TSCEIAB Ch. 18

 

“Here, take this watch first.”

 

Richard handed me a watch while I was frozen in shock. Its design was slightly different from the watches worn by the Espers.

 

“As a matter of urgency, we’ve signed you and Esper Hugo up as a temporary pair. This is a guide watch that shares the status of your pair esper.”

 

He tapped a button on the watch to show me Hugo’s guiding stats and fastened it tightly to my wrist.

 

“Alright, that’s all the explanation. Since it’s radial guiding, no other espers will follow you inside, but just in case, we’ll be checking the situation on CCTV. So don’t worry too much. Alright?”

 

“Uh……. Yes…….”

 

“Good. Now get in.”

 

Richard tapped me on the shoulder and opened the door for me. It looked like an ordinary iron gate, but it was quite thick.

Creeeak-

There was an unpleasant sound and a rusty smell of metal. I swallowed nervously and stepped into the dimly lit room.

 

“If you’re having a hard time, you can come out anytime.”

 

Creeeak- Thud!

The door closed behind me. As I stepped inside, something rattled against my side.

 

“Ah…….”

 

I glanced over and saw that it was a chair. This must be the chair in front of the door that Richard had mentioned.

 

“…… Hugo?”

 

Only a light in the middle of the ceiling illuminated the room. Even the lighting wasn’t very bright, so I couldn’t see anything clearly.

I think it’s a bed over there.

Everywhere was quiet. Not a single breath could be heard.

The CCTV footage from the pad showed Hugo tied to the bed and struggling, but when I stepped inside, he stopped making a sound.

Maybe he recognized me?

 

“Hugo. It’s me. Do you recognize me?”

 

As I stopped a few steps away from the bed, I saw his bright blue eyes. His eyes were directed towards me, but his gaze was slightly off, perhaps he had lost his vision due to lack of guidance.

 

“I’ll start with radial guiding.”

 

Without taking my eyes off Hugo, I moved my hand to pull the ring out. I slipped the ring into the pocket of my cardigan and began to radiate out my guiding energy.

 

“Ugh, nghhh…….”

 

My energy surged slowly around Hugo’s body. Perhaps sensing it, Hugo let out a small groan and tossed and turned.

Clank! Clank!

The chains that bound his limbs made an uncomfortable sound.

Looking closely, I saw that Hugo had something like a leash around his neck, and a muzzle was placed over his mouth.

 

“Hugo. It’s me. Yi-seo.”

 

He let out a groan. Then stopped moving when he heard my voice.

 

“Yi, Seo……. ”

 

His voice cracked weakly through his muzzle. It was clear that he had regained some consciousness.

 

“Yes. It’s Yi-seo. I came running because I heard you were in danger.”

 

Slowly calming him down, I checked the watch on my wrist. The figure 23% was in red.

‘Twenty-three percent? That’s on the verge of a real rampage.’

A cold sweat ran down my back. Hugo’s situation had changed because of my appearance, so I couldn’t be sure he would be okay by relying on the original story.

I felt that it was my fault that Hugo had become like this.

 

“Hugo. Can I come a little closer?”

 

I was afraid that my movements would make him suffer more.

His hearing was overly sensitive when suffering from a lack of guiding. I whispered as quietly as I could.

 

“Yi.. Seo….. ”

 

“Yes, if you don’t want me to come close, I’ll stay here.”

 

“Ah, you……. cough cough!”

 

“Hugo!”

 

As he coughed violently, a foul odor wafted out of him. I knew instinctively it was the smell of blood.

 

‘Stats… the stats…….’

Biting my lower lip in nervousness, I looked at my watch and saw the figure 25%. The numbers were still in red

‘It’s too slow……. Why is it so inefficient?’

Frustration rose to the top of my throat. As I took a step closer to him, the watch beeped.

 

 

[Guide Sophia! Don’t get any closer, it’s dangerous.]

 

 

A message appeared at the top of the watch screen. It must be from Richard who had been watching on CCTV.

I waved my hand at the CCTV, signaling it was okay, and looked at Hugo.

 

“Hugo. Are you okay?”

 

“Cough! Ha……. Yi-seo……. Yi-seo ……”

 

“Hmm, are you coming to your senses?”

 

“It hurts so much…….”

 

He whined in a weak and wet voice. He wasn’t the type to speak so weakly.

My heart sank.

I pushed the guiding energy lingering in my heart and took a couple more steps to Hugo.

 

“Haa…… Haa…….”

 

The sound of panting breaths scratched my eardrums. The figure on the watch had now risen to 29%.

‘It seems that the closer I get, the faster the numbers go up.’

As I hesitated a little, I remembered the phone call with Daniel.

 

<It’s S-class. The total amount of guidance one can receive must be unfathomable, so what are you worried about? >

<If you do contact guiding, the speed at which the numbers go up will be different, right? >

 

Right. If I do contact guiding, it will help calm Hugo down even faster.

