Does Spring Come Even for a Dying Esper

“Major, all preparations for boarding are complete.”

“Hm? Ah… good work.”

Iberis, who had been lost in a rare moment of tranquility, snapped back to reality at the sound of Brenda’s voice from behind. Seeing her approach, he tried to subtly pull his hand away from Lucas’s grip. However, he was quickly stopped by a firm squeeze.

“Um, about the hand…”

“What about the earplugs? Don’t we need to wear them yet? I can hear the singing from here.”

Lucas, pretending not to hear Iberis’s flustered words, asked Brenda if she had taken care of the earplugs.

“Ah, we plan to put on the earplugs after boarding the ship. It would be difficult to communicate if we wore them now.”

“I see.”

The earplugs designed to block monster sound wave attacks had the disadvantage of blocking all sounds, including people’s voices. This made it difficult for team members to communicate during operations.

To compensate, they used hand signals, but effective communication was still challenging in large battlefields like the sea. That’s why the roles of the commander, who periodically checked the situation and gave orders, and the communications officer, who relayed commands appropriately to team members, were crucial.

“We only had brief training yesterday, I wonder if it’ll be enough…”

Brenda, who was in charge of command for this operation, looked at the unit members with a worried expression. The N Zone rarely encountered sound wave attack monsters like Sirens, so they lacked relevant experience.

After Iberis accepted the support request three days ago, they hurriedly conducted hand signal training, but due to time constraints, they only practiced for a day, which was concerning in many ways.

“Don’t worry too much. We’re just playing a supporting role anyway. If anyone gets separated or strays from formation, they just need to find me or the other medical officers.”

Lucas gestured towards his clothes. Today, he was again wearing a specially made white coat over his combat uniform. The reason medical officers wore doctor’s coats on the battlefield was to make it easier for injured allies to spot them.

If they were facing human enemies, they wouldn’t wear such conspicuous attire, but when dealing with monsters, clothing didn’t matter much. After all, monsters attacked indiscriminately, whether their target was an esper, guide, or medical officer.

Moreover, despite its appearance, Lucas’s doctor’s coat was made of special material that could protect the body like regular combat uniforms, with anti-stab and bulletproof effects, as well as blocking monster mana and poison.

“Will you be alright without earplugs, Major?”

Lucas shifted his gaze to Iberis after encouraging Brenda.

“I’ll be fine. I can protect my ears with mana. What about you?”

“I’ll be fine too.”

Lucas answered while coating his ears with mana using his free hand. Sirens were troublesome mainly because of their unique sound wave attacks, but in terms of rank, they were C-class monsters. For S-class individuals like them, attacks from lower-grade monsters were nearly ineffective.

“Shall we head to the ship then?”

“Yes, but about the hand…”

“The battle hasn’t even started yet. Let’s keep holding hands a bit longer.”

Once again ignoring Iberis’s words lightly, Lucas pulled his hand and smoothly tucked it into his coat pocket. Then he naturally led Iberis towards the ship.

Do other people really do this too?

Iberis glanced around as he walked with Lucas. He did notice a few espers and guides who seemed quite close, chatting intimately or with arms around each other’s shoulders, but none were continuously holding hands like them.

Instead, he could feel three or four unit members glancing at them with curious eyes as they walked hand in hand. Feeling self-conscious about this, he fidgeted with his hand, but Lucas gripped it tighter as if telling him to stay still. He really seemed not to care about others’ gazes at all.

Finding this quite fascinating, Iberis looked at Lucas’s back with a peculiar gaze. Suddenly, he thought about how his quiet and monotonous daily life had become noisy and chaotic since Lucas appeared. Today was a perfect example.

After being demoted to the N Zone, Iberis had lived like a dead man for the past few years. Knowing that his actions could harm those around him, he chose not to step beyond his assigned role anymore.

He didn’t want to cause friction with anyone or unnecessarily draw attention, so he let all situations slide with a “let it be” attitude. That’s why even when someone like Major Norris tried to use him or someone like Alec picked fights with him, he tried his best to ignore them, thinking he just needed to endure for a moment.

But Lucas was different. He couldn’t easily overlook unfair situations and strongly countered attacks directed at him. Iberis couldn’t take his eyes off Lucas, finding his behavior both exhilarating and nerve-wracking.

Was it his innate personality to speak and act fearlessly even to superiors, or was he shrewdly using his position as a precious S-class guide backed by a Lieutenant General of the Defense Force?

