The SSS-rank Guide Doesn't Need Saving

Inside the dining room, the sound of munching on meat and slurping on the bones finally ceased.

The three ravenous sentinels and the guide leaned back against their chair, rubbing their stomach, and looked extremely contented after finishing up their food.

Several seconds after the euphoric feeling of filling themselves up to the brim, they noticed that Aisha hadn’t come down to eat with them.

”Hey, what do you think is the matter with Aisha?” Vesper suddenly asked. ”She was acting strange since earlier.”

Caught off guard by his question, Kane and Sabel exchanged glances. They were surprised by how perceptive he had become.

”How did you—” Kane stopped himself and shook his head. Then he said, ”I honestly don’t know. She seems not right since she sparred with Sabel. What do you think?”

He turned his gaze at Sabel.

Sabel said in concern. ”I was looking at her earlier while she was in the kitchen. She kept looking down at her terminal.”

”So what could possibly make a person who’s usually as calm as her suddenly become so dazed?” Kane asked without meaning for them to answer.

Sabel and Vesper fell silent as they also tried to wrap their heads around this question and look for the answer.

Vesper abruptly straightened up and his eyes sparkled. ”I know!”

His two friends glanced up at him. ”What?”

”She must be in love!” Vesper said excitedly. When his words were met with a frown, he continued to explain. ”You remembered what she wore at her annulment ceremony, right? She wore red! That meant she’s openly saying she’s ready to be courted. Someone must be asking her out, and she felt conflicted!” He kept nodding his head, convinced by his own conclusion. ”After her engagement with the prince, Aisha must have found it hard to accept any man into her life. I’m sure of this!”

Sabel gazed at him with a frown, rubbing her chin with a finger. ”Is that really it? I feel like it isn’t that simple.”

Vesper looked annoyed by what she said. ”And what do you think could be the reason then?”

Shrugging, Sabel told him, ”She must be feeling bad taking you into her house. You ate all her food, after all.”

Out of the three of them, Vesper ate three huge portions of meat. He sucked through the bones and was still not feeling satisfied, as he eyed the meat left on the dish plate. Fortunately, Kane and Sabel stopped him right at the last second, reminding him to leave some for Aisha when she returned.

Feeling slightly embarrassed by how voraciously he acted, he wiped his lips and said, ”It’s just that it was so delicious. How can I not eat a lot?”

With those words, Kane and Sabel couldn’t admonish him. After all, even they felt unsatisfied with what they ate. Surprisingly, Aisha was a better cook than the restaurants they’ve eaten at in the past!

What was more surprising was that Sabel, who came from a wealthy merchant family as well, couldn’t be certain what kind of meat Aisha had prepared and cooked for them. But the taste was so heavenly that she forgot to ask.

Kane sighed. ”Whatever it was, it’s distracting her a lot. I’m worried that it might mess up her fight.”

They couldn’t afford to lose. With Aisha’s distracted behavior, it didn’t bode well for them at all. If her act of defending herself at the last second against Sabel’s attack wasn’t just a fluke, then it would greatly help them during their duel.

”Then why don’t we find out?” Vesper suddenly suggested the idea.

”And how are you going to do that?”

A trace of a smile appeared in Vesper’s eyes as he told them his plan. ”We observe her and see what’s messing with her. If it’s her trashy family, we’ll just have to keep them away from her. And if it’s a suitor trying to court her, we’ll shoo them away first! If it’s something else that she can’t tell us... we won’t do anything. But when she needed help, we’ll swoop right in and support her!”

It sounded like a very convincing plan that even Sabel and Kane could only admit that Vesper was showing a bright side of himself. Though they suspected it was the effect of being fed so well by Aisha’s food that made him so eager to help.

Either way, the two didn’t disagree with or refuse his idea.

”So... what should we do now?”

”Well, I think the first thing we should do is—”

”That’s ridiculous!

”Sshh... she might hear us.”

”I didn’t know you were this smart, Vesper.”

”F*ck! Did you think I’m always that stupid?”

”...”

”...”

”Fine! I’m stupid. But can you please listen to me first?”

”Then we do this...”

”Ok...”

”—”

When Aisha came down to the dining room, the three had already tidied up the table. The plates they had even used were all washed and placed on the side to dry, only leaving her own plate and food on the table, untouched.

Raising her eyebrow at them, Aisha watched as they told her they wanted to head home first.

”Ugh... My body is so sore after training. I’ll go home first.”

Vesper massaged his forearm with a hand. He refused to look at her in the eye as he muttered his words.

Sabel smiled softly at Aisha and said, ”Sorry, I need to leave early. My father said my brother broke his knees and needed me to be there.”

”My siblings... they need me to finish their homework,” Kane also found an excuse to leave.

Aisha looked at each one of them in silence for a moment. Then, she didn’t force them to stay and said, ”That’s alright. I hope the food tasted good, though.”

”Yep! It’s the most delicious food I’ve ever tasted!” Vesper met her gaze and gave her a thumbs-up of approval.

Sabel and Kane nodded behind him.

Aisha did not show her suspicion upon seeing how awkward they were acting. She didn’t even call out their lies because she didn’t sense any malicious intent coming from them. Rather, their strange behavior seemed comical in her eyes. They looked so innocent and childlike when they acted like this.

It was so different from her.

”I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The three nodded, staring at her with unfathomable sparkles in their eyes. In their heads, they simultaneously thought, ’We’ll see you later. We’re just going to hide near the house!’

They planned to stake out her house and stay there the entire night. Having already informed their families, Kane, Vesper, and Sabel planned to see what was causing Aisha to be so distracted. They wanted to help her, but they didn’t want to interfere until they saw what was truly going on.

And so, the three left the gate and walked several meters away from the house before turning around, hiding in some dark corners and crouching on the ground.

”She didn’t see us, right?”

”I don’t think so. She must have thought we’d already left.”

”This is so exciting!”

***

Back inside the house, Aisha closed the door behind her. She leaned against the cool steel door and exhaled.

Munch, munch.

Gulp.

From the dining table, she could hear the sound of bones being chewed into tiny pieces. Nibbles had already cleaned up half of the meat her classmates left behind for her.

Walking over to her spiritual beast, Aisha petted its tiny head before she took out her storage bag. She placed it on top of the table, taking out the weapons she had brought from the Association’s market.

The clattering sound drowned out the sound of Nibbles munching on some more bones. Each item lay on top of the table. Aisha glanced at them one by one before picking up the needles that were previously wrapped in cloth.

The tip sparkled viciously under the light.

Then, her eyes fell on the jars lying on the other side of the table.

Bzzz....bzzz!

Her terminal suddenly buzzed at that moment.