This won’t do.

I thought I needed to step up my acting a bit more.

“Sob! Even though they’re the parents who sold me to the Center… hearing that they’ve passed away makes me so sad……”

“……”

“The shock is so great, I feel like… I want to take a few days off from Guide work.”

Did my acting… work?

I slightly raised my gaze to look at Lambert’s face.

Lambert maintained an expressionless face.

It seemed like even if you pricked his face with a needle, not a single drop of blood would come out.

……I’ve failed.

It seemed best to change the subject.

Instead of telling more pitiful stories to evoke sympathy, I looked down at my wristwatch that had just received an alert.

「Code One situation occurred!

A-rank monster appeared!

The location is Pandora Forest, Section B-7!

Espers and Guides who received this message, please deploy!」

Today, the situation didn’t seem too urgent, as the message came without a single typo.

“Even in the midst of sadness, it seems monsters have appeared. You received the alert too, right, Sir Lambert?”

Lambert looked down at the watch he was wearing and nodded.

“Are you going to deploy?”

“What about you?”

“Me… I wonder if I have to go?”

I wouldn’t be of much use anyway.

As soon as I honestly expressed my thoughts, Lambert’s brow twitched.

……I guess that wasn’t the right thing to say.

“Of course, I should go! If a knight of the Allen Order is going, I should follow!”

“It’s not the Allen Order deploying, it’s me personally.”

Isn’t that the same thing?

I said words that contradicted my true feelings.

“Yes, yes. That’s right. It’s you deploying, Sir Lambert.”

“Let’s go.”

Lambert looked ready to fly towards Pandora Forest.

“What about me? Am I walking again?”

“You……”

C-Could it be that Lambert was going to take me along for the first time?

I had a premature expectation.

It didn’t take long for that expectation to turn into disappointment.

Lambert kicked off the ground and leaped up from where he stood. Indeed, he looked like he was going to pierce the sky.

He flew up like a butterfly and disappeared from my sight in the blink of an eye.

Then, after about 2 seconds, I realized.

“I’ve been abandoned again.”

That’s just my fate, I guess.

But how long will it take me to get from here to Pandora Forest?

For an A-rank monster, it doesn’t seem like I’d be particularly needed.

If Lambert had deployed, it was clear that whatever A-rank monster it was, it would be brutally slaughtered.

I spoke to Bless, who was quietly hiding in my arms.

“Bless. I don’t need to go, right?”

Bless, my only ally in this world, replied.

―Coo, coo?

‘What if you get reprimanded for not going?’

―Cooooo!

‘Let’s at least pretend to go!’…… he says.

Bless’s answer was extremely realistic. Somehow, I felt like I should follow his advice.

I started walking with heavy steps.

***

Meanwhile, in the cemetery where Yerena and Lambert had disappeared.

In that place, devoid of people and exuding an inexplicable chill despite being daytime, someone’s figure appeared.

It was Benjamin, dressed in a pitch-black uniform.

Benjamin had arrived at the cemetery earlier than Lambert and Yerena and had immediately hidden behind a tree with a wide trunk when they appeared.

Benjamin, holding an old doll, moved his long legs and stopped in front of a certain gravestone.

Through his slightly parted lips, a voice filled with regret leaked out.

“Diana……”

The image of a healthy Diana from over a decade ago appeared before Benjamin’s eyes.

In his memory, she remained the image of a child who never grew up.

Diana, who was the same age as him, met her death at eleven.

And Benjamin manifested as an Esper at twelve.

Until his Esper abilities fully manifested, Benjamin’s emotions were very unstable.

He was the undisputed heir to the Vicente Duchy, and as such, he was expected to manifest the highest abilities… but Benjamin felt burdened by the attention and expectations people had for him.

The Vicente Duchy was a family that had produced strong Espers for generations.

So while he was certain that he too would manifest strong abilities… the thought of ‘what if’ made his childhood miserable.

What if he couldn’t become a strong Esper?

If that happened, wouldn’t he be ostracized from the family?

Benjamin constantly doubted himself, eating away at his own psyche. Until he met Diana.

Diana, whom he met by chance at a party, was born with poor health.

Despite this, she was bright and positive.

“Benjamin. You are already a person who shines just by existing.”

“Don’t be too afraid. Just because you become a strong Esper, it doesn’t necessarily mean happiness.”

“A life that looks glamorous on the outside can actually be unhappy.”

Diana’s kind words were salvation.

They were the only reason he could endure in a family that only valued ability.

But Diana, who had been like this, ended her life just before he manifested as an Esper.

“……I wanted to become a strong Esper and boast to you proudly.”

Because he manifested as a strong Esper, he wasn’t ostracized from the family.

Unintentionally, he became the strongest person in the empire.

Nevertheless, Benjamin wasn’t happy. Because he had lost Diana, who would have rejoiced with him.

Now, all that remained by his side was an old rabbit doll that Diana had cherished.

Benjamin held up the rabbit doll he was holding into the air.

“This doll you cherished. It’s really ugly, isn’t it? My Guide looks exactly like your doll… That’s why when I look at that Guide, I want to bully her.”

Especially when Yerena frowns and makes an ugly face, it makes him even more mischievous.

“Sometimes I even want to kill my ugly doll-like Guide.”

At this point, Benjamin’s eyes gleamed coldly.

“I don’t like the fact that only your doll exists in this world when you’re gone.”

Benjamin’s monologue continued.

“But the reason I can’t do that is……”

He finished speaking while tucking the rabbit doll under his arm.

“Even if I kill her, it won’t bring you back to life.”

But if she… no, if Yerena ends up in a situation where she’s about to be killed, that’s unavoidable.

“I wish you had lived and become my Guide instead. Then Yerena wouldn’t have earned my hatred.”

Right? Diana?

Benjamin’s words, like lamentations, dispersed into the air without reaching anywhere.

Benjamin turned his back. His destination was the gate where monsters had appeared.

***

By the time I arrived near the gate by hired carriage, the situation had already been resolved.

The Espers who participated in the battle were returning one by one, and the Center’s cleanup crew was disposing of the remains of the monsters that had met their end.

I looked at the monster that had been precisely cut into 10 pieces.

The name of the fox-type monster with nine tails was ‘Nine Tail’.

Although A-rank, it was quite tricky to deal with.

This was due to Nine Tail’s main ability, [Enchantment].

Those intoxicated by [Enchantment] would make amorous advances towards the target, regardless of gender. For example, with intense skinship.

But since Espers specialized in [Detoxification] would have also been deployed, there shouldn’t be any Espers consumed by enchantment.

No, there shouldn’t have been.

I looked around to see if any of the bastards from the Allen Order were around.

Of course, no one was in sight.

I don’t know who else deployed besides Lambert, but they must have returned to the Center after defeating Nine Tail.

“Damn… I missed it again.”

Just as I thought I should return to the Center.

Someone’s hot hand firmly gripped my shoulder.

“……!”

I turned around in surprise. Almost simultaneously, the hot hand cupped my cheek.

What I felt next was a softness touching my lips.

“……Mmph!”

It was a sudden kiss.

I stared in shock at the culprit who had brought their lips to mine.

Then I saw a slightly tilted face, long eyelashes, and blood splatter from Nine Tail on his cheek.

It was Lambert, who must have been in fierce battle until just moments ago.

A more persistent kiss than one for guiding continued.

I belatedly tried to push against his chest.

But pushing away someone with such a robust build was nearly impossible.

Instead, Lambert’s hand firmly gripped the back of my neck, preventing me from escaping any further.