* * *
From the perspective of the one chosen, it was nothing short of baffling.
Neither Liran Siu nor Moria Iren had been dispatched for this task, so Enten couldn’t help but wonder if suddenly assigning him this random errand—when he’d done nothing wrong—was some new form of hazing.
But Enten, being the clever man he was, reasoned that there must be some deeper meaning behind the Bureau Director’s order.
Of course, understanding something with your mind and enduring it with your body were two very different matters.
In any case, since Enten had even mobilized staff from the 6th Department under the Director’s direction, it might’ve looked like something major was going on in Central, but in truth, it wasn’t much.
The event itself was being handled by the Foundation; Central only had to take care of security and miscellaneous support.
Even Ben, outside, was busy checking manpower placement for tomorrow or offering help to the Foundation where they were short-staffed.
“Would you like to come in for a cup of tea? Do you know where Mr. Haimar is?”
“He should be in the room assigned to him. Mr. Elgran and Mr. Lusna Nigel are likely with him.”
A warm cup of tea sounded exactly like what he needed, and it was a welcome suggestion.
As Enten turned to lead the way, his legs, chilled from standing still too long, moved stiffly in the breeze.
He rolled the bundle of papers he was holding and shoved them into his pocket, rubbing his hands until the friction turned his frostbitten skin a faint red.
“Mr. Elgran really didn’t need to come all this way…”
A wry smile tugged at the corners of Enten’s weathered mouth.
truthfully, Elgran and Lus had absolutely no reason to be here.
But the real reason they had come all the way out was mostly due to Elgran’s, “I was bored,” excuse.
It wasn’t as if anything exciting was happening here either; the only plausible reason for his presence was probably because Haimar was here too.
From Enten’s perspective, it was nothing but another headache added to the list.
Ben, sharing his pain, turned his gaze toward the building they were heading into.
The facility rented by the Foundation due to the Central branch’s small size was anything but modern.
For one, the building’s bright, vivid colors screamed opulence, and the prominent onion-shaped dome towering at its center gave it a distinct, almost foreign flair.
Inside, massive arched windows reminiscent of medieval architecture lined the walls, some intricately decorated with stained glass.
The real highlight of the building was undoubtedly the central hall where the event was being held.
A plush red carpet covered the floor, and the ceiling was adorned with an extravagant ten-tiered chandelier made of thousands of tightly arranged crystals.
Ben had been more than a little overwhelmed watching people individually check each incandescent bulb as they passed through.
“I’ll bring a few things, so you go in ahead, Mr. Ben.”
“All right. It’s the last room at the end of the left corridor.”
Despite being a modern construction, the place leaned heavily into medieval aesthetics.
As Ben opened the richly dark wooden door, warm air brushed against his face.
Haimar was seated on a single-person sofa right inside the entrance, reading a book.
Elgran, who hadn’t been there earlier, was now sprawled across a long couch like a lazy cat.
“I’m back.”
“You are?”
“Took your sweet time. I nearly died of boredom with my mouth zipped shut.”
No doubt the reason Elgran’s mouth had been “zipped” was because Haimar had told him to be quiet—regardless of Elgran’s own wishes.
As Ben took a seat on an empty sofa, Enten soon entered with a steaming kettle and some documents bundled in his arms.
“This here’s yujacha my wife made. You should give it a try.”
As he poured the citron tea into cups, Enten proudly emphasized the “wife” part.
Haimar said nothing, simply eyeing the tea on the table, while Elgran, unimpressed and grumbling for something sweeter, accepted his cup with little enthusiasm.
Ben, however, was glad to finally wrap his hands around something hot, and brought the teacup to his lips with a grateful heart.
“It’s delicious.”
The tangy scent of yuzu teased his tongue, spreading gently across his palate.
The heat traveled down his throat and seemed to thaw his frozen body.
Enten’s face lit up as he rubbed his thick beard.
“Kyaaah, I knew it’d be good. Drink up, there’s more where that came fro—”
“Let’s keep it to business, shall we?”
