Secretary Ann was trying his hardest to control his panic. But the more he thought about the situation, the more desperate he felt.

Having Shuu be kidnapped was one thing, but to let the world know of their guild’s incompetence was another. He could not let the latter be found out.

So, with a perfectly composed face, he looked back at Kris and reassured him about what he was going to do.

"There is no need to look so alarmed. We have task forces for such kind of thing and—"

"Something does not feel right. Hasn’t Shuu been in constant danger ever since he joined the survivors’ guild? This is the top-rated guild which boasts the best and safest working conditions. Isn’t that too much of a coincidence?"

Kris asked, and Secretary Ann bit his inner lip to stop himself from cursing.

He did understand what Kris was saying, but a single wrong word had the potential to cause trouble. So he took a deep breath and decided to, very calmly, steer the situation away from where it was going.

"We might be a top guild, but we are not omnipresent. There are spaces that are out of our control as well—"

"Or maybe you got Shuu kidnapped on purpose so that you could take advantage of him—"

The slap sound was loud, and it made everyone look their way. Kris held his throbbing cheek, but his eyes did not yield when they looked at Secretary Ann.

That show of loyalty and defiance startled Secretary Ann enough to make him flinch, but he quickly regained his composure and realized that he was being a little too much at the moment.

Nonetheless, he coughed to show that he was not worried and looked at Kris with an almost blank look on his face.

"Don’t accuse me based on baseless rumors. I value Shuu as an employee just as much as you do as a friend. I am not a bastard who wishes ill or harm on others. Next time, use your words more carefully. Who knows what they could make others think."

Secretary Ann’s voice was calm, but Kris also noticed that other people had started to listen in on their conversation.

People were gossiping as they looked at him and pointed at his flaws. It was beginning to get on his nerves more than he cared to admit.

"I understand. I apologize for the way I behaved. I will try to be more normal from now on. However, I still need you to explain what is going on with Shuu."

Kris backed down just enough to the point where Secretary Ann could feel comfortable. But he was not fully backing down from knowing why Shuu had to go through all of this.

Secretary Ann sighed and then looked Kris in the eyes boldly.

"You might think it is an elaborate scheme or something, but in reality, I don’t know why Shuu is going through all this either. The only thing I can attribute this to is his rotten luck."

Secretary Ann sighed, and Kris concluded his questions.

Unfortunately, the very person they wanted to keep this quiet from heard the news anyway.

And it was from the most unexpected places.

__________

"Father, Rin has called me. He’s saying that Shuu did not return to their room last night. I tried to find Shuu, but I couldn’t sense his presence anywhere either. What should we do now?"

Caelis asked as he put down the paper he was reading (pretending to read).

Kaiden sighed and stood up.

"My honey has a habit of falling into danger, so this does not surprise me. But I did think he would wait a little before pulling something like this. But oh well, I think I know where he is at the moment."

Kaiden passed the paper on his desk over to Caelis, and the young boy grabbed it with curious hands before he looked down.

"Society of Esper Welfare’s ’special’ program for S-class espers who do not have a guide? What is this? Are they offering guiding sessions with guaranteed satisfaction? Who would fall for this?"

Caelis looked at the obviously fake ad on the paper. But something about this did not feel right to him.

The payment money was too huge for it to be a mere prank. If an S-class esper were to pay this much and then get scammed, the other side would likely be dead before they could escape.

But if this was an ad posted despite knowing this, that meant that these people were confident.

"Kaiden, are you suggesting that—"

"These people kidnapped Shuu and are currently holding him. It makes sense, right? Don’t think too much about it. These low-lives do not deserve to live. So once we are done saving Shuu, we will eradicate them as well."

Kaiden had no intention of letting anyone who harmed Shuu live. And that included these worthless humans as well.

But Caelis looked a little troubled as he read through the paper once more before putting it down.

"This...does not feel right. Are these people asking Shuu to guide people forcefully? Shuu won’t agree to it. What if they do something to him? What if something goes wrong—"

"Caelis, stop thinking of things that won’t happen. Shuu is strong, so he will be just fine."

Caelis wanted to protest, but one look at Kaiden’s face told him that it wouldn’t be such a good idea.

Kaiden’s voice might have been calm, but the look in his eyes certainly was not. It made Caelis realize that he was poking a sleeping bear.

The less he asked Kaiden such questions, the better it would be for both their mental health.

"I see. In that case, I will go and prepare for our outing. I don’t want to disappoint Shuu by arriving late."

Kaiden nodded, and he watched Caelis go.

He might have assured Caelis that everything was fine. But in reality, he was seconds away from blowing everything up. The only reason he had not done so was because Shuu was still alive and waiting for him to come back.