Chapter 35

"Tell me when you've made up your mind."

Ash said. He seemed to already know what answer would come back. It felt like he was being played by his schemes. Nain looked at Ash, who was grinning in front of him, and opened his mouth.

"Can I curse at you?"

"Go ahead."

"You fucking bastard."

"...Is that all?"

Unfortunately, it didn't seem to have much impact on the man. That made Nain even angrier. He wanted to unleash all the profanity he knew on him, but thinking it would only make him more tired, he sighed and closed his mouth.

"Since you're the one who put me in here anyway, you can get me out too, right?"

"As much as you want."

"You're not even denying it?"

"I can't lie."

Since he was caught anyway, maybe he was going all out—Ash placed his hand on top of Nain's hand that was gripping his collar and grinned. Nain could only let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity.

"Watch your back, Ash. If someone suddenly hits you in the back of the head with a brick from behind, that'll be me."

At Nain's murderous warning, Ash muttered "How scary" with a face that looked anything but scared.

Sometimes sacrifices had to be made to achieve bigger goals. Nain consoled himself with that thought.

* * *

Several documents and a pen were placed in front of Nain. He was sitting across from Ash at a four-person table in the consultation room.

"Your matching rate is 8%?"

The consulting lawyer sitting between them said reluctantly. It was by no means a high number. Generally, Espers were known to be somewhat satisfied when their matching rate with Guides exceeded 50%. And the rate for being compatible enough to form a pair contract was 80% or higher.

In cases of matching rates below 50%, both the Guide and Esper would feel extreme discomfort, and in severe cases, even pain during the process.

'But only 8%? Crazy bastard...'

The lawyer glared at Ash as if looking at someone who had lost his mind, blinded by hasty love.

"No, the test was a week ago, so why hasn't word gotten around until now?"

Ash wasn't even glancing in his direction, propping his chin while looking at Nain. He smiled languidly like afternoon sunlight.

"Nain."

"What."

"You just heard, right? How much I cared to make sure the matching test results didn't leak out so I wouldn't burden you... No one knew."

"That wasn't caring, it was probably threats."

"Mm, depending on the person, they might feel that way."

"..."

"Anyway, I hope you acknowledge that I made an effort."

He grinned. Why didn't I know he was like this before? It seemed like Nain's image of Ash had changed somewhat. Nain looked at him and narrowed his eyes as if there was no hope.

"..."

The lawyer looked confused while watching Ash's reaction. Ash was giggling with an expression he'd never seen before, while the man who was supposedly a Guide had an indifferent face. The two exchanged whispered conversations that were incomprehensible.

Ash was a famous Esper in many ways. He had caused all sorts of accidents since he first entered the center. In his childhood, he was an even more hopeless troublemaker than now. He had once made all the sprinklers in the building where the indoor training ground was located burst at once, turning everywhere into a flood, and had also played the nasty prank of uprooting all the trees in the outdoor training ground.

Moreover, Ash lacked social skills and constantly got into fights with other Espers. Of course, it was the other sides who were one-sidedly beaten. So he had never thought favorably of Ash, who always acted alone.

His grade was high, but it was unsatisfactory that he still didn't form teams and remained on the outskirts. Properly speaking, an Esper should form a proper team and fulfill their duties in their assigned work.

There were also rumors that Ash had strong resistance to guiding. But when they forcibly assigned him a Guide, saying there were no Espers who lived without receiving guiding at the center, while someone looked away for a moment, he would knock out the Guide and run away, with sightings reported from distant resorts.

Though he didn't know why Ash had voluntarily taken the matching test he'd avoided for over ten years, the end of an 8% matching rate was definitely catastrophic. It seemed the bastard was still immature.

'How did that Guide end up hitting it off with such a guy?'

Birds of a feather? He didn't look like that though... The lawyer glanced at the two with curious eyes.

The relationships of people writing pair contracts were very diverse. Parents and children, close friends, siblings, simple business partners. And the most common case in this industry was romantic relationships.

