The X Guide

Khal touched the corner of his lips, suppressing his smile from coming out. Ayen swallowed and averted his gaze. He was reminded of how puncheable Devion was when he was showing this side of his.

Devion looked so smug. He stretched his arms behind Ayen and looked arrogantly at the two guides.

"We are only confirming something. It’s best if you reveal anything to us before we force you to."

The two guides bit their lips and looked at each other.

Devion glanced at Khal and Ayen. The two were somehow speechless at his pretentious behavior. Well, not that he was lying, but strictly speaking, they did not know anything yet.

Still, it was more than welcome. Khal’s interrogation method was hard to apply against these guides.

"What do you intend to do about the anomaly there?"

It was something obvious, but starting from here could have an effect throughout this entire conversation.

The gazes focused on them, making the two guides more anxious than they already were. Unlike espers, guides did not have strong mental fortitude except for a few. Clearly, these two were not an exception.

"We are tasked to do so..."

"Paula!" the man beside her called her name in panic. "You can’t..."

The woman, Paula, bit her lips and looked at him. "What? We don’t have a choice, do we? Look! We don’t even know if..." Paula paused, her eyes moistening. "We’ll die if we don’t cooperate!"

The three did not interrupt them. The two guides had the lowest chance of dying here, even if they did not cooperate. Unless Khal suddenly went crazy, of course.

The man stared at Paula before he sighed and closed his eyes in frustration.

Ayen knew that they only needed a push.

"The espers of your group didn’t have the luxury of yours. If you cooperate, we can slightly change their environment."

The two guides suddenly snapped to his side, including Khal and Devion. They already expected it, but hearing it was another matter.

They stared at Ayen, not recognizing him. However, as he was with the two espers, the two guides already had their guesses.

"How can we... believe you?" Paula warily asked.

Instead of answering him, Ayen turned to Khal and Devion.

"Can it be done or not?"

Devion and Khal automatically smiled at that. They quickly nodded.

"Of course," Khal agreed.

"Anything for you," Devion softened his tone, which made Ayen’s left eye twitch. It was an exaggeration, but the effect seemed to be positive.

Seeing how the two SS-class espers were agreeing and talking to him gently put the two at ease somewhat. At least, it proved that Ayen was their guide who had enough weight in their hearts.

The two guides exchanged glances and gradually nodded at each other.

"Tell us what you know." Khal struck as soon as he saw the two finally make a decision. There was no need for an extra minute of hesitation.

The half hour passed quickly. Unlike the conversation with the espers, they got enough information from the two. Although it was obvious they were still withholding something.

At the very end, Khal asked the two.

"Do you know the plan to unleash a curse similar to a contagious disease?"

The two frowned. Paula shook his head, clearly uninformed. The man beside her was lost in thought; then he snapped his eyes open, terrified.

Khal narrowed his eyes, and so did Devion and Ayen.

"Do you know something?"

The man took a deep breath.

"I... I don’t know the full plan. We each have our own missions, and groups don’t need to get along for confidential purposes."

that they already revealed. Basically, their organization’s structure was messy, but it was deliberately left like that. Staff below did not know who the boss above them was, other than the one directing them.

The same with mission groups like them, they were directly under their commander, which was the esper now in the form of a beast.

"I have a friend from, uhm, finance. She was told to enter a field mission." The man fidgeted, terror written in his face. "But she’s actually just staff, a C-class utility esper. When she returned, her behavior was weird. She told me..."

The man paused and looked up, swallowing the remaining saliva in his mouth.

"...She’ll die, but don’t bury her. She said... I need to burn her. She pleaded that I must do it. The next day, she died. But I couldn’t burn her. The cleaner arrived and took her."

Paula also frowned as though having a recollection of that incident.

The three did not interrupt and knew the story might not end there. Sure enough, he continued. His hands fidgeted intensely upon recalling the memory.

"When I visited her dorm, I saw her. The cleaners were there too. They were all... smiling." The man sucked a breath. "She died. I saw it. Then she’s fine. And smiling weirdly with others. The corner of her lips was torn. Then they..."

The man lowered his gaze and started trembling.

Paula looked at him. "Wait, was it when everyone was told to evacuate because something from the research room leaked?"

The man nodded.

"Leaked?" Ayen could not help but interrupt this time. "When did this happen?"

"Six months ago."

That long already? The three looked at each other. Confusion filled their gazes, but there was also a clarity. It seemed the direction of their assumption was not too far from the truth.

Since the other esper was shaken from the memory and had to rest, they decided to end their conversation there. In any case, they got what they needed. Not to that full extent, but better than nothing.

Ultimately, what they could get from these guys was limited. That esper surrounded by disgusting curses was the main part.

"If it was six months ago..." Ayen started the conversation as they were walking back to their room. "We haven’t met each other yet."

The two espers nodded. They have only known each other for about five months now. However, that was not important here.

"So, how am I connected to it?"

Ayen could not understand. Why was his subconscious warning him?