Either way, Iberis couldn’t deny that he was increasingly being swayed by Lucas. The problem was that he didn’t dislike it as much as he thought he would. With a slightly furrowed brow, looking confused, Iberis boarded the ship under Lucas’s escort.

“Has everyone boarded?”

Renee approached Brenda after confirming that all N-0 unit members, including Iberis, had boarded the ship.

“As I mentioned earlier, the N-0 unit will fight on warship number 3. Major Hyun can move freely and subjugate monsters regardless of the operation… and the rest of you, please follow the tactics we’ve planned.”

“One moment, I’d like to confirm one thing. If an unexpected situation occurs, I can command based on my judgment, right?”

“Yes. In that case, we’ll leave it to Lieutenant Cali’s personal judgment. If any problems arise, please radio me immediately.”

“Understood.”

“Now, I request all unit members below B-rank to put on their earplugs.”

As soon as Renee finished speaking, the unit members started putting on their earplugs one by one. Since most of them were below B-rank except for a few like Iberis, Lucas, and Brenda, they wore awkward expressions after putting on the earplugs. It seemed strange not to hear any sound.

“Everyone, look this way.”

Brenda stood in front of the unit members wearing earplugs and tried out a few pre-practiced hand signals. Fortunately, everyone responded correctly to the signals.

“From now on, the role of those not wearing earplugs is crucial. Once the battle starts, it will be chaotic… Lieutenant, please make sure you don’t miss the signals from the operations officer and lead the unit members well.”

“Understood.”

“Then, we’ll depart!”

After earnestly instructing Brenda, Renee signaled to the pilot. The ship carrying the N-0 unit quickly rushed towards the mana barrier.

“How long are you going to hold on?”

Iberis leaned towards Lucas and whispered. He was still holding Lucas’s hand.

“Just until we arrive.”

Lucas slightly turned his body to shield Iberis from the splashing seawater. Perhaps because the ship was so fast, they arrived quickly. He only let go of Iberis after boarding the warship.

“Ugh…”

“That’s disgusting.”

“How many of those are there…”

The unit members grimaced at the sight of monsters clinging to the mana barrier. It was on such a massive scale that it was immediately understandable why there were concerns about a monster wave occurring.

“The center looks like it’s about to break! Inject more mana!”

“Everyone, stay focused!”

The mana barrier was literally a defensive wall made from the mana of espers and guides. This meant they had to continuously inject mana. Having maintained the mana barrier at maximum strength for ten days to prevent monsters from crossing over, the soldiers’ faces showed clear signs of fatigue.

Boom, booom…!

The swarming monsters were causing havoc trying to break the mana barrier blocking their way. Sirens were scratching the barrier with their sharp nails while singing, Sea Snakes were repeatedly ramming their huge bodies against it, and Little Krakens were either spewing poisonous ink or using their tentacles to climb the barrier.

“Fire!”

“Don’t let them cross over!”

Rat-tat-tat! The soldiers at the front opened fire in unison at the commander’s signal to prevent the monsters from crossing the barrier. Some espers floated in the air, using their abilities to knock off Little Krakens clinging to the wall.

“…What a mess.”

Iberis clicked his tongue after surveying the battle situation. Seeing the scene firsthand, he could understand why Muriel had requested his support. Currently, the S Zone units were barely managing to fend off the monsters’ attacks. They weren’t being overwhelmed, but they weren’t dominating either.

It was unreasonable to try to subjugate the Kraken in this tense situation. That’s why Muriel had chosen Iberis as the card to turn the tide.

“Where’s the Kraken?”

“It’s been quiet since appearing once two days ago. Maybe it’s tired from fighting us several times… It seems to be resting to recover its strength.”

“Then how do we subjugate it?”

“It will naturally appear if we wait, but… we don’t have that luxury, so we’re planning to actively lure it out.”

“Lure it?”

“Yes. Krakens are sensitive to the hormones of their own kind. After Major Roman clears the monsters around the barrier, warship number 1 will pour out a hormone solution extracted from Little Krakens. When the Kraken takes the bait and surfaces, you can use your ability to restrict its movements, Major. It might be uncomfortable to carry out the operation with Major Roman, but…”

Renee trailed off, remembering the earlier commotion. At that moment, Muriel and Alec boarded the warship. Alec, appearing with a gloomy expression as if he had been thoroughly scolded by Muriel, spotted Iberis and Lucas and immediately contorted his face.