The SSS-rank Guide Doesn't Need Saving

”What do you mean he’s here?” Kane’s grip on Vesper tightened. ”

Vesper wiped his palms on his pants and nodded, saying, ”I didn’t get to check where he was exactly. But when I spread my senses, something suddenly blocked me.”

Sabel’s face went pale. ”How did you know it was him? You could have mistaken him for somebody else.”

Shaking his head, Vesper replied, ”That’s not possible. No one could possibly possess the same aura or deadly power as he has.”

Kane and Sabel fell silent. They chose to believe Vesper since he was an A-rank Sentinel. Anyone who could intimidate him and even hurt him without getting close to Vesper could not be an ordinary sentinel. Moreover, Vesper had been using his sense of smell earlier to locate Aisha; it could be that He had registered a familiar scent he had encountered before and recognized it immediately.

It was fortunate that Vesper was able to retract his senses before he got even more injured.

But there was something they had finally confirmed from this encounter.

Nykos was someone they absolutely could not go against!

”What should we do?” Sabel asked.

”If we advance now, Nykos might notice us.”

Kane thought about it for a moment before he spoke, ”I don’t think he’ll do anything to us.”

”What?”

Both Vesper and Sable stared at him, confused.

”You remember last time when he came to our table?” he asked. When his two classmates nodded, Kane continued, ”I suspect it was because of Aisha. And if I’m right, he only blocked Vesper because you were someone he had seen together with Aisha before. Perhaps it was out of curiosity.”

It was possible that because Vesper was the only sentinel who had daringly used his senses in this place. There were other sentinels amongst the crowd, of course, but they probably weren’t too high in rank or of equal rank to him. The probability of them noticing Vesper was small.

For someone like Nykos, a bold A-rank Sentinel trying to use their skill in front of him was laughable.

Thus, he gave Vesper a lesson.

”Don’t use your senses anymore,” Kane told him. ”Where did you last locate Aisha?”

Vesper did not argue with his order and answered, ”She was only fifty feet away from us. Turn right, and her scent stopped inside a building that has a purple lantern.”

Sabel chanced a look past the wall and saw the building Vesper was talking about.

”It’s right there!”

The building loomed five stories tall, its balcony draped in gauzy curtains that fluttered lazily in the night breeze. Unlike the louder, gaudier establishments they’d passed, this one carried an air of elegance.

They had no idea that, on the highest floor up, an entirely different kind of gathering was taking place.

***

The room was thick with smoke and the smell of expensive liquor, though none of the men inside seemed to mind. Roughly ten of them lounged across low couches and scattered chairs, dressed in dark, worn clothing. Women moved among them, pouring drinks, laughing at jokes that weren’t particularly funny, playing their part in the practiced choreography of the district.

At the head of the room, elevated slightly on a cushioned seat, Nykos sat with his usual air of bored elegance. Two women flanked him: one handed him a cup, and the other leaned in closely, trying to get him to respond to her jokes and giggled by herself.

But even as they kept trying to get his attention, Nykos did not respond. He kept his eyes on his cup, swirling the liquid with a bored gaze.

He drank in silence.

Amar noticed his commander was not in a great mood lately. Ever since he disappeared after barging into the imperial palace as if it were his own, he returned to their ship with muted frustration. He had tried to ask Nykos, but he received a question instead.

”Would you say I’m too presumptuous?”

”Huh?”

”Does she hate me or what?”

”...What are you--?”

”But she bit me. What does she mean by that?”

Amar failed to understand what Nykos was saying back then. He only knew that it had something to do with Aisha. So, he decided to let the matter go and focus on important things. But Nykos suddenly acted weirdly later. He had been coldly keeping things to himself and had a dazed look on his face.

It wouldn’t be so worrying if that was it... But Nykos’s sudden mention of getting a tattoo in the shape of a bite mark alarmed Amar.

In order to distract his boss, Amar decided to gather the men under Nykos and drink in Sector Nine. But his effort seemed to be wasted on his commander. The only ones who were benefiting from this were Vince and the others.

Glancing at the women beside Nykos, Amar gestured for them to leave. Since they weren’t capable of even getting his attention, there was no need to keep them there.

However, one smiled and ignored Amar’s signal for her to leave. She smiled seductively, leaned in closer, and reached out to rest her hand on Nykos’ arm.