In hindsight, it was a reckless move.

But I was driven by my frustration and anxiety due to my lack of ability. Seeing Hugo vomiting blood in front of me made me lose my sense of reason.

‘Camilla said that with little more practice, contact guiding would be no problem…….’

It was a childish, impulsive thought. I thought that even if I was lacking, it would be fine since Hugo was an S-class esper.

 

“Hugo. Your guiding number is 30% right now, are you sure you won’t attack me?”

 

The number on the watch had now changed to 30%. At this level, Hugo’s sense of reason would have become clearer.

He blinked as if he didn’t understand what I was saying, and then muttered.

 

“I, cough! am going to ……. attack you?”

 

“I’m asking just in case. They say that Espers on the verge of going berserk, lose their sense of reason and start attacking those around them.”

 

“I won’t. There’s no way I would hurt you.”

 

This time, his voice was quite firm. He lifted his restrained arm slightly and shook it.

Clank! Clank!

 

“Look, I’m tied up, cough! You don’t have to be afraid.”

 

Maybe he’d spoken too much, his breathing began to get ragged again. I couldn’t delay any longer.

Hugo’s guiding stats was now 31%.

 

“Then I’ll start with hand guiding.”

 

Hugo’s eyes widened slightly. He flinched as I strode toward him.

It seemed like he was trying to retreat rather than attack me.

I held out my hands in front of Hugo as if to soothe a frightened stray cat. Very slowly, the distance between us was getting closer.

Hugo’s eyes darted around nervously, perhaps his vision had not yet returned.

 

“You’ll be fine, Hugo.”

 

Unsure words came out of my mouth irresponsibly.

Hugo’s hands were covered with restraints up to his wrists. I hesitated a little before placing my palm on his elbow.

 

“Hugo, now the guiding……. .”

 

Gasp!

My whole body stiffened before I could finish speaking. I involuntarily took a sharp breath.

The guiding energy that had been circulating in my heart sucked away in a lump. It happened against my will.

 

“Ugh, huhh……!”

 

Hugo’s body devoured the guiding energy that had been extracted from me.

At the same time, Hugo’s eyes widened, and his limbs began to stiffen.

A distressed sound escaped his small open mouth.

 

“Ah….ugh…ah!….”

 

“H-Hugo!”

 

I quickly pulled my hand away, but it was too late. Hugo’s eyes had rolled back.

 

“Ugh, hurk, gah!”

 

He thrashed wildly, coughing up blood. The flimsy hospital bed creaked and screeched.

 

“Hugo! N-no, please! Wake up! Hugo!”

 

“Ah, ugh……. Yi-, cough! gah! No, please……. Ugh……. Run away…….”

 

Hugo’s restraints slowly began to freeze. It was his freezing ability.

 

“Yi-seo, ugh,.. cough! Run, run away …….”

 

Bam!

The door opened. Unlike when I was let in, it was wide open, and armed espers came rushing in.

 

“Sedatives! Administer sedatives!”

 

“It’s a guiding shock!”

 

“Evacuate the guide first!”

 

The situation took a turn of urgency. Having lost all my guiding energy, I could only stand there and tremble.

Someone threw a blanket over my head and lifted me up in their arms.

 

“N-no, please……. Wait! Hugo!”

 

Through the swaying fabric, I could see Hugo being subdued by armed espers.

A large, bulky esper climbed on top of Hugo, pinned his limbs down.

 

“Ahh, aaaah! Ack!”

 

“Gag! Bring me the gag!”

 

“Deploy the shields first! Quick!”

 

There was a mixture of horrible sounds. The person holding me hurriedly left the bunker where Hugo was.

Creeeak- Thud!

The door was closed. I could hear Liam’s voice as I struggled and screamed for him to let me down.

 

“Guide Sophia! It’s dangerous!”

 

“N-no! Because of me, Hugo ……!”

 

My vision flickered black and then bright repeatedly. My heart, drained of all the guiding energy, pounded loudly.

Thump-thump-thump. I heard the loud drum sound coming from somewhere, and it was the sound of my heart beating.

I felt like my heart had moved to my head.

 

“Ugh…….”

 

My nose started to sting and something hot flowed. I could smell the faint scent of blood, my nose was bleeding

 

“Take the guide to the hospital!”

 

“Yes!”

 

“Ah, no…….”

 

I can’t. Hugo still needs me.

Suddenly, all the strength drained from my body. I couldn’t even hold my neck anymore, so I leaned my cheek against the shoulder of the person holding me.

 

“Cough!”

 

I cough out something hot and slowly close my eyes.

 

“…… Ah, Guide! Wake up, ……!”

 

The voice calling me rang in my muffled ears, but I had no strength to answer.

For the first time in my life, I lost consciousness due to guiding exhaustion.