Chapter 50

"You don't need permission from me; if you want to hold hands, you can just hold them."

He whispered jokingly and lightly shook the hand that was gripping him. Those words helped ease the tension a little. Nain took a deep breath, exhaled deeply, and shook his head vigorously.

Grabbing Ash wasn't for the reason he was thinking. Nain dragged Ash into a narrow alley where people's gazes couldn't reach them, while simultaneously taking out a magical tool from his pocket.

"What are you trying to do to me in such a secluded place?"

Ash couldn't help himself and started spouting nonsense again, but Nain had no intention of engaging in meaningless chatter with him. Instead, he opened Ash's palm and placed a ring on it. Ash, who had momentarily lost his words, thought for a moment before asking.

"Isn't a proposal a bit early?"

The nonsense was increasing. It was truly a sigh-inducing remark.

"That's not what I mean, so just try putting it on."

"None of them fit..."

Ash grumbled while repeatedly putting the ring on and taking it off his fingers. The ring that fit comfortably on Nain's index finger was so small it barely fit Ash's left pinky. Unfortunately, that artifact didn't have magic to adjust the ring size to fit the owner's finger.

When the two emerged from the alley together, people who had been aggressively pushing cameras forward just passed by Ash. Those who looked up at him with puzzled faces soon shook their heads and turned away. The crowd dispersed. Ash looked back at Nain, noticing the sudden change in people's attitudes. Nain said proudly.

"How is it? Useful, right?"

"..."

It was an artifact that made one's presence fade when worn. People would recognize Ash less while he wore the artifact. Ash, who had been staring at his hand intently, spread out his ring-wearing hand to check once more. He seemed to like it much more than expected. It would be embarrassing to ask for it back later.

Thanks to the special artifact, the two could freely walk through the crowded streets. The daytime streets were quite unfamiliar to Nain too. He could only go out late in the evening after finishing work. The scenery at night and the daytime streets were very different. Much more vibrant with more people.

But Nain looked relatively calm compared to Ash, who was looking around here and there with an even more excited face.

Ash dragged Nain to an electronics store and let him browse inside. However, since both Nain and Ash were novices in this area, they quickly finished shopping by simply getting recommendations for the most recently released models.

"Take it."

Had he heard somewhere that he needed to get a means of communication? Nain readily accepted the phone Ash offered without declining. Then he bowed his head to express his thanks. Though he had never asked him to buy it, being grateful was still being grateful. The clerk, who looked at the signature scrawled on the contract and then alternated between looking at Nain and Ash, frowned and tilted his head.

"Is it that amazing?"

Ash asked with a smile, seeing Nain unable to take his eyes off the phone. It was natural. There was someone who particularly came to mind.

'I'll have to take it home later and show it to Uncle too.'

Unlike artifacts that operated with magic power, electronic products like this were closer to engineering. Nain thought his uncle might light up for a moment if he saw this sight. He had been a mage and engineer who researched magical engineering before losing his magic power. He remembered that magical engineering was a field that had emerged less than ten years ago, and his uncle had been excited that there was much to pioneer. There was something he had told Nain to the point of boredom.

'In ten years, magic will no longer be the exclusive domain of mages, Nain.'

His goal was to combine magic with engineering and spread magic more widely in daily life so it would no longer be unfamiliar to anyone. How great must the sense of loss be for such a passionate uncle to have magic power rampage take away the academic field that was like his life.

'It's about time to find clues for magic circuit research too...'

By the way, the luminescent mushroom enzyme he had ordered before had no effect. Did they say enzymes combined with oxygen produce light? It seemed the recovery potion's nature of trying to return to its original state interfered with the process of enzymes combining with oxygen.

Based on another failure, Nain concluded that biological catalysts probably wouldn't work. The material-finding journey had returned to zero again. In his complicated mood, Nain just let out a deep sigh.

Click.

While he was deep in serious thought about his concerns, he heard a camera shutter sound in front of him. When Nain looked up, Ash, who had been taking a photo with his newly bought phone, grinned.

