Invasion [Sentinel-Guide] Section 33

The news of Count James’s death in his own bedroom spread quickly, becoming the hottest topic of conversation on every street corner over the past few days.

It is said that the murderer remains at large. The sentinels of the Public Security Bureau are frantic, and even Her Majesty the Queen, who has not made a public appearance in a long time, has taken notice of the matter, dispatching Officer Luther of the Royal Guard to personally oversee the investigation.

Yet, regardless of who one is, no matter how prominent one may have been in life, once the candle of life is extinguished, one can at most linger in the wagging tongues of others for a few days. Soon, like smoke in the wind, they are forgotten by time.

The blood-red night of glitz and glamour passed, and the morning sun rose once more.

Across the wilderness, far from human settlements, vegetation grows unchecked, and the earth is full of vitality. A dirigible slowly drifts across the horizon.

At the bow of the airship, an exquisite statue of a goddess gleams with the cold, metallic luster of special materials in the sunlight. The oval-shaped hull is large enough to carry hundreds of passengers. The airship’s massive shadow casts itself over the lush green earth, startling a herd of elk hidden within the forest.

The beautiful herd gallops across the green expanse, running in tandem with the roar of the airship. Before long, the elk dash into a ruin covered in tangled vines, kicking up clouds of leaves as they vanish deep into the old architectural complex abandoned by humanity years ago.

"Look, those are ruins from the old days," a young man on the airship says, pointing out the window.

He wears the white formal uniform of the Guide Academy, his cuffs trimmed with delicate lace, his every gesture embodying a refined etiquette etched into his very bones. He appears remarkably young.

Several other guides dressed in similar fashion crowd around the window to watch.

A single flight of this luxury dirigible, a relic of the past, is incredibly costly. It requires expensive energy stones, making it far from a mode of transport for ordinary people. At this moment, the interior of the airship carries over a dozen young guides, escorted by a large number of sentinels, as it makes its slow journey toward the border.

Nowadays, the situation at the border is becoming increasingly dire. Pollution zones expand and shift at any moment, and powerful aberrations appear everywhere. No guide is willing to be stationed long-term at those dangerous and resource-starved outposts. Furthermore, the scarce and physically fragile guides cannot withstand the attrition of the battlefield.

However, to pacify the sentiments of the sentinels stationed in these desolate, bitter lands, the Empire sends a portion of the guides from the White Tower to patrol and stay at various border outposts for a few days each year.

The stated purpose is to help treat those sentinels suffering from severe mental instability. After all, the Empire publicly declares that it will not easily abandon any sentinel. Yet, over the years, this has become little more than a formality. Each year, the Empire symbolically dispatches guides, who arrive at each location with great fanfare, capturing videos and recordings of the visit.

The guides stay for only a day or two in those harsh conditions before hastily rushing back, full of complaints. They rarely actually clear the mental pollution from the humble, impoverished sentinels at the bottom of the hierarchy. With mountains of sentinels in need of help, the few young guides truly cannot do much, so they merely go through the motions.

The young guides sit in the spacious, bright dining hall, taking their meal. Through the expansive glass portholes, the boundless, beautiful scenery of the wilderness is laid bare. No matter how reluctant they were to leave, they are, after all, young people who have never left the White Tower. Everything in the outside world is novel and fascinating to them.

Underneath the vibrant grasses lie vast areas of buildings left behind by humanity. The overpasses and streetlights that once spanned the entire city have mostly collapsed, looking like a dead giant dragon, half-buried under yellow sand, with fragments of broken ends frozen in time, staring up at the bright, sunny sky. Countless skyscrapers, once piercing the clouds, have had their steel bodies corroded by the passage of hundreds of years. Like hundreds or thousands of massive tombstones, they stand silently in the wilderness, cloaked in green.

"Wow, are those where the ancient humans lived?"

"Do you see those tall, tower-like structures? Those dense, tiny black holes on them are said to be the homes where people used to live," the sentinel who first greeted them explains.

"Wow, why did they build such tall houses and live in such crowded spaces? The land was so vast, and I heard there were no pollution zones back then, right?"

