The X Guide

The letter was thrown in someone’s face.

"What the hell is this?" He yelled and looked at the man who resembled his face. "Your dear son kidnapped a friend of their guide? Is this some fucking joke?"

The man only let the letter fall to the ground and lowered his head.

"I apologize for my son’s behavior..." His heart clenched from emotions, but he could not argue with the clan leader over this.

They might be siblings, but when it came to clan affairs, blood relations were sometimes blurred. A clan promotes purity and cohesiveness, but the reality was not always like that.

"What’s good with your apology!" The man brushed his face.

If one looked closely at his face, one might find his eyes familiar. This was precisely the clan leader of the Nevaris clan, Ayen’s estranged father.

He slumped on his chair.

"We have to do something..." The war was in a critical stage, too. If those two-faced bastards also received this letter, which was already a declaration of war for them, they might become singled out.

No one was brave enough to fight alongside them against the SS-class espers.

"Damn it!"

Frustrated at this, the man closed his eyes.

His brother in front of him, clenched his hands.

They were already unable to contact his son, Aicel, and somehow already guessed his fate. His wife was pressing him to save Aicel, and he wanted to do that, but how could he rescue his son if he was in the SS-class esper’s hands?

Now, his brother, the clan leader, was completely dumping the responsibility on him and might become a scapegoat too to calm the SS-class espers’ anger.

And if they thought it was the end of it, articles and rumors began to spread.

"What? We kidnapped the SS-class espers’ guide? Where did that come from?"

In the video conference, everyone’s face was solemn and clearly angry. The bastard government completely changed and exaggerated the story.

Were they not afraid that Khal and Devion would also get angry at them after using them for their propaganda?

"It’s your responsibility, Azazel! You did not discipline your representative."

All the blame was poured on the clan leader of the Nevaris clan. After all, while the articles did not explicitly say the name of the clan responsible for this incident, they were aware of who was involved.

It just so happened that the operation in that city was purely under the Aicel or Nevaris Clan jurisdiction. No one to blame here but them.

Azazel clenched his hand under the table.

"How would we know that a friend of their guide is stationed there? We aren’t even informed of the existence of this guide."

While it was a sound argument, they could not deny that what happened was their fault.

"Fix it, Azazel. We can’t antagonize them, you know that."

Unless there was another SS-class esper that emerged from them, none from this world could fight against them.

His words were a good way to distance himself from this, but also not fall out yet.

The others were the same. At least for now, they were in a wait-and-see attitude. After all, nothing had happened yet to the Nevaris clan, and their downfall was only in a speculation that the two espers would finally make a move on them.

And at the end of the day, they did not think the Nevaris clan would be wiped out just because they kidnapped a friend of their guide. How important was that friend, anyway?

This must only be a warning and nothing much.

At least, that’s what they thought at this time.

Once the meeting ended, Azazel could not help but throw something he held onto from the table.

"Fucking bastards."

They were in a temporary alliance in this war; that did not mean their relationship had become close. It was only that they had the same enemy.

And now that the Nevaris clan has offended Khal and Devion, they distance themselves as much as possible so as not to be implicated. They might be celebrating and wish the conflict to escalate.

Azazel knew that once this war ended, they would return to how it used to be. Having one less elite clan was more than welcome.

He took a deep breath. The room settled in an eerie silence.

At the same time that the news the government spread to attack the moral ground against the clan forces, the trio were on their way to return to the red zone.

Keeran was already with them, and somehow a new esper accompanied them; it was Georgina. Her wounds would interfere with her combat ability, so she was advised to take a break.

It just so happened that they were returning to the red zone and invited her to come. It was Keeran’s suggestion, which Ayen permitted.

Unlike when they were rushing here, this time they were more relaxed. Liz’s movements were still fast, but one could observe their surroundings clearly, and not just like a passing image.

"She looks calm now."

Ayen commented on watching Keeran talk with Georgina not far from them. For the two women’s convenience, Khal made another saddle for them at the back of Liz, as they were obviously uncomfortable or nervous around them.

Devion smirked. "We already met once. Why is she still nervous?"

Ayen glanced at him.

"What do you think?"

Devion shrugged. He knew the reason, actually.

Ayen patted his back.

"Don’t worry. She gets used to things pretty easily."

Ayen noticed Keeran adapting to things quickly. He was sure that if she interacted more with Khal and Devion, she might initiate a conversation next.

The three hummed with each other, settling in a comfortable position. The two women were having a conversation of their own, and soon they drifted to sleep.

"Are you sure to show your face in public with us?" Devion asked when they were leaning to each other; sleep had yet to come to them.

Ayen nodded. He was not that averse to that idea. Sooner or later, it had to happen. After all, this was the world he chose to enter.

They already talked about what Khal found out from Aicel. The Esper was not inclined to hold information about it when it involved all of them.

Whoever was plotting against them... knew Ayen’s identity. Khal did not stop the spread of the news of the supposed abduction of their guide.

He was fishing... Aicel was not enough.

They had yet to scratch the surface of this organization.