Reborn as an SSS-Rank Guide in the Sentinel Academy [BL]

"absolutely not," Reid said, the moment the words left the Emperor’s mouth, forgetting rank entirely in the force of his objection. "you cannot go yourself. you’re the Emperor. if something happens to you out there, this Empire loses far more than one Guide."

"I’m aware of what I am," the Emperor said, voice cold and final. "I don’t need reminding."

"then act like it," Jayden snapped, surprising even himself with the sharpness of it. "cousin, I understand why you want to go. I want to go too, more than anything. but if you die out there, we don’t just lose Julian. we lose the throne, the stability of the entire Empire, everything that’s holding this country together right now while Aberration activity keeps climbing."

The Emperor’s jaw tightened, fury and stubbornness warring plainly behind his composed exterior. "so your solution is to sit here in this room while he suffers."

"my solution," Reid said, "is to send an overwhelming force capable of actually succeeding, led by people who can afford to take the risks you can’t. you commanding from the capital, coordinating resources, keeping the Empire stable while we execute the rescue... that’s how we actually get him back. not by adding one more high-value target for those twins to try and capture."

Logan, quiet until now, finally spoke. "there’s also the problem that we don’t even know where he is."

The room’s tension shifted slightly, practical reality intruding on the argument.

"we have a rough direction," Reid admitted. "east of the mountain trail, based on what little we could gather before the trail went cold again. but that’s an enormous stretch of territory. we’re not just walking in blind, we’re walking in blind across dozens of miles, with an unknown number of hostiles waiting somewhere inside it."

"scouts report Aberration density increasing sharply the further east you travel," Jayden added grimly, pulling a marked map across the table. "and there are pockets flagged here, here, and here... toxic zones, similar to what Julian described from the mountain. any prolonged exposure in those areas accelerates corruption spread significantly. current infection rate across the affected region has climbed to seventy percent among anyone caught in the toxic pockets without protection."

The Emperor stared down at the map, jaw tight, some of his earlier fury cooling into grim, focused calculation. "then we need specialized protection before we even attempt to cross those zones," he said. "and enough force to handle whatever density of hostiles we find once we do."

"exactly," Reid said. "which takes time to properly prepare. time we don’t have if we rush in recklessly and lose people, or worse, lose the search entirely because we walked in unprepared and got wiped out before we ever found him."

The Emperor’s hands curled into fists against the table, frustration and helplessness plain in the tight line of his shoulders, but slowly, reluctantly, he nodded. "fine," he said. "we prepare properly. but I’m still going. that isn’t negotiable, Reid. I’ve spent enough time sitting in this room while people I..." He stopped himself short, jaw tightening further, and didn’t finish the sentence. "I’m going. find a way to make it work."

---

Julian yanked hard against the chain for what felt like the hundredth time, fury boiling hotter with every failed attempt.

"it’s not budging," the fox said quietly, watching him strain against the metal with visible frustration of its own. "I’ve tried too. whatever this chain is made from, it’s not ordinary iron. it’s dampening something. I can’t reach my own abilities properly while it’s locked around you."

"great," Julian bit out, sitting back hard against the wall, chest heaving. "fantastic. so now neither of us can do anything."

"I can still think," the fox said. "that’s not nothing."

"thinking hasn’t gotten us very far so far," Julian snapped, immediately regretting the sharpness of it at the way the fox’s ears drooped. "sorry. I’m not... I’m not actually mad at you."

"I know," the fox said quietly. "you’re mad at the chain. and the brothers. and probably the entire concept of being trapped in general, at this point."

"pretty much," Julian admitted, letting his head fall back against the cold stone, exhaustion and fury tangled too tight to fully separate anymore.

He stared down at the chain locked tight around his ankle, testing the weight of it, the way it dulled the familiar hum of guiding energy he usually felt sitting just beneath his skin, ready to answer whenever he reached for it. Without it, he felt strangely hollow, like some essential part of himself had simply been switched off.

"there has to be a weakness," Julian muttered, running his fingers along the chain’s links, searching for any seam, any flaw, anything at all he might be able to exploit. "nothing’s perfect. not even whatever twisted magic these two are running."

"maybe," the fox said, though it didn’t sound entirely convinced. "but even if there is one, we’d need time to find it. and given everything else happening around us, I’m not sure time is something we have much of right now."

The door opened before Julian could respond, and both of them went instantly still, the fox melting back into shadow just as the frame filled with Ian’s tall, silent presence.

He wasn’t alone. Beside him stood a high-class Aberration, tall and gray-skinned beneath something almost like proper clothing, its posture disturbingly composed, hollow eyes fixed and steady in a way that made the hair on Julian’s arms stand straight up despite everything he’d already survived.

"this is Vess," Ian said, voice as flat and toneless as ever, gesturing toward the creature standing silent beside him. "she’ll be watching you from now on. in case you get any ideas about that chain."

"watching me," Julian repeated, forcing steel into his voice despite the unease crawling up his spine at the creature’s steady, unblinking attention.

"my brother believes leaving you unsupervised was part of the problem before," Ian said. "I agree. Vess doesn’t sleep. doesn’t tire. doesn’t make mistakes born from distraction, or affection, or any of the other inefficiencies that seem to plague everyone else who’s tried to hold you."

The creature... Vess ... tilted her head slightly at the sound of her own name, gaze never leaving Julian, patient and unblinking and utterly without any trace of humanity behind it at all.

"if you try to break that chain," Ian continued, voice utterly without inflection, "she’ll stop you. if you attempt any form of escape, she’ll stop that too. I’d advise against testing exactly how far she’s willing to go to accomplish that."

"How charming of you," Julian said, though his voice came out thinner than he wanted.

Ian studied him a moment longer, something unreadable flickering behind his flat, empty eyes, before he turned and left without another word, the door sealing shut behind him.

Vess remained. She settled into the corner of the room with unnerving stillness, gaze fixed unblinking on Julian, and didn’t move again, didn’t speak, didn’t so much as shift her weight, simply watching with the patient, hollow attention of something that genuinely, truly did not need rest.

Julian stared back at her for a long moment, chest tight with a fresh wave of dread settling deep into his stomach.

"well," he muttered finally, voice low enough that only the fox, still hidden in shadow, could hear him properly. "that’s just fantastic."

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