TTOA Chapter 108

#108

Kwon Jae-jin stood beside Seo Eui-woo, confronting General Choi.

“…No, if I intended to sound an alert, I would have already done so.”

If the intention was to attack, they would have chosen a surprise attack from the start.

General Choi deliberately revealed his appearance as a hologram and spoke to Seo Eui-woo and Kwon Jae-jin. He even formally introduced himself.

Is he looking down on us?

No.

It means he wants something else.

“That’s right, young people. I don’t intend to wage a bloody battle. Especially not in this situation where all the generals are held hostage.”

“……”

“No matter how annoying those guys are, they still have uses if you squeeze them. Like toothpaste. Or bamboo salt. What a waste if they cross the river Styx before they’re all used up…”

General Choi chuckled alone, waving his hand. His laughter, coming through the speaker, echoed through the conference room. Strangely, the tension escalated. General Choi was joking and laughing normally, but his experience made one wary of letting their guard down.

“You young folks are rigid. Well, to get to the serious talk… Brigadier General Oh just finished his report a while ago. Apparently, Captain Seo single-handedly broke through the encirclement and subdued the special task force members at once? Blowing up the terrain of the northwestern canyon must have been Captain Seo’s work, and demolishing the northern perimeter wall must have been Captain Seo’s work too…”

“Jae-jin-ssi.”

“When I first heard the report, I thought it was absurd, but seeing the current situation, it seems certain. If Captain Seo goes all-in, at least a quarter or a fifth of the available personnel inside the Center will be gone. We must avoid the worst-case scenario for both sides.”

If they sounded the alert and launched an all-out war, the Center would be at an advantage in the long run. But they couldn’t endlessly expend formal Espers and military supplies to capture just two people: an S-rank Esper and an S-rank late-blooming Guide. Of course, they could eliminate even Seo Eui-woo by mobilizing bombers and missiles. The problem was that General Choi would have to bear the full responsibility for that.

“Thanks to you two, my neck is on the line right now.”

The inner perimeter wall has already been breached. If all the captured generals die and the Center collapses, it will be irreversible.

A significant blemish would remain on General Choi Yul’s career, and it would end with his resignation.

If it leads to a dogfight, it’ll be a dirty end for both sides.

“What is it then? Are you suggesting a negotiation?”

“Yes, a negotiation.”

“……”

“You look surprised. Didn’t you know? Politics works like this.”

Politics?

Politics, you say…?

Kwon Jae-jin sneered bitterly. General Choi, as if doing a favor for the two young people, presented a negotiation proposal first.

“All of Captain Seo’s past illegal activities will be waived. And Kwon Jae-jin will be granted amnesty as a late-blooming Esper, recognizing the special case of the first S-rank Guide.”

“……”

“According to reports, S-rank Guide’s Guiding dramatically enhances the Esper’s abilities. Judging from Captain Seo’s abilities now, it seems certain. What do you think?”

…Enhancement of abilities?

I don’t know what he’s talking about.

Seo Eui-woo was merely suppressing his innate abilities without using them. He wasn’t enhanced by Kwon Jae-jin’s Guiding. The Center seems to be seriously mistaken and misunderstanding.

But the important point right now isn’t how special and great Kwon Jae-jin’s Guiding is anyway.

“Come to the Center. As a formal Esper. If you do, we will spare no support. We will facilitate the formal grade test and ensure you can receive basic drills at the training center like other Espers.”

“……”

“Even so, since there is a possibility that you, as a late-blooming Esper, will create a sense of unease and confuse other Espers, you must sign a confidentiality agreement. You must not utter a word about what you experienced in general society.”

Seo Eui-woo, who was emitting dangerous abilities in all directions, muttered in a low, chilling voice.

“Don’t listen to him. There’s no need to accept such a negotiation.”

It was a voice growling like a threatening beast.

“They’ll try to appease you now and then find an opportunity to deal with Jae-jin-ssi later. The same will probably happen to me, of course.”

“…Yes, that’s probably right.”

Kwon Jae-jin had the same thought.

Lower their guard and then kill them suddenly, or keep them alive for dissection, or erase their memories to make them easier to handle… There are endless possibilities.

