Becoming the Guide of the Mysophobic Villain? Absolutely Not! - Chapter 114
I realized this while we were on our way to take the imprinting test.
I hastily grabbed Claude’s arm, walking beside me, and he leaned toward me.
I conveyed my biggest concern seriously.
“Ah…”
“Ah? ‘Ah?’ Be honest. You didn’t think this through, did you, Lord Claude?”
“Don’t worry about that.”
Claude answered nonchalantly. It seemed he wasn’t at all concerned about the possibility of being caught unimprinted.
“How can I not worry…”
“Silence! Keep quiet!”
An Esper escorting us shouted. I quickly shut my mouth.
Was there a backup plan? Was he planning to overturn everything if it went wrong and seek asylum in another country?
What was he relying on to be so carefree? It was unbelievable.
But soon, something happened that managed to disturb even the unflappable Claude.
“You dare hold her hand?”
Claude growled menacingly, furrowing his brows, causing the examiner facing him to tremble pitifully.
The mechanism of the imprinting test is simple. The Guide touches both the imprinted Esper and other Espers. If guiding only occurs with one specific Esper, an imprinting verdict can be made.
But Claude couldn’t stand the thought of me touching another Esper.
“But, Lord Claude… you know. We need to check if the guiding only occurs with you…”
The examiner stammered in explanation. Of course, Claude didn’t even pretend to listen.
While doing so, he sarcastically remarked about the annual budget invested in the Center’s technology department, questioning why such primitive testing methods were still being used.
It was like a humanities major boss pestering science major employees about why they couldn’t invent a heavily conceptual hologram phone.
I eventually hesitantly reached out my hand to any Esper.
“Shall we… get this over with quickly?”
“Not that one.”
“…”
“I don’t like the look in that one’s eyes.”
Seems like this boss even believed in pseudoscience like face reading.
The examiner looked like he wanted to hit Claude in the face.
Ah, why is he like this…
I felt a bit embarrassed.
The chief of security, unable to bear it any longer, burst out,
“Lord Claude. That’s enough. Are you aware of your situation? You’ve committed a crime, and you are here to be investigated for it! If you continue to mock us, we will not stand idly by!”
But the chief was greatly mistaken. Claude had no intention of mocking the security team.
He was completely upset just by the fact that another Esper had to touch me.
Already irritated, Claude’s eyes flashed dangerously, making the chief tremble.
“Shall we… do it quickly then…”
I extended my hand in a defeated tone to another Esper.
It was a necessary step.
Thinking maybe a female Esper would be better, I chose a female Esper, but even that seemed to displease Claude.
As the chosen female Esper hesitantly approached me, Claude glared menacingly at her. The poor Esper turned pale.
Anyway, the trembling hand of the Esper finally touched mine…
“…”
Despite the fuss, nothing happened.
“Could you hold more firmly to confirm? Interlocking fingers is fine too.”
“…”
“Miss Esper, please?”
“Okay, I’ll do it…”
Even when we interlocked fingers like close friends, the result was the same. The wave line on the monitor remained calm.
The examiner, eager to get us out, looked relieved. He quickly recorded the result.
“There’s no wave. There’s no guiding happening.”
My gaze naturally turned to Claude.
It was the result he wanted, so I thought he would be relieved…
But regardless, Claude was just glaring at my hand, still held by the Esper whose name I didn’t know.
The Esper, fearing further anger, quickly released my hand and returned to her place.
Next was Claude’s turn. If guiding only happened with Claude and not with other Espers, we would receive an imprinting verdict.
Knowing that Claude could draw guiding from me whenever he wished, I was still worried it might not work.
“Rose.”
Claude, who had just dragged a chair across, sat opposite me, extending his hand with a strange smile.
I felt a reflexive sense of foreboding.
That’s definitely a face with a scheme.
“What are you planning to do?”
“Come on.”
He urged me gently, but I couldn’t bring myself to take his hand without a second thought.
