TGIC Ch 48

Chapter 48

I sat quietly, waiting for Vasily to return after completing the raid.

Thankfully, it seemed his mood had lightened before he left, so I wasn’t too worried about his return. Rather, once the tension eased, my body completely relaxed. I slumped into the chair like a jellyfish.

I’d forgotten to ask Vasily to leave behind some ice, but thanks to the solid ice still stretching across the coast, it was actually quite chilly.

I pulled out my smartphone to check the time. 1 p.m. No wonder I was feeling hungry.

After the Espers had headed into the gate, lunch was provided on-site. It seemed to be freshly made sushi from a nearby restaurant. Since I came as Vasily’s companion, there was a portion prepared for me as well, and I filled my stomach quite satisfactorily.

After lunch, I sat back down and opened a lodging app.

Vasily must have expended considerable energy freezing the sea. He might need guiding afterward, so it seemed wise to look into accommodations in advance—somewhere nearby, but of decent quality.

Fortunately, there was a lodging facility in nearby Seosan exclusively for Espers. It was managed by the Association and better than most hotels. Of course, there was still a chance Vasily would want to return directly to Seoul, so I decided not to make a reservation just yet.

Now, the only thing left to do was hope Vasily completed the raid safely.

Sitting still grew boring, so I started walking slowly along the shoreline. That was when I noticed the area near the gate suddenly become busy. As I moved closer, I heard the news that the raid had concluded.

“Took longer than I thought…”

I muttered under my breath as I looked up at the darkening sky.

I had assumed Vasily would be done and out before sunset. Had I overestimated him? The Vasily from six years in the future would’ve cleared a C-rank gate like this in no time.

After a short wait, the Espers began to emerge one by one from across the frozen sea. Hmm, they all looked to be in decent shape. I waited near the ice bridge, watching the returning Espers for signs of trouble, and soon enough, Vasily appeared as well.

I approached him, slightly tense, but he greeted me with a bright smile. Thankfully, it seemed his mood had completely recovered.

But…

‘Why is the atmosphere so off?’

The air felt heavy. The expressions on the Espers’ faces were grim. There was none of the typical relief or satisfaction that came after a successful raid—instead, a palpable tension lingered.

Something wasn’t right. Could it be…?

“Esper Vasily, did something happen inside the gate?”

“No. Nothing happened.”

I asked, but received the answer I had expected.

I wanted to trust Vasily. But… the Espers were glancing at him with tense expressions. This was absolutely not the kind of atmosphere you’d expect if nothing had happened.

As I thought, this wasn’t right. Something was off.

“Guide Kwon Gidam, let’s head ba—”

“I’m just going to check something first.”

I scanned the area, then approached an Association staff member who was checking off names.

“Excuse me, are there still Espers who haven’t come out of the gate?”

“Yes. About five haven’t arrived yet.”

“Thank you.”

Five people. I turned my head and stared across the frozen bridge.

As I waited for the others to emerge, Vasily walked over to me.

“Guide Kwon Gidam, aren’t we heading back now?”

“No, I’m going to wait a bit longer.”

“……”

Vasily closed his mouth.

I was determined to wait until the end. I couldn’t shake the unease in my gut.

As time dragged on, I kept feeling a chill. I couldn’t tell if it was drifting in from across the frozen sea or radiating from Vasily himself.

While waiting for the remaining Espers to emerge, I kept glancing at Vasily. If nothing had truly happened, that would be a relief. But because I was reacting this way, I felt I might struggle to smooth things over with him later. Hopefully, he wouldn’t demand some outrageous level of guiding to make up for it.

But that vague anxiety was starting to turn into certainty. Quite a bit of time had passed, yet the rest of the Espers still hadn’t appeared. And Vasily’s mood was clearly deteriorating by the minute.

Then, from a distance, I saw the silhouettes of Espers approaching. I watched them uneasily, and saw one of them—badly injured—being helped along by the others, barely able to walk.

