The SSS-rank Guide Doesn't Need Saving

They didn’t stop running until they saw a military checkpoint a few blocks away. Uniformed guards stood in front of the entrance with the alertness of an expert.

Only then did Sabel slow down, forehead sweating. Vesper skidded to a stop beside her with a grin, looking nothing different from walking. Aisha was right behind them, not even that far off from catching up to their speed.

Kane arrived several seconds later.

He staggered and fell on his butt on the ground, bracing both elbows against his knees. He wheezed for breath before wiping the sweat dripping down his temple.

”You’re so slow,” Vesper teased him. ”We could’ve been caught a hundred times over waiting for you.”

”Shut—” Kane sucked in a ragged breath. ”Shut up. Don’t forget I’m a guide. We’re not built for this.”

”Blah, blah, guide this or guide that. That’s all excuses. Just say you have low stamina.”

”It’s not an excuse!” Kane straightened, irritated even more now that Vesper was belittling his stamina.

”Just shut up, Vesper,” Sabel offered a hand to Kane, who gratefully took it and supported himself to stand without wobbling. ”We sentinels have more strength and stamina than guides do. They excel more in mental power, not outrunning monsters and criminals.”

”We’re lucky we got away from that man.” Kane swallowed audibly. ”It’s a surprise he even let us go.”

Vesper gave up on annoying Kane and turned his head toward Aisha, who stood not far away. ”Speaking of—Aisha kept up with us the entire way. That surprises me more.”

His words made all three of them look at her.

Sabel was also wondering how she could keep up with them. As a D-rank sentinel, her own physical enhancement wasn’t anything extraordinary. But Vesper was an A-rank. Even without unleashing his full speed, the gap between a guide and a sentinel of his caliber should have been wide.

And yet Aisha had run alongside them without falling behind even once.

”That’s...” Kane also found this strange.

Before they could deepen their doubts, Aisha let out a slow breath. Her shoulders rose and fell as she pressed a hand lightly to her chest to calm her beating heart. Her forehead had a faint sheen of sweat, looking exhausted as well.

But compared to the three of them, she exuded an elegance that was too hard for her to get rid of.

What made a person look haggard and unsightly after a quick and long run had turned her more radiant-looking.

The three of them visibly sighed. It would’ve been extremely embarrassing if Aisha hadn’t looked tired at all.

In truth, not only did Aisha not feel tired, but she felt more irritated than focusing on her exhaustion.

This body was too weak.

Compared to what she had in her past life, running around like that shouldn’t have made her sweat or even breathe heavily like this. But this body was too sheltered and wasn’t exposed to any situations that endangered life. Thus, this was normal.

But she needed to quickly fix that.

She’d have to find time to build this body back up to her original body’s state. Relying purely on her guiding ability wasn’t something she wanted to gamble her life on.

”It’s getting late. We should probably head back before our families start worrying.”

The other two nodded in agreement.

The group finally split off in different directions after getting Aisha’s terminal number. They quickly added her and made promises to message each other once they arrived home.

Standing on an unfamiliar street, Aisha realized her mistake.

She hadn’t come to the academy in her own shuttle that morning. And when they went out to the city, they took the public star rail. Now, she had no way home.

Fortunately, the terminal on her wrist still worked. She tapped through several screens until she found a rental shuttle service, inputting the villa’s address before submitting a request.

Seconds later, a small notification blinked back at her, notifying her that her rental shuttle would arrive in twelve minutes.

Aisha found a spot near the edge of the street and waited.

A few minutes passed, and her terminal suddenly buzzed. Thinking it was her rental shuttle, she looked at it only to find it was a message from her mother. [Where are you? Come home immediately.]

Aisha frowned slightly at the screen when the screen changed and informed her of an incoming call. Daisy’s name flashed across it.

She answered.

”Miss Aisha!” Daisy’s face appeared on the screen. ”Something happened. You need to come home right now!”

”What happened?” Aisha frowned.

”This... Miss Irene has accused you of stealing her bracelet.” Daisy hurriedly explained what had happened.

It seemed that while Aisha was not home, Irene had been frantically looking for the bracelet their mother gave her as a present that morning. After not finding it for an hour, she bawled her eyes out, and she was seen by her mother and brother, who quickly told the servants to find it.

”I don’t know why they said it was you who stole it, but a servant said she saw you take the bracelet inside your room.” Daisy paced around Aisha’s room. ”Now they’re planning on heading to your home and searching through it.”

Aisha’s eyes flashed with a cold glint. ”Wait for me and don’t let them in for now.”

”But what if they force their way in?”

That was what Daisy was most worried about.

”Then, just let them.”

If they forced their way in, there was little Daisy could do about it. Besides, it would only make them look suspicious if they kept resisting.

What Aisha was most worried about was the little spiritual beast resting there.

She hung up before Daisy could say anything more.

She lowered her hand, covering the terminal under her sleeve.

No wonder why she felt something was off since earlier. Irene was once again up to something.

What Aisha couldn’t understand was that Irene didn’t have a reason to do this to her. And Aisha had already planned to not get in her way as long as Irene didn’t do anything. So, why was Irene so fixated on her?

However, Aisha had no desire to learn about what Irene was thinking or her reason for doing this.

A line was being crossed. And Aisha didn’t plan on doing anything.

It was then that the hair on the back of her neck rose.

By the time her instincts screamed at her, it was already too late.

A hand clamped firmly over her mouth and another hooked around her waist. Whoever was behind her yanked her backward, pulling her into a narrow alleyway.

A man’s voice was heard closely behind her.

”Found you, little bird.”