Reborn as an A-Rank Guide: Trapped By The Crazy Sentinels

Bunny stepped forward and gave the handle a twist. The door wasn’t locked.

Curiosity got the better of her. Bunny cautiously poked her head inside. This had to be a sentinel’s bedroom.

She could tell at a glance. Places men lived always carried a certain look.

The bedding on the bed was folded with military precision. Straps and combat boots lay scattered across the carpet. Uniforms and training gear hung in neat rows inside the wardrobe. On the nightstand sat a small crystal dragon.

She slipped quietly into the room and spotted a dust-covered diary on the desk.

The notebook was made of a special polyethylene that required a matching pen to write in.

Bunny opened it.

New Calendar Year 906 – Midsummer – Clear

Today is my eighteenth birthday. I’ve heard that ancient humans made wishes on their birthdays, but I don’t know what I should wish for.

New Calendar Year 906 – Start of Autumn – Clear

The main switch at the energy station was destroyed. Today I lost another teammate.

New Calendar Year 907 – Grain Rain – Clear

My head hurts so badly I want to smash it against the wall. I don’t want to take suppressants anymore!

New Calendar Year 908 – Frost’s Descent – Clear

This season is supposed to bring snow. Snow—something that hasn’t existed for hundreds of years. A new friend arrived at the base. He said his name was Astin.

...

The diary stopped abruptly one year ago. Bunny suddenly remembered the missing sentinel Liam had mentioned.

Was this his room?

Inside the notebook she also found a carefully laminated specimen of a ginkgo leaf.

Ginkgo trees lived for thousands of years, yet even that longevity hadn’t been enough to survive the end of the world. How had he managed to find this specimen?

While she was still examining the leaf, a cold voice cut through the air from the doorway.

”Do all you guides enjoy barging into other people’s rooms like this?”

The tone was hard, far from friendly.

Bunny turned. The green-haired sentinel stood in the doorway, staring at her with complete indifference.

His attitude was unpleasant, but she had to admit that invading someone’s private space wasn’t right. She slipped the ginkgo leaf back into the diary and offered a quiet apology.

Remembering that the diary had mentioned Astin, she guessed the two of them might have been close. She turned back.

”Can you tell me how he disappeared?”

Astin lowered his lids. Those ink-green eyes were as cold as ice.

”Why should I tell you?”

The attitude of this sentinel with the eyebrow and ear piercings—aggressive and sharp—sparked a sudden flash of irritation in her.

Had she done something to offend him? Why was he so hostile? Had he swallowed gunpowder or a firecracker?

On her first day she had even thought this green-haired guy looked strikingly handsome.

”What’s with that tone?”

”This is just how I talk.”

”And what is that supposed to mean?”

”What’s wrong with how I talk?”

”Do you hate me or something?” Bunny was fairly certain she had never wronged this person.

Astin let out a cold laugh, as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world.

”How could I possibly hate you, the guide everyone adores?”

Orion, Brandon... even his own worthless brother—half the base was lining up to act like her dogs.

Bunny was almost laughing from anger. ”Can you stop with the passive-aggressive comments?”

Astin lifted his lashes and looked at the guide standing in front of him like a short little radish. He seriously wondered whether she had slipped through genetic screening as some kind of defective product.

Did normal people grow this short? Was she even an adult?

What was Central thinking, sending a dwarf over here? One good kick from an alien and she’d be finished.

”Do you have to control how everyone else speaks too?”

Bunny couldn’t out-argue him and had no desire to keep trading barbs with this foul-mouthed sentinel. If he wouldn’t tell her, she could ask someone else.

”Move.”

The sentinel stood rooted in place, blocking the doorway like a solid wall. He showed no intention of stepping aside.

Bunny had to tilt her head so far back her neck nearly gave out.

”Guide,” Astin said, ”I’m not one of those obedient little dogs who hover around you waiting for orders.”

He leaned down slightly. The rebellious earring in his right ear caught the light with the same icy glint as his eyes. His voice carried a deliberate warning.

”Don’t use that high-and-mighty tone to order me around. Otherwise...”

”Otherwise what?”

In an instant, his pupils narrowed into slits. A vicious roar tore from his throat as his spirit form erupted—an enormous Cretaceous predator, a massive alligator with jaws wide enough to swallow a person whole. It lunged toward her in pure intimidation.

Astin withdrew the spirit form. ”Otherwise I’ll bite your neck clean through.”

He expected the threat to cow her into silence. Instead, the short little radish in front of him made no sound at all.

Confused, he looked down. Bunny was still staring up at him, face blank, chin stubbornly raised.

Had he scared her senseless?

The next second an earth-shaking, eardrum-splitting, heart-rending, sky-piercing wail crashed over him like thunder.

His hearing, already far sharper than a normal person’s, felt as if it had been stabbed straight through.

His eyes went wide. ”Why are you crying?!”

At the same moment, Brandon—who had been in the kitchen making small cakes—heard the scream and assumed something terrible had happened to Bunny. He abandoned the whisk, still wearing his apron, and sprinted down the hallway.

He shoved Astin aside, scooped Bunny up, and checked her from head to toe.

”What happened? What’s wrong?”

Bunny sniffled, eyes red, and pointed straight at Astin.

”He yelled at me.”

Brandon glared at him. ”Why did you yell at her?”

He didn’t bother denying it. ”Oh? Jumping to her defense already? That soft-hearted, are we?”

Brandon knew Astin had always held a poor opinion of guides, and that his temper was equally foul. His voice turned serious.

”Astin. She isn’t the one who hurt you. Don’t take that rotten attitude out on her.”

”Just because I can’t beat you doesn’t mean the others will let it slide.”

Brandon turned and carried Bunny away. From her perch on his shoulder she caught Astin’s eye for a single second and shot him a clear middle finger.

The corner of Astin’s mouth twitched.

Shit. The woman was faking it the whole time.

***

By evening, the teams that had gone out to inspect the outposts began returning one after another. Aside from one site filled with large numbers of unhatched eggs, the other locations showed no abnormalities.

As a precaution, several new drone patrol routes were added.

Bunny had already eaten some of the small cakes and wasn’t particularly hungry, so she skipped dinner and focused on arranging her guidance room.

She asked Sunny to clear a new workspace for her, then went to the storage rooms and selected spare carpets, wall hangings, decorations, and other items.

She spent the entire afternoon rearranging everything. Chopper stayed busy the whole time, helping her carry things back and forth.

The sentinels who were eating watched the girl-and-dog procession with mild curiosity.

”What’s she doing?”

That was the difference between male and female thinking. In their eyes, spending hours decorating a room was a complete waste of time. A bedroom only needed to serve the purpose of sleeping; everything else was irrelevant.

A guidance room even more so.

Cyrus, stretched out on the sofa, lazily lifted one eyelid.

”Let her fuss however she likes.”

Tonight’s guidance session belonged to Arden. Determined to leave a good impression, the dark-skinned beauty had showered early, put on his most handsome outfit, and made sure he smelled excellent before heading to the guide’s newly arranged room.