"To save your contact."

"..."

Nain thought that maybe facial photos were needed when saving contacts. Since he had taken a photo of his own face with the other phone, there was no time to think it strange. Ash alternated between fiddling with the two phones before first handing the silver phone to Nain.

Buzzzz. The phone in his palm vibrated long. Ash was calling him. The phone screen filled with Ash's face making an annoying expression while slightly smiling, and the name "Ash❤" filled the top center.

Without any change in expression, Nain hung up the phone and found the only name in his contacts to delete the red heart. Ash clearly saw this but didn't say anything particular. However, for some reason, even though he repeated this five or six times that day, the red heart kept appearing after his name like a ghost story about objects finding their way home.

The sun was beginning to set. Ash, sitting on the terrace of a busy restaurant, looked happy. He said this was the first time he had freely wandered outside like this without being conscious of people's gazes.

That was certainly true. Even in that brief moment, he had felt breathless, so Nain felt somewhat respectful toward Ash, who had lived receiving such gazes his whole life.

Buzzzz. Ding.

Nain looked at his phone vibrating briefly several times before looking up. Ash was sitting right across from him. It wouldn't be a situation where his voice suddenly wouldn't work...

[Ash]

>(Emoticon)

On the screen, a strange chicken-head character was bowing ninety degrees and repeatedly saying thank you. Something that could be said with words, yet he deliberately sent it by message...

[Ash]

>What do you want to eat?

"Um, I can only read but I don't know how to write. Why do you keep sending messages when you're right in front of me?"

"I wanted to try it once."

"You haven't done it before?"

"As someone said, I don't have friends to do this kind of thing with."

Even with Nain beside him, he deliberately called to wastefully spend money on call charges and fiddled with his first phone for a long time. His excitement was evident. How pitiful. Nain slightly frowned thinking of the Espers who wouldn't even bother to interact with Ash.

'No, honestly, their personalities are just as strange as Ash's... Would it hurt to just play together among strange kids?'

Meanwhile, Ash seemed to want to receive some reply. How pitiful. Seeing him keep glancing at him, it seemed like he should do something out of pity.

Nain casually looked at the screen and fiddled with the device, then saw a window with various pictures lined up. Among them, Nain found food pictures gathered together, randomly selected one, and pressed the send button firmly.

Ash brightened up and immediately sent a reply.

[Ash]

>Got it

Actually, Nain didn't care what he ordered, but Ash looked at the menu enthusiastically with shining eyes and ordered grilled chicken legs that looked exactly like the picture.

"But is it okay to be out when it's not even a day off?"

"Since we're resting, it's a day off."

"..."

He was confident. He was confidently saying he was just skipping work. Nain was left speechless.

"Later you'll be busy without time to breathe even if you don't want to. When you get gate assignments, that's when it's real hell. You have to enjoy a lot during the off-season when you're not busy."

"Don't other Espers have anything to do like this?"

"I don't know."

"...Then who would know?"

At the disbelieving look, Ash tilted his head.

"Training schedules are set by yourself. If you don't want to, it doesn't matter if you don't do it at all."

"Not do it at all?"

"It doesn't matter as long as you don't make mistakes in actual combat, right?"

"What's actual combat?"

"I'm talking about gate operations. I'm a gate deployment agent."

Ah, right. That's right. He had forgotten for a moment. Despite being an Esper worth an enormous amount, the Ash that Nain knew always seemed leisurely.

"What happens if you make mistakes in actual combat?"

"You die."

He was saying something terrifying so matter-of-factly.

"That's why you do training. Even then, one mistake in actual combat and it's over."

"Then you should do some too."

"I'm still alive, aren't I? So you can sense what a capable Esper I am?"

What kind of logic was this? Nain looked at Ash reluctantly. If that was true, then there shouldn't be patients who feigned illness to avoid training. What about those people then? As if reading Nain's thoughts, Ash added a remark.