The One and Only Guide - Chapter 23
Jian pondered deeply before posing her next question.
“Am I perhaps the second Guide to appear in the North?”
Axion’s wavelength replied. No. At this point, Jian had to swallow her astonishment. If she wasn’t the second, then were there other Guides like her who had crossed dimensions?
Indeed, the Duke had said that all the Guides who appeared in the North had come from another dimension and had all died. The point to note is that he didn’t just say the Guides had died; he said they had “all” died.
This means that more than one Guide had appeared in the North after crossing dimensions.
“Are there more Guides like me who have crossed dimensions? Is it possible for me to meet them?”
“….No. Impossible. However, if you wish, I can guide you to where their gravestones are.”
“So, there are no living Guides left?”
“None.”
“…It’s okay if you don’t answer. I just wanted you to listen to my questions. Now, let’s move on to the next question. Which number am I as the Guide to appear in the North? If not the second, am I the third? Or perhaps the fourth?”
No sooner had Jian asked her question than she immediately received an answer. The fourth. She was the fourth Guide to appear in the North. There had been three other Guides who had crossed dimensions before her, and it was clear that the Duke in front of her had learned about the existence of Guides and guiding because of them.
Now it was time for her to ask the most critical question.
“Do you know of a way for me, as a Guide, to return to my original world, Duke?” Jian asked.
“…..”
As the question he had most wanted to avoid pierced his ears, Axion found himself involuntarily holding his breath. He wished he could just close his eyes tightly. Though not asked to respond, each question felt sharp as a dagger.
Sweat trickled down his back. Yet, he needed to maintain composure. Not blinking an eye, he had to let the question pass. That would ensure she wouldn’t suspect anything.
However, the moment he lifted his head and saw Jian’s cold, expressionless face, Axion realized something was amiss.
Jian spoke, “You mentioned there are others like you here, Espers, that is, people with abilities. But as far as I know, Espers can’t live without a Guide. They usually die in a rampage, right?”
Her question was as chilling as a blizzard. Involuntarily, Axion nodded. Then, Jian rose and placed her palm on the nape of his neck. It was a gentle touch, yet no Guiding occurred.
Axion looked up at her in surprise. Wasn’t it that Guiding happened through mere contact with a Guide? As he wondered, Jian’s emotions flowed into him. No Guiding seeped through, but the transfer of emotions through their contact was clear.
What Axion felt was rage. Intense rage. And following that rage was a bone-chilling enmity.
He then understood. She knew he was lying and had played along, all the while discerning the truth through some unknown means.
The serene look in Jian’s eyes pushed Axion deeper into a quagmire.
Axion grabbed Jian’s hand on his neck and knelt down. He wanted to beg at her feet, to turn her anger-filled heart away from its course.
“I… I was wrong. I lied,” he admitted.
“…..What’s wrong with you all of a sudden?” Jian asked, puzzled.
“If you leave, I’ll go into a rampage again. And then I’ll die. I never intended to lie from the start. I was just… just scared. I hoped you wouldn’t find out the hideous truth buried in Odergen.”
Hideous truth? What could that mean? The Duke’s sudden change of demeanor was also quite startling. It seems he knows that his lie was uncovered, but how did she find out?
Even if she knew, such a sudden shift in stance is puzzling. He could have kept up his facade and acted brazenly. Why the change? Was he shocked that the Guiding didn’t occur even after contact?
Or maybe… did he realize? That she had decided not to provide Guiding anymore, whether he would go into a rampage or not?
In the end, she even considered breaking the bond after imprinting it. If the bond with a Guide is destroyed, an Esper usually dies from the shock. She knew it wasn’t right, but the thought had crossed her mind for a moment.
Honestly, on some level, I really wanted to, because Guide ethics and all that, and the back of my head was tingling like I was about to burst into flames and fall down by the throat.
But now this apology, and so humbly at that. What made him change his mind so suddenly?
With these questions, the words of the laboratory director suddenly came to mind.
He had said that a variety of connections form between a Guide and an Esper with a high matching rate. Some Espers can pinpoint the location of their Guide from afar, and others can transfer their wounds or injuries to their Guide.
These traits mostly develop to protect or shield the Guide. Could it be that this man has developed such a trait?
I don’t know. First, I need to find a way back to Earth.
“How can I return?”
“Please… I’m begging you. Don’t go.”
