Edited by: ASaltedFish
When Aster got home after his first day at school, the first thing he did was check up on the plants. After sending his spiritual energy into the soil, he then went into the lab to send out the next batch of stabilizers.
He and Ellery decided to sell the same amount as Ellery did in the past, which was 10 A-grade, 20 B-grade, 30 C-grade, and lastly, 40 D-grade stabilizers. There were fewer A-ranked sentinels who could use his stabilizers, so he didn't bother selling so much of those.
As he was counting the A-ranked stabilizers, he felt something was off. Wasn't he supposed to be three off? Why were there still 30 A-ranked stabilizers in this box?
None of the boxes were labeled, which was his biggest mistake.
"Ellery… I… I messed up."
[Eh? How did you mess up?] Ellery wasn't paying attention because his help was not needed. He was thinking about what happened today with his scummy, piece of shit ex-boyfriend.
"I gave the Marshal the stabilizers I made with Lune…"
[You what?!]
"I didn't label the boxes and just grabbed what I thought were stabilizers made with Sol. I only realized that I had messed up when I tapped spiritual energy into the stabilizers in this box! Do you think he would notice?! You said that he doesn't have good compatibility with any guide right? Maybe he gave it to someone else? Or even threw them away?!"
Aster was freaking out because this was the first time he made this kind of mistake. He decided to label the boxes in the future to avoid this problem! He wanted to cry because he wasn't good with failure, but he did his best to keep it together.
As he was freaking out, he began labeling the boxes so this would never happen again!
[Okay, I understand why you are freaking out, but take some deep breaths. Come on, do it with me. Deep breath innnnn, and deep breath outttt… Okay, good. Don't worry too much. He probably has like, really bad compatibility with it, just like the other stabilizers he has tried. He's apparently a good man, so I doubt he would give it to someone else. If what he said is true, he's just going to hold on to them, burdened by the fact that he can't just give them away because they're a gift.]
It seemed that Marshal Caecius had a good reputation. He usually avoided accepting gifts because he knew that he had a hard time throwing things away or giving them up to someone else, especially with things he didn't want or need. Instead of hurting other people, he straight-up refused to accept gifts. He spoke of this in an interview once, so most people didn't give him gifts. Some would try but would still be rejected.
"What a relief… Well, since he won't be trying them any time soon, then it's best to pretend this never happened… Yeah, sounds like a good plan."
Even though Aster was a bit worried, he knew there was nothing he could do after making this mistake. He could only hope that Marshal Caecius didn't try to use them…
Well, his hopes were shattered the next day.
*****
Aster woke up to a message from someone who claimed to be Marshal Caecius' adjutant. Not only was it from a verified account, but it was an encrypted message that needed a fingerprint to open, so it was probably legitimate.
The contents of the message asked if Aster could meet up with him and the Marshal to talk about the stabilizers he gifted to Marshal Caecius. Apparently, the Marshal had a high compatibility with him and he wanted to talk about buying stabilizers in the future and even guide services.
All of Aster's hopes from last night were crushed into a million pieces. He felt a wave of nausea and lightheadedness wash over him as he felt even more guilty.
"I'm sorry, Ellery… What do we do now?" He spoke out loud since he was alone. If anyone else saw him, they would think he was talking to himself as if he were delusional…
Ellery was staring at the message in disbelief, but soon snapped out of it. He couldn't be flustered! He said he would take care of Aster, so it was time to get his shit together and come up with a solution.
After thinking for a couple of minutes, he finally spoke up.
[Since this is a private meeting, it could be avoided if you really want to, but I think it would be best to meet them and negotiate a deal. It would be a disservice to reject the Marshal who is constantly fighting against the Ineks… Plus, he saved my life. Twice technically. If I could save him as thanks, that would be good.
[Also, don't you think Marshal Caecius could act as an excellent form of protection? If he and his fleet could protect us, we could live freely as someone with two quantum beasts.]
"That's true. Sorry for freaking out. I was just so anxious and fixated on messing up I forgot that we have the upper hand. Not only do we have two quantum beasts, but we can also guide the Marshal who was said to not even have average compatibility with anybody. Our status will go up. In this society that cherishes guides, we will be more than okay."
[That's right. It's good you've calmed yourself down and can see the situation clearly. With Marshal Caecius' protection, we can also get our spiritual energy checked and updated. Even so, we can't rely on him completely, so let's practice defensive abilities in the meantime. We may not be able to attack Ineks, but we can certainly protect ourselves from them. We can also attack any guide or sentinel's spiritual sea if they try to harm us. As long as you practice well, we should be safe.]
To be honest, he was saying this because he didn't want that incident where he was pushed and caught off guard to happen again! Nor did he want to be killed by a sentinel he trusted… Well, he could only protect himself from sentinels and guides who were ranked the same or lower than him.
Not anymore though. They were SS-ranked guides. The only one in the galaxy!
"Alright, I will do as you say!"
Aster responded to Adjutant Ito Akimitsu and decided to meet up next week since he was busy this week. Then, Aster got ready for school and headed out with a clearer mind.
It was the first time he had ever gotten over making a mistake so quickly. In the past, he was punished and ridiculed for making a mistake, so he strove to do everything perfectly. When he didn't do something right, the first person to beat him up over it eventually became himself. For the longest time, he felt like he was his own worst enemy.
But after meeting Ellery, it was like a whole new path had opened up for him. He no longer had to be scared of himself or the people around him.
To him, Ellery was the light in the darkness, like the fire that kept him warm in the cold. He felt much better after talking with him. If Ellery weren't here, he wouldn't know what he would do.
Aster knew better than anyone that he still needed a lot of time to heal from past traumas. He knew that there were many repressed memories that would slowly resurface as he healed from those wounds.
He was just glad he didn't have to heal on his own…
[I can't wait to see our friends! Let's find some good places to eat for this weekend too.]
'Hmm, let's do that.'
It was the first time in a long time that he was excited to see other people again.
*****
The weekend came and went quickly. Aster and Ellery had a great time eating with Silve, Yang, and Liáng. They also went to an arcade building. It was an augmented reality arcade that had a lot of fun games and places to explore.
It was so fun that Aster, the one who didn't like to leave the house, wouldn't mind going there again.
The week went by quickly and the day to meet with Marshal Caecius and Adjutant Ito Akimitsu arrived.
They decided to meet at Ellery's house because Marshal Caecius wanted to buy what Aster had in stock as well as talk about guide services. If it was not enough, Aster could make them on the spot.
Aster agreed because he wanted this interaction to be lowkey. Many people from the Academy were also part of the military, so it would raise a lot of questions as to why he was showing up at the First Fleet, especially if he was meeting up with Marshal Caecius.
It was attention that he didn't want.
The plan was to meet after lunch so Aster was able to do the daily chores like sending out the stabilizers for the online store, sending spiritual energy to the six key plants for stabilizers, and watering the plants in his garden. The plants were best watered in the morning when the sun wasn't too high up. This ensured the plants wouldn't dry out even if it was hot outside.
After that, he ate the meal prepared by the little housekeeper robot. Aster and Ellery decided to give the robot a name because it felt a bit weird to not call the robot by anything. Before, Ellery was rarely home, only to take care of his plants or make stabilizers. Now, he was home most of the week with Aster.
The little robot was given the name Seth. It was the name that the two could agree on.
Seth helped out with a lot of things throughout the house and made decent meals. It was better than what Aster could make so he ate happily.
While waiting for Marshal Caecius and Adjutant Ito Akimitsu Ellery was going over what they would talk about. Since it was going to be a serious talk, Ellery went over the important points that Aster had to bring up, such as their protection.
After getting all the important information drilled into his head, Aster felt he would be alright.