TSCEIAB Ch. 7

 

 

After barely filling an hour in the reception room, Richard, the center director, arrived.

He had come in person to assess the atmosphere between Philip and me.

Entering with high expectations, he seemed slightly taken aback by the awkward atmosphere in the room and then laughed.

“It looks like you’ve exchanged enough greetings. Let’s move on to the matching rate test.”

On our way to the testing room, Richard explained a few things.

“This is the first round of testing. There will be a second round in a year. It may be a bit troublesome, but please understand we need to carefully monitor the matching rate and to make sure it doesn’t drop.”

The matching rate between an Esper and a Guide is influenced slightly by their emotional state and familiarity.

So, before doing a matching rate test, the Esper and Guide would have enough conversation to increase their familiarity with each other and then proceed with the test.

The time I spent with Philip earlier, even though it seemed pointless, was Richard’s consideration to help raise that familiarity.

‘Of course, it seems to have only backfired.’

“Even if the results of this test aren’t great, you’ve got a whole year before the next one, so I hope you won’t be too discouraged.”

Richard glanced at Philip while speaking. It seemed like he was planning to keep Philip, an S-class Esper, in Ohio for a year.

“Haha! Don’t worry! The matching rate will be great. It was already 89% in the preliminary test, right?”

Philip was brimming with confidence.

He seemed convinced that the matching rate with me would be high even before the test started.

But his bright smile didn’t last long.

To be precise, it completely disappeared once he received the test results.

“…It seems like, um, there was some kind of error. Maybe the results got mixed up with another Esper’s.”

He tried to deny reality. I took the results from Philip’s hand and looked for the matching rate section.

[The matching rate between Esper “Philip Anderson” and Guide “Sofia Kang” is 51%.]

 

51%.

This was significantly lower than the preliminary matching rate. If this number had appeared in the preliminary test, Philip wouldn’t have even made it to my candidate list.

As Philip continued to deny and doubt the results, the researcher anxiously explained that the number was correct.

Philip, whose face turned red, gritted his teeth and slammed his fist into the waiting room wall.

Thud!

The wall cracked, and the building shook slightly. Eric, the B-rank Esper assigned as my escort, quickly shielded me and moved us away from the spot.

“Are you okay, Guide?”

“I’m fine, but I don’t think the Director is. And Eric, who left him behind.”

Eric, who had retreated to the end of the hallway, checked on Richard.

Richard was two or three steps away from Philip, his thick jaw trembling.

“…It’ll be okay. I’ve given strict orders to prioritize the Guide’s safety above all else.”

Even Richard hadn’t anticipated this situation when he gave that order.

I sighed heavily, hoping Richard wouldn’t scold Eric. I could faintly hear Philip cursing in frustration.

“I heard he’s been a little calmer recently… but looks like that fiery temper of his is still there.”

You’re out, you jerk.

 

A while later, Philip’s personal assistant managed to stop him.

The assistant persuades Philip not to behave in a way that would sour his relationship with me any further, as there would be another chance in a year.

Philip stepped back to the end of the hallway, briefly eyeing me—still nestled in the arms of my escort Esper—before taking a few deep breaths.

His chest rose and fell several times.

“…I’m sorry. Guide Sofia, I’m sorry.”

Philip, who had left a harsh tone, murmured that he was tired, and turned to walk away.

He was a really bad person, both from the start and at the end.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The next day, in the same reception room where I had met Philip, I met the second pair candidate.

This time, at Richard’s suggestion, I brought two Esper escorts with me.

“Hello, Guide Sofia, right? I’m Daniel Calix. Feel free to call me Daniel.”

As I entered the reception room, the man who arrived early stood up and greeted me.

His polite manner and gentle smile were quite impressive.

“Nice to meet you, Daniel. Please feel free to call me Sofia, too.”

He didn’t ask for a handshake.

After Philip had left the day before, I had learned from my escort, Eric, that it was considered bad manners for an Esper to ask a novice Guide for a handshake.

