Chapter 25

"Others arbitrarily call it teleportation or whatever, but spatial transfer is more accurate. There probably isn't an Esper who can reach a newly formed gate faster than me."

Nain was convinced by those words. The first reason sounded reasonable. Seeing Nain nod, Ash held up another finger.

"Second is hazard pay. Originally, the center pays this to agents who enter gates, but corridor-type gates aren't covered, so it doesn't apply."

"Because it's... dangerous?"

"Yes. Life insurance also makes exceptions for corridor-type gates... Actually, except for me, everyone else went missing or died inside, so it's only natural. So not only hazard pay, but no regular compensation comes out either."

Nain thought about his words in reverse. If what he was saying now wasn't a lie, then he had already once risked his life to save Nain without any compensation.

But if he couldn't make money from this, why on earth did he keep going in and out of that gate? He didn't seem like the type to do volunteer work...

"And the last one, let's just say it's for completeness. You know, in fairy tales, wishes always come in sets of three."

It was nonsense. What fairy tales? Nain decided to pretend he hadn't heard the last part. And he assigned his own reason.

'Let's consider the third one as payment for saving my life.'

That seemed better. After assigning a reason, his mind felt much more at ease. Nain let out a big breath and asked Ash.

"But do you have three whole things you want from me? I don't have much right now."

"You can fulfill them well enough."

Ash said as if he had been waiting.

"First, you need to register as a Guide."

"...?"

Nain couldn't help but be surprised. To Nain, who had avoided that very thing using every excuse possible, it sounded like a bolt from the blue.

If the HR team people had heard Ash's words, they might have jumped for joy. And they would have rattled off all the reasons why Nain needed to become a Guide. Nain unconsciously frowned.

"Suddenly a Guide... You might not know, but I'm..."

"F-grade?"

"...You know well."

Nain gently explained his situation.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not a Guide or anything like that, and even if I were, I'm not really interested. The results probably came out wrong."

The test results said 'multi,' but whether on the Esper side or Guide side, nothing worked properly. Even when Nain showed a troubled expression, Ash just looked down at him with a meaningful gaze without moving.

"...But why do I need to register as a Guide? What does this have to do with this matter?"

Wondering if this man had also been instructed by the HR team, Nain looked at him with suspicious eyes. Ash chuckled briefly and said meaningfully.

"There are times when you need to leave records."

Records or whatever, Nain's mind was gradually leaning toward the negative side. He didn't know about other things, but telling him to act like a Guide...

"Can't I just give you money instead?"

At Nain's muttering, Ash looked surprised and asked back.

"Do you have a lot of money? You say that so casually... How much can you give?"

"..."

Nain shut his mouth. Right, that was correct. Far from having a lot of money, he was practically penniless. Ash, who wasn't unaware of his situation, also smiled quietly.

"You have to pay for your meals while you're here."

"I'm already doing that."

"I mean real work. Not this kind of thing."

Nain was silent for a moment, then felt it was better to speak up about this.

"Esper-nim, I'm sorry, but belittling other people's work doesn't look good."

"I didn't belittle it. I was saying that you could do other productive work besides this."

"..."

Honestly, his first thought was what business was it of his what job he did. Nain thought he needed to speak more directly.

"You're not that passionate about center work either from what I heard. Aren't you not in a position to worry about other people's business?"

At the slightly sarcastic words, Ash chuckled lightly. It was a refreshing laugh that seemed to make the air faintly ring. He looked at Nain and said.

"Ah, I got caught. Nain, why do you pick up so much from here and there?"

"I hear it even when I'm just staying still."

"It's all misunderstandings."

Were they really misunderstandings? Even when just staying still, he quite often heard that Ash was a troublemaker. Even if the rumors were exaggerated, there was a high possibility that the talk about Ash being somewhat irresponsible in work matters was true. Unless you were deaf, at least no one in the center wouldn't know that.

But whether it was inflated rumors or clear facts... Nain didn't particularly care.

Nain was grateful to Ash for saving his life. But he couldn't rashly decide on something like this for that reason alone, so it was natural for him to show a defensive stance.

"Let me hear the conditions first. One is Guide registration. What are the other two?"

"The other one I can only tell you after you become a Guide. The last one is..."

The atmosphere that had been gentle until just before disappeared in an instant. It was momentary, but he definitely felt it. However, as if asking when he had hardened his expression, he covered it with a brightly smiling face.

"Don't run away."

"..."

At the out-of-nowhere words, Nain frowned slightly. He had never once tried to run away. Where would he go even if he tried to run away?

'But why is he saying this to me?'

Nain's eyes narrowed. He couldn't gauge at all the intention or context behind why the man would say such things to him when they'd just met.

"It's not that big a deal, right? You just need to stay where I can see you. It shouldn't be difficult."

"..."

Was that really all? As he said, it wasn't difficult, but compared to the previous requests, it was somewhat out of the blue, making him hesitate to readily agree. Seeing Nain lost in thought, Ash pretended to take a step back and said.

"Should I give you time to think?"

"...How long?"

"Would a week be enough?"

A week was more generous time than expected. He had been thinking of maybe a day or two at most. Ash quickly continued speaking to prevent Nain from having other thoughts.

"Time to verify whether what I said is a lie or real, and to calculate gains and losses. You need that, don't you? A week should be plenty of time to think about it."

That was certainly true. Everything Ash had just said could all be lies. As he said, a week seemed like more than enough time to calculate and reconsider. Not only for solitary reflection, but he could also ask other Espers whether Ash was the only one who could help him.

"Nain."

"...Fine. I'll think about it carefully for a week."

I'll also properly look into what I need to look into.

"Do I have to desperately think only about me during that time?"

The end of Ash's words rose cutely. When the handsome man tilted his head with his chin propped up, it almost looked like he was openly flirting. But it was probably his imagination. There was absolutely no reason for Ash to be hitting on him. At Nain's rather reluctant reaction, he burst into cheerful laughter.

"I hope for a positive answer, Nain."

"I'll think about it..."

"Yes. Think about me."

Ash said they should get along well from now on, took out five gold coins, and left. Nain was somewhat flustered seeing the gold coins.

Although Ash was a bit bothersome, he was the person who had saved his life. His face was also quite to his taste, so even if Ash hadn't given him such things, he could have been friends with him. He had tried to tell him that friendship wasn't something you bought with money, but Ash disappeared faster.

"..."

Still, since he had received them, wouldn't it be improper to return them?

'Maybe this much isn't even money to him? He must be rich...'

Rich friends were very good things. It seemed like he'd done well to become friendly. He wanted to get even closer to Ash from now on.

Nain gathered up the scattered gold coins and stacked them neatly like a tower. The golden coins sparkled particularly brightly. He knew Espers made good money, but still, gold coins...

'Is gold common here?'

This was the first time he'd seen gold coins being used instead of paper bills in this world. But they were particularly golden and too shiny. Was this really real...

"..."

It was peeling off. As he fiddled with them, the shell separated from the contents and even gave off a sweet smell. They were five round coin-shaped chocolates wrapped in gold foil. He felt tremendously betrayed. He felt like he'd been fooled.

He only realized his fountain pen had disappeared in the late afternoon. Even after looking around for a long time and searching through documents, he couldn't find it. Ash had definitely taken it. No wonder he'd been fiddling with it as if he coveted it from earlier!

"I treasured that."

Nain muttered in an incredulous voice. For snacks that would disappear completely when eaten, something too valuable had been stolen in exchange.