I fell into the Eldora Empire a year ago.

I still remember that day clearly.

The day I finally passed the civil service exam I had studied for 4 years. The day I drank excessively with friends out of joy. The day I was so drunk I didn’t see the sign saying it was under construction.

I fell into a large manhole and passed out.

When I came to, the life of a civil servant I had long awaited had completely vanished.

I had been transported into “I Seduced the Ability Users,” a novel I used to read whenever I had free time while preparing for the civil service exam.

And I was Yerena, a C-class Guide who gets used by the male leads and dies before the female lead appears.

Damn, if I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have read the novel. I wouldn’t have studied so hard.

I deeply regretted it, but I didn’t have much time to deny this miserable reality.

The point I was transported to was the beginning of the novel when Yerena manifested as a C-class Guide and was drafted to the Center.

Yerena met her death as the novel transitioned from the early to the middle part.

If I kept denying reality without accepting it, I felt I might die a dog’s death.

Now, there was a separate reason why Yerena, despite being C-class and not A-class, became the Guide for the ‘Allen Knights’, the Empire’s best knightly order.

It was because her matching rate with ‘Benjamin Vicente’, the Empire’s No. 1 ranked Esper, exceeded 90 percent.

Excluding the female lead who had a 99 percent matching rate with Benjamin, I had the highest matching rate with him.

For reference, the higher the matching rate between an Esper and a Guide, the better the Guide’s guiding effect.

In other words, they could better alleviate the side effects suffered as a reaction to using superpowers.

There was also a reason why I had to become their Guide despite knowing Yerena’s future.

‘Yerena Botman’.

She was the eldest daughter of a poor baron family, and her parents were addicted to gambling with enormous debts.

Yerena was almost sold off to the Center.

In fact, her parents completely gave up parental rights over Yerena after receiving a large sum from the Center.

This meant that no matter how I was treated at the Center, even if I was assigned tasks that were clearly fatal, I couldn’t refuse the Center’s orders.

Unless I repaid the large sum her parents received… it was impossible to completely leave the Center.

So I had no choice but to become a slave, no, a Guide for the Allen Knights.

I planned to work as their Guide to earn money and leave this place before the time of Yerena’s death came, but…

***

When I arrived at the Pandora Forest, the first thing I felt was the strong smell of blood.

As I really dislike fishy smells, nausea rose up to my throat.

I staggered towards where I could see a familiar back of a head, covering my mouth.

The forest was in utter chaos.

Several knights with severe injuries were sprawled about, with their Guides watching over them.

One member of the ‘Allen Knights’ I belonged to was also seriously injured.

The injured person was Baron, the Esper known as “the one who can move everything freely at will”.

Baron was leaning against a tree with a large cut on his lower abdomen.

“Ba-Baron! Are you alright?”

I hurriedly ran over and placed my hand on Baron’s lower abdomen. As soon as I did, his silver eyes shot me a cold glare.

“Why are you so late? Did you crawl here? Useless as always.”

…After coming here with such difficulty, this bastard!

I glared at Baron slightly. Just enough not to offend him too much.

Baron Mekenzie.

He was the heir to the Marquis Mekenzie family and an Esper specialized in ‘telekinesis’ and ‘movement’.

Thanks to his mysterious silver hair and silver eyes, Baron looked like a fairy at first glance.

But in reality, he was the man with the most volatile temper in the Allen Knights.

Volatile is a nice way of putting it, you could simply say he’s just an asshole.

“If you had been a little later, I could have died.”

I couldn’t say much about being late either.

Guides without movement abilities had to go to monster-infested areas with the help of Espers with teleportation abilities.

Usually, a movement ability user within the knightly order would come and go to pick up the Guide.

But this bastard Baron had never once taken me along.

His excuse was that he didn’t need a C-class Guide who wasn’t even A-class.

I usually deployed with the help of teleport Espers from other knightly orders or within the Center. If even that wasn’t possible, I would take a carriage or walk.

Unfortunately, there were no Espers to help me today.

So in the end, I had come all the way into this treacherous forest by carriage.

I must be the only Guide who travels by carriage. Hah.

‘You dog. If you had brought me along in the first place, I wouldn’t have been late, you know?’

Swallowing those words I wanted to say, I apologized instead.

“…Huff, huff. I’m sorry.”

Breathless gasps escaped between my teeth.

“Forget it. Just take my hand.”

I didn’t have healing abilities, but I could calm the disturbed mind and body of an ability user.

Fortunately, Baron was an A-class Esper, so if his body’s wavelength stabilized, he could heal himself to some extent.

I grasped Baron’s hand, which was grudgingly extended towards me.

As soon as I held his hand, color began to return to Baron’s face, which had been pale.

Baron squeezed my hand tightly.

The Baron, who usually detests Guides, seemed to desperately need my guidance today. His injury must have been quite severe.

Baron’s face, with his mouth shut, was as beautiful as an angel’s.

The problem with Baron was that damned mouth of his that only spewed bad words.

At that moment, a Red Dragon emerged from a gate that appeared to be about 30 meters in diameter.

Its name was Radon. It was the culprit that had injured Baron and several other knights.

―Kraaaa.

Radon opened its mouth wide and let out a sharp cry.

Radon was an A-class monster, a vicious creature that had been appearing frequently in the Pandora Forest lately.

As soon as it appeared, a man with a sturdy build shot forward.

His black hair fluttered softly as he moved.

The man, who had made a great leap, thrust a large sword into the dragon’s mouth, which was hundreds of times larger than his own body.

―Kreogh!

The dragon’s body, screaming, began to fall downward.

Radon, who had caused many casualties, was on the verge of perishing.

As if not wanting to miss the opening shown by the dragon, the man drew another sword from his waist.

Soon, the man’s sword struck down on Radon’s neck.

Kwadeuk!

With the horrific sound of something heavy being sliced, the dragon’s scream completely disappeared.

Although it was clearly dead, the man, as if still unsatisfied, proceeded to sever the dragon’s limbs.

I stopped watching that gruesome scene.

“…I wanted to kill that bastard myself.”

Baron, whose wound had stopped bleeding at some point, bit his lower lip.

He shook off my hand and stood up from where he had been sitting.

“Hey, Lambert. Take it easy, will you?”

The man who had completely dismembered the dragon walked towards us.

His shadow cast a large shade over me as I sat powerlessly.

The man’s face as he looked at me was terribly expressionless.

That expression was identical to the one he had when looking at the dragon earlier.

Su-surely he doesn’t want to dismember me too for being late…?

Considering this man’s merciless nature, it wasn’t an entirely impossible assumption.

Before becoming Yerena, I had worked part-time at a convenience store for 4 years. I was known for my excellent customer service.

Now was the time to demonstrate my service skills.

“La-Lambert, sir! Good work!”

“……”

The man maintained his expressionless face.

I decided to try flattering him a bit more.

“The way you skewered Radon like a kebab was really cool!”

“……”

Again, no expression.

“Shall we have barbecue for dinner? Barbecue skewers!”

“……”

The man’s brow furrowed slightly.

…Damn. This doesn’t seem to be working.

“Then for dinner…”

The man finally parted his heavy lips.

“Let’s go back.”

There was no invitation to go together. The man and Baron were already walking away.

It seems I’m destined to walk back to the Center. Sigh.

The name of the man whose daily expression was emotionless was Lambert Heidegger.

He was…