The Espers Who Regretted Losing Me Chapter 95

A sharp, choking breath burst out of the crocodile-like monster’s throat.

It was hard to read its expression, but I could clearly tell it was in terrible pain.

So it really is a monster.

From behind it looked almost identical to a crocodile, but from the front it was far more terrifying than a real one.

It had three eyes, and green foam was spilling out of its mouth.
It also had six legs instead of four.

Because of that, I pushed the baton in even harder.

“Grrrk… krrr…!”

With a strange growl, its tail swung toward me, but it was slow.

I lightly jumped to avoid it and even twisted the baton again.

Monsters with hard outer shells often rely too much on their durability.

Because of that, they are usually weak to pain.

“Grrk… ghaa… gghhh…!”

Its groans were becoming harder and harder to listen to.

While slowly stepping backward, the crocodile crept forward after me.

I was trying to create distance between it and the injured Espers.

This should be far enough.

After putting about three meters between us, I pulled out a grenade from my pocket and removed the safety pin with my thumb.

Then I waited for an opening and tossed it straight into the crocodile’s mouth.

Honestly, I wanted to throw the monster farther away, but even for me it was impossible to lift and throw something that big.

I quickly pulled the baton out and ran past the choking monster toward the Espers.

Just in case, I covered them with my body.

Three seconds. Two seconds. One second.

When the count ended—

Boom!

A loud explosion sounded behind me, and the ground shook.

The blast was louder than I expected, but the monster’s hide must have been tougher than I thought because no fragments flew toward us.

And since there were no monsters nearby, none came running over either.

“Haa…”

I finally let out a breath and relaxed a little.

I had used too much force, so my wrist and shoulder were throbbing.

But these people were definitely Espers…

So why couldn’t they even handle one monster like that?

Not knowing the situation, I kept my guard up while looking at them.

There were four Espers staring at me in shock.

Three were injured, and one was unharmed. Just as I felt from their aura, they were all strangers.

Since no one spoke, I spoke first.

“Um… hello?”

“…Huh. Wh-who… are you?”

Should I say I’m a Guide… or not?

While I was thinking about it, one of the people bitten by the crocodile groaned.

“Ah—just a moment. We should treat the injured people first.”

This wasn’t a safe place, and three of them were hurt.

Two of them especially had injured legs, so hiding somewhere would be difficult.

I shook the crocodile’s fluid off my baton and placed it back in the holster.

Then I sat down beside the injured people and took out the emergency kit from my bag.

“That’s—!”

The only unharmed Esper started to say something but stopped.

I wanted to ask why, but the injured people looked worse than I expected.

That strange foam in the monster’s mouth… it must have been poison.

Two had bite marks on their legs, and one had a bite mark on his arm.

The skin around the wounds was turning a frightening color.

Fortunately, the emergency kit didn’t just contain normal medicine. It also had treatments for monster attacks.

I took out detox pads and read the instructions written on the top.

No need to suck out the poison—just attach it directly…

Thankfully the instructions were simple.

The pads were the right size, so I placed one over each bite mark.

As expected from equipment issued directly by headquarters, the discoloration stopped the moment the pads touched their skin.

The dark color slowly began to fade.

I searched the kit again and took out painkillers.

“You can take these without water. Please swallow one each.”

“Th-thank… you.”

“Hngh…”

I watched the men swallow the medicine with trembling hands.

No matter how many times I checked, the energy I felt from them was clearly that of Espers.

But putting aside how weak they were…

their attitudes were far too gentle.

Of course, the Espers at headquarters had become a little softer toward me recently because of various things.

Even considering that, these people felt more like ordinary civilians.

“…Is there perhaps a safe place nearby?”

At my cautious question, the Esper standing next to me hesitated.

It made sense that he was wary. I had helped them, but I was still an outsider.

There were so many traps and barbed wires around here.

If he had immediately said “Follow me!”, I would have been suspicious instead.

So I decided to explain first.

“You might not believe me, but until a moment ago I was inside a gate clearing it. But when I came out… the world had turned like this…”

“…You came out of a gate? Then… what year did you come from?”

No matter how I thought about it, the world couldn’t change like this in just one hour.

That was why I said they might not believe me.

But hearing him suddenly ask what year I came from shocked me instead.

It sounded like this place existed in a different year.

Swallowing hard, I told him the year and date I had come from.

The man’s face darkened.

“…You must be an Esper who got caught in the Gate Rampage when it began. It’s natural that you don’t know what happened…”

He must have mistaken me for an Esper after seeing me kill the monster.

It wasn’t really necessary to say I was a Guide right now, so I stayed silent.

The man warned me not to be shocked, then told me the current year.

But I couldn’t help being shocked.

Because the year he mentioned was three years after the time I had entered Liar Fairy’s Forest.

My lips trembled so much I couldn’t speak.

After opening and closing my mouth for a while, I finally managed to say something.

“Could you… tell me what happened? Um… the Director… Director Jeong Sigyeom… and the others…”

“The Director is safe.”

Only then did it feel like I could breathe again.

Especially since everyone here had unfamiliar faces.

After taking several deep breaths, I asked again.

“May I meet the Director?”

“…Normally we can’t bring outsiders inside. But you used valuable medicine, and you don’t seem to be lying… Would you please follow me—no, actually… would you help us?”

Valuable medicine.

Of course. With headquarters in this condition, there was no way supplies were being delivered.

After closing my bag, I nodded to the slightly embarrassed Esper and stood up.

Thanks to the detox pads and painkillers, the injured people looked better than before.

However, one of them seemed worse than the others.

I offered to support him.

The Esper who had explained things to me wasn’t injured, but he looked so exhausted that he might collapse if he kept moving like this.

Leaning on me, the unknown Esper muttered weakly,

“Th-thank you… I’m sorry… thank you…”

“…It’s okay. Lean on me as much as you need.”

I hate Espers. Just thinking about them makes me uncomfortable.

But these people… they really didn’t feel like the Espers I knew.

Just as I was about to start walking, I suddenly remembered the dead crocodile.

“Oh, but can we just leave that monster there? It might attract other monsters.”

“It’s fine. A patrol unit will retrieve it when they return. …It might be hard for you to imagine, Esper, but monsters are also… food.”

“Yes, I know. Monsters are edible.”

“…Pardon? You’ve already eaten them?”

“A few times. Do we keep going straight?”

“Ah, there are traps on the ground too, and some of them aren’t visible. Please follow exactly where I step.”

I nodded.

Supporting the person leaning on me, I slowly began to walk forward.