Chapter 156
Snapping back to her senses, Lea stepped forward in front of Zion and spoke to Lucy and the other Guides.
“I’m sorry, I’m just not feeling well today. It looks like Sir Zion misunderstood because of that.”
At her words, Zion’s face twisted, but he didn’t add anything further. It could sound like he was contradicting Lea if he did.
When it came to the Esper soldiers, there was no one who would dare speak carelessly about Lea, since she was a Guide. However, among the regular soldiers, there were still some who talked behind her back because of her commoner origins.
That was why Zion wanted all the more to treat Lea with respect. It was to show that the one favored by a duke’s heir like himself should not be insulted.
“No, it’s nothing. I heard you’ve been handling all the guiding by yourself up until now. That would be exhausting for anyone.”
“…Yes, thank you for understanding.”
“Oh, it’s nothing! Unless you’re a really high-ranking Guide, it’s the same for all of us.”
Lucy replied with a bright smile to Lea, then spoke to the Guide beside her.
“You know, sometimes when you’re not feeling well, you can get irritable. I guess that’s what happened with Miss Lea.”
Hearing Lucy’s vague way of speaking after so long left Lea feeling conflicted. In the past, she used to take this kind of roundabout speech from Lucy at face value.
Of course, that didn’t mean she had ever treated Lucy kindly.
But now, after dying once, hearing Lucy speak this way made her words feel oddly mocking. It wasn’t that she’d been irritable, she was simply flustered.
She also didn’t want to draw attention to her own rank.
And if Lucy’s words carried a negative nuance, how would those listening take it?
Lea quietly added a clarification, feeling as if Lucy’s phrasing made her sound like someone who couldn’t separate personal feelings from her duties.
“I wasn’t feeling irritable, I was just momentarily flustered. I didn’t expect anyone would so easily misunderstand.”
Once Lea made her thoughts clear, Lucy’s expression stiffened very briefly, then she broke into a bright smile.
“Ah, I see. I misunderstood.”
Lucy agreed shortly, then didn’t say anything more. Lea then politely addressed her and the other Guides.
“It will be a lot of work, but I’d appreciate it if you would guide according to my instructions.”
“…Yes.”
The Guides began guiding as Lea directed, making records as she had requested.
Lucy also started guiding energetically. However, as she quickly became friendly with the Espers and chatted away, she sometimes forgot to take notes, and when Lea caught her hurriedly scribbling things down later, she made sure to memorize the faces of the Espers Lucy was guiding.
So she could mark them separately on her list.
With the increase in Guides, Lea’s burden was definitely much lighter. Thinking back in the previous life, Calix had only kept the werebeast Guides locked up.
She was afraid of how differently things were going compared to the past, but she couldn’t help wondering if something might have changed if she’d handled things this way before.
Having remembered that person’s voice, if she wanted to find them, she could, even if it took time. Derek finished a brief report and watched Calix use his ability.
He generated wind with overwhelming power, far beyond that of any other wind-type Esper. The wind he created was much sharper and colder than ordinary wind, and just brushing against it felt like it would freeze you solid.
Along with a faint sense of inferiority, he also felt pure awe as an Esper.
“Commander-in-Chief.”
“What is it?”
Standing beside him, Derek called out just as Calix was withdrawing his power. He felt he needed to finally speak up about what had been bothering him.
Calix was his superior, but since it involved Lea, he couldn’t simply let it go.
“There’s something I need to report. May I request a private audience?”
“Speak.”
Before Derek could even finish, Calix created a barrier of wind, cutting them off from their surroundings.
He knew Derek rarely spoke up except about official matters. Since Derek always handled his duties promptly, Calix had no complaints about him.
“Did you use your power?”
“Yes. So speak. This must be about Lea, correct?”
“…Yes, sir, that’s right.”
Derek spoke about the person Lea had been searching for, as well as mentioning Lucy.
“It’s certain that the rabbit werebeast is a Guide, but since I can’t read her thoughts, I thought it would be best to be cautious, so I’m reporting it to you.”
Calix listened to Derek’s report and slowly nodded. He couldn’t say he fully understood, but he had never planned to trust an enemy Guide easily in the first place.
Still unable to escape the ghosts of the past, it seemed like Lea could not stop herself from imagining all sorts of things.
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