Chapter 5

Episode 5

“I’m a guide?”

“Yeah, we’ll have a closer look in the capital and we’ll know exactly your class.”

At the words of the duke, I looked down at my hand with mixed feelings.

The job of a ‘guide’ was a very distant dream for commoners like me.

Of course, a commoner happened to undergo an examination in the capital, and it turned out that he was an S-class guide, and the story of how he became rich is everywhere.

However, rumors were only rumors, and in reality, they were nonsense.

The guides were no different from ordinary people except that they could purify the power of the Transcendent, and their main task was to guard and guide a Transcendent in all kinds of risky environments.

It was natural to go through as much training as most soldiers to become an “official guide” recognized in the empire. And education to become an official guide costs a lot of money.

The graduates of the guide training school were mostly nobles, with the exception of guides from commoners who occasionally appeared for publicity purposes. And even after graduating from school with difficulty, it was very difficult for the guides from commoners to enter into a fair contract due to lack of connections.

Even if you know that you are a guide, the life of commoners will ultimately not change.

Of course, as the rumors say, if it is a guide of S-class or higher, the nobles will sponsor it on their own to provide guide training, but the S-class guide is not the name of any house. It would be faster to be such a talented person once every 100 years.(1)

That’s why it was not easy for me to go to the capital city right away.

***

“What’s that?”

“You told me to prepare for a detailed guide examination in the capital. I packed my things.”

“That’s all your luggage?”

“Yes.”

My luggage is not much.

A few pairs of underwear, a pair of outdoor clothes, a pocket containing strings for multi-use, a handful of water, a handful of salt, and an ID card that was taken out to match the old brown briefcase.

The duke was carefully examining my luggage like the director of an orphanage who conducts hygiene inspections.

“It sucks.”

He only took out my ID card from it and threw the rest out of the bag.

‘This bastard……’

I’m still not used to him doing trashy things every moment, I grabbed my skirt tightly to suppress my anger.

“I’ll buy you a new one, so let’s throw it all away.”

“You already threw it all away.”

“I know. Thanks to me for throwing it away, right? You don’t have to separate garbage and collect it.”

My underwear… I’ve only brought things I’ve only worn ten times.

Outing clothes were made of strong, high-quality fabrics and were worn only once in a lifetime. As I watched the duke turn, I secretly pouted my lower lip.

With my hands lightened, I followed him down to the main hall.

Since I was a low-level maid in charge of washing dishes, who only walked in and out of the daily use aisle, kitchen, and attic, there was no need for me to even walk in the main hall.

From the murals adorning the ceiling, to the intricately carved lily patterns on the alabaster columns, to the view of the lake as you descend the elegantly curved stairs. As I passed the mansion, my eyes widened and I looked around.

“I’ll leave you behind.”

It doesn’t matter if you leave me.

I hurried down the stairs at the Duke’s call.

In front of the portico, there was a black car with a smooth gloss instead of a carriage. As a person who had lived a life unrelated to the limousine in my previous life, I had no choice but to be discouraged.

As I approached him, Gilbert, a footman, opened the door as if he were doing it to a  noblewoman.

After making eye contact with him, I relaxed a little. Quite a few servants, including Gilbert and Meg, survived the hunt.

It was because I caught the Duke’s attention on the way.

It is said that Duke Janus’s nature is spontaneous and fickle, so the hunt has faded as it is since he found me hiding in the kitchen.

The surviving servants just listened to the nagging saying that they should pay more attention to hiring people in the future and do not bully the youngest. I was too healthy to be the reason for the blood hunt that was held.(2)

“Do you know that there are a lot of people in the capital?”

As soon as Gilbert got into the car, the duke, who rode first, started a conversation.

I quickly erased my smile from my face and responded with a grumpy voice.

“I don’t know.”

“What do you know?”

Meg would be nice. Being able to live in a duke-free castle again as before.

In the car that started moving, I only pinched my fingers. And feeling the unfamiliar feeling of being in a moving car, I remembered the lamentations I had been dealing with so far.

‘That stone shined for no reason.’

I am not happy even if I become a C-class guide or higher.

There’s no way I’m that rare S-class guide, and if I do, things will get more complicated.

Since I will be sponsored by Duke Janus, I will belong to the Duke after the guide training.

I really don’t want to get involved anymore.

“Duke, do I have to go to the capital?”

