* * *
“Welcome! Gosh, we’ve been waiting forever! I was seriously about to go out and look for you!”
With neatly pinned-up light green hair and a white lab coat fluttering behind her, Moria Iren greeted the group with a face that looked like she was on the verge of tears.
“You don’t know how worried I was that no one would show up—not even the Director!”
Her unusually agitated tone was laced with frustration.
The oddly crumpled collar of her lab coat and the way her bangs were half floating in the air suggested she’d been quite stressed while waiting for the briefing attendees.
As Enten had once described it, [Integra] was a “group of gloriously eccentric weirdos” you couldn’t exactly scold into compliance.
So all she could do was wait.
“I kind of expected it, but still, no one showed up on time… I was about to go out and search when the twins and Mr. Elgran suddenly came stampeding down the hallway… I miss you, Ririiii…”
She had no way of stopping the two runaway twins and one wild boy all on her own.
Dropping onto the Director’s office couch and hugging a stack of documents, Moria suddenly missed her esper, who was out temporarily for work.
To make things worse, Ellyn and Haimar were blatantly ignoring her, making even Ben feel a bit sorry for her.
“We can just start now, can’t we?”
“…Y-Yes, you’re right…”
“Yes… let’s begin. I’m sure the Director will show up while I’m explaining…”
Trying to rally herself, Moria handed out the prepared materials and moved to the end of the table, her shoulders slumped in defeat.
“Let’s hear it, then.”
A deep, pleasant voice, paired with an overwhelming presence, cut through the room and silenced the air.
Moria, locking eyes briefly with Haimar’s clear gaze, quickly looked away.
She feared more than just her thoughts being read—her instincts told her he controlled the entire atmosphere in the room.
“I don’t enjoy listening to whining, but I am curious to see just how boring this is going to be.”
He wasn’t threatening her in any obvious way, but Moria felt like needles were pricking her skin.
As an ordinary civilian, she couldn’t even open her mouth.
In her mind, she kept broadcasting, ‘I’m sorry, I really am. I was whining.’
Maybe she wasn’t completely to blame, but now was the time to lay low.
“I-I’ll just go over the summary first… For the details, I’m sure Mr. Haimar and Ms. Eli would know more…”
Sneaking a glance at Ben’s face gave her a bit of reassurance.
Staring into his soft green eyes helped her regain her composure.
Moria turned to the first page of the material.
But then—another storm hit.
“She’s the problem. This woman right here. The root and the end of it all.”
Without preamble, Eli jabbed at the printed photo of a woman.
Her sudden leap to a dramatic conclusion left Moria stunned, her mouth agape.
Sure, Ellyn wasn’t wrong—but still! If it were that simple, they wouldn’t be having this whole meeting.
‘I was foolish to think I could handle this group properly.’
Moria rewrote her definition of [Integra].
Beyond “gloriously eccentric weirdos,” they were full-blown maniacs who didn’t care even a rat’s ass about things that didn’t interest them.
She should’ve taken her esper’s past warning more seriously—that [Integra] was hardly a place worth idolizing.
“But if it’s Lanilgraph… are we talking about the ‘Lanilgraph’ of Anatolia fame?”
As Ben, seated beside Haimar, flipped to the next page, a familiar photo of a woman appeared.
With red hair and ominous, sunken eyes, her image looked as though it might burst out of the page any second.
“Huh? Yes! That’s right. There’s only one Lanilgraph. The problem is that on paper, Roilnia Lanilgraph died in an accident two years ago.”
The name Renato Lanilgraph, founder of the global military supply giant ‘Anatolia’, was inextricably linked to the company.
Although he faced public criticism for making a fortune selling weapons, he was also renowned for generous donations, sponsorships, and international aid.
He had even pledged to donate his entire fortune to society after death.
He was the poster child for positive global influence.
So the name Roilnia Lanilgraph showing up now—was like splashing black ink on a beautifully painted masterpiece.
It just didn’t fit.