Newly awakened Guides often release guiding energy even with light physical contact.

They say that asking for a handshake from such a guide is tantamount to saying, “Let me taste your guiding energy.”

“Is that okay? Sofia?”

“Yes, feel free to speak casually.”

As I sat on the sofa, Daniel sat down slowly as well.

Unlike his adorable image, he was quite large. He seemed to be minimizing his movements, perhaps to avoid startling a young child like me.

“Haha, thanks, Sofia. Actually, I have a younger sibling. She’s ten years old, and seeing you reminds me of when my Ellie was that age, so I wanted to get to know you better.”

Maybe because of his blonde hair.

Looking at Daniel reminded me of a golden retriever. He smiled and took out something to show me.

“Here, this is my little sister Ellie.”

It was a phone, and the wallpaper was a selfie of Daniel and a girl who looked like him.

“You must be close with your younger sister.”

I can’t believe he set his phone wallpaper like that.

Daniel nodded at my question.

“Yeah. There’s a five-year gap between us, but since our parents were busy, I ended up taking care of Ellie a lot. So she’s like my own daughter.”

It was an amazing sibling bond.

Daniel spent about 20 minutes, talking about his sister Ellie.

It was more pleasant than talking to Philip, who treated me like a child. I occasionally nodded along as he spoke.

“Ah, I’ve only talked about myself.”

‘You’ve been talking about your sister, not yourself.’

Just when I thought my ears were about to bleed, Daniel stopped, looking embarrassed.

I tried to hide my slight fatigue and smiled faintly.

“It’s okay. I had fun.”

“You’re so mature, Sofia.”

“I hear that a lot.”

“Haha!”

The atmosphere was very good. Our conversation was smooth, and laughter kept flowing between us.

I could feel our familiarity growing.

‘At this rate, the matching rate will probably be pretty high.’

But just as I had that thought, my mood started to drop when Daniel began talking about Guides.

“I’m a little tired because I haven’t been getting guidance yesterday and today .”

“Do you get guidance every day?”

“Yeah. Sometimes two or three times a day.”

From what I heard, Daniel seemed to have a strong desire for guides. But, he didn’t seem to possessive towards a single Guide.

He was quite handsome, with a friendly personality, and his celebrity status made him popular among Guides.

Daniel, too, seemed to be well aware of his appeal.

That’s why he often had multiple Guides around him, charming them and keeping them close.

He was the type to not stop a Guide from leaving and not hold back a new one from joining.

He didn’t think of this as something bad either, and even seemed to take pride in how popular he was among Guides.

‘Now that I think about it, there was a lot of talk about scandals involving Daniel.’

I’ve heard there were several dramas surrounding him.

I’d forgotten about it because he was only fifteen, dismissing them as mere gossip.

“Um, does it bother you?”

When my expression darkened, Daniel noticed.

“Don’t worry. Once the pair is formed, I’ll make sure to let the other Guides go. So cheer up, okay?”

Daniel smiled, narrowing his eyes as he spoke. It was quite natural for him to use his charm and diffuse the tension.

‘This one’s out too.’

I leaned back against the sofa and absentmindedly sucked on the straw stuck to the orange juice.

From then on, everything Daniel did seemed to carry a subtle, almost manipulative sweetness that didn’t sit well with me.

 

 

An hour later. The matching rate result with Daniel was 63%.

“Well, it’s a bit lower than the preliminary test.”

Since the preliminary matching rate was 82%, saying it was “a bit” lower was an understatement.

But Daniel didn’t break a wall or swear like Philip, even though he looked disappointed.

Instead, he shrugged his shoulders and said:

“Well, it’s fine. We’ll just get to know each other over the next year, right?”

That’s so positive, I like it.

Daniel left the center, saying he hoped we’d have a more enjoyable time the next time we met.

Just like when we first met, he wore a bright, cheerful smile.