Becoming the Guide of the Mysophobic Villain? Absolutely Not! - Chapter 199
“Ah, wait…!”
Daniel froze and tightly shut his eyes. It was a reflexive action born from the fear of impending pain.
And then…
“…”
“…”
“Why, why is this happening…?”
Daniel looked at me with wide, startled eyes.
I replied curtly.
“Why? If you hold hands with an imprinted Guide, naturally, guiding won’t happen. Were you expecting something else, Lord Daniel?”
“But there was definitely guiding that time…”
I scoffed.
For the past few days, Daniel had been circling around me, trying to find an opportunity to talk. During that time, I had come up with my own strategy to deal with him.
It was the ‘Feign Ignorance Strategy’.
I generally can’t guide. Even with Claude, who knows my secret, it only worked about three or four out of ten times we came in contact.
So, even though I didn’t know why I was able to guide Daniel that day, the chances of it happening again were very low.
Daniel didn’t know I was a Guide, nor did he know I was Claude’s imprinted Guide. So, he certainly wouldn’t know that I was a Guide with a peculiar condition, where guiding only sometimes worked. I decided to deny and feign ignorance.
You must have been mistaken. Go ahead and touch me. See? No guiding. I actually am imprinted.
When I boldly stood my ground, Daniel looked noticeably confused.
There was no way an Esper could mistake being guided, but there was also no way I could have imprinted with another Esper in Claude’s absence.
He couldn’t make sense of it and was left bewildered.
After glancing around to check our surroundings, Daniel leaned closer and whispered to me.
“But you definitely guided me that time…”
“You were so desperate for guiding that you must have imagined it, Lord Daniel.”
I replied nonchalantly. Daniel, suddenly feeling unjustly accused, looked like he was about to cry.
“Miss Rose, I…”
“Alright, that’s enough! Espers, please let go.”
The instructor shouted. But Daniel showed no intention of letting go.
I tried to pull my hand away several times, but there’s no way I could match an Esper’s strength.
“I…”
“Who’s still holding hands over there? Lord Daniel?”
“…”
“Even if there’s no Esper waiting behind you, the guiding time allocation is the same. Please let go of her hand now.”
Fortunately, the instructor intervened just as Daniel was about to say something.
Daniel bit his lip with a complicated expression.
“…”
“…So? Now what, huh?”
I shrugged as I spoke, and the strength drained from Daniel’s hand.
He hesitated for a moment before standing up.
I could feel his lingering gaze on me… but I pretended not to notice.
* * *
A few days after that incident, on my way home from the Guide Division.
It was later than usual because I had been held up getting an update from Demona about the progress of the ‘Idol Rose Smth-Smth Project’.
In summary, my overall academic performance had improved, but only by about 3-4%, and more effort was needed to reach the 10% goal.
If it were revealed that I wasn’t imprinted, the value of the 4 billion-Berk deal would turn to nothing. What was the point of a mere 1.3 million Berk project?
I wanted to quit, but I ended up saying I understood and left. Saying anything else would have made Demona go crazy right then and there.
Claude, who disliked people, had chosen a secluded place for the house. Walking along the deserted path, I suddenly felt uneasy.
It was strange. This was a path I always took. The same path every day.
…
“Even with Lord Claude gone, things are still…”
I tried to calm myself down. Asking the guides, who had already returned to their dorms, to walk me home would be ridiculous.
Moreover, the only Esper I could rely on when I was scared wasn’t at the Center.
I needed to be more resolute during times like these.
I forced myself to straighten my back and walk with purpose.
But…
The wind felt eerie. It seemed like something could happen at any moment. The rustling bushes, in particular, looked more unsettling than usual, as if something might jump out.
I suddenly remembered a recent urban legend the Guides had been talking about.
<Lately, dismembered bodies have been showing up in the capital.>
<What’s scarier is that the cut surfaces… looked like bite marks from a mutant.>
At the time, it wasn’t scary at all. There couldn’t possibly be a mutant in the capital capable of killing people.
But the story has been circulating a lot lately.