Damn it… I bit my lip and furrowed my brow. I recognized him instantly. The one returning covered in blood was the Esper I had guided before the raid.

My chest went cold.

“……Esper Vasily, didn’t you say nothing happened?”

“Yes. Nothing happened.”

Even after seeing that scene, Vasily gave the same answer.

I clenched my teeth. Sure, maybe for him, nothing happened. But it was different for me.

This was exactly like what had happened after I escaped from Vasily and became the designated Guide of another Esper before regression.

It had been not long after I signed that contract. That Esper went into a gate and came back half-crippled—and was ultimately forced into retirement. And I… had no choice but to return to Vasily.

It was exactly the same.

“Guide Kwon Gidam, where are you going?”

“There’s an injured Esper—I need to guide him.”

“…Guide Kwon Gidam, you didn’t come here today as a temporary Guide. You came as my companion.”

“But before that, I’m a temporary Guide. Are you saying I should just stand by and watch while an Esper is dying?”

When I said that and looked at him, Vasily’s expression turned colder than I had ever seen. I flinched, but quickly covered it up. Not wanting him to know I was scared, I averted my eyes and continued.

“That Esper looks to be in more urgent condition than you, so I’ll be going to guide him now.”

“……”

With that, I turned my back. Vasily didn’t try to stop me.

I hurried over to the injured Esper to assess his condition.

His body was a wreck. His shoulder and leg appeared to have been pierced by something sharp, his side was half-torn open, and various parts of his body were frostbitten. There wasn’t a single spot unscathed.

Seeing him in that state, I almost collapsed from guilt. I clenched my eyes shut and forced myself to refocus.

“Are you alright?”

“Ugh…”

“I think you need to be taken to a hospital immediately. Espers, could you help me move him, please?”

He was barely conscious. The bleeding was severe—we had to get him into surgery as quickly as possible. With the help of the other Espers, I rushed him into an ambulance.

‘Vasily…’

Before leaving the beach, I turned to look back at where Vasily had been—but he was already gone.

I continued guiding the Esper on the way to the hospital. Guilt gnawed at my chest.

Thankfully, since he was an A-rank Esper, his regenerative abilities were strong. As long as he received timely and proper guiding, he might avoid any long-term aftereffects. I was relieved that our matching rate was high—it allowed me to guide him appropriately at just the right time.

Once we arrived at the hospital, I waited outside the operating room. Even after surgery, I remained by his side, guiding him throughout his recovery.

Around dawn, the man slowly opened his eyes. As expected of an A-rank Esper—despite the severity of his injuries, he had come to fairly quickly.

“Urgh…”

“Are you feeling a bit more alert?”

“Guide-nim…?”

As he struggled to regain consciousness and spotted me, his eyes widened in surprise. The first thing I did was apologize.

“I’m sorry. You got caught up in all of this because of me.”

“No, I’m the one who caused you trouble.”

I had been prepared to take whatever anger he threw at me, but he simply shook his head calmly.

“…I’ve heard the rumors. That you’re Esper Vasily’s…”

“…That’s just gossip.”

A brief silence fell between us.

“Then that’s a relief. Because I really want you to become my designated Guide.”

The man brought up the offer again. I quietly shook my head.

“…I’m sorry.”

I could understand his sincerity, especially knowing what had happened with Vasily and why. But I didn’t want anyone else to get hurt because of me again.

The Esper I had temporarily contracted with after running from Vasily before was also a good person, like this man. And perhaps that was why the guilt hit so hard when Vasily destroyed him.

“I thought so… That’s unfortunate.”

“…I’m not that great of a Guide. I’m sure someone like you can meet someone much better.”

The Esper accepted my refusal with disappointment and let me go. I bowed my head in farewell and quietly left the hospital room.

“Haa…”

I stepped outside the hospital, overwhelmed by sudden exhaustion. It was already dawn. Seeing the sky start to brighten, I figured I could just catch the first train back to Seoul.

“I’ll have to guide Vasily once I get back…”