The One and Only Guide - Chapter 21
She asked everyone in the castle about the whereabouts of the Duke, but despite forcing her way and stubbornly visiting the Duke’s private office and bedroom, Axion was nowhere to be found. It was clear that he was avoiding him. The knights and servants told me that he must be in the castle, but he was nowhere to be found.
He must be avoiding me. The pauses and quick movements of Axion’s Wave prove it. The intent to avoid conversation was obvious and blatant. She should have forced an answer last night! She gritted my teeth in frustration.
She was only trying to have a conversation, but she couldn’t understand why he was treating it like a game of cat and mouse. Searching for the Duke and turning the castle upside down had left her physically and mentally exhausted.
There’s no other option. Even though she didn’t like it, the only remaining option was Guiding.
It wasn’t because she couldn’t find an Esper with a matching rate, Jian was an S-class Guide. Blocking Guiding, Radial Guiding, and other advanced Guiding techniques that other Guides wouldn’t even attempt were as easy as breathing for Jian.
She knew the Duke’s location. The origin of the Waves was precisely where he was. If Axion kept running away, he could use Radial Guiding to trap him in the air and find him. Or, she could lure him in.
Jian immediately released the energy, and after a few moments, he saw that Axion’s Wave had solidified into a guiding force, and he cut it off immediately. From what he had witnessed last night, the Duke clearly needed guidance. If he suddenly stopped guiding after receiving it unexpectedly, he wouldn’t be able to resist his instincts and would come seeking it on his own.
Indeed, Jian was not wrong. After repeating Radial guiding several times and stopping, the Duke’s waves, which had been distant, gradually began to approach. It was as if he were effectively luring a dog with a snack, except for the feeling of the lure.
Before she knew it, his waves were emanating just around the corner in the corridor. Now that the lure was over, there was no reason to repeat the Guiding blocking and opening. Jian walked on, maintaining his Radial Guiding.
As he turned the corner of the corridor, he saw the Duke hesitating with a hesitant expression. Even though he must have sensed his presence, the Duke seemed so engrossed in the Guiding that he didn’t even realize he had been seen. Jian didn’t miss the opportunity and grabbed Axion’s wrist.
“Gasp!”
Startled, Axion tried to pull away, but Jian unexpectedly increased the intensity of the Guiding. If Axion escaped like this, luring him using the same method might no longer work.
She put more pressure by adding more energy, the Duke slumped with a thud, hesitating.
Jian smirked and looked at Axion. He didn’t intend to make the Duke sit down, but capturing him inadvertently was a success.
“There you go. Now, shall we have a little chat?”
Harold, who had been following Jian all along, looked momentarily perplexed at Jian playing with the Duke from the side.
Since he had been by Jian’s side all along as his escort, he knew that the Duke was avoiding Jian. Even though he didn’t know the reason, if the Duke decided to avoid him, there was no way for Jian to catch him.
It would certainly be like that… but how did this happen? Could he have deliberately let himself be caught? No, why? Harold looked back and forth between Jian and Axion with a bewildered expression.
* * *
Jian, absorbed in glaring at the Duke in front of her, didn’t even realize that the butler had brought tea. Axion, too, was desperate not to make eye contact with Jian. The questioning he so desperately wanted to avoid had finally come.
Seeing Axion, who looked completely disheartened, Jian took a sip of tea without saying a word. Although she was facing the Duke after finding him, she couldn’t figure out how to begin.
Dimensional travel through the Gate…
Honestly, she still couldn’t believe it. She had heard from the news that multidimensional research had become active after the Gate incident, but that was a topic for researchers or those interested. Jian, being a Guide, had no interest in or knowledge about the relationship between Gates and dimensions.
If she hadn’t experienced life in the northern Duke’s residence, she would never believe that this place could be another world. The fact that there were so many Espers right in front of her and no Guides.
It was all too much for Jian’s common sense to comprehend. Nevertheless, the deed was already done. Blaming the esper in front of him was useless, Jian knew that. Above all, he wasn’t the Duke of the North for no reason. It wasn’t wise to provoke him unnecessarily. Moreover, Jian was in a position where she might have had to beg him.
