Chapter 39: Ch 39: Want to Change Guides?

’Wait! Did I make a promise to Daniel or something? I don’t remember...but why else would Daniel expect me in his room...’

The look on Daniel’s face was clearly telling Noah to drop the topic. But it did not feel right to let it go, especially since Daniel had brought it up first.

’Should I ask-’

"Don’t look too deeply into my words to try and find a meaning. I was just asking because you have been injured, and I did not want you moving around alone."

Daniel quickly clarified the issue, making Noah nod. But he had a feeling Daniel had only told him half the reason behind his concern.

Maybe something else had happened that rattled him, but he was not telling Noah so as not to make him worry?

’It might be better to stay with Daniel for a while. It might help him relax.’

Noah nodded to himself, and after making this decision, he stuck by Daniel’s side.

Their teacher looked half-asleep when she came inside. She quickly took roll call before gesturing toward the track behind her.

"Start running there until I tell you to stop. You won’t like what happens if you start slowing down."

Despite the fact that the teacher looked ready to fall asleep, the others quickly started running along the path she had instructed them to.

Noah was easily able to keep up due to his training, but the other guides were starting to struggle. It was clear that they had never done much physical activity since they were considered ’precious.’

Daniel somehow found a way to keep up with Noah (but only because Noah slowed down to match his pace), but everyone else was done for.

Their teacher gave them an annoyed look before she sighed.

"You are all far too casual about being guides. You will all get killed out in the field at this rate. Sigh It seems like we will need to pick up the pace of your training. Noah, since you look fine, go and bring out the equipment from the back room."

Noah nodded as he stood up. He truly was fine, and he even got envious looks from the others.

He could hear them talking about how he was ’physically fit’ because that was all he had as a B-class guide.

But Noah ignored his classmates’ criticism and headed to the back room to drag the mattresses out for the drills.

...

The whole morning went by with drills. But because of their poor stamina and endurance, the second half had to be postponed until after classes.

Noah made his way back to the drill hall with his drained class, and the teacher declared something that made the guides protest loudly.

"We will begin with the guiding session now. You all will need to guide your espers in the most desperate situations, so think of this as your hands-on exercise."

The teachers looked unwilling to hear any complaints, and the espers looked like they had won the jackpot after hearing the news. But their happiness was a given since they were the only ones actually gaining something here.

"Tsk, are we some disposable batteries for these espers? The teachers are acting like we don’t have rights!"

"I heard from someone that the longer you stay here, the worse you are treated if you are a guide. I never believed those rumors...but I am starting to believe them now."

These kids were complaining about such simple things, and Noah wanted to tell them that this was not even the beginning of the nightmare they would face as guides here.

There was a reason the years were kept in separate sections of the academy and were not allowed to interact. It was because they were afraid the younger students would run away before they were broken in.

"You all can stop complaining now. You are simply going to guide your assigned esper, and that will be all."

Their teacher told them this, and Noah noticed the look of despair on Daniel’s face at the fact that he had to guide Alan.

Noah immediately patted Daniel’s back to make him feel better.

"Hey, I am sure it won’t be too bad! All you have to do is guide another esper at your level. On the other hand, I, a B-class guide, will have to guide an S-class esper."

Noah pointed out, and Daniel looked at him with a disgusted expression before he sighed and nodded.

"You are right. But that does not mean I don’t feel disgusted by the fact that I will have to guide Alan."

Unfortunately, there was no time to talk about it before the espers started to come inside one by one. Alan headed their way...was he heading toward Noah instead of Daniel?

Noah took a step back, and he noticed how Alan quickened his pace before stopping in front of him.

"I am here for my guiding session. I will be in your care!"

Alan gave a respectful bow to Noah, which surprised him...but no, that was not the important part. Why was Alan bowing and saying this to Noah when the one he was supposed to be with was Daniel?

Daniel looked just as startled, and Noah quickly looked around to try and catch Ethan’s gaze.

Ethan noticed Noah’s discomfort and quickly walked toward him before stepping behind Noah and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Excuse me, but do you need something from my partner? As far as I am concerned, your partner is standing right beside you."

That was true. Daniel was standing beside Alan, waiting for him to stop his nonsense and come with him. But Alan was a master at ignoring what he wanted to ignore.

"Ethan, how about we trade? You are an S-class esper, right? Somehow, I doubt Noah’s B-class guiding will make you feel better. So you can have Daniel, and I can have Noah. I take special treatment, so I don’t need much guidance anyway. We can both benefit this way."

Alan was pretending he made sense, but anyone could tell that he was not making much sense at the moment.

Unfortunately, he had a smile on his face that warned others not to question him.