Chapter 16
Nevertheless, Valan remained unfazed.
“Anyway, you Guides are full of yourselves. You only care about appearances. Is it all good as long as the surface looks well enough? But us Espers, we need to have substance. Just like me!”
“Oh, your substance is so great… But I heard you didn’t make it to S-class by ‘some reason’?”
“Pfft.”
Laughter erupted among the Guides.
Valan, who had been attempting to flirt with the Guides, suddenly got visibly angry.
“What, what are you on about?!”
“If you had a brain, you’d use it to think. That person is a perfect package, an S-class Esper with a flawless face and body. You, on the other hand, are a lower rank, and the rest… Well, you get the idea.”
“You… You people dare to make fun of an Esper?!”
The insecure Esper was the problem.
The furious Valan couldn’t contain his anger and was about to confront the Guides.
However…
“Valan, don’t do anything stupid.”
Other Espers held him back. Besides Claude, who was already ahead of them, there were no less than five of them here.
Guides were undoubtedly essential to Espers. There’s no way Espers wouldn’t step forward to protect Guides.
Outnumbered, Valan hesitated and had no choice but to back down.
“Come on, let’s go, Guides! We’ll protect you, hahaha.”
“Hmph.”
“Annoying guy… Let’s go quickly.”
Ultimately, other Espers began to encircle the Guides, protecting them as they advanced.
The problem was that even though Guides were important to Espers, I, a non-ability person, was not.
Valan and I were left behind. He was bristling with jealousy and anger.
Valan’s arrows of rage, which he couldn’t direct at Claude, the Guides, or anyone else, were unleashed on me.
“Hey, are you wasting your time writing all that?”
“…”
“Is life fun when you live like that? Just making a meager living while trailing behind the Guides?”
I’m just an NPC… I’m just an NPC…
I made a conscious effort to ignore Valan’s provocations.
Hiding my identity as a Guide was precisely for this reason. If I had officially registered as a Guide, I might have had to guide the likes of him if needed.
Just thinking about it disgusted me.
As soon as Claude was done powering through this mock training, I would report this guy.
I silently reaffirmed my determination and continued to ignore him. That’s when it happened.
“Well, would you look at this? Now even a non-ability is daring to look down on an Esper? Hey, you. Answer me.”
“…”
“Nice hair color, by the way.”
Tuk, tuk. Valan pulled my pink hairband disdainfully.
Even though it was just a small flick, considering the strength an Esper possessed, it was by no means a force to be ignored.
“Answer me! Hey, are you ignoring me?”
“Argh!”
The last one was a bit much.
I was finally pulled back hard enough that I lost my balance and fell over.
That’s when it happened.
Whoosh! Valan’s body lifted into the air.
Valan, with his eyes still not fully grasping the situation, and I, wide-eyed in surprise, met in mid-air.
Then, in the very next moment.
“Ugh, aaaah!”
Boom! Valan’s body soared through the air and was thrown far away, crashing into the rocky wall.
If not for being an Esper, he’d have surely died.
The impact was enormous, to the point that a section of the cave’s wall we had passed earlier collapsed completely.
Buried under the fallen rubble, Valan didn’t move, looking as if he were dead.
I, still bewildered, turned to the Espers. But they were equally shocked.
Behind them, Claude, who had been advancing steadily, started moving forward again. He was unfazed.
‘…What just happened?’
The situation was unclear. Did Claude, who had been charging ahead like a lone maverick, interfere?
Did he really exert the effort to teach a lesson to an Esper who had been tormenting me, a mere non-ability person?
Everyone seemed to share the same question, and the other Espers and Guides wore astonished expressions.
Claude’s expression remained incredibly composed. Not a single eyebrow twitched.
Under everyone’s gaze, Claude casually opened his mouth.
“The training is over. Return.”
“…”
“And…”
Claude, who had been silent for a moment, jutted his chin briefly to refer to someone.
“Over there. Her.”
…It was me.
After that, Claude set off at a brisk pace. Yet it was as though he had detonated a bomb.
“…”
The stunned Espers, belatedly coming to their senses, began to look after me.
“Oh, I didn’t pay attention to you. Are you okay?”
“That guy’s a bit nasty, isn’t he? Let’s go together.”
They’re already too late though…
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