Chapter 19: Your Mark (1)

"As much as you want," Archer answered without hesitation. "And if you want something other than money as payment, I can give you that too."

Summer’s eyes practically turned into dollar signs.

"Mr. Reed, you really shouldn’t say something like that so easily. What if I suddenly ask you for a place to live in Zone 0?" Summer asked jokingly.

"Is that what you want?" Archer asked, his expression completely serious. "I can arrange that as your first payment."

Summer nearly choked on her own saliva. She had only said it as a joke!

She knew how difficult it was to buy a house in a place like Zone 0. Yet Archer had agreed so easily, as if she had just asked him to buy her a piece of candy.

Damn. She had no idea being a Guide could come with benefits this good. Or maybe it had nothing to do with being a Guide and everything to do with who the Sentinel was?

From what Summer knew about this world, the government had strict rules regarding working relationships between Sentinels and Guides.

To prevent Sentinels from forcing Guides into anything they did not want, both sides had to sign a formal agreement.

That agreement protected them under the law. Even if guiding happened before an agreement was signed, both the Sentinel and Guide still had to give their consent.

If a Sentinel forced a Guide without their consent, the Guide had the right to report them for harassment.

Thinking about that made Summer’s playful expression slowly disappear.

"I actually want something else," she said seriously. "For my first payment, I want an agreement stating that you can never force me to guide you if I don’t want to."

Guides might be protected by law, but Summer was not naive enough to trust the government completely.

She knew how governments worked.

If enough benefits were involved, they could somehow turn the impossible into something possible, especially when one of their greatest assets was involved.

And Archer Reed was definitely one of their greatest assets.

So who could guarantee that the government would not force Summer to keep guiding him in the future?

At first, being assigned to an elite Sentinel like Archer might sound like a dream. The money was good, the benefits were even better, and apparently, the man could casually offer her a house in Zone 0 without blinking.

But none of that mattered if Summer lost control over her own body.

She had already lived through a miserable life once, so she refused to lose her freedom a second time.

Archer had promised to pay her more if she signed an agreement with him, but money alone was not enough.

Summer needed something far more important: safety.

"No. You can’t ask for that as your payment," Archer replied.

Summer’s smile completely faded.

What? What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Her hand quietly moved toward her poison gun. For a brief moment, Summer seriously wondered whether killing an elite Sentinel was possible.

Then again, who cared?

Possible or impossible, becoming a criminal sounded much better than losing her autonomy for the second time.

Her fingers moved a little closer to the gun as she asked sharply, "Why?"

Archer did not seem bothered by the sudden change in her attitude. Instead, he answered her casually, "Because that’s exactly why I want you to sign an agreement with me instead of the government."

Summer froze in her place. Her fingers stopped just before they could wrap around the handle of the poison gun.

"What?" she asked in confusion.

Archer glanced at her hand, clearly noticing what she had been planning to do, but strangely enough, he did not seem concerned about it at all.

"The government has been trying to assign me a permanent Guide for years," he explained. "But I rejected every arrangement they offered."

Summer slowly pulled her hand away from the gun because that was definitely not the answer she had expected.

"Why?"

"Because I don’t like having someone assigned to me." Archer continued, "If I sign an agreement through the government, they will be involved in everything. How often you guide me, when you guide me, how long each session lasts, and even what method of guiding we use."

Summer’s eyebrows slowly rose higher with every word. "That sounds annoying."

"It is," Archer admitted. "And they’ll definitely become even more annoying now that our compatibility data has been sent to the system. If we don’t make an agreement right now, they’ll definitely force you to make one with them."

Summer frowned. "But even if we make one ourselves, wouldn’t it become useless if the government really wanted to interfere? I mean, they’re the ones who make the laws."

"They are." Archer nodded. "But what I want to offer you isn’t an agreement based on their laws, but one made through our soul binding. You’ve marked me, so it’s possible."

"Wait, what?!" Summer’s voice rose so sharply that even her rabbit ears shot straight up. "I marked you?! When?!"

Archer stared at her for a moment, as if he was trying to figure out whether she was seriously asking him that question. "You really don’t remember?"

"Would I be asking if I did?!"

Summer immediately searched through her memories.

She remembered guiding Archer. She remembered entering his mental sea. She remembered lowering his pollution level. She also remembered what happened afterward when their guiding session somehow turned into something far more intimate.

But marking him? When?!

There had been no system notification, no dramatic glowing light, and certainly no voice announcing that she had accidentally claimed an SSS-Rank Sentinel.

Archer seemed to realize that she genuinely had no idea what he was talking about. So without saying anything, he reached for the collar of his shirt and pulled it down slightly, exposing the side of his neck.

Summer’s eyes immediately landed on a small flower-shaped mark resting against his skin.

She stared for a long time and her brain suddenly went blank. "What the hell is that?"

Archer replied casually, "Your mark."

"My what?!"