21. An Encounter in the Elevator

“She looks familiar.”

A boy, short in stature with a chubby face freckled here and there, stared at you for a moment before turning to discuss with his companions.

“Do you smell that? She smells so nice...”

Such a remark was rather odd, yet no one contradicted it.

At the same time, the sentinels who sensed something unusual began observing you closely.

These were fully matured sentinels, quite unlike the young ones you had met before. The sudden, eerie silence was even more suffocating than your first encounter with Sae Itoshi.

It felt like a hunting ground, with you as the prey.

Inside the cramped, sealed elevator, the temperature steadily rose along with the ascent.

“Is she Caesar’s guide?”

“Really? Would a German guide show up in this daydreamy football project?”

“Tsk, I thought it was that Itoshi… what was his name again?”

“Itoshi Sae. He was in the news recently.”

“Oh right, Luna—that well-known sentinel from your subordinate group?”

“Doesn’t matter. That means the compatibility isn’t the highest. Isn’t that perfect?”

“...”

Perhaps they assumed you didn’t understand English and spoke freely, or maybe they arrogantly didn’t care if you understood. The elevator ride felt agonizingly long to you.

They vaguely mentioned Caesar and Sae Itoshi’s names, but you didn’t want to put on your headphones just to listen. You stayed tucked in a corner the whole time.

The Europeans carried on their conversation, but you noticed their gaze was fixed on you.

The tall, blond youth called Luna looked at you with keen interest, his emerald eyes filled with curiosity and scrutiny.

This group had come here primarily for the hefty bonus attached to this match against these weaker sentinels. They hadn’t expected to encounter a guide who matched so highly with Sae Itoshi—an 86% compatibility.

Judging from this, just as someone had said earlier—

Your true chosen sentinel might have a compatibility nearing or even surpassing 90.

The minds of the European sentinels in the elevator were a tangle of conflicting thoughts.

---

Experienced and mature sentinels tend to hide their fervor, having long since adapted to channeling it through other means. The intense pleasure brought by a late but high-compatibility guide can be a kind of poison for men in their twenties or thirties.

Self-control is a tricky thing—it’s hard to say whether it grows stronger over time or suddenly shatters.

And you seemed to be the key.

Nearby, a dark-skinned foreign boy stood closest to you but stayed out of their conversation.

He was somewhat short, looking quite young, with gentle, restrained golden eyes. He maintained just the right distance from you, subtly creating a boundary between you and the others.

Sensing your discomfort, he averted his gaze the moment he first saw you.

Only when the elevator slowed, dinging as the doors slid open, did his amber eyes meet yours again.

He stepped forward, politely holding the doors open.

“Miss, is this your floor?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Finally free, you brushed past him, pushing your suitcase.

As you stepped out, your posture visibly relaxed. Their voices faded behind you.

“Loki, your guide lessons are going well…”

The foreign boy watched your hurried retreat, smiling faintly at his teammates’ cryptic teasing.

*

A refreshing shower wiped the elevator incident from your mind.

Drying your hair, you returned to bed and checked your phone. Ten minutes earlier, Eshin Jinpa had sent you a message.

—If anyone asks where you were the past three days, just say you went home to rest.

You thought for a moment, then playfully replied, “OK.”

Probably, none of them knew about your tangled affairs with Caesar and the rest—it was better left unsaid.

With that in mind, you turned over onto your stomach, opened your tablet, and began searching for football videos.

You hadn’t really paid close attention to football before—only glimpsed it during major televised matches.

Determined to be a good student completing your homework, you requested some Blue Lock training materials from Eshin and started looking up football highlights.

Hmm... maybe start with Caesar and Sae Itoshi.

*

After morning training, Sae Itoshi was hydrating and casually scrolling through messages on his phone.

His agent found him just like that—

Itoshi’s eyes locked unblinkingly on the screen, his chest heaving from exertion, sweat dampening his small brown locks at the temples and dripping into the hollow of his neck. Yet, his aura was chilling, like descending into an ice cellar.

“Sae…”

The agent cautiously stepped forward, and only then did Itoshi lift his gaze from the screen.

Gone was the usual scornful indifference; instead, a piercing, focused stare met him. Itoshi’s green eyes ignited with a terrifying, strange glow.

That oppressive aura again… the agent swallowed nervously, bracing for the sentinel’s wrath.

But surprisingly, Itoshi’s tone was calm.

“Has the number of guides been finalized?”

“Yes, yes.” The agent hurriedly confirmed. He had come precisely to deliver this news. “The pre-match guide limit is three.”

To ensure fairness, the tournament committee sets regulations on the number of guides each team may have, usually between two and six. After the roster is finalized and submitted, the committee conducts two physical data checks before the match to prevent unauthorized guide assistance.

The guide number for this U20 tournament had just been decided.

“Register her as my guide.”

Itoshi’s voice was eerily steady as veins bulged on the back of his hand gripping the phone.

The agent knew exactly who he meant. After acknowledging the order, curiosity got the better of him, and he leaned in to glimpse the screen.

What he saw made him pale with shock.