang Juha moved even slightly, the muscles attached to his arms and shoulders would scream to break through the fabric that didn’t even look like cloth.

“It’s mine. My name is written here. Kang Juha.”

Following Kang Juha’s fingertips, my gaze landed on his chest. I hadn’t noticed from afar, but looking closely, the name Kang Juha was embroidered in silver.

“…Is it always like this?”

If it’s going to be like this, he might as well just train completely naked.

“The sensors need to accurately detect body movements. And it’s more convenient for monitoring this way. Since the movements are clearly visible, you can quickly tell what went wrong.”

“Ah, I see. It won’t burst, will it?”

No wonder. I thought it was strange because the training suits I wore during my Academy days weren’t skin-tight at all, but it seemed the training suits had inevitably changed due to the ‘state-of-the-art system’ and whatnot.

“It’s made of a special material, so it won’t tear even if you stab it with a knife.”

As he spoke, Kang Juha demonstrated by repeatedly bending and straightening his arms. Every time he did, his muscles rippled… The tiger I saw in a documentary before had muscles exactly like that.

I suppose I should be glad that at least the pants weren’t skin-tight. If even the pants had been clinging to his body, I wouldn’t have been able to look at Kang Juha properly.

Seeing him dressed like that, the restraint around his neck felt even more bothersome today.

“I’ll release this for you right away.”

Since I had only been granted permission to release the restraint during training, I brought over the release device I had obtained in advance. It was a device made of special magnets that could unlock and lock only a single specific restraint.

Kang Juha stroked the area where the restraint had been fastened, perhaps feeling the emptiness of his exposed neck for the first time in a while.

“Team Leader, it looks like their training is about to end.”

Juyoung, who had been watching the timer next to Manager Hong the whole time, spoke up. Just as he said, there were now only about 2 minutes left on the timer.

And only two monitors remained on. Judging by the red light flashing on the frame of one of them, it looked like a death judgment would appear before long.

I could see the back of Manager Hong’s head as he glared at the remaining two monitors.

Beeeeeeep—

A sound announcing the end of the Alpha Team’s training rang out. The word [MISSION FAILED] appeared in large letters on the monitors.

Silence settled inside the training room, and Juyoung and I held our breath for no reason, even though Manager Hong hadn’t given us a look.

“…Perhaps because the intensity is so high and the success conditions are so strict, they showed a disappointing performance. As the Field Operations Manager, I am embarrassed.”

Manager Hong spoke in a calm voice. Contrary to my fears, he didn’t look angry.

“It’s alright. When training, sometimes you fail and things happen.”

I replied nonchalantly, but at the same time, my concern grew over whether Kang Juha, in his current state, should undergo training with such high intensity and strict success conditions.

“Since this is Esper Kang Juha’s first training session after his return… I think it might be better to lower the intensity.”

“It’s fine.”

I was clearly talking to Manager Hong, but the answer came from Kang Juha behind me.

“Pardon?”

“I can do it.”

Kang Juha conveyed his will once more. I wondered if his pride had been wounded by the suggestion to lower the intensity and he was just showing bravado…

“That’s right. Though it is strict, it’s a training session with low risk of injury or rampage.”

Manager Hong raised his voice as if in agreement.

No, you just said three seconds ago that it was a high-intensity training. Why are you changing your words so fast?

“Actually, for Esper Kang Juha in his current state, Gate-background training might be more suitable than this side’s training. Gate training focuses on strengthening physical abilities and supernatural powers.”

I didn’t know exactly what it was, but judging by the files appearing on the monitor, it seemed they were changing the training content.

“And since Gate training isn’t suitable to do alone… I was wondering how it would be if he joined the Alpha Team.”

Training him together with the Alpha Team?

Of course, Kang Juha might end up working with them someday, but it was unnecessary right now.

“Thank you for the suggestion, but if we do that, there will be difficulties in identifying Esper Kang Juha’s current status and capabilities. We intend to proceed with individual training today.”

I declined by beating around the bush as much as possible. Manager Hong smacked his lips as if disappointed.

