SOFTIE 27

Surprised by the sudden approaching tentacle, the employee dropped the book, and Softy snatched it mid-air and tucked it inside his body. The employee subconsciously picked up a pen and added one more sentence to the report document.

“…Possesses storage space.”

Having delivered Softy to the classroom, the employee vanished like a bolt of lightning.

Softy ignored the various gazes piercing him from all directions and curled up on a desk near the window. He looked like a large glass bead sparkling in the sunlight, but because everyone knew his true identity, no one approached him.

“That… that’s it, right?”

“Probably. It was real. I thought it was just a rumor.”

“Wow… incredible. A magical beast can become a Guide?”

“I don’t know. But is it even okay for a magical beast to be here? I’m a bit uneasy…”

“It’ll be fine. There’s an Esper over there.”

Where they pointed, an Esper stood by the door, clad in a combat uniform and fully armed, standing guard. Except for practical training classes, Espers do not observe Guide classes. The reason he was there was due to the presence of the magical beast, Softy.

The existence of a magical beast Guide had surfaced, and the Guide Association had informed the rookies that a magical beast Guide would be attending classes with them, telling them there was no need to worry because an Esper would be observing. It was an official notice recorded in writing, but no one had believed it.

They thought it must be an error. And even when asking the Guide Association, no one gave a precise answer. Some didn’t know, and some did. And now, it had become reality. Naturally, they recalled the other details that had followed.

“Wait a minute… then is that magical beast really Esper Seo Yeonwoo’s Guide?!”

“What? Esper Seo Yeonwoo?”

Softy turned his head slightly when he heard Yeonwoo’s name, but the Guides were too busy whispering amongst themselves to notice Softy’s gaze.

“There were even rumors that he’s an S-rank Guide.”

“A magical beast is S-rank?! I’m only a C-rank… A life worse than a magical beast…”

“What nonsense. It’s probably all lies.”

“Then why is that thing here…!”

“Even if we concede a hundred times over that he’s a Guide, there’s no way he’s S-rank.”

Curiosity, wariness, jealousy, and amazement—various stares poured in from all sides.

As expected, I dislike humans.

“Exactly. How can a magical beast be S-rank? Besides, Esper Seo Yeonwoo’s Guide? There’s no way a thing like that is Esper Seo Yeonwoo’s Guide. It’s more plausible that Esper Seo Yeonwoo is monitoring him because he’s a Guide despite being a magical beast.”

“…Well, that’s true.”

“What a waste for someone like him to have a mere magical beast as a Guide. Just wait and see. I’m going to become his Guide. I’m an A-rank, after all.”

“Sure, good luck with that.”

A-rank Guides were considered rare. And among the students, he was the only A-rank.

Softy could overlook everything else, but he could not forgive that human who was coveting his position as Guide.

What is that human talking about? Yeonwoo told me I am his Guide. Humans sometimes dreamed vain dreams. It seemed that human was one of those types.

There were many irritating words, but Softy sat quietly. Because Yeonwoo told him to be well-behaved. He said he must never attack others. It was a very easy task.

Regardless, Yeonwoo was still too prone to worrying.

There is no way these things could be a threat to me. What on earth is he worried about? I’m more worried about you. You can’t even sleep well without me. In that regard, he was exactly the same as in the old days.

Just then, the front door opened and a teacher entered. From the neat attire, the attendance book, and the textbooks he carried, it was clear he was the teacher. Softy felt a little flutter in his heart at the thought that the long-awaited class was starting.

Class, study—what were they? It was an opportunity to learn what he didn’t know. He wanted to give Yeonwoo the “guiding” that people talked about. When he reunited with Yeonwoo, Yeonwoo had asked him many times to guide him. But he hadn’t known what that meant, so he couldn’t do it.

That’s why Yeonwoo looked at me with that lukewarm expression. Yeonwoo is amazing and cool now, so I have to work harder.

