Chapter 16: Engine City

Three days later, we arrived at our next destination: the city of Engine. Claire, Azazel, and I had different destinations, so we bid farewell. I was the first to disembark from the airship. As I looked around, I took in the fresh air that carried the scent of engines. The city was filled with wooden mechanics and vehicles, unlike the Steam City where the structures resembled insects. Instead, Engine had a more modern feel with its vehicle designs.

I walk towards where the wooden vehicles that resembled buses were and the moment people saw me they first reacted as if I didn't existed because they didn't sensed any mana but the moment they saw the color of my eyes they all trembled and made way for me.

I felt awkward because I wasn't used to being this popular and so I took a deep breath and tried to ignore it but their burning gazes bothered me very much. I sighed and thought 'I wished I had a hood…wait, maybe I can buy some after I reach the next station!' I was relieved when I thought of that and unconsciously calmed down. Looking out window I watched as we passed by different wooden houses with different structures where some was twisted while the others were perfectly built well.

Lost in thought I remembered the words of Azrail. Fallen huh…I wonder what a Fallen is, I should probably visit the library.

…..

Arriving at the next station I went to a stall and tried to buy a robe normally but the owner of the stall became flustered the moment they saw me and immediately gave away the robe for free before closing the stall. "…" Is being a [Guide] really that terrifying?

As if knowing my thought the [Judge]s scoffed and said, [Judge "Ares" says "This puny little humans are no match to a [Defendant]!"] I understood a little what he meant and the [Judge] "Dionysus" explained. [Judge "Dionysus" says "Normally only a small percentage of humans can pass the [Trial] and become a [Guide] that's why they are treated very highly"]

"I see" I said and nodded my head. So this will be a very troublesome thing I thought. Putting my coat in my bag I wore my robe and made sure to keep my eyes hidden as much as possible before setting off.

Going to a library I looked around and searched for a book about the entities in this universe. As I searched through each page I finally ended up in the last page and found the one I've been looking for, the 'Fallen', but the problem is though, it was empty, there was no information written in it. I then asked the receptionist on who made this book but only got a disappointing answer as she replied that it was a confidential information.

Sighing in disappointment, I moved on to my next destination and finally stopped before a mountain. Looking up at the tall mountain, I thought 'He's here, I can finally meet one of my characters' and started walking.

….

An hour later I finally reached the top of the mountain and found a small shelter with fences. I saw some children playing and taking a deep breath I walked to one of them. Seeing me approaching the children were terrified and I stopped. Pondering for a moment I crouched down and took off my hood. Seeing my eyes the children became even more terrified and I raised my arms in surrender and spoke in a gentle and coaxing tone "It's okay, I won't hurt you"

The children did not speak. Just as I was in a dilemma on how I should communicate with them, a small boy with curly brown hair rushed out of them and pointed at me saying "And why should we believe you? Huh! Your eyes are scary!"

Hearing this I was stunned before I laughed. The boy pouted and asked in an angry voice "What's so funny?"

Waving my hand I said "No no, it's nothing- Pfft hahaha!"

Seeing me laugh the boy's face flushed red in anger and embarrassment, on the other hand the other children watched me smile gently and one of them couldn't help walking towards me. It was a girl with almond hair and eyes and she walked towards me. The boy tried to stop her and called out "Nina! Don't go! We don't know yet if he is a bad guy!"

The girl, Nina, stopped before me and pulled the hem of my robe before asking "Are you a bad guy mister?" I blinked my eyes before narrowing it with a smile, rubbing her head I said "Of course not, and call me Hyung, I'm only 27 years old you know?"

Hearing this Nina smiled with her teeth showing as she hummed and said "Okay Hyung!". She then ran over towards the other children and said to the boy, "He said he's not a bad guy!" The boy did not angry at Nina and instead got angry at me more and said "Don't be naive Nina! He's clearly a bad guy, if not then why is his eyes like that!"

"It's because I'm a [Guide] and a [Guide] has this kind of eyes" I explained and the children asked in unison "What is a [Guide]?" I explained patiently "A [Guide] is a person who takes in disciples and teach them to become stronger"

"Woah" The children were in awe and immediately gathered around me saying "We want to hear more!"

The boy who was leftalone "…"

Just then, an old lady from the shelter came out and asked "What's all the commotion kids?"

"Grandma!" The children immediately rushed towards the old lady and huddled, they then said "There's a Hyung here grandma" The old lady looked at me and said "I see".

The old lady then said "Come here, I'll prepare some tea for you" I hummed and thanked her before following her to the house. As she poured me some tea she sat down opposite to me and asked "What may bring you here sir?"

Smiling I said "I am searching for someone" The old lady hummed and asked "Are you gonna take that person as your disciple?" I widened my eyes and asked "How did you-"

"Young man, I'm very old and knows almost everything about this world" She interrupted and chuckled. Then, she said "If I may, can I ask you a favor?" I was silent before I asked "What is it?" Smiling the old lady said "You see, there's not much in this academy, and it can only take in orphan children as students"

I did not interrupted and just listened, she continued. "There's a child that grew up here and until now, he doesn't want to leave this place. So, please, can you take in that child as your disciple? Let him see the world"

I lowered my eyes and looked at the tea before saying "Is that child your talking about, perhaps named Han Min-Jun?" The old lady widened her wrinkled eyes and asked "How did you know?" Smiling I said "It's because the person I'm looking for, is the child you're talking about"

…..

At the back of the academy, a young boy was sweeping the yard and as the wind blew past him, he took in the fresh and sighed. Then, he suddenly turned around as he sensed me. I was slightly surprised, even though I lack mana he was still able to sense me well. Just as expected of my character, I thought proudly.

Waving my hand I said "Hey there, are you Han Min-Jun perhaps?" The young boy widened his eyes and hummed before saying in a hesitant voice as he stared at my eyes "And you are…?"

"You can call me Zero, and as you can see, I'm a [Guide]" I said while pointing at my eyes. The boy stared up at the sky before recalling what the old lady's words to him before and hummed. Then, he asked "What do you need sir?"

Strong winds suddenly passed us as my robe fluttered. Smiling I reached out my hand before saying "Han Min-Jun, how about becoming my disciple?"