Becoming the Guide of the Mysophobic Villain? Absolutely Not! - Chapter 111
I only realized the next late afternoon, unfortunately after a good sleep, that I shouldn’t have been sleeping so peacefully.
As I expected, my face had swollen up like a burst dumpling, much to Claude’s amusement.
Yeah, laugh… I just resigned myself to it. It would be strange not to laugh at my state, with my eyelids swollen to double their size, barely able to open my eyes.
Even amidst his laughter, Claude, who kept kissing my entire face, clearly had a unique taste.
But it wasn’t just my face that was the problem.
When I got up to get dressed and stepped out of bed, I nearly did a faceplant on the floor.
If Claude hadn’t caught me by the waist as quick as lightning, I would have really hurt myself, either my nose or something else.
I felt a delayed pain all over my body, as if I had been beaten up. My lower abdomen was sore, my hips felt like they were falling apart, and my legs were numb.
“I, I can’t feel my legs…”
Muttering with a lost expression, Claude clicked his tongue. Then he suddenly lifted me up and got out of bed.
“You’re too weak.”
“…That’s not true.”
I grumbled in denial, but Claude just snickered, as if it was trivial.
It was a bit unfair at this point. I might be small, but I’ve never been called weak among the clerks.
How could I physically compete with an S-class Esper, especially one whose energy charges up with more contact?
But before I could voice my frustrations, Claude spoke first.
“Where were you trying to go?”
“Um, uh, first, I need to get dressed…”
Claude, holding me gently, headed to the wardrobe and picked out a few pieces of clothing that I pointed at.
Moreover, he sat me on the bed and dressed me himself.
It wasn’t like Claude to seem so pleased. There was even something resembling a smile on his lips.
“Did the guiding go really well?”
“What?”
“You just look happy… Yesterday, you were so relentless that I didn’t get a chance to pay attention if the guiding was working or not…”
This was true. I had no time to think about whether the guiding was successful or not.
After spending the night together, Claude’s boundless generosity and leniency felt unfamiliar.
However, he just smiled at my question and didn’t answer. He just pulled my arm, extending it out of the sleeve.
…Really, what’s going on. Is it okay to be this peaceful, especially after declaring we’ve imprinted?
…
Then, it suddenly hit me.
“Ah! That! How did that turn out? The lie about us imprinting?”
“Give me your other hand.”
“Hey, don’t change the subject…”
“Hand first.”
I was determined not to let him sidestep this time. As I extended my other hand, still grumbling, he finished dressing me and sighed.
Realizing I wouldn’t back down, he finally started to explain his plan.
“Let’s just say that we did imprint.”
“No, but why pretend we imprinted when we didn’t…”
It couldn’t have happened. No matter how high our matching rate was, he had taken three times the regular dose of the imprinting prevention injection.
Well, even if we didn’t imprint, the Center allows freedom in relationships between Guides and Espers, as long as the Guide continues to guide their assigned Espers. Under this premise, a Guide is free to date any other Esper without interference.
Even if we spent the night together, if we hadn’t imprinted, last night’s incident wouldn’t have been a big issue. But instead, Claude had declared we had already imprinted.
If a Guide imprints, they can no longer guide other Espers. This means a significant shortage in the already scarce gGuide workforce.
So, unauthorized imprinting is a serious crime in this world, punishable by several years in prison.
“You saw the test results yesterday, Rose. Unless you’re imprinted with someone, Espers will never leave you alone,” Claude said, almost coaxing.
…I couldn’t deny that.
Receiving guidance from a Guide with a compatibility rate over 60% is something every Esper dreams of. Espers with a higher match rate than mine would stop at nothing to receive my guidance.
Even with the strongest being in the universe, Claude, by my side.
“But, if I just guide the Espers assigned to me in order of matching rate…”
“Yesterday, you held another Esper’s hand because the guiding wasn’t working, Rose.”
“Ah.”
Claude’s hand enveloped mine. His caress was gentle but somehow not entirely tender.
I got goosebumps and tried to pull away, but he didn’t let go.
Instead, he drew me closer, kissed the back of my hand and whispered.