That was why Softy chose to attend class for the sake of learning, even though he hated being apart from Yeonwoo. Yeonwoo had been slightly flustered, but Softy couldn’t miss such a good opportunity.

Guiding is important to an Esper like Yeonwoo. Since I am the only one who can do that important thing, I must succeed. I’ll learn thoroughly so that a trivial human like that can’t even look at him, and then I’ll be praised by Yeonwoo. Especially since Yeonwoo is troubled because I am a magical beast…

He knew through human memories that classes provided unknown knowledge and that teachers taught well. A fire ignited in Softy’s eyes.

“Now, let’s begin today’s class. Since we have a new friend, we’ll do a light review of what we did yesterday before moving on.”

The teacher’s gaze turned toward Softy. Softy stared intently, not wanting to miss a single word he said, and listened to the class. Softy took out a book and writing utensils from his mouth and focused on the lesson, highlighting important parts with a highlighter.

The Guides, who were stealing glances at Softy without realizing it, could not hide their surprise at seeing him attend the class much more normally than expected.

“…Is that thing taking notes?”

“It’s probably just doodling.”

They interfered with his concentration by chattering noisily, but Softy endured his dissatisfaction.

Just as I find humans fascinating, humans can find me fascinating too.

“The thing you’re all most curious about is how to actually perform guiding, right?”

Softy’s eyes sparkled. This was the content he wanted to hear most. Like Softy, the Guides who had been whispering also focused. Seeing the fully focused Guides, the teacher called the Esper standing nearby, saying he would show them a practical demonstration.

“Could you help me for a moment?”

“Understood.”

The Esper stepped up to the podium, watching Softy with ominous eyes.

Murderous intent toward me? From a thing that isn’t even a threat.

Softy lightly ignored the Esper and stared at the teacher. He lifted the Esper’s wrist so everyone could see the contamination level.

“This is a device that any Esper wears, a Gear. It has many functions, but we only need to remember exactly Hana thing. Dropping this numerical value that appears here.”

The teacher showed the Esper’s contamination level and slowly began guiding. The students felt his guiding floating through the classroom. Softy also felt someone else’s guiding touch his body.

Softy had been guiding Yeonwoo subconsciously, but it was his first time seeing and feeling another person’s guiding directly like this. Somehow, he gained the confidence that he could do even better next time.

“What I just did is the most basic guiding, called radiant guiding. It’s spreading guiding energy through the air. It’s the first thing Guides who are inexperienced in guiding learn. However, this is inefficient. While it can stabilize various Espers as a temporary measure, it isn’t enough to significantly drop the contamination level.”

In fact, the Esper’s contamination level remained almost unchanged.

“Ah, of course, if the matching rate is high, this alone might be enough for a change of pace, but it cannot unravel the energy clumped inside an Esper. Therefore, contact guiding is usually the standard.”

He took the Esper’s hand. It was a plain contact, as if they were shaking hands.

“The hand is the most common. Everyone, you offer a handshake when meeting someone new, right? It’s that kind of feeling. When you formally become a Guide and guide an Esper, you’ll spend time holding hands. Usually 30 minutes to an hour. You just have to hold hands like this. You can each go about your business or chat. How you spend the time is up to you.”

“Teacher, what if the contamination level doesn’t drop?”

“Well, hand contact might be insufficient. In that case, try increasing the contact. Everyone knows that as a basic rule, the wider the contact area, the higher the efficiency, right?”

Softy’s pen wavered slightly.

I didn’t know that… let’s remember, the wider the contact, the more the guiding efficiency increases.

Softy recalled the guiding he had done for Yeonwoo so far. I was often held in Yeonwoo’s arms, so I must have done well. He had performed the contact the teacher mentioned every time. Of course, whether he had actually guided was a question, but Yeonwoo had liked it. So, he must have been guiding.

While he was being proud of himself alone, there was a voice that shattered that delusion.