The SSS-rank Guide Doesn't Need Saving

Theon glanced at his terminal, eyes wide in disbelief at being hung up on without even hearing any answers to his questions.

He had the urge to slam his fist on the table before him, but he could only clench his hand and grit his teeth.

After Aisha pushed him from the stairs that night, it took a few hours for the servants to find him and take him to a treatment room. He had torn his ligaments and broken a few bones from his fall. But it was fortunate that it wasn’t anything serious with their advanced medical treatments.

Still, he couldn’t have anticipated he’d end up in that situation and hear the words that escaped her lips.

Frankly, the fall did not hurt him.

Instead, his heart felt heavy. His mind had been full of stormy thoughts, whirling around and keeping him awake and distracted even after he heard that Irene had started acting strangely.

After Aisha left their home, Irene had grown more silent and sullen. Theon thought it was because of their parents who were still imprisoned inside the imperial palace. He hadn’t even had the chance to visit them because of the sudden news of their eldest brother’s disappearance.

He couldn’t even focus his attention on Irene, rushing to the dock where their merchant ship was found totally wrecked.

Zenick had also not been sighted.

Theon debated for a long time before he finally contacted Aisha. Surprisingly, she didn’t block him and even replied to his messages. But knowing the reason why she had done so, Theon couldn’t stop feeling slightly envious of Zenick.

He thought that by giving Aisha the location of the scattered crewmen would somehow get her to talk to him more. Theon was already waiting for her to ask him what he had learned by asking them earlier. But he failed with that. And received those hurtful words from her instead.

”Brother, are you going somewhere?”

Irene appeared and stood by the door. Theon was wearing his coat and gathering his things when he noticed her.

Nodding his head at her, he told her, ”I’m going to look for our eldest brother.”

He paused for a second before staring at her, asking, ”Do you want to come with me?”

Theon had no idea about what had transpired between Irene and Aisha. Had he known, he wouldn’t have asked this question.

He had only asked her because he thought Irene would go with him. Zenick was also her older brother, someone who shared the same blood as her. Theon was absolutely sure that she wouldn’t refuse.

Unexpectedly, Irene shook her head. ”I... I’m still feeling unwell. I’ll go next time you look for him, just not today.”

Theon frowned. Will there even be a next time?

If something bad had happened to Zenick, Irene wouldn’t even have the chance to see him again in this lifetime. In this era where anyone could turn up dead at any moment for whatever reason, they would be lucky if Zenick was even found alive. Besides, for him to disappear without even making a noise about it or anybody noticing anything, he suspected there was something more to this than what it seemed.

These were all just negative things that Theon had been keeping inside. But seeing the paleness of Irene’s complexion, he couldn’t bring himself to force her to go with him.

Patting the top of her head, he softly smiled at her. ”Alright. Stay here and rest. I’ll be back soon.”

Theon walked toward the door and closed it behind him.

But what he was unable to see the moment he left the room was that Irene would glare at his back and rip off the ribbon on her head that he had touched just now.

Unfortunately, she was unable to tear her hair from her scalp because he had touched it too.

After coming across Aisha on the same night Theon fell from the stairs, Irene had grown to hate being around Theon. Not only him. The thought of her parents displeased her so much. Even hearing about Zenick’s disappearance from Theon didn’t so much as make her feel worried. Instead, something closer to glee filled her chest.

She even thought that what was happening to Zenick was what he deserved!

She knew it had something to do with what Aisha had told her back then... but Irene refused to believe that Aisha could possibly force her will into her!

”There’s no way a D-rank like her could possibly do this to me!”

Her nails almost snapped from the madness.

***

At this time, Aisha had no idea that Theon and her three classmates were on their way to Sector Nine.

The shuttle she was in was still journeying through a wormhole-like path at a speed that she had never seen in the past. In the middle of their trip, the middle-aged man who had been judged as a stowaway was ruthlessly ejected, dropping from a very tall height.

The man couldn’t even scream, still affected by the electricity that went through his body. The traces he had left behind also disappeared. It was as though he had never been there.

”Do you want some?”

The young woman next to her suddenly offered her a triangular candy.

Aisha swept her gaze at her before shaking her head. She had always liked eating sweet things, but there were times when she couldn’t eat them. If things went as she had imagined, she’d save the sweet when everything was over.

”No thank you,” she said.

The young woman didn’t force her to take the candy. Instead, she asked, ”Why is someone like you going to Sector Nine?”

At her question, Aisha met her gaze and asked back, ”Someone like me?”

”Uh-huh, you don’t smell like us. And...” She narrowed her eyes, staring at Aisha as if she could see through the scarf covering her face. ”I’ve never seen someone walk our street with that pair of eyes.”

Aisha didn’t understand what she meant by that. Her attention was more focused on another thing.

She asked, ”You’re from Sector Nine?”

”Everyone in this shuttle is.” The young woman shrugged. ”Why?”

Aisha’s eyes, a pair of misty grey that looked like swirling stars, gleamed under the light. ”Then, do you know where I can find Sweet Bliss House?”

The young woman choked on the candy still in her mouth. She coughed a few times and looked her up and down. Judging by her eyes, she guessed Aisha was only a few years younger than her. But she could sense some sort of maturity behind those eyes, as if she was speaking with a woman of the same age or older.

She advised, ”Miss, it’s not a good place. You better not go there.”

Aisha did not have the least bit of intention to listen. She insisted, ”I have to go find someone there.”

Interest sparked in the other person’s eyes. ”Oh? Who? Is it your lover? If it is... don’t bother. You’d better just forget about him. A man who spends his time in a place like that couldn’t even compare to dung on your shoes.”

Aisha silently agreed with her. But that wasn’t the issue here.

So, she said, ”I’m looking for my brother.”