After days of discussion, the government finally reached an agreement that they didn't want to admit. The towers couldn't vanish and a looming danger would soon approach.
They ordered all espers to stay vigilant and be prepared for dispatch anytime.
After these towers incident however, the gate's formation rate became extremely low. This left us, Team Zero, which was specialized for S and SS-Rank gates, to become more idle.
"There's really no S-Rank gates for today?"
"Yeah, I know S-Rank gate popped up at least once a day, but there's none these days. So just rest for now, you guys had worked hard on those towers-"
Harold stopped in his tracks when he spotted someone passing by his office. He rushed out the door and shouted, "Wait! Maribelle! Hand over the papers you are holding to Ethan here!"
Glancing between Harold and me, Maribelle approached us, "Ah- Yes sir!"
Harold took the papers from her hand, skimmed through it, and handed it to me, "It was supposed to be attempted by Maribelle's team but because of her teammates' injury in their previous raid, we are searching for team replacement. Your team is idle right? Raid this gate for us."
I took the papers and read it thoroughly. It was an A-Rank gate in District 3, and the environment it formed on was an empty field. With no reported civilian casualties, the raid would be easy for us.
"Alright, I'll report to Shelly and take this one."
Harold nodded and quickly shooed me away from his office. I gave him a scoff as we were forcibly chased out, slamming his office door shut on his face.
"Thank you for taking this job for us Mr. Dale. Ah right, now that I think about it, I haven't thanked you for that rupture incident too. You saved us all. I, as the representative of other espers present, thank you."
"The rupture? Ah, the octopus one. Not really, I'm just doing my duty, you and other espers did well in wiping out the mobs and safely evacuating civilians too, thank you Ms. Goldwin."
Maribelle grinned widely at my praise. She saluted me and quickly left the scene.
"If chances allow, I would love to be part of your raid team too Mr. Dale. Well then, Captain of Strike Team Thirteen, Maribelle Goldwin, signing out!"
Looking at her back, a sudden thought rose inside my head.
'You saved us all.'
Ilyas once said the same.
I became an esper not because of a noble intention of saving and protecting people. It was all because I was afraid of the plot.
Yes, I was afraid that if I lived as a normal civilian and made drastic changes, I would create a butterfly effect that would harm the comic – in extend, myself.
But in the end, the core fundamental was myself. The author still managed to find me because my previous life personality, which I applied in this world, had affected the world around me.
Even then, my principal in life would never allow me to act like a villain.
I went to Shelly's office to report the gate we would be raiding. This was actually her job as our manager to provide documents and schedule our raid, but with how often our team got into troublesome gates, Shelly was forced to take care of the aftermath. Whether it was reporting to the higher-ups or handling the civilians' complaints after they had been saved from the gate, just like now.
Shelly looked up at me with tired eyes, the black circle under her eyes made her look like a panda, "Do you know someone named Rio Woodchopper? That guy has been coming in and out of the bureau to report an assault between espers for months already, he even threatens a lawsuit."
"And his target is me?"
"Glad you picked up fast. I already chased him away, so you don't need to get involved. Haah... People these days. Why can't you just be grateful that you've been saved?"
I gave my condolences to Shelly, who had to deal with these kinds of things every day. But this was also the reason I volunteered to do things myself, she already had a lot of workloads managing world's only S-Rank team.
"You'll be taking this gate today? Not bad, I'll make the report, you guys enjoy yourselves in the gate."
"Haha, it's not exactly enjoying ourselves, work is still work you know?"
"Oh please Ethan, don't be so modest. How long have we been together now? I know how happy you are when you fight your enemies, especially bosses where you could go all out, you battle freak."
She gave me a mischievous grin, her words jabbed right through my heart.
"It's true that I love battles, but do you have to say it directly to my face? How do you know that anyway?"
Shelly scoffed, pointing at the watch on my wrist, "There are lots of things battle data can provide, one of it is esper's body function and wavelength fluctuation. Every time you fight there would always be changes in your body function, one that shows your surge of adrenaline and dopamine, meaning you enjoy the fight, am I wrong?"
I didn't know this watch had such an advanced function. Wait, more than that, it monitored body function? So whenever I felt joy or sadness, it would all be detected?
Shivers run down my spine, I feel really exposed right now.
"Ah, but don't worry, it only collects data once you are inside the gate, there's no need to worry about privacy invasion when you're here."
Shelly gave me a poke on the shoulder as she whispered with a smirk on her face.
"So relax, your lovey-dovey feelings for Ilyas won't be exposed."
"Wha-?!"
Flustered, I couldn't even form words as I blankly stared at her.
'Is she a prophet? How could she know that?'
I never told anyone after I and Ilyas left the bar that day, but our relationship had been exposed in just a few days?
"I have my ears everywhere Ethan, one of it is your own team member. Anyway, congratulations, you're now officially lifted from your single status."
I let out a sigh.
Was it Xain or Cedric or maybe Ilyas himself?
Either way, if rumor already spread, so be it. I wouldn't deny it, as it was the truth.
I walked back to Team Zero's meeting room. Seeing my team, which had a relaxed expression on their faces, relief surged up my heart.
'Fortunately, they don't feel awkward with each other.'
"Let's start today's meeting."