“Come now. There’s no need to be so distrustful. This is just a negotiation to prevent us from pointing knives at each other. It means let’s not cut our own throats. As long as you cooperate with the nation, there’s no reason to cast you out. Frankly, it’s a waste to dispose of an S-rank Esper and S-rank Guide who have demonstrated such great potential…”

“A waste…?”

Kwon Jae-jin frowned, unable to listen any longer.

It would be more rational to remain silent in this volatile situation, but after hearing such words, he couldn’t just stand there with his mouth shut.

“So, the military has been disposing of late-blooming Espers with such shallow logic all along?”

A four-year-long desire was spoken out loud.

He expected his voice to tremble because his head was burning hot, but Kwon Jae-jin’s voice was as cold as frost. Rather, it seemed to strike at the core, endlessly calm, and heard clearly without wavering.

“They caused a sense of unease and were useless, so they were all killed…?”

Kwon Jae-jin inwardly wondered if there might be an unavoidable reason hidden.

There might be a secret dilemma that forced them to kill late-blooming Espers, so the higher-ups had no choice but to maintain a cruel system.

But it wasn’t.

Not at all.

Negotiation, politics, and weighing whether they were a waste or not…

The lives of late-blooming Espers were a problem that depended on such things. The life that Kwon Jae-jin, who deserved to die, had lived confined for four years without being able to come out under the sunlight, was being controlled by such things.

“It’s absurd. So you’re saying that you’ll spare a S-rank late-blooming Guide like me because it’s a waste to kill me, but what about the other late-blooming Espers…? Are you going to kill them as soon as they manifest, as you’ve done so far? And you’re negotiating for me to turn a blind eye to that behavior?”

General Choi Yul spoke as if he were making a reasonable proposal to Kwon Jae-jin, but in reality, his words were shameless. It was only a proposal to spare you alone, who are talented, while killing all the other late-blooming Espers.

When Kwon Jae-jin pointed out the flaw, General Choi leisurely smiled again, raising his eyebrows.

“Don’t make such accusations. If you’ve experienced Guiding, you should know… how late-blooming Espers from the general population would accept Esper-style Guiding. They would find it appalling. They would reject it. You must have experienced it yourself.”

“Yes, I experienced it. That’s why I know there’s a problem.”

Of course.

Efficiency-focused Guiding. He had experienced it cruelly.

“Instead of killing late-blooming Espers, you can just change the Esper-style Guiding. Guiding can be achieved with just skin contact, not mucous membrane contact. It can be done just by holding hands…”

“The efficiency is different.”

General Choi replied as if it wasn’t worth considering.

“It’s a battlefield where lives are at stake. Such a flimsy and soft method won’t work. You’ll understand when you become an Esper.”

“I’m already an Esper. Just an Esper who isn’t controlled by you.”

“……”

Fire ignited in Kwon Jae-jin’s strong, dark eyes. He was burning like a flame.

Only now did the smile slowly disappear from General Choi Yul’s face.

General Choi, heaving his shoulders and taking a breath, let out a long sigh.

“Hoo… Kwon Jae-jin. I understand your unfortunate circumstances, but we are not pleasure killers. Nor are we ignorant and arrogant power-holders.”

His blue hologram flickered and twisted.

“We have only made the best decisions. With a lifelong mission, we have protected the country and its people.”

“What…?”

“Have you ever seen the corpse of a child? Can newborns and infants survive without the protection of Espers? What about their education? In this age of war, can children who have been defenselessly swept away grow into adults and fulfill their roles as members of modern society without any problems?”

“……”

“If you’re from the general residential district, you should know. You were able to receive higher education, have a job, and live peacefully as a member of society because Espers, managed under strict control, are fighting the creatures out there. Your idealistic humanity has grown under our protection.”

“……”

“You may want to condemn us as cruel, but what would have happened to this society if someone hadn’t done that cruel thing? If we hadn’t controlled and managed the Espers, would they have become weapons to protect humanity? Or would they have become objects of fear threatening humanity? Creating strict rules and disposing of Espers who deviate from those standards… is to protect the absolute majority of humanity.”

The survival of humanity. The peace of humanity. The future of humanity.

A ruthless system built solely for that purpose. To maintain it, the lives of late-blooming Espers are not precious.

“We are simply building safe and strong barriers. Since it’s a barrier to protect, we must protect it. To the end.”