Just then, clack. With a heavy sound, the handle turned and the Alpha Team appeared. There were those I had seen in Kang Juha’s memories and those I hadn’t. Are those two new recruits?

Even though our eyes met, the team leader approached without a hint of surprise and held out his hand.

“I am Joo Won-wook, Alpha Team Leader.”

The expressions of the team members following behind him weren’t great for exchanging greetings, but I shook his hand while pretending not to notice.

“I am Seong Yihyeon, Information Team Leader of the Information Security Department at the Center’s National Security Bureau.”

“Haha, you’re as ‘by the book’ as I’ve heard.”

I was surprised because the grip strength squeezing my hand was more than I expected. I wondered if he was applying pressure intentionally, but his expression was excessively nonchalant.

“Since there are so many departments at the Center, I tend to speak clearly just in case you might not know.”

The Field Operations Department is essentially the face of the Center, so everyone would understand without further explanation, but that wasn’t the case for others. Even civilians only know the Espers who go out on missions; they don’t know people like us who sit in the Center building doing document labor.

It’s just like how when you mention the NIS, people only think of black agents like a secret strike force. Even the NIS has departments that do paperwork and pay employee salaries.

Knowing that those who go out into the field do more grueling work compared to us, I wasn’t dissatisfied with that. It’s just that sometimes annoying, bothersome, and sorrowful things happen.

“It’s not easy for Espers not to know Team Leader Seong. Our team is also making good use of the GDX—7665.”

The Alpha Team Leader chatted idly. He said his name was Joo Won-wook. If I had met him by chance, I might have thought he was a fairly decent person.

But right now, Kang Juha was glaring at my hand held by Joo Won-wook with eyes that looked like they might slice it off at any moment.

“Those are appreciative words. And now, my hand…”

Take the hint and let go of my hand, you jerk.

As if he had read my gaze, Joo Won-wook belatedly let out an “Ah” sound and pulled his hand away. My hand had turned pale as if the blood had stopped flowing.

No sooner had I pulled my hand back than Kang Juha grabbed it. I was slightly flustered by the sudden contact, but I managed to maintain my expression and hid my hand completely behind my back.

Kang Juha began to knead my hand as if it were clay. Fortunately, Joo Won-wook didn’t seem to notice what was happening with my hand.

“I’ve heard the stories about Esper Kang Juha. I heard there’s something wrong with his mind…”

“To be precise, there is something wrong with his memory.”

Since there was a problem with his brain, it was difficult to say there was absolutely no impact on his mental state, but I corrected him simply because I felt unpleasant.

“Oh dear, I’ve made a slip of the tongue. Rolling around in the field, I suppose some aggressive language has stuck to my lips.”

Joo Won-wook acted embarrassed and then gave a slight laugh. Looking at that face, it felt as if the sight I had seen in Kang Juha’s memories was a lie. Because he looked like a fairly decent person.

“Then, is it safe to assume that Esper Kang Juha currently has no memory of the Sonora Operation at all?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

Since there were officially no recorded memories, I had no choice but to say so. The things I had briefly glimpsed were only parts of a memory and didn’t constitute the whole, so they were contents without official authority.

It was true that the Alpha Team had not been favorable toward Kang Juha. However, no matter what they did afterward, as long as there was no evidence, it was merely a scenario in my imagination. Therefore, there was no reason to rashly display displeasure toward the Alpha Team, especially toward their leader, Joo Won-wook.

“That’s a pity. I heard that because there was no proper witness, that Gate case itself was processed as unresolved.”

As it was, the IGRC had been continuously sending requests to summon Kang Juha to the committee for an interview regarding the Sonora Gate.

Naturally, on our side, since Kang Juha had nothing he remembered, we had no choice but to give roundabout answers, saying the Esper was currently focusing on recovery and we would discuss it again in the future.

“He must recover as quickly as possible.”

I cut the answer short. There was no need to leak related stories to a third party who was neither the person in charge nor anything else.

Information regarding the anomaly in Kang Juha’s memory was also originally treated as classified, but the information had been shared only up to the Alpha Team at the discretion of the Field Operations Department. Though they weren’t his team, they had a history of moving together depending on projects or missions, so Director Shin had no choice but to back down on that part.