The X Guide-Chapter 104: To Find Companions (3)

Did this bastard deserve to die? Yes. Ayen knew that once the knife pointing at his neck disappeared, Auxia’s resentment would surge once more.

His grudge against Aurelle would also increase.

Yet, Ayen would not kill him. The timing was not right. Although he was favored, Auxia was still part of this family.

"Where is that Julius now?" Ayen began his series of questions once more. Auxia was already terrified, and he answered the questions much more smoothly.

"He’s, probably at the association." Seeing Ayen’s heavy gaze on him, Auxia quickly added, "I don’t know. We’re not friends. You know it too. He only approaches me to... to harm you."

Ayen’s expression did not reveal anything as he asked a few more questions. Auxia answered them. Ayen did not know if he was telling the truth, but he let it be.

It was not too late to make him accountable once he had more information in his hands.

"Can you, can you let me go now? Please, the wound..." Auxia’s face was pale, looking very worried about his wound.

Ayen glanced at the wound, which was small enough not to be life-threatening. It only bled a little. Once more, he stared at Auxia, making the other anxious again as his tears and snot flowed once more.

"I’ve already told you everything I know!"

A coward. But not necessarily harmless. Ayen judged him as such before he pulled his hand away. He put down the knife and took a napkin to wipe his hands.

Auxia immediately put his hand in his wound, glaring at Ayen. Ayen stared at him, and Auxia lowered his head.

Ayen only lingered for a while before he turned around and walked away. He was still vigilant in Auxia’s actions, but he left the dining room without trouble.

Auxia still had some sense about him.

Once he exited the door, the servant stiffened. Her face pale, she was fidgeting with the hem of her uniform. Ayen merely glanced at her before he ignored her.

Even if someone witnessed what happened inside, Ayen was not afraid. He proceeded towards the main door, intending to leave. The best course of action was to observe the location he was in.

The guards were quite surprised when they saw him, but they still let him out without any questions. Ayen only saw one running inside as if to report his action.

He ignored it and continued walking out. His eyes swept around, observing his surroundings. Once he was out in the street, he paused and looked up.

Ayen gave himself a few minutes to sense any familiarity. Soon enough, he confirmed where he was. While some buildings were unfamiliar, the layout was noticeable enough.

This was the abandoned town. He already had a hunch, but confirming it was another matter. So, after entering the association branch building, the mana disturbance there transported them to this world.

Was it the past? Ayen could not make sure about it. Perhaps they were merely inside a version created by a dungeon and not a real past.

There was only one way to find out.

Ayen continued on his way. It was still in the afternoon, and so there were a lot of people outside. While he went to the main gate of the town, he still continued scrutinizing his surroundings.

By the looks of it, this town was indeed a yellow zone. In the first place, it was rare for green zones to be only town-sized. The most qualified to be one was at least a small city.

Just as he was hurrying to the gate, he heard a call to his name. It was not his real name, but Aurelle’s. At first, he ignored it, but another voice called him again.

It was also getting closer to him.

Ayen had no choice but to stop. He turned around, wanting to see who was calling him. He quickly noticed two men and one woman walking towards him.

Ayen’s eyes were drawn to their uniforms more than their appearance, since he did not know them. Their uniforms were familiar. The two men wore the standard Institute Esper uniform, while the woman wore the Guide Association guide uniform.

Once they were closer, though, Ayen saw a slight difference in design. While he could not comment on institute uniforms, Ayen had already experienced three uniform changes in his career.

The latest they had been using were only issued a couple of years ago, which introduced the unique identification weave in the uniform itself.

What the woman was wearing was the standard issue before it changed a couple of years ago.

"Young Master Aurelle," the woman greeted. She looked at the two espers and then nodded as if gesturing them to speak.

Young Master? Ayen could not help but raise a brow at the term. He was also called that title back at the clan. It seemed Aurelle’s identity was still higher than he thought.

Ayen did not speak and merely looked at them, waiting for what the three were up to.

The three exchanged glances.

The tall man on the right coughed and opened his mouth to speak.

"Ah, we’re about to visit your house, but we saw you. Uh, we want to invite you." After the man finished speaking, the two glanced at him as though they were not satisfied with his words.

"Invite me for what?" Ayen finally responded. He did not want to waste any more of his time watching them glance at each other.

The three stiffened but quickly recovered. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"Uhm, I know the Young Master has just experienced an incident, but we need your help back at the association," the woman spoke directly this time and continued to explain.

So, as it turned out, Aurelle was an A-class Guide. He was also the only A-class guide in town. After all, a town of this size did not need a lot of manpower to defend. So, the deployed espers or guides were minimal.

Most guides and espers that were dispatched were C or B class. However, two weeks ago, two dungeons emitting A-class mana density appeared in the vicinity of the town.

After reporting in at the headquarters, they dispatched two A-class espers, who were stationed in the nearest green zone to this town. However, the association had yet to give a word, and no A-class guides were dispatched.

It just so happened that Aurelle was an A-class guide. As for Aurelle’s exact situation, Ayen was still not sure about it.

Ayen could only discern that the association requested Aurelle’s help to guide the two A-class espers.