And if Roilnia truly shared that Lanilgraph bloodline, then she shouldn’t be able to act this recklessly…
“‘Accident,’ my ass. It was just a cover-up. They cut her off to protect Anatolia’s image.”
“…But… wh-why… why would she come back now…?”
Wedged between all the high-strung personalities, Xenon finally managed to voice her nervous question.
Ben didn’t take long to respond.
“She wants to surpass someone… doesn’t she?”
Her goal.
No one had to say it—everyone already knew who that someone was.
Ben had seen it in Roilnia: the burning hatred and nearly obsessive ambition to surpass Haimar.
And there was one more thing Ben was certain of.
“She probably doesn’t have a Guide.”
Roilnia Lanilgraph had no Guide.
Though he said it as if it were speculation, Ben was sure.
There was no other explanation for those eyes that had looked at him with such blatant disgust, or that voice soaked in contempt.
Her ideology wasn’t just radical—it aimed to rewrite the natural order.
No Guide, yet striving to surpass Haimar Eilec, known as the most powerful esper in the world.
That, to her, would be the ultimate, indisputable proof.
“Correct. Her Guide’s been dead a long time.”
Haimar confirmed Ben’s words.
Then, leaning lazily against Ben’s shoulder, he flicked his fingers, and the documents in Moria’s hands floated into the air.
“No Guide, but still needs power. So what’s left?”
Papers filled with jagged, dual-line graphs spun slowly in mid-air before gently landing on the table. Haimar added:
“What’s left is becoming a junkie.”
“Y-Yes! Exactly—the drugs! As you know, in both the Xenon case and the Irina Cheryl incident, she was involved, and the common link was an injected drug that acted as a power booster.”
Moria, regaining her rhythm, pinned her disheveled bangs back in place, pulled a pen from her chest pocket, and began rapidly pointing out figures on the graphs.
“Normally, this kind of substance is used in war zones for military purposes, and under international law, it should only be administered to espers with a Guide. But both cases involved un-Guided espers who reached near-berserk levels.”
As the others focused intently, Moria, encouraged by their attention, began to share her own theories…
“So this is just my theory, but… the compounds used here are insanely potent—completely different from what’s normally used. Judging by your test results, it looks like this Roilnia guy was trying to observe how your body responded to different drug concentrations. Kind of like an experiment.”
“Ugh… th-that’s horrifying.”
At the end, Moria trailed off, casting a cautious glance at Xenon, the one directly involved.
Perhaps recalling the incident, Xenon gripped both arms and trembled.
Ellyn, who had been listening in silence, kept her eyes on the papers as she gently wrapped an arm around his shoulder.
“This drug’s effect has long surpassed what we’d call a normal enhancement. You couldn’t even create something like this if you wanted someone dead. It’s become insanely toxic. Hm… and resolving the absence of a guide… is it this? Of course. That thing we confiscated two years ago—it’s that, isn’t it?”
Ben, who had been glancing sideways at Ellyn—reading a different handout than his—quickly caught up by skimming through his own.
In short, it suggested that the issue of functioning without a guide had likely been resolved using another drug, though nothing more could be determined from the paperwork alone.
“Well, what’s written there is just my speculation. It’s not registered in the database, so I have no idea what it is. Do you know anything about it?”
If even a senior researcher at Eternita Central didn’t know, it might as well be a nonexistent drug.
But Ellyn seemed to have an idea, and Ben, curious, glanced over at Haimar, who was leaning against his shoulder.
Haimar lifted his head to meet Ben’s gaze, following the movement of his eyes.
Their faces were so close their lips could almost touch.
Ben tensed slightly, but Haimar just playfully blew a soft breath in his face.
“Wanna know?”
“Yes. I’d like to hear it.”
“Then go ask the old lady outside.”
…Old lady?
At the sudden mention of someone new, Ben’s eyes widened.
With a sly smirk, Haimar waved a finger in the air like before—and the previously closed Director’s office doors swung wide open.
* * *