"During that era, the number of humans on this planet was immense—so many you couldn't imagine—to the point where there wasn't enough land to live on. People could only build their houses higher and higher, stacking layer upon layer, living packed together like bees. Look, just like that."

"As expected of Shu Jingtong, the top student in the annual assessment. You even know ancient history so well." A companion praises the young man. "Xiao Shu, you get the highest grade in every subject, don't you?"

Shu Jingtong, sitting in the airship's dining hall, pulls his gaze away from the porthole, elegantly spreads his napkin, and smiles modestly. "That is not the case; there are certainly people with better grades than me."

"Jingtong would have topped every leaderboard if not for the mental strength test. He’s been beaten by that weirdo every year."

"You... are you talking about that person?"

"Yes, who else could it be? Her grades are a mess in everything. She can't do flower arranging, and she failed tea ceremony. During the cooking class, I happened to be in the same room and watched her burn the trash can."

"How could Jingtong lose to someone like that? Perhaps she used some connection or cheated."

"Exactly. Besides her mental strength, her grades in everything else are so poor; what right does she have to be matched with such an excellent partner so early?"

"And it’s the only son of the Jiang family—a sentinel who passed the B-grade test at such a young age. His mental projection is a very imposing leopard, and he is handsome himself, with a good personality, I hear."

Shu Jingtong raises a hand to stop his companions from continuing to gossip. "Do not say such things. She does indeed surpass me in mental strength. We should submit to the arrangements of the White Tower."

As an honor student raised in the Guide Academy, he was taught by teachers since childhood through both precept and example, which cultivated in him a self-disciplined, courteous, modest, and gentle character. He is a benchmark for both academics and morality among his peers. He knows that as a guide, humility and gentleness are the most important qualities, and he feels it is wrong to speak ill of others behind their backs—even if, in his heart, he has felt resentment and doubt.

He once secretly asked his mentor why he lost to that person in that specific subject every time.

"Teacher, I just want to know, what is the exact difference in mental strength value between her and me? I would like to study hard and try to catch up to her once."

At the time, the teacher merely sighed and reached out to pat his head. Although the teacher said nothing, the look of pity in the teacher's eyes stirred his rebellious spirit. Later, he spent a long time reflecting and adjusting his mindset to regain his calm and compliant demeanor, so as not to let inappropriate competitive urges rise every time he heard that name.

Guides should not have such a desire for victory; it is wrong.

"That is not what a guide should focus on," the teacher’s teachings still ring in his ears. "The most important thing for a guide is to learn to control mental energy with gentleness and precision, so that in the future, you can soothe the negative emotions of the partner the Empire matches you with. That is enough. It is not a good thing for a guide to be too strong."

He took his teacher's words to heart and set aside those inappropriate thoughts. The most important qualities of a guide are being quiet, gentle, and beautiful, and unselfishly dedicating one's life to one's partner—that is the virtue of a guide. This is the universal value; everyone believes this, do they not?

Shu Jingtong has done just that, year after year, carefully and strictly demanding of his own words and deeds, striving to become a perfect guide.

The other guides accompanying them hear the gossip and crowd around, talking over one another.

"They are talking about Lin Yuan, right?"

"Does she have some kind of background? She is quite mysterious, not at all sociable, and every day she is cold and alone. I don't think any sentinel could stand her."

"Exactly. I think they are doomed sooner or later. Who would like a guide who can't even pass a cooking test?"

"Don't you guys know? Lin Yuan and that person from the Jiang family have already broken off their engagement." A girl sitting at the dining table puts down her golden fork and gently wipes the corner of her mouth with a napkin. "It was not long ago. I heard that Jiang Yangshuo was caught by Lin Yuan while he was with another guide."

"Really? And then what? Tell us in detail, Nicole."

Everyone possesses a heart for gossip, even the gentle and dignified guides. Countless ears perk up; even the best student in the school, Shu Jingtong, cannot help but lean slightly to the side.

Nicole is a girl with a head of frizzy, permed curls. The eccentric hairstyle paired with the academy’s dignified uniform looks rather out of place. However, she comes from a prominent family; her house is a hereditary nobility, and her father serves as the Royal Spokesperson, holding the title of Baron. Thus, the girl lives much more recklessly than the average guide, and no one dares to control her.