"Great Guardian, I ask for your guidance."
Useful ones. Not those pointless things like 'this is your fate'!
"Please shine over this pitiful subject and grant me peace."
Ah, this is so embarrassing. This old guardian is making me say such weird things.
"You are the only one who can help me."
I'd rather not ask, though. If only there were another way. This better work! I've been suffering from chills because of this creature; helping is the least he could do.
"So please forgive my misgivings and grant me your aid."
He almost crushed me into a square last time. Why couldn't I have a generous guardian who helps on their own?
Sincerity was apparently a waste of time when it was not felt from within. Faking it worked, almost everywhere, except when the receiver can see through your lies. Or hear through them.
And while Reis solemnly stared out the window with a tranquil expression, as if unbothered by worldly affairs, the said receiver in this case could definitely hear the jumbled mess in his mind very clearly.
I'm done for. There's no hope anymore. This is the end.
It had to be. Although he didn't know who this was, God or demon, if he could practically hear Reis's every thought, forget helping, he'd probably help the enemies instead.
Why did he have to think those things?
"Stop spewing nonsense. You're giving me a headache."
|Achievement: Cause physical or mental damage to a higher being.|
'Is this a joke to you?'
|I'm merely informing you.|
Reis didn't know what to do, how to fix this… two-bladed mistake. It was one thing to praise someone. Other to badmouth someone. How was he supposed to explain doing both at the same time?
Pretend to have a personality disorder? That could work. If this plan wasn't also exposed to the distant listener as well.
Reis had gotten rid of the servants before attempting the shameful request. Thank god he did. Cause he couldn't trust his expressions right now. If anyone were here, they would see their troublesome prince making weird faces, which would definitely become palace gossip. More than that, Agnes might have had a heart attack seeing him act suspiciously.
It was better to shrivel from voices of unknown origin without becoming palace gossip.
"Uh…I…um, I do mean it when I say you're the only one who can help…" Reis made a pitiful attempt at damage control. He really didn't mean to add those things. But what was he supposed to do when all he had was a negative experience with Odyssey?
"And why should I help you?"
"..."
You're my freaking guardian! What else are you supposed to do? "Because you are a great being who can?"
|You could at least try to be polite…|
Reis tried, didn't he? He tried to control his words. But how was he supposed to control his thoughts? Not to mention after the response he got.
He didn't really know what a guardian was in this case. But if this being was the only one with the authority to help him, that had to be his job. And no one actually likes to work, he knew that, but this creature was continuously invading his mental privacy. The least he could do was help.
"What do you want then?"
Reis's solemn eyes finally lit up. I want to escape from the Ascendency trials! Help me drop out!
"That's under heaven's jurisdiction. Whether you are in or out is their decision."
'But the system said you can help…'
"That would require me to physically intervene."
Reis stared ahead, confused. It almost felt like someone was scrutinizing him.
Can't you do that much? Were there special rules that said guardians could only watch? That didn't sound right. Otherwise, the system wouldn't have mentioned this idea; it's not that incompetent, is it?
|...|
"It's not my fault, I was assigned to the weaker than the weakest human without mana or physical training."
And how was that Reis's fault? Why did it matter anyway?
"I had to pour in my energy to even cross you over."
Is this some kind of a loan shark? Or did he run out of energy because of it and was currently healing himself?
"Don't think too highly of yourself, puny human. You are the problem. You don't have what it takes to summon me."
Again, how is that his fault? Reis didn't ask to be a delicate prince who was only good at sleeping and running away. Now, even the capability to run away was compromised.
Reis sighed, half annoyed, half dejected. "Please! Help me! I have no one else to ask for help. You are the guardian! I'm sure you have a way to help."
"Humans really are vexing. You are strangling me in your mind, while asking for help."
That was a lie. Not once had he thought of strangling this creature. How could he think of it when he didn't even know what this being looked like? To strangle someone, even in the mind realm, you need to be able to imagine their appearance; otherwise, it is not satisfying.
Wait no. Not Again! "I didn't mean it to be like that! I swear! I just can't help it!"
The servants better not have heard his whining. He didn't have that thick of a skin to survive that kind of embarrassment.
Does the guardian really not have a way to help without being summoned? Are otherworldly beings supposed to be really strong, no? What was so hard about helping a human? Heavens didn't care that much, even he knew that. And he was the least knowledgeable here.
|...|
|It is entirely in the guardian's hands.|
I bet he'd be bitter even if he had fifty hands to help.
"I will help you once you successfully summon me."
That sounded ominous. Like, seriously, warning bells included. Reis didn't want to do anything ominous to himself.
|By the system's formative rules, the guardian cannot cause you any harm intentionally as long as you are his ward.|
So what is the ominous feeling then? And will he really help? Reis had great doubts. He wasn't given so much as a nail's worth of help so far. Demons lured humans to make contracts with them. And the result is not that bright.
"Ow!"
It was an awful feeling to have ice thrown into your shirt. One of the worst feelings, worse than bathing in ice water knowingly. That was what it felt like as soon as the thought passed.
"I granted your deepest wish, how ungrateful of you to still complain."
What wish? It sounded like his dying wish of revenge had been fulfilled. Only that he had made no such wish, nor was he granted any special godly powers. So what was this guy bragging about?
"Truly, I was assigned to the weakest and most foolish one."
Well, sorry for being incompetent then. Reis was no use here anyway. He should be sent back immediately. He was more than ready for it.
Reis's limit was the palace. He didn't know what it was like for others. But if the 'Guardian' was someone assigned to help, he could have given him at least a gift. That's what higher beings did, right? Instead, it was just a cycle of complaining about something he didn't have a choice over.
"You foolish Human."
|The Guardian indeed bestowed a blessing on you. It has just not been necessary until now.|
Really? Gasoline wouldn't light up as fast as the prince by proxy did. A gift. There really was something.
Reis was grasping at straws at this point. Anything would do as long as it could help him run away.
|Would you like to try it?|
Yeah!
|Initiating.|
|Scan Complete. Skill: Insta Klean in effect, 3…2…1|
Reis stared through the huge flash of light, heart beating loudly. Could he have an overpowered skill after all?
Not even in the age of electricity had he ever seen such a blinding light up close. It was as if the sun itself had been summoned into this room, and what the light left behind was even more blinding.
|Skill Use Successful.|
|Your room has been thoroughly cleaned.|
|Would you like to try another room?|
He blinked. Then stared. And blinked again.
Reis didn't know the words to express his feelings as he stared at the table that almost reflected his face. It was such an odd feeling, nothing he had ever felt before. He opened his mouth to speak and closed it again, repeating the process a few times.
"Are you so surprised that even the weird, annoying voice went silent?"
God forbid, even the third prince's greatest enemies wouldn't call his voice annoying, just like no one would call him ugly. Those were his only positive characteristics known to the public.
But yes, the so-called annoying voice that couldn't stop spewing something negative did go quiet for a good few minutes. Ann was so surprised, he didn't even know what to think, let alone utter the words.
He did, though, once the impact of the shock wore off and he looked back at the blue screen.
"Does the great guardian not know how the world works, or is this on purpose?" Reis asked from genuine curiosity. After all, there was little he knew about the ways of higher world.
"Don't mind me asking, but is he, for lack of a better word, an idiot?"