She knew by just looking in the room who had the most money out of these men. Paired with a handsome face and a body that had already filled her mouth with water, how could she let this chance slip from her hands?

Then—

Her hand hovered above his arm. Just when her fingers were about to make contact with his arm, a shadow rose from the floor and coiled around her wrist like a viper before stopping right before her right eye. There was only a centimeter between her eye was stabbed.

The woman froze, unable to even utter a single sound.

Seeing this, Amar shot the other woman a look. Getting his hint, the other woman who had already risen to leave quickly took the other woman and dragged her away.

It was fortunate that the shadow released the woman.

But the chatter in the room died all at once.

One of the men near the door, a young recruit who had joined their organization for several months, glanced at their commander’s cold face. He asked in a hushed tone, ”Amar, what’s wrong with the boss tonight?”

Amar frowned. He wanted to tell them not to say a word for now, but it was too late.

”He was dumped,” Vesper casually said, not even looking up from the plate of food balanced on his knee.

Silence instantly followed his words.

Vince, still focused on his food, chewed and swallowed. After washing it down with a long swig from his cup, he glanced up to see the room had become deadly silent. ”What?”

His fellow shipmates gawked at him. Amar palmed his face, taking a deep breath as if trying to control something within him.

But Vince thought they didn’t believe him. So, he turned to Nykos and said, ”Isn’t that right, Boss?”

Nykos turned his head at last and fixed Vince with a stare so cold it could have frosted the wine in his cup.

”Oh...” Vince lowered his gaze and murmured, ”Right. It was a secret. My bad.”

He had overheard what their commander had said to Amar when he returned to their warship. From that conversation, Vince had filled in the rest without hearing everything. He had already assumed that Nykos was dumped and that was why their commander had been in a foul mood.

Nykos’s subordinates were stunned. They whipped their heads to look at their commander.

But to their shock, Nykos said nothing. He turned away, gaze drifting toward the open balcony, the city sprawled out beneath in a haze of colored light and distant noise.

Then his eyes narrowed.

Something brushed against the edge of his senses. It was faint, but it was the unmistakable signature of a sentinel using their Scent Sphere somewhere out in the streets below.

Curious who had dared to use their senses run wild in this place, he let his own Sense Sphere stretch outward lazily, and the moment it met the intruding sphere, he blocked its path.

Nykos felt the foreign presence recoil instantly, snapping back in fear and shock. He supposed it was another one of those foolish sentinels who wanted to impress some women in the pleasure district. He had no desire to pursue it.

He was going to retract his own senses when he stilled.

”Well, isn’t this interesting?”

After he muttered these words, he followed the retreating thread with idle interest. He traced it back to its source—and chuckled when he recognized exactly who it belonged to.

It was that A-rank brat. And he brought the two other students whom he’d seen with Aisha at the restaurant back then.

”Vince,” he said.

Vince straightened up immediately. ”Yeah, Boss?”

”Go fetch me three little mice.”

A grin spread across Vince’s face. ”You felt that too?”

He had noticed that bold sense probe earlier. Vince was certain Amar and the others had as well, though they’d been too absorbed in their drinks and discussion to care about a small fry.

Vince was already on his feet, walking to the edge of the balcony. He got on top of the balustrade and swept his gaze around before stopping on the right side.

”Don’t hurt them,” Nykos added. ”Bring them to me.”

Vince leaped high into the air, blending in with the moon, before disappearing.

***

Kane, Sabel, and Vesper had just slipped off the main street, cutting through a narrower alley they hoped would bring them closer to the purple-lantern building without drawing attention, when a figure stepped directly into their path.

He was tall with short red hair and a silver hooped earring in one ear. His dark clothes fitted his muscular body as he stepped closer to them with a grin on his lips.

”Well, well,” he drawled. ”Aren’t you three a long way from your fancy little academy?”

Vesper instinctively stepped forward to face the unknown man before them. He had appeared without a sound. As an A-rank, that shouldn’t have been possible. Unless he was someone with a rank higher than his.

”Who are you?” Kane asked.

The man shrugged. ”You’ll know soon. My boss would like to invite you to come meet him.”

”And if we refuse?” Sabel glared at him.

The man laughed, low and easy, before he said, ”Trust me, kids. You really don’t want to keep him waiting.”