Please Don’t Sponsor the Guide - Chapter 77

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“I put together a guiding schedule. Would you take a look?”

Linton beamed as he handed Adrien a timetable.

“I scheduled regular guiding sessions after your personal training since that’s when you seem least busy. If you’re ever called out on duty, we can adjust and do the sessions in the field or after you return.”

“…”

“Commander?”

“Oh, right. Just do it however you want, Captain.”

For any Esper, guiding schedules were usually a matter of utmost importance, but Adrien just seemed indifferent.

If anything, Linton found comfort in seeing Adrien like this again.

This was how Adrien had always been—completely apathetic about anything outside of work, barely even caring about the guiding she received.

What had made Linton uneasy before was actually how lively Adrien had seemed in recent weeks, as if color had finally begun to seep into someone who’d always been in black and white.

But now, that is gone. The golden-haired woman had slipped back into that grayscale photograph—and it was up to Linton Vionne to try coloring it in.

“Let’s start today, then. You have time, don’t you?”

“…Sure.”

“Okay, give me your hand.”

“My hand?”

Adrien frowned, looking a bit confused. Linton’s smile froze.

“Commander, don’t tell me you were planning to get only remote guiding from your own dedicated guide?”

He didn’t pull back his outstretched hand.

“Is that a problem?”

“…You didn’t do this with him, did you?”

“What?”

“How come Samuel Norah could do it, but I can’t? Do you not even want to hold my hand?”

Linton couldn’t believe there was an Esper out there who would accept a dedicated guide but refuse even the simplest physical guiding. No matter how cold and distant Adrien might be, this felt like too much.

He had finally become Adrien’s dedicated guide, but it still felt like there was an impenetrable wall between them.

‘She was practically all over that other guy—everyone in the base was talking about it!’

Linton swallowed his anger, shaking slightly as he squeezed his blue eyes shut, afraid Adrien would see how bitter he was.

Adrien said nothing. The silence stretched on, feeling impossibly long and heavy. When Linton finally opened his eyes, Adrien still wasn’t looking at him.

“If you’re not happy with this, you can quit being my guide right now.”

“Adrien!”

This time, it was Adrien who shut her eyes.

She felt suffocated. Linton knew he always asked too much—kindness, affection, even the chance to physically guide.

Despite their single-digit compatibility score—despite how nauseating the guiding was for Adrien—he still wanted nothing more than to give all his energy to Adrien, any way he could.

“You’re a guide, so maybe you just can’t understand. But I’m making this decision for your sake too, Captain.”

“What is it that you think I can’t understand?”

Linton’s voice rose, sharp enough to make Adrien flinch.

“I think you’re the one who doesn’t get it, Commander. What did that guy do for you that you just can’t seem to move on?”

“What are you even talking about?”

Adrien’s gaze snapped up.

Linton was losing his composure. He managed a crooked smile.

“I’m good at this, too, you know. If it’s what you want, I’ll do anything you ask.”

“I don’t know what you’re imagining, but that’s not what’s going on.”

“Oh, really? Maybe you just like things a little trashy. Like that guy, who was ready to strip naked in the hallway?”

“Linton Vionne!”

But Linton, face twisted in jealousy, shrugged off his jacket. His epaulets and medals clattered to the floor as he began unbuttoning his shirt.

“Want me to take off more?”

His skin was pale and lean but solid with muscle. He held his shirt open, staring defiantly at Adrien.

Adrien stepped forward and snatched the shirt front, clutching it closed.

She felt nothing at all, even seeing Linton half-undressed. In fact, it only made her think of another man.

“Enough, Captain.”

“No, Commander. Judging by your expression, I don’t think this is nearly enough.”

“Captain!”

But Linton went further, stripping off his shirt completely. Adrien took a step back, but Linton’s gaze didn’t leave her.

Now Linton reached for his belt, slipping the black leather free from its buckle.

Bang, bang!

“Commander! Urgent news—!”

The door burst open without warning. Lieutenant Jocelyn Page froze in place, mortified at the sight of the half-naked Linton—shirtless, belt in hand, standing far too close to Adrien.

It was a scene sure to turn anyone’s face bright red.