[BL]The Hero and his Party Won't Let Me Go

The esper’s actions seemed to have taken everyone aback. It was their first time meeting such an esper, so they had no idea what to do about him.

In the end, they decided to let the esper continue with them. If they left him behind and something were to happen, then it would likely come back to haunt them later.

Everyone collectively turned toward Shuu next, and he had a bad feeling that he was going to get involved in something he did not want to.

"Kid, I know that it is hard for you to carry someone else with your short frame, but can you do it for some time? We will need all hands to fight any monsters that come our way."

It was the leader’s way of passing troublesome work onto Shuu, but he did not mind such grunt work.

The only thing he minded was the fact that the esper had thrown all his weight onto Shuu’s back, which made it difficult for Shuu to walk properly.

But it was a familiar feeling (although annoying because it was not Kaiden’s weight behind his back). Shuu was able to walk slowly behind the group and maintain his composure.

After five minutes, Shuu paused and paid attention to the body pressed against his back. His instincts were telling him that the esper was fine now and could move on his own.

But he was pretending not to be fine, and it was starting to annoy Shuu. He immediately spoke up to confront the esper leaning against him.

"Excuse me, but are you feeling alright now? If so, can you let me go? I am getting tired from carrying your weight around."

Shuu told the esper, but instead of following his request, the esper pressed even more of his weight against Shuu’s back. His face ended up resting against Shuu’s neck, and Shuu felt irritated by the audacity of this kid.

"I am sorry, but I need a little more. I promise I will be fine soon."

The esper promised, now sounding a little drunk. But it only served to make Shuu angrier.

"What do you mean you ’need a little more’? How much longer are you going to harass me? If you don’t let go now, then I will drop you here and leave you right in the middle of this forest."

Shuu threatened, and that made the esper finally pull away from him with a frown on his face.

"This is not fair. I did nothing to deserve your contempt..."

A sudden explosion caused them both to look ahead. The rest of the group had been walking a little further ahead of them, and they seemed to have been ambushed by monsters.

The form Shuu had signed had assured him that there were no monsters in this place. But that was clearly a lie spoken by people in order to lure more candidates to try out for this position.

"Is this... a monster ambush? Shit! We are not safe either. Hurry and take out your safety stone. Right now."

The esper who had been leaning against Shuu yelled quickly, and Shuu agreed with the request and took out his stone.

But when he tried to use it, nothing happened. The stone did not react or send him back. The same happened for the esper beside him.

"How can this be? Is this truly happening right now? The safety stone failed?"

The esper whispered as he looked ahead.

Everyone else except him and Shuu were dead. They had been killed by the monster attack, and Shuu’s survival instincts immediately kicked in.

He grabbed the esper and pulled them both into a hiding spot near a bush.

None of the monsters came their way, and eventually they moved off in another direction.

Shuu kept himself hidden until it was safe to come out. Once they could no longer see any monsters, they finally decided to check on everyone else.

And just as they expected, everyone was dead.

"Ha... hahaha... hahahahaha... this is not happening...! No way! This is just a nightmare and I—"

The esper tried to regain control of himself, but he was unable to. His eyes felt heavy and his breathing was unstable. He wanted to cry, but he could not bring himself to do it.

Unlike him, Shuu was much calmer and was already looking for ways out of the situation. There were not many options, but he still had to try.

Since he did not know much about this situation, he decided to ask the esper beside him for help.

"Hey, how do we get out of here if our safety stones are not working? Stop trembling and look at me. It will all be fine."

Shuu did not mean to start guiding the younger esper, but his abilities worked on their own. He watched as the esper relaxed, and his eyes went wide at the sensations he was feeling.

A gasp escaped his mouth before he closed his eyes.

The next time he opened them, the esper looked much more alert and ready to answer Shuu.

"The only way to get out of here without a safety stone is for us to kill the dungeon boss. I can try to find it, but I am not sure that we would be able to take it on."

The kid was likely right. They had no way to take down a boss monster when they could not even handle these small monsters.

But they still had to try. Dying here was not an option Shuu was going to consider.

He might have thought about it if he were alone, but right now he had Rin waiting for him back home. And Shuu would make sure to return to him.

"Get up. We cannot give up here. We are going to get back home at all costs, and you are going to pull your own weight as well."

The esper looked shocked at this declaration, but he knew that Shuu was right. If they don’t move, then they would all die.