TGIC Ch 42

Chapter 42

An Esper as famous as Vasily enjoys celebrity-level popularity. Perhaps because it’s well known that Vasily dislikes excessive attention, people don’t readily approach him—but I could already hear the sound of camera shutters clicking.

Knowing how much Vasily hates noisy environments, it would be best to quickly buy the sandwiches and get out of here before he gets irritated and freezes everything around him.

Fortunately, we arrived at the sandwich shop. Hoping to avoid the stares, I stepped inside. But as soon as the staff and customers saw Vasily following behind me, their eyes went wide. The atmosphere instantly turned chaotic, and I felt unnecessarily apologetic toward the employees.

I needed to order quickly and leave. Scanning the menu, I asked,

“I’m getting the bulgogi sandwich. What would you like, Esper Vasily?”

“Hmm…”

“The tuna sandwich should suit your taste, Esper Vasily.”

I said it casually, almost offhandedly. He probably hadn’t even been to a place like this before, let alone eaten a sandwich. I customized the order roughly according to what I thought would suit his palate.

After finishing the payment, I turned around to find Vasily staring at me quietly.

“…Do you have something to say?”

“No, nothing.”

Vasily simply gave a vague smile. What was that supposed to mean…? I thought I ordered something he’d like, but was there something he didn’t approve of?

I pondered it for a while but shook my head, realizing the order was already placed. Until the sandwiches were ready, I brought Vasily to sit with me in a quiet corner of the shop. The people inside had been sneaking glances at us since earlier, and Vasily seemed to be growing a bit irritable from the attention.

Watching him, I quietly asked,

“If you hate crowds so much, why did you come along?”

“Because you’d run away if I didn’t.”

“…”

How did he know?

To be honest, I had seriously considered taking half a day off and escaping. His words struck deep, but I averted my gaze and pretended otherwise.

Thankfully, the sandwiches were ready quickly. We took the packaged food and headed to Vasily’s private room.

Seated on the sofa facing each other, we each unwrapped a sandwich. In Vasily’s hand, the sandwich looked as small as a triangle kimbap.

How are his hands that big? I used to flinch just from seeing them, but now that he’s holding a sandwich, they don’t seem all that threatening.

Glancing at his hand, I took a bite of my sandwich.

I remembered the shop still being around six years later, so I’d stopped by—and sure enough, any place that survived six years in front of the Association had to be good. The bulgogi sauce was rich, and I especially liked the heavy dose of garlic.

“Does the sandwich suit your taste?”

“Yes, it’s not bad.”

Vasily ate his sandwich cleanly without leaving a single crumb near his mouth. Watching him eat made the ordinary sandwich look like a gourmet dish.

The word “noble” came to mind whenever I looked at Vasily. He had a neat appearance, looked gentlemanly when silent… Tall and well-dressed, he fit the image of a noble perfectly.

Vasily silently looked my way, then suddenly reached for the arm holding my sandwich.

“…?”

Not knowing what he was up to, I instinctively extended my arm—and he brought the sandwich in my hand straight to his own mouth.

Chomp. He took a bite.

“W-What are you doing…?”

“Hmm…”

But as he chewed, Vasily’s expression grew increasingly odd. Ah, was it the garlic? Or maybe the doenjang in the bulgogi sauce?

“This is why I recommended the tuna sandwich…”

He didn’t even like Korean food that much. There was no way he’d enjoy a bulgogi sandwich. That’s exactly why I suggested the tuna one.

Watching Vasily chew with a displeased expression, I couldn’t help but burst into laughter. It wasn’t even that funny, yet I laughed anyway.

I struggled to stop myself, remembering that Vasily was right in front of me. It took a moment, but once the laughter subsided, I noticed Vasily staring directly at me.

The atmosphere was starting to feel strange, so I quickly finished my sandwich and stood up.

I checked the time. There was still some of the lunch break left. It was time to head back to the Guide Association and prepare for the afternoon sessions.

“I’ll be heading back now.”

“Yeah? Then let’s go together.”

