TGIC Ch 91

Chapter 91

The moment I recognized the identity of the man waiting for me inside the meeting room as Huai Yan, I froze in the doorway.

Damn it… I really should have at least confirmed who it was that had called for me.

The possibility that Huai Yan might send an Association staff member to fetch me hadn’t even occurred to me. Naturally, I had simply assumed I was being called in because Vasily had caused some trouble and followed without a second thought.

If Vasily found out I had met with Huai Yan, there was no way he’d let it slide. A few days earlier, he had been ready to kill Huai Yan merely for trying to find me. If he heard that Huai Yan had not only located me but had done so through an Association employee… I didn’t even want to imagine what would happen next.

And if the two of them clashed again, it would never end at the level it had last time. I pictured Seoul reduced to rubble and pressed a hand to my forehead.

I thought it would be better to get out of here and lowered my head.

“Sorry, I think I came to the wrong room.”

“No, you’re in the right place.”

I had spoken in English, but the reply came in Korean. My eyes widened at the unexpectedly familiar language.

Huai Yan could speak Korean? There was a faint trace of the awkwardness typical for a foreign speaker, but his pronunciation was almost perfect.

But I couldn’t spare time to be impressed. My priority was getting out of here.

“I have nothing to say to you, so I’ll be going now.”

“I didn’t call you here for any special reason. I was just curious why a Guide would be wearing a suppression chip.”

I was about to step outside when an unexpected word hit my ears.

The hand on the doorknob froze, and I snapped my head back toward him, meeting eyes that were curved in a thin smile.

“How do you…?”

“I made that suppression chip.”

Huai Yan grinned and pointed at me—or rather, at the back of my neck where the chip was implanted.

He made the suppression chip?

My hand flew to the back of my neck. I had grown my hair out to hide the skin swollen red around the implanted chip. No matter that Huai Yan had manufactured it—there was no way he could have known I was wearing one…

As if reading my doubts, he continued,

“I recognized the scent. You’ve been taking the medicine, haven’t you? The one with my blood in it.”

“That wasn’t monster blood…?”

I asked in bewilderment, and Huai Yan burst out laughing.

“Monster blood? Well, that’s not exactly wrong. S-class Espers are closer to monsters than normal people.”

The moment I realized the medicine’s ingredient was his blood, the metallic tang seemed to rise in my throat even though I hadn’t taken any just now.

My stomach churned violently, and I nearly retched. To think I’d been consuming human blood all this time… The idea that it might have been monster blood almost felt preferable.

While I was fighting to calm my protesting stomach, covering my mouth, Huai Yan remarked almost wistfully,

“When I saw you with a suppression chip, I thought you were an Esper… You can’t imagine how surprised I was to find out you’re a Guide. No wonder Vasily tried to kill me.”

“…Why did you seek out Esper Vasily?”

“An Esper I’d raided the West Sea Gate with told me I could meet you if I asked Vasily.”

The face of the S-class Esper who had forced the West Sea Gate raid onto me popped into my mind. I’d wondered how the two of them, who should never have crossed paths, had ended up meeting… Turns out it was your doing. The realization made my teeth clench in fury—though to be fair, I had been the one to screw him over first.

I had once felt a hint of guilt for sending him into the Gate in Vasily’s place, but that flicker of remorse evaporated without a trace.

“So… why is a Guide like you using a suppression chip?”

“…I was trying to manipulate my matching rate.”

“Matching rate?”

“I heard that if a Guide uses a suppression chip, their average matching rate drops significantly. I used it to avoid being paired with an Esper I didn’t want.”

After a brief hesitation, I decided to be honest. Keeping silent would only heighten his curiosity—I’d learned that much from dealing with Vasily.

Besides, I intended to remove the chip soon anyway. Revealing what it did wouldn’t become a lasting weakness.

Huai Yan murmured something under his breath. I couldn’t understand it—it was in Chinese—but I caught the tone, which sounded tinged with genuine fascination.

The fact that a suppression chip could alter a Guide’s matching rate was something only future research would uncover. Not even the chip’s creator, Huai Yan, knew this yet. After all, what kind of lunatic Guide would implant one in their own neck? Only someone like me, already aware of its effects.

He seemed deeply lost in thought. I decided I might as well finish all business before leaving.

“I should expand the product line to include Guides as customers. Thanks for the tip.”

He smiled at me brightly, though there was something in that smile that made me uneasy. I tilted my head in a perfunctory nod and averted my eyes.

“Since I didn’t expect to see a client here, I don’t have any gift for you… Shall I at least give you some blood?”

“I’ll be removing the suppression chip soon, so that won’t be necessary.”

“In that case, should I introduce you to one of our specialists?”

The last offer pricked my interest for a moment. Since his people had made the chip, they might remove it more safely.

But what if they discovered I was an S-class Guide during the removal? I had no idea how his attitude might change. It would be safer to trust Korean medical technology instead. I was already getting the regular injections, so I could have it removed before long.

I shook my head in refusal.

“The chip wasn’t designed for Guides, so it could cause side effects. If you run into trouble or need help, get in touch.”

Huai Yan snapped his fingers lightly. A small flame floated from his hand, fluttering like a butterfly as it drifted toward me.

When it reached me, the crimson ember vanished, and a small slip of paper fell before my eyes. I caught it—it was Huai Yan’s business card, printed in English.

In case his warning about side effects proved true, I thought it best to keep it—though I’d have to hide it well from Vasily.

“I’ll be going now.”

“Take care.”

I stuffed the card into my pocket and stepped outside.

The moment I closed the door, I locked eyes with an Association staffer waiting right outside. Avoiding my gaze, he gave a stiff bow.

I’d noticed he’d been acting oddly even earlier, when escorting me here… But I wasn’t going to blame him.

From the Association’s perspective, refusing a request from an S-class Esper—especially a foreign one—was impossible. All the more so when that Esper had recently been attacked without warning by Vasily.

Clashes during Gate raids were common enough that fights inside the Gates were usually hushed up. But an attack outside the Gate was another matter entirely. Korea needed the incident swept away quietly, which meant keeping Huai Yan appeased until he returned to China.

“Could you please not report to the Association that I met with Huai Yan? I won’t tell Esper Vasily about this either.”

“Yes, understood.”

I had to keep this from Vasily. If the incident made it into an official report and he heard about it, the consequences would be disastrous. Keeping the staffer’s mouth shut was essential.

My suggestion seemed to lift a weight from him; his face brightened, and he hurried off. I walked away in the opposite direction, checking the time.

Apparently my conversation with Huai Yan had run longer than expected—the time had slipped away. If Vasily finished his meeting before my examination ended, he might grow suspicious. I quickened my pace to make up for the lost minutes.

As soon as I arrived at my doctor’s lab, we took images of the implanted chip site. The results were shocking.

“To remove it safely, we’ll need to wait six months.”

“What? Six months?”

My expectation that it might take a month or two at most had been completely wrong. Six months meant removal wouldn’t be possible until next year.

A wave of despair crashed over me.

So for the next half-year, every time I guided, I’d have to suffer migraines afterward—and keep taking medicine made from human blood?

It was probably the recent… particularly deep and intense guiding session with Vasily that had caused this. Damn it… If only I’d come to my senses and stopped halfway, maybe I could have shaved a month off the healing time. I couldn’t be certain the act had made a difference, but the regret was crushing.

“Still getting examined?”

I was clutching my head when Vasily opened the door and stepped inside. Judging by his expression, he looked almost refreshed—he must have vented all his frustration on the Association’s executives.

The opposite of me, whose face had just gone ashen from hearing the devastating news.

“It just finished.”

“And? The result?”

“They said we have to wait six months to remove it safely.”

Well, there was no reason I should be the only one feeling hopeless. I emphasized the word six months, delivering the news in a way that would hit him just as hard.

As I expected, the moment he heard the timeline, Vasily’s brow furrowed in deep displeasure. Seeing that frown replacing his earlier smirk filled me with a measure of satisfaction at last.