Please Don’t Sponsor the Guide - Chapter 67

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“I guess I just wasn’t good enough.”

“What?”

Peter’s eyes instinctively darted from Samuel’s pants back up to his face.

“How can someone with equipment like yours not be good at it?”

“Stop with the nonsense. I’m heading down.”

Samuel started descending the wall just as fast as he’d gone up. Peter watched him go, let out a sigh, and then slid quickly down his own rope, muttering under his breath.

“He’s the one talking nonsense, not me.”

Shortly after Peter landed, Samuel reached the ground too. Peter tossed a dry towel to Samuel, who was soaked with sweat, but then his gaze was drawn to the entrance.

There was a commotion there—people were standing at stiff attention, which could only mean a high-ranking officer had arrived.

Wait, could it be Commander Adrien?

Peter’s ears perked up like a rabbit’s, and he started excitedly smacking Samuel’s back.

“Hey, hey! I think the commander’s here!”

Samuel froze, the word ‘commander’ alone sending a chill up the back of his neck. He slowly turned around, feeling as if his skin was prickling.

He could see a flash of brilliant blond hair through the crowd. A woman. He started wiping sweat from his face as quickly as he could, but there was nothing to be done about his soaked hair.

“Peter, I—”

“It’s fine! Seriously, just go—quick!”

But there was no need to head to the entrance. The blond woman was already right in front of Samuel.

But it wasn’t Adrien.

“Name and rank.”

The coldness in her voice was enough to make his hair stand on end.

This was Jacqueline Brillante, the Empire’s first unquantifiable Esper and the Commander-in-chief of the Special Esper Forces.

She looked so much like Adrien, they could have been mistaken for siblings, but her icy stare made it clear she was a very different kind of person.

Samuel felt as if her crimson eyes were dissecting every inch of his body.

“Ensign Samuel Norah, Capital Security Guard, Special Unit, Lesadian Empire.”

“Compatibility score with Commander Adrien Brillante?”

“…Ninety-eight percent.”

“Follow me.”

She didn’t seem interested in hearing anything else. Jacqueline turned like the wind, and Samuel, after hesitating just a second, gathered his determination and followed.

Everywhere she walked, the air within several meters seemed to freeze. Everyone, whether they were in the middle of training or had rushed over at the Commander-in-chief’s arrival, fell silent and stood ramrod straight with nerves.

The first unquantifiable Esper, the one whose victories had turned a kingdom into an empire—Jacqueline’s mere presence was overwhelming.

Long after the two of them disappeared, Peter finally muttered,

“…Our commander really was a kind person, huh?”

* * *

“You’re looking radiant, Adrien.”

“Ullina.”

A woman in uniform, her chestnut hair braided on both sides, walked up with a grin. This was Ullina Comer, Commander of Special Unit 1 and Adrien’s comrade through countless battles with the monsters.

“Life in the capital must be treating you well. You used to be all edgy from guiding withdrawal, but today you look like the picture of contentment.”

“Contentment.”

Maybe Ullina couldn’t see it, but Adrien wasn’t doing well at all. It had already been a week since she’d last seen Samuel.

She’d been taking guiding pills and even received guidance from two other ‘compatible’ guides, but it all felt just as awful—if a little less intense.

Worse, after experiencing Samuel’s guiding, nothing else could even come close. The others just made her nauseous.

‘Is this withdrawal?’

Samuel’s guiding had been that addictive. She doubted she’d ever find that same sense of pleasure and peace again. In hindsight, the time they’d shared felt like a dream.

So, surprisingly, Adrien was able to accept the reality of life without Samuel. After all, being born into the Brillante family meant she’d been reminding herself forever that she could never expect a sweet, comfortable life.

“Hm, strange. It can’t be that you’re happy in the capital… Don’t tell me you’ve found a Guide you actually like?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Oh, so it’s not that. Maybe it’s because Linton Vionne is sticking around?”

“Didn’t you come here on business? You really have time to chit-chat with me?”

“I’ve got plenty of time. The monsters are basically extinct now, you know.”

“Just that?”

Adrien turned toward Ullina. Finally having her full attention, Ullina gave her a slightly teasing glare before she spoke.

“Yeah. Thanks to a certain someone’s impressive work, we can call them wiped out. First Unit even finished all the cleanup, so I’m on my way to report.”