Chapter 19: Guiding Session (2)

A deafening silence followed, and the distant roars of the monsters became prominent.

“Are you sure about this?” Khal shattered the silence, asking carefully. Devion also had an expression of asking the same thing.

It was odd. Ayen found it hard to understand them.

Espers were obsessive creatures. That was a widespread truth. It stemmed from the compatibility pull, and more so with survival.

Ayen had not experienced it himself, but he witnessed a lot of cases, and the files of complaints piled up each day at the association.

Their reactions were completely different from the usual; a thought suddenly flashed across his mind.

Were the SS-class Espers’ self-control extraordinary, or were Devion and Khal themselves the ones different from others?

The doubts and fear subsided slightly. Maybe, if it were them… Everything would be alright.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Ayen firmly answered this time; his lazy tone was there, but the same was true for his conviction.

The two exchanged glances, speechless. At least, they did not speak for a few seconds.

Devion let out a loud exhale, as though this situation was also messing with his mind. But perhaps it was.

“Ayen…” Devion stared at Ayen intensely, almost getting closer if not for Khal locking him in an embrace. Ayen grimaced at them, but the uneasy feeling dispersed.

“Stop disgusting him.” Khal had a smile on his face, teasing Devion.

“Disgusting? Who? Me?” Devion jabbed him in the abdomen with his elbow. “Say that again,”

Khal only chuckled at that and tightened his hold.

Ayen strangely got used to it, so seeing them silent felt weirder.

“It will be my first time.”

Ayen cut in with their nonsense. Initially good to watch, but it had to be stopped when an important matter was at hand.

The two visibly paused; their position did not change as both looked at Ayen.

“First time?” Devion tilted his head, narrowing his eyes with a malicious grin.

Ayen nodded. “Guiding someone.”

Devion’s grin faded, and Khal suppressed his laugh, but his face turned red for doing so. Ayen frowned at them, not understanding why they were acting like this.

Devion pinched Khal’s arm, coughing to clear his head.

“Ah, that’s what you mean.”

“Is there supposed to be another meaning?” Ayen blankly stared at him. His mind was preoccupied with this guiding session to think about something else.

Khal cleared his throat first and spoke. “No, we’re talking about the same thing.”

Ayen looked at them back and forth; seeing nothing amiss, he continued seriously. “I don’t have any experience guiding someone. My knowledge came from textbooks and was inflexible.”

“It’s also our first time,” Khal cut in.

“Being guided,” Devion said as if to finish his words. Then the two wore a helpless grin at each other.

Ayen ultimately ignored that and continued.

“I don’t have control over my own guiding wavelength… in theory, I can, but it has been years since I lived like an ordinary person and stopped training my Guide abilities.”

Ayen brushed aside any details on that, something he would not share with anyone unless necessary. The last time his guide energy had been put into use was on the blaster gun.

And even that was activated because of adrenaline, and Ayen did not know how he managed to last with his ’supposedly’ meager energy.

“If possible, I want us to do this slowly.”

The two who were listening seriously suddenly wore a strange expression hearing his last words, but both quickly averted their gaze and nodded.

“It’s fine.”

“We can do it your way.”

Ayen truly did not know what was going on with their mind. Fortunately, he was not one to care about the opinion of others and quickly passed their strange expressions.

He did not speak again, and that was the cue for the two to take the stage. There was even a sigh of relief after Ayen stopped talking.

“This place is dangerous for the guiding session.” That was obvious. “We’ll give her to the authorities first.” Khal pointed at Keeran.

If Ayen wanted to continue his peaceful life, he had to make his involvement with the two espers a secret. He did not trust Keeran enough to keep this crucial secret about him.

What if he successfully guides Devion and Khal? That would be terrifying from someone with only an E-class in records.

Ayen did not know, but Devion and Khal also talked about this, and the two were more exposed to the top brass of the government and knew their bullshit. The matter with Ayen must absolutely be kept secret, no matter what.

Of course, they could protect Ayen, but it would be annoying for Ayen himself once he was exposed. Something he did not want to happen.

“As for you…”

“There’s no need to plan something for me.” Ayen cut him off. “I’m an E-class Guide; they will not investigate a lot about me.”

That was also an advantage, especially in this situation where he needed to be with Devion and Khal longer than intended. After submitting a report to a branch about their survival, Ayen only needed to wait for the summons when a new assignment was confirmed.

He was very familiar with this, being a field guide for years, although he was stuck on the branch building, working on paperwork rather than guiding an esper.

And so the guiding session was decided. Now that it was confirmed, the nervousness that Ayen felt eased a lot. As expected, he was someone more inclined to confirm something than to be stressed about it.

Once he was more relaxed, Ayen’s eyelids began to feel heavy. Without waiting for the two, he directly succumbed to dreamland. Again, Ayen fell asleep in the most dangerous place someone could think of entrusting their life to others.

Something he would never do before. Ayen had to admit, under the two SS-class protections, he did not fear anyone.

“The two of you escaped from the yellow zone using the gate?” The person in charge of this zone’s branch of Guide Association scrutinized Keeran and Ayen, his bulging eyes became more prominent doing so.

Keeran nodded, her head lowered. Ayen did the same. Before they arrived in this place, Ayen already briefed her on what they had to say.

Most of the story was the same; they did not lie about entering the gate that appeared in a desperate attempt to escape. The only thing that changed was the place they ended up.

“Remember, Keeran, if you still want to live peacefully in the future, you must never tell anyone that the two of them saved us. And that we stayed in their place.” Ayen squeezed her shoulders tightly, wanting her to know how dangerous this was.

All sorts of people would try to get their statement of what they saw, which seemed harmless on the surface, but who knew what malicious intentions they had? Getting on their radar was the worst for people like them.

Only after getting her agreement did Ayen report their arrival. Their official uniforms had a unique chip installed and only needed to be scanned for verification. Their identities were confirmed immediately.

“Hmmm.” He seemed unconvinced by the story, but interrogating two low-level guides was unnecessary either. “Then, stay in this city for now until headquarters gives you your new assigned zone.”

Sure enough, the matter was dropped quickly.

“Ayen,” Keeran called, seeing Ayen prepared to leave. “Thank you…” she murmured, her hands gripping the handle of the room hard, her knuckles turned white.

Ayen merely nodded. “Rest now.”

There was no need for words. Ayen started walking away, and Keeran could only watch him disappear, unable to say anything more to stop him.

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