Thud.
Haimar closed his book with a detached flick and gave the steaming cup a fleeting glance, slicing off Enten’s wife-talk mid-sentence.
A look of mixed embarrassment and regret flickered behind his glasses, but Enten quickly adjusted them and transitioned smoothly into a calmer tone.
“Right, of course. You remember the status check we did last week, and how the control device authentication code was updated based on the results? We sent the report to [Integra], and in response, they brought up the topic of release procedures.”
Over the past few weeks, Ben and Haimar had been quite busy.
The status check the Director had been so concerned about had been conducted—and surprisingly, the results had been very favorable.
While more stable than before, Haimar’s state was still precarious compared to other Espers, so they needed to continue monitoring.
Still, these were the best numbers Haimar had ever received in his life, and there was no denying it was a remarkable improvement.
After a few days of observation, the procedure to update the control device’s release authentication code was initiated.
Back when Haimar had no guide, he had to follow [Integra]’s complicated and tedious process to change or release his control device.
But now that Ben had proven himself to be a proper guide, the authority for releasing the device had officially transferred to him.
A chip containing Ben’s information was registered to the control device, and depending on Haimar’s condition, it was configured to release in response to Ben’s biometric signals.
If Ben touched the device, it would cross-reference his voice, pulse, and fingerprint with registered data—then release.
In short, Ben Plaskun now held Haimar Eilec’s leash.
Literally.
Realizing this, Ben couldn’t count how many times he had sighed internally.
When he’d just become Haimar’s guide, he’d only thought about their immediate relationship—not all the protocols that came with it.
It struck him now how much effort Haimar had put into honoring their agreement, and the fact that Ben was his guide no longer felt abstract. It carried weight now.
“So what? Are you suddenly too scared to go through with it now? Don’t tell me you’re chickening out.”
“Ha, nothing like that. We’re talking about the mighty [Integra], after all…”
“Please, go ahead.”
Ben set down his now-empty cup as Enten spoke.
He’d liked the tea so much he was about to ask for another, but somehow, Haimar had sensed it and silently pushed his own cup toward him.
Ben gratefully accepted without protest, but despite the gesture, he couldn’t help noticing that Haimar seemed utterly uninterested in a conversation that clearly involved him.
A hint of worry flickered across Ben’s face.
“They’re considering whether it might be okay to unlock one of the three control devices. We’re waiting on the final approval.”
“And?”
Haimar, sprawled on the couch like this was someone else’s business, reluctantly asked the question, and Ben shot him a glare in response.
“Could you please take this seriously?”
“You’re going on about something I already know.”
Though it clearly wasn’t sinking in, Ben chewed on a piece of floating citron peel and calmly slipped a few words of nagging into Haimar’s ear.
Enten kept glancing their way, likely worried Haimar might get irritated, but Ben didn’t have a choice.
If he didn’t say it, no one else would.
“In short, because of procedural issues, it’ll take a while before final approval.”
“Tch. Still playing dirty, just like in the old days. Even though having a guide should be enough for removal, they insist on clinging to protocol. What a petty game to play.”
At Elgran’s subtle jab at his own organization, Enten awkwardly cleared his throat a couple of times and pretended not to hear.
As Elgran had said, normally, the presence of a guide would be enough to lift an Esper’s control device.
But there was an unspoken rule: official authorization had to come from the affiliated agency.
So technically it was a personal matter—yet not really.
Nothing explicitly stated it, but everyone acted as though it were written law.
Elgran had succinctly labeled it as Integra’s “bureaucratic stubbornness”—a harmony of old-timers obsessed with documents and procedures.
In other words, it also meant: “Don’t do anything risky without institutional approval.”
Especially since Haimar was a top-tier Esper.
Entrusting him entirely to a guide of unknown origin?
That would’ve made anyone uneasy.
Sure, it was the guide’s rightful authority—but they may have simply resented losing control over Haimar.
* * *
