Chapter 115
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Peter, who had been watching Samuel as he pulled his training shirt over his head, muttered under his breath.
His expression looked almost as if he’d received some divine revelation, drawing everyone’s attention.
“…It was that person, wasn’t it?”
“……”
“It has to be her! There’s no way Captain Samuel Norah would look this satisfied otherwise! And no way he’d let himself get marked up like that unless it was her!”
“……”
“See? You’re not even denying it!”
“Enough, Peter. Let’s just go.”
Samuel gave a faint smile as he shut his locker. His reaction was practically confirmation.
The men in the locker room lit up with interest at the vivid implication—another scandal involving Adrien Brillante and Samuel Norah.
* * *
An Esper from the Special Division headquarters suddenly exhibited abnormal symptoms.
At first, it was thought to be the onset of a rampage. But then he unleashed power far beyond his level—an overwhelming display.
His eyes had turned completely red, even the whites, and when he died, green blood flowed from his body.
Tracing his movements led to the discovery of what appeared to be illegal enhancement vials in his home.
But the problem didn’t end there.
The guide he had imprinted with died just as suddenly.
Convulsing violently, as if suffering from complete guiding depletion, the guide met a gruesome end.
By the timeline, the imprinting had occurred after the Esper had taken the illegal enhancer.
The guide’s corpse showed no green blood—but there was no trace of guiding energy left either. As if it had all been completely drained. And yet, that didn’t make sense.
If that were the case, the guide should have died immediately after imprinting. Instead, they had lived normally for two more days.
No one could explain the bizarre correlation. The void left by that ignorance was quickly filled with fear.
“It’s absolute chaos out there. We told them to keep it quiet, but everyone’s panicking—talking without thinking.”
“That’ll only draw more attention to the illegal enhancers.”
“That’s exactly the problem. Rumors about Captain Samuel are spreading too.”
“…That he became an unmeasurable-level guide because of the d**g?”
“Yes. It’s exploding. It was never something we could hide forever… but whispers within the Security Guard and rumors across the entire Special Corps are two completely different things.”
Adrien pressed a hand to her forehead.
Strangely enough, things had felt simpler on the battlefield. Sure, mindless monsters constantly tried to slaughter them, but at least humans hadn’t been the cause of such headaches.
“It’s not just the Special Corps anymore. Concerns about Esper stability are resurfacing.”
Across from her, Guide Captain Charlize added calmly.
“I’ve heard a new directive was issued, following the dedicated guide designation law.”
“She’s right. A document bearing the Emperor’s seal arrived today.”
Adrien flicked a sheet stamped in red.
“All Espers at Gold level or higher are now required to operate with either an equal-level guide or at least two guides in the field.”
“That’s ridiculous! We already don’t have nearly enough guides as it is, how is that even supposed to work?!”
“The Emperor is an ordinary man. He wouldn’t understand our situation.”
Or perhaps he simply had no interest in understanding it.
Since her assignment to the Capital Security Guard, Adrien’s opinion of the Emperor had steadily sunk.
On the distant battlefield, he had been tolerable—he had supported national defense efforts without hesitation.
But in the capital, things were different. Perhaps he believed everything under his direct control was inherently safe.
This chaos and death had been inevitable ever since he rejected Adrien’s request for a monster threat alert.
And now, he seemed intent on shackling the very allies meant to fight alongside her.
“Which brings me to a request, Commander.”
“Go on, Dr. Alex.”
“I need a monster specimen.”
“…Are you serious?”
Alex nodded more seriously than Adrien had ever seen.
“Yes. It’s the only way to prove your theory. To fully confirm the connection between the monsters and the illegal enhancer, we need a specimen.”
“But all the monsters are dead. Even the bodies were disposed of. The research was illegal, nothing was kept.”
“If our hypothesis is correct—if monsters are artificially created—there may still be traces left behind.”
Adrien rubbed her chin, thinking. Alex had a point.
While the danger of the illegal enhancers was now undeniable, skepticism remained about their connection to the monsters.
She had already requested cooperation from the entire Special Corps, but that only covered handling and reporting abnormal Espers. It did nothing to address the root of the problem.
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