I’d eaten lunch here hoping he’d stay put in his private room, but as soon as I stood up, Vasily stood as well.

“You’re going to follow me again?”

“Yes.”

“…Then at least change your clothes. People are getting scared because of that bloodstain.”

“Hmm… Okay. Will you wait a moment?”

I watched him head over to the wardrobe where spare suits were hanging, then quietly turned my gaze away. Changing out of the bloodstained suit probably wouldn’t stop Espers from fleeing, but… at least it might reduce the eerie atmosphere.

In the end, I returned to the guiding room with Vasily still in tow.

The afternoon session unfolded just like the morning. As soon as Espers entering the guiding room made eye contact with Vasily, they quietly closed the door and left as if nothing had happened.

This couldn’t go on. I decided to speak seriously to Vasily.

“Esper Vasily, if this continues, I won’t be able to do my job. Could you please leave now?”

“No.”

“…If you persist like this, I’ll have no choice but to call security for obstruction of duty.”

“Go ahead.”

Vasily responded with a calm, smirking expression. That brazen look of “go on, try it” left me speechless.

I really didn’t want to take it this far… With a deep sigh, I reached for the call button mounted on the wall. I hesitated for a moment, but it was clear this couldn’t continue, so I pressed the button.

Even after seeing me press the button, Vasily remained unfazed. I looked at him with a complicated expression.

After a short wait, armed security Espers entered the guiding room. I greeted them with a deliberately cheerful face.

“…Thank you for coming.”

But when they saw Vasily, the security Espers froze and quietly backed out, closing the door behind them.

Aren’t you supposed to do something?! I screamed internally, but the firmly shut door did not open again.

“They left.”

“…So it seems.”

“What will you do now?”

“…I don’t know.”

I had given up. At the very least, I knew I wouldn’t be getting through today unscathed. I hadn’t conducted any actual guiding, and I was already dreading how I’d fill out the report.

“…I’ll give you a one-hour guiding session. Then please leave.”

“I didn’t come here for guiding.”

“Then why are you doing this?”

“I told you, didn’t I? It’s a field trip.”

“…”

I shut my eyes tightly. If he insisted on being this unreasonable, there was nothing I could do.

“I’ll grant you one request. Will that satisfy you?”

“Then make me your guid—”

“Anything but asking me to become your Guide. And nothing too outrageous, either.”

“Hmm… You’re strict.”

Vasily propped his chin on his hand and began to think. Thankfully, that seemed to work a little.

“Let’s go back to your private room and think it over there.”

I dragged the pondering Vasily out and shut the door behind him.

Click.

“Haa…”

Peace, at last. I should’ve done this from the start. I didn’t know what he was going to ask for, but the only thing I could possibly give Vasily was a guiding session. He probably knew that too, so he’d eventually request it.

He had shown up in the middle of the night in a terrible state, and I’d taken care of him. If anything, he should be the one thanking me. And yet, here I was giving him a wish ticket and begging him to leave. Was this really how it should be?

Well, he was gone now. Time to get back to work.

After confirming that Vasily was no longer in front of the door, I called out,

“Esper number 31!”

In the remaining time, I managed to guide two more people. Now, the end of the workday was approaching. I focused on writing my report, but my mind was conflicted.

Thanks to Vasily’s interference, I hadn’t guided many Espers today, so there wasn’t much to write about. But I was mostly agonizing over what to put in the remarks section for those who had fled because of him.

Should I write that Vasily scared them off? But all he did was sit there—he didn’t directly do anything. Should I say they left of their own accord? No, that might make it look bad for the Espers.

“Ugh…”

My head throbbed. I gave up on typing and went to the break room to take some medicine.

Even after taking it, the headache didn’t subside easily. I didn’t feel well today—worse than usual.

Maybe it was from the medicine I took while guiding Vasily through the night… I didn’t even know what was in it, and I wasn’t sure it was safe to take this often. It said to take one pill per day, but I’d been taking three or four whenever something happened with Vasily…

While I was taking a moment to rest my head, a system notification popped up on my workstation. My eyes narrowed. Was it from Vasily?