* * *
“Hello. I didn’t realize the door was locked.”
“Whoa! Hi, Ben! And Xenon too—so nice to see you both!”
“Huh. It’s been a while.”
Ben’s half-hearted excuse may or may not have worked, but Moria—arms full of bread bags—and Liran—carrying a coffee carrier—slid into the break room without question and sat down as if it were their own space.
Moria began cheerfully laying out all the different types of pastries she’d brought.
“Want some bread? I bought way too much.”
“I told you not to overdo it.”
“I dunno, I just felt like buying a lot today. Maybe it’s ‘cause I was gonna see you two? Anyway, what were you guys doing in here together without your partners?”
Moria cheerfully tore into a croissant sandwich and took a huge bite, her expression innocently curious.
Objectively speaking, it was a strange sight—Xenon without Ellyn, Ben without Haimar, holed up together alone.
The question made sense from her perspective.
“We were waiting for Ellyn… and just happened to run into each other…”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Apparently prepared for this kind of situation, Xenon offered up a believable excuse.
Ben followed his lead without hesitation. It wasn’t even some huge secret—just them browsing adult products.
If they were caught, they’d just have to play it cool and endure the embarrassment.
Still, they were understandably cautious.
Especially with Liran—her temper was fast-burning, and if she caught wind of something like adult toys being discussed at work, she’d definitely have a reaction.
Thankfully, Liran was too busy putting coffee sleeves on the cups to pay much attention.
Ben quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
“Anyway! Oh, that reminds me—Ben, I had something to tell you…”
“Don’t talk with your mouth full, Momo.”
“Mmph… But I wanna talk and eat.”
Moria’s cheeks puffed up as she crammed more sandwich into her mouth, ignoring Liran’s scolding.
After gulping it down in a big swallow, she took a smaller bite and continued.
“You haven’t set the final control code yet, right? Stop by when you have time—”
“Cough! Ack, wrong pipe!”
“Ugh, see? Told you not to talk while eating! Here, drink this!”
“Cough! I didn’t think I’d choke…!”
“Are… are you okay…?”
Moria, caught mid-sentence, started coughing violently.
Liran quickly shoved a coffee straw into her mouth while patting her back.
Ben grabbed some tissues off the table and handed them over.
As her coughing finally began to settle, Ben quietly mulled over what she’d said.
Right—there was still one last thing to do regarding the control devices.
Haimar’s control system had three separate locks, each requiring its own authentication code to deactivate.
The proper way to handle it was to enter the first code, allow an adjustment period, then input the second, and so on.
But because it was Haimar, and you never knew what might happen, they’d decided to input two codes at once as a precaution.
In hindsight, that choice had paid off enormously.
If they hadn’t deactivated two locks during the encounter with Roilnia, things could’ve ended very badly.
Backup plans existed for a reason.
One of them had been almost half-destroyed during the process, and the second was only just barely deactivated, but in the end, they’d managed it.
It was like defusing a nuclear bomb without a manual—terrifying, and it had put the entire Eternita Central on edge.
Still, it got the job done.
Thankfully, the status check performed on Haimar afterward showed numbers that were not only stable but surprisingly better than before.
Only after receiving confirmation of a successful release could the lingering anxiety finally subside.
Personally, Ben was inwardly relieved—his pride as a guide intact, though he didn’t show it.
Anyway, to summarize the part of Moria’s story she hadn’t gotten to finish: she had asked Ben to stop by so they could finalize the authorization code for Haimar’s remaining control device.
It had been delayed due to her own injuries and minor issues piling up, but after the recent incident in Roilnia, Ben agreed it was best to handle it sooner rather than later.
“I understand. I’ll talk to Haimar and get back to you as soon as I can.”
“Ahem! Yes, I’ll be waiting. Honestly, things have been so hectic lately I almost forgot, but [Integra] just happened to call to follow up.”
Clearing her throat now that the coughing fit had passed, Moria picked up her sandwich again, this time chewing calmly and cautiously, clearly trying not to choke again.
Watching her eat so carefully made Ben suddenly wonder if there had been any other updates regarding the two recent control device removals.
If [Integra] was paying close attention to Haimar’s devices, it was possible they had something to say about them being removed without formal authorization.
“Did [Integra] say anything else? About the last device removal?”
“Hmm? No, not really?”
Moria wiped a piece of tomato off her lip, her expression vague as she tried to recall the contents of the message she’d received.
When nothing came to mind, she glanced over at her partner for confirmation.
Liran Siu casually tossed a sausage bun toward Ben and Xenon, adding:
“If [Integra] isn’t saying anything, it means they’ve finally acknowledged you as a proper guide.”
“Oh…”
Strangely, the recognition made Ben a little happy.
Just as Liran Siu said, Ben had fully proven himself as Haimar Eilec’s guide during the status check.
Naturally, that result would’ve been reported to [Integra], and contrary to his worries, the only message he got in return was to focus on the third device removal.
Normally, removing a control device without approval would warrant disciplinary action, but the lack of reprimand suggested that Main Central placed more value on the fact that Haimar’s device had been removed—implying they were willing to overlook procedural breaches.
Plus, it wasn’t in their best interest to burden Haimar with disciplinary nonsense.
All things considered, [Integra] had made a wise choice.
“Th-That’s a relief, Mr. Ben.”
Now that one of the nagging worries had been neatly resolved, Ben finally picked up the bread that had landed in front of him.
With corn and cheese piled generously over sausage, it looked more like a pizza bun.
Taking care not to drop anything, he took a bite and wiped the sauce from his lips.
While Xenon opened his own bun out of politeness, Moria—who had just finished off her sandwich—reached for a ciabatta with olives and asked:
“How’s Mr. Haimar doing right now?”
“He’s doing fine.”
“No signs of sleepiness or irritability? No noticeable changes? Because… Hang on, let me take a bite first.”
She wanted to talk, but her mouth was full—and she didn’t want to choke again.
So Moria busily chewed on her ciabatta, and Ben patiently waited without rushing her.
But seeing her struggle, Liran finally chimed in between sips of coffee:
“She’s trying to say there might be aftereffects now that the control device’s gone.”
“Aftereffects?”
“Yeah, like side effects. Think about it—Haimar wore that device for a long time.”
Her fingers moved as if trying to count the years, then gave up.
Clearly, there were too many to bother.
Ben understood exactly what she meant.
When he’d first decided to become Haimar’s guide, he’d gone through extensive data on him, including records of his control devices.
From what he recalled, Haimar had caused an entire lab to go up in flames before he’d even unleashed his full power during his initial ability evaluation.
A control device had to be installed immediately after.
And from that point on, the number of devices only increased—it never went down.
In other words, Haimar didn’t even know what it felt like to be at full power.
It might not be a perfect analogy, but removing all the devices probably felt like letting a wild colt loose.
Although, calling him a colt might be too cute.
A wild beast or caged monster set free felt more accurate.
“Y-Yeah… the time he spent with the control devices is probably way… way longer. Even just one feels incredibly uncomfortable…”
“Most espers struggle after just a few months. But Haima? It’s been over ten years. Please keep a close eye on him, Mr. Ben. His numbers are looking great, but good condition management is crucial if we want to safely remove the last device.”
Apparently, Haimar’s power had been so suppressed that this latest device removal only managed to open the valve, so to speak.
Even the feeling of being able to breathe freely was new to him—so much so that no one had considered potential side effects.
* * *
