RAVEN Ch 6

The Espers who had been full of anticipation turned away in disappointment, and the higher-ups in the military were at their wit’s end.

The S-class Guide, who had instantly become a problem child, eventually drifted all the way out to the 13th District, far from Central. And here, he displayed an astonishing matching rate of 98.7% with A-class Esper Renault.

It was an incident no one had expected, nothing short of a miracle. That was how Megan had described it. Even rounding up to 99%, such a matching rate was unheard of, the kind of figure that would inevitably make the news.

But Renault himself still couldn’t believe the number written on the result sheet. It was certainly a miraculous rate, the kind of number every Esper and Guide dreamed of, but he felt no joy. That insane matching rate, as if this Guide had been made solely for him, only aroused suspicion.

Even so, there was nothing he could do. Unless an S-class Esper appeared who could reach even 60% compatibility with the brat, the record showing Raven never exceeded 10% with anyone else made the idea impossible nonsense.

His head throbbed. He didn’t want to think anymore, so he rolled onto his side and closed his eyes.

If only the brat who was coming as his exclusive Guide didn’t cause trouble, if only he didn’t shake up Renault’s peaceful, lake-like life.

That was the only thing Renault wished for.

***

6:11 a.m. Renault rose, pressing a throbbing hand to his temple.

“Damn it.”

Maybe it was because he had too many thoughts about his first-ever personal Guide. He’d had a restless, foul dream for the first time in ages, a dream that dragged him back into the past he wanted to forget but that refused to fade, tormenting him still. It was fucking miserable.

Ruffling his already tousled hair into even more of a mess, Renault climbed out of bed and headed straight for the shower, dousing himself in cold water. He needed to cool the heat coursing through his head and body. The stiffness standing proudly at his center drew another sigh from him.

He could insist it was just a natural morning reaction, but Renault knew there was another reason. The damn dream.

By the time he’d roughly toweled off his wet body and stepped back into the room, the clock on his desk began to blare an alert.

“Ah, damn it. What now?”

He muttered the same words he’d said upon waking, raking his damp hair back. A shitty dream followed by a summons the moment he woke up, figures. Exhaling deeply, Renault reluctantly got dressed.

***

Every member of Team 2 who had been called out early in the morning looked as though they were chewing on shit. They were full of complaints, why their team, of all teams, had to go.

Team 5 was lounging around doing nothing, Team 3 was supposedly just drinking all day, and yet Team 2 had been summoned. And out of their ten members, only four, including Team Leader Renault, had been selected for this dispatch. Since the site wasn’t even within Earth’s zone but on the outskirts, it was understandable that the three who’d been chosen felt wronged.

Lately, the 13th District had been quiet. Dungeon activity and monster appearances within their area of responsibility had lessened, and incidents and accidents had decreased as well. Even requests for support from neighboring districts were rare.

It had been an unusually peaceful stretch of days, so it had been a long time since they’d been sent outside Earth. The situation room always dispatched teams according to the scale of incidents, rotating duties among them.

“Other teams are busy with their own assignments, so quit griping. Just focus on finishing up fast and heading back.”

Renault snapped his fingers as he spoke. Only then did the team members start talking about what they’d eat for lunch once they got back. It was only 10 a.m.

Shaking his head, Renault glanced around. The outer region of Earth, which he hadn’t visited in ages, looked even more desolate than the last time.

Once, it had apparently been a fairly large town, rows of two- and three-story buildings still lined the streets. But now, with desertification worsening, both buildings and streets were buried in yellow sand, half-collapsed, making it clear no one lived here anymore.

Though it was still morning, the sun was already scorching. Renault put on his sunglasses and pulled his bandana up over his nose. Breathing in sand and dust would do no one any good.

“Team leader, no biological response detected within a one-mile radius,” said Hena, checking her handheld device. She too wore a mask tightly covering her nose and mouth.

“Kevin, are you sure you brought us to the right spot?”

“Don’t start on me. I just came according to the coordinates the situation room sent.”

Chris, one of the team members, sniped at Kevin, the transporter Esper from the support team. The two were actually pretty close despite the bickering.

“I’ve double-checked the coordinates too, so cut the chatter.”

Renault tapped his gloved fingers together to draw their attention.

“You’ve all reviewed the intel you got in advance, right? To repeat: we’re here to take down a B-class monster roaming the outer zone. It’s insect-type, similar in form to a mantis. Simple enough, yeah? A B-class bug. That’s why only the three of you were called up, so stop whining.”

“Ugh, I hate bugs,” Hena shuddered, her shoulders trembling as she read through the briefing displayed on her wristwatch screen.

Despite her petite build and cute face, Hena was a powerhouse combat Esper, one punch from her could bring down a building. Watching someone like her shrink back at the mention of bugs left Renault speechless.

“But why is a Guide coming with us instead of a healing-type Esper? We’re not even inside Earth’s zone, this is the outer region,” asked Chris, the team’s nineteen-year-old rookie. He was loud and scatterbrained, but a good kid at heart.

“I was wondering the same thing. What’s with that Guide?” said Josh, standing beside Chris. The opposite of him, quiet and stoic, but apparently curious enough about the unexpected companion to speak up.

The Team 2 members dispatched here were four combat Espers: Team Leader Renault, Hena, Josh, and Chris. The choice of who joined each mission was the team leader’s prerogative, based on intel from HQ. Transport and healing Espers were usually attached from the support unit for each operation.

This particular assignment was nothing, a simple job to take out a single B-class monster wandering the outskirts, so no healer had even been attached. That alone said how insignificant the target was. And it really was.

What was unusual was that, along with the five Espers, a Guide had joined them. Standing at the very back, tall enough for his head to stick out above the rest, dressed in a black turtleneck pulled up over his nose so that only his icy blue eyes were visible, the brat, Raven.

“…I’d like to know that myself,” Renault murmured under his breath. He was probably the one most curious why Raven had come along. After the chaos that had unfolded at the pub yesterday, seeing him casually tagging along early this morning without any sign of punishment had nearly made Renault faint.

Even if Raven had been assigned as Renault’s exclusive Guide, there was no reason for him to tag along on a field mission, especially for something as trivial as a B-class extermination. Only four team members had been chosen, the presence of a Guide was baffling.

Besides, Raven was useless to any Esper other than Renault, a Guide whose stats and looks were impressive but who might as well have been a scarecrow.

Although, considering how he’d beaten that Esper to a pulp yesterday, “scarecrow” might not be the right word anymore. Still, this wasn’t the center, it was the field, and out here he was more likely to be a hindrance than a help.

“Maybe he just wanted a field trip? Curious what the outer regions look like?” Chris sneered without turning around. He must have heard about the pub incident and was treading lightly, even though he was a fast-moving combat Esper. An Esper being cautious around a Guide, what a world.

“Field trip? I used to live in the outer region. Why would I be curious?”

Raven, who had been idly scanning the bleak surroundings as if sightseeing, spoke casually. His words made every Esper present, Renault included, turn to look at him.

Their expressions were blank with surprise. No one had imagined that a precious S-class Guide could possibly have come from the outer zones.

“You lived in the outer region?”

Renault’s eyes narrowed as he stared at Raven. He didn’t seem to be lying, but it was still hard to believe. As they could see even now, the outer regions were no place fit for human life.

Raven met Renault’s gaze squarely and asked, “So what?”

“Which district?”

“Central.”

With that curt reply, the Espers’ expressions chilled even further.