The SSS-rank Guide Doesn't Need Saving

Aisha stood in front of the class a little longer, stunned by their reaction.

She had already expected the worst. But there was none of that here.

If anything, the students of Class 7-D looked at the way a child might look at an adult, admiring someone who can never be them.

"Is it true you attempted to kill yourself?" a boy near the back called out.

"I heard you slapped and grabbed your classmate’s hair after they gave you a present."

"Did you really bully your sister?"

"Can you share your notes after class?"

Their questions came all at once, and Aisha barely had time to register them. Their questions may have sounded rude to ask a stranger whom they would become classmates, but their tones and expressions on their faces held no malice or intention of humiliating her.

Aisha realized they were genuinely curious.

It was as though it was the first time they met a breed like her.

"That’s enough." The professor knocked her knuckles on the desk in front of her. "Miss Novalis, you can take your seat. You can choose where you want to sit. We’ll begin the lecture."

Aisha dazedly walked down the small aisle between desks. In two lives, she had never experienced such a bizarre welcoming gesture. Especially from students who had heard the rumors circulating about her.

Instead of the usual scrutiny and dislike of the people she met in both the past and current world so far, they were the strangest kind.

Aware of the eyes following her like crows, Aisha found that someone ahead was waving at her.

"Here! Come here!"

Kane waved enthusiastically at an empty seat beside him, patting it twice as though she might not see it was empty otherwise.

Usually, Aisha would’ve ignored him and sat elsewhere where no one could disturb her. However, her feet took her toward that chair.

As soon as she sat down, Vesper immediately leaned over from his own desk behind her, propping his chin on his arm.

"I take back what I said earlier," he whispered. "You’re not being harassed. You’re the boss."

Aisha didn’t even want to reply.

Vesper retreated, snickering like a buffoon, but he was smacked on the forehead by Sabel, who sat beside him.

"The lecture’s starting. Shut up."

The professor on the platform tapped something, and a holographic display appeared behind her. It showed a rotating image of a creature with a distinct armor-like exoskeleton, long antennae, stalked eyes, and a segmented tail. Its skin was mottled black and violet with veins of dark energy all around its body.

"Today, we continue our discussion on contaminated specimens," the professor began. "As all of you should already know by now, every creature pulled from a contaminated zones and planets carries miasma within it. But not all miasma is equal."

She gestured, and the image split into three parts of the same beast, each one with a different intensity of corruption.

"The concentration of miasma inside a creature determines its threat level. A low concentration might be manageable by even a low-ranked sentinel and guide pair. A high concentration can overwhelm an entire squad without preparation."

Aisha listened quietly. This was her first time attending class in years. It brought her a novel experience and feeling.

The discussion primarily focused on why sentinels and guides always work in pairs during field extraction. A sentinel’s duty was to physically restrain and kill creatures from other planets and contaminated zones and hold the miasma at bay using their psychic energy to prevent it from spreading further or corrupting anyone nearby.

Meanwhile, a guide’s duty is to purify the miasma directly and neutralize it. They also need to keep their paired sentinel’s mental stability in top shape and ensure that no miasma from the monsters they’re facing will disrupt or devour them.

Once a creature has been captured and purified, it is time to identify it. It was important to learn its origin, classification, threat level, and any distinguishing features. This information will be cataloged and reported to the Association for further examination. As for new or mutated monsters, they are to be given to the Imperial Research Division.

"The sample you have right now came from a captured monster from a D-level contaminated zone. It has already been cataloged and listed as a medium-threat level in the Association."

Aisha stared at the image displayed in front of the entire class for a long time. Out of every single student in the class, she was the only one seriously listening to the lecture.

As expected of a top student who topped the academic exam, the professor thought.

Then she called Aisha.

"Miss Novalis, do you have questions?"

Being called to the front so suddenly, Aisha ignored the stares from her classmates.

Honestly, the professor gave her the perfect timing to ask something from her.

"Professor, this monster... has the Association tried to use it for consumption?"

Her question startled the professor.

Even her classmates wondered what she was talking about.

"As expected, she’s not only after the academy. She wants to take the Association down—OW!"

Vesper clutched his head while glaring at Sabel, who pressed a finger to her lips to shut his mouth off.

Aisha knew her question sounded weird in their ears. Perhaps they might even think she was up to something bad.

But she just couldn’t stop herself from feeling curious.

Because that...

That thing in the hologram is something she knew in her past life. Though the size and color differed from this world’s monster because a bit more vicious-looking.

There’s no way she can be wrong about this.

That’s a lobster, right?

"Ahem!" The professor found her question quite unusual, but since this was the first time someone in the class had raised a question during a lecture, she still entertained Aisha’s curiosity with the heart of a teacher.

"Although the Association has done a lot of cross-examination to investigate a creature’s purpose and benefits, it’s highly unlikely that it’ll be used for consumption. The miasma has penetrated too deeply into its body that even after being purified, it’ll still be polluted with corrupted energy."

"What if it’s been completely purified?" Aisha asked more this time.