Chapter 86
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Samuel bowed stiffly and walked out of Linton’s office.
His heart felt like it was about to burst. It had been a long time since someone made him this furious. It was the perfect trap—no, a pit. A filthy pit Linton Vionne had dug himself, just to bury Samuel Norah alive.
“…Damn it.”
He bit down on his lip. He’d acted calm in front of Kate, but that had been nothing more than a mask.
This afternoon… the first esper he’d have to guide was Joseph Walsky—the man with the ridiculous ponytail who had been the most aggressive yesterday.
* * *
Adrien sat in her indoor house dress at the table.
Life in the mansion was monotonous. The scenery outside the window, Alex visiting yet again—everything was dull.
“You really must be the only person in the world who hates taking vacation.”
“Is there a rule that says I have to enjoy it?”
“…Well, that’s a fresh philosophy, I’ll give you that. Anyway, what’s that box under the table?”
Alex pointed his thumb at her feet. A slightly crooked paper box sat under the table, its lid half-open. Judging by its worn look and cute patterns, it was something Adrien must have used since she was quite young.
But the interesting part was how Adrien reacted. She flinched as if he’d caught her hiding a crime.
“It has nothing to do with my recovery. Don’t mind it.”
Adrien nudged the box farther under the table with her foot, her red eyes practically warning him.
“You know saying that only makes me more curious, right?”
“Enough. My vacation ends today. I’ll only indulge your medical orders up to this point.”
Adrien’s leave had been granted because of her imprinting with Linton.
After the imprinting, Adrien had ended up vomiting, collapsing, and spending the entire day with nausea and migraines. An esper was supposed to be at their peak right after imprinting—but she had been bedridden instead.
Yet she kept insisting on returning to duty immediately. If Alex hadn’t stopped her, she would’ve dragged her weakened body to the office and collapsed again. Only after four days had she finally begun to recover. The color had just started returning to her lips.
“Your guiding necklace is practically red. Any other esper would have sprinted to their guide by now.”
“I’m used to it. It happens often enough.”
Alex stared at her in exasperation before sighing.
“I was going to approve your return anyway. Even if I wanted to extend your leave, the situation won’t allow it.”
“You got the test results?”
“Yes. The fire-type esper who caused the incident downtown—he wasn’t using illegal guiding d***s.”
“Then what did he take?”
Illegal guiding d***s causing espers to go berserk wasn’t rare. Those substances were usually hallucinogens with trace amounts of guiding medicine mixed in. Rogues who avoided military service often took them, but the mixture could never actually replenish guiding. So they eventually spiraled into a frenzy.
Naturally, both expected the same thing to show up in that man’s system.
But Alex’s expression darkened.
“There wasn’t a single psychoactive substance in his body. Nothing showed up. Except… one thing.”
“Don’t be dramatic, Alexander Macgis.”
“…His blood was green.”
“…What?”
Adrien blinked blankly.
“What are you talking about? Are you saying a human turned into a monster? And an esper at that?”
“I don’t know either. I’ve never seen anything like it…”
Silence thickened. Adrien rubbed her forehead.
“You didn’t mistake some other bodily fluid for blood?”
“No. Every drop that came from a blood vessel was the same. A dark, murky green. As if… a human’s blood was turning into a monster’s.”
Impossible. Completely absurd.
Adrien had personally cut down monsters on the battlefield. She had been clawed by them, drenched in their blood, witnessed countless encounters—yet never had she seen a person develop green blood.
‘Wait. Not a person…’
An animal.
A cold, unpleasant intuition ran down her spine.
“There was a monster sighting at the zoo on the outskirts of the capital. They said the animal looked normal on the outside, but its behavior and blood were wrong.”
“You mean that animal had green blood too?”
“Yes. Perfectly green. Just like a monster. The zoo staff said it reminded them of an infectious disease.”
“Are you suggesting this is… some kind of infection?”
“Whether it is or not, we’ll find out soon.”
Adrien stood abruptly and grabbed her uniform from the rack with one hand.
“I need to get dressed. Out.”
“I have one more thing to report.”
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