Becoming the Guide of the