In the former cases, they made contracts for more efficient living due to high matching rates, while in the latter case of romantic relationships, there were often cases where they came to write contracts with terrible matching rates just because they loved each other.

'What do these numbers matter! This isn't important. I love my darling 100%!'

'Kyaa, darling!'

Every time he heard such words, the lawyer wanted to argue, asking if they knew how many people like them had come. Let's see how long you last after making such a fuss.

The lawyer didn't do the wasteful work of trying to dissuade such people. Anyway, those who claimed eternal love and made a fuss couldn't last even a year before breaking up. And when they dissolved contracts, they fought really messily like dogs, throwing money around.

'Anyway, these young ones...'

He clicked his tongue inwardly.

But this was the first time in his life he'd seen shameless people come here with only an 8% matching rate. Though he didn't particularly want to add words, the lawyer wanted to dissuade them from proceeding with the contract since he could already see their end.

But likewise, if they were the type to listen when told not to, would they have crawled here on their own feet... As always, it was easier to just give up.

"Both of you, please read through the contract slowly and check if there are any items to modify or add."

Unlike Ash, who scribbled his name in the signature section without reading a single word and then acted distracted, Nain was carefully reading through every single character as if he didn't want to miss even one.

Unlike Ash, the Guide side seemed to be a species that could be reasoned with. It meant he seemed to have generally accepted common sense. If that was the case, perhaps... The lawyer secretly slipped a small note while avoiding Ash's eyes.

「Has there been any coercion by others involved in this contract? If so, please drop your pen on the floor as if by accident.」

"..."

Nain rolled his eyes and glanced at the lawyer. He was just maintaining a businesslike expression without even showing any emotion on his face.

Coercion... There had been some to a degree. But saying so wouldn't improve the situation and would only keep him here. The one whose weakness was being held was Nain, not Ash.

"You said earlier that the contract could be modified, right?"

Nain asked. At those words, the lawyer quickly turned his head to gauge Ash's reaction.

Look at this. Ash's lips curled up subtly as he noticed that the two had exchanged some sign behind his back.

"Nothing goes by easily. Nain, what's this about?"

It was a voice full of displeasure. But having realized over a considerable period that Ash wasn't as terrifying a person as his reputation suggested, Nain didn't even show a flicker in his expression.

Honestly speaking, Nain found Ash a bit easy to deal with.

"..."

"..."

The two stared at each other intently for a while, engaged in a battle of wills. Only the consulting lawyer felt awkward about the long silence.

"If, if both of you agree... Yes. It can be modified."

The lawyer answered hesitantly. Nain pointed to one part of the text printed on the paper and said.

"About this contact guiding clause here. Can this part be modified too?"

"What? Yes. In what way..."

"By deleting it entirely."

"...What?"

At Nain's words, not only the lawyer but even Ash blinked with an expression that said 'What did I just hear?'

"Nain?"

"What."

Ash immediately went into expression management as if asking when he had been shaken and asked in a gentle tone.

"I thought you would have understood what I said properly..."

At the same time, the chair the lawyer was sitting in was pushed away. W-wait! the lawyer shouted. Ash pushed him along with his chair beyond the door and locked it. His ability to control space was convenient. All these actions were possible without lifting a finger.

"What is this? Open, please open it..."

The sound of the lawyer, who had been kicked out like luggage, panicking and knocking on the door from outside could be heard, but Ash didn't even pretend to listen. He brought up the main point in the space where only he and Nain remained.

"Nain, there's a big difference between having something in the contract but not necessarily doing it, and completely deleting that clause entirely."

"I know."

"Especially if you exclude the contact guiding part, this contract itself becomes meaningless."

"Oh, that sounds good."

When Nain childishly retorted, Ash, realizing he had done it on purpose, hesitated. He put down the contract and shifted his gaze to Nain, speaking quietly.

"...If you have something to say, say it to me. Don't protest like that."

"Well. You should have given me time to protest."

Since there was hardly any free will involved in being dragged from the police station to here, there had been no time to discuss things. They had to create time to share opinions somehow.