“What are you talking about? Why did you get in the car when you didn’t want to go?”

I rode it because you told me to.

His tone changed like a child because he couldn’t say that and just looked up.

I couldn’t say that so I just looked up, his tone changed to that of a child’s.

“Do you know the average annual salary of a guide? It’s incomparable than the money you make by washing the dishes with those maple-like hands and having eczema.”

“……”

“It means that if you go to school and study well, you can make a lot of money. You don’t like money?”

“I like it……”

“But why do you look like you’re dying?”

There is a reason why the guide’s salary is high.

Of course, it is because it is a rare professional occupation, but above all, it belongs to a high-risk occupation group that has to take as much risk as a transcendent.

In addition, the terrifying training until one is recognized as an official guide, and the enormous cost used for it. In this way and that way, it’s not a ridiculous annual salary.

‘I just want to build my career as a maid like the others and save even a small amount of money.’

But if I say that, the Duke would be very angry. I mumbled and opened my mouth.

“Just… The capital is large and there are many people, and when we close our eyes, we will cut our noses.”(3)

“Are you scared?”

“Yes?”

While raising my head with a puzzled look, I quickly said, “Yes–.”

And then I agreed with it.

‘I’m not sure if he’s trying to comfort me so I won’t be afraid.’ 

But looking at the smile hanging around the boy’s mouth, it didn’t seem like it.

I think he’s going to die of joy because others are scared.

“Hmm, I didn’t know Betty was scared.”

I have a lot of worries and a lot of fear. However, from the Duke’s point of view, it may seem that my actions have lost fear.

For several days after meeting him, I was in a corner all the time, and in that state, I was scared and had nothing to hide.

“Then, shall we hold hands?”

What?

Suddenly, I looked at the air in one hand pushed under the shaft.

I suddenly met his eyes when one hand raised my chin.

‘The capital is scary, but why hold hands in the car?’

He clapped his hands outstretched at me, who’s bewildered.

“You don’t have to think about whether it’s gonna bother me or not. Because I’m fine with it.”(4)

“Ah, yeah..”

I feel like I have no choice, so I put one hand on top of the outstretched hand.

I didn’t know because I didn’t pay much attention before, but when I found out that I was a guide, I felt something in contact with a transcendent.

It feels like a breeze is escaping from the body.

When I focused, I felt the itchy feeling from my fingertips, but it was a very subtle sensation, so I could ignore it if I didn’t care.

“Ha…… Good.”

However, it must feel different from the other person.

‘If I were to go through the Duke, guiding would not solve the problem.’

Come to think of it, his guides were not even visible during the past few days when the Duke stayed in the castle. At that moment, I had an unpleasant feeling and felt like my whole body was cooling down.

Perhaps he knew how I felt, but the duke muttered in a sour voice.

“You get free guide training and as soon as you graduate, you become my own guide.”

I asked back pretending to know nothing, “M, me?”

“Yeah, I’m talking about your career path, so pay attention, Betty.”

“I’m going to be your guide?”

“Yes. You’ll have to spend a year as my guide. You’re going to spend 10 years as a guide at the school in the capital and build your career as my guide for about a year. Is it hard to understand what I mean?”

“No.”

As I shook my head, a faint smile appeared on his lips. In the meantime, the way he smiles like that suits him well, and he looks pretty, making him look bubbly.

I asked carefully to identify the ominousness that shook my heart.

“Then…… Where are the guides of the duke?”

Duke Janus was different from any other transcendent.

Janus of creation, and Gladio of extinction.

As he was one of the two pillars supporting the empire, he had to bear the enormous power, and of course, that burden was not solved by the purification of just one guide.

For example, Duke Gladio, who has similar power, had more than 10 dedicated guides. All of them were high-quality guides supplied by the Duke of Matthia and the Duke of Sol who were called master guides.

The Duke of Janus also received that level of guides from Matthia and Sol, and the current Duke of Janus was especially unstable and powerful, requiring more guides than the Duke of Gladio.

Why haven’t we hired new guides so far when the empress’s coronation ceremony would have gone wild a few days ago?

The duke answered my question.

“I don’t have any. I’m going to need to get one again.”

“Why aren’t they here?”

“A few days ago, I got out of control and they died.”

“……”

“All of my guides died in less than six months. It’s very strange.”

The duke was truly a strange coincidence.

‘Should I just open the door of the car and jump off?’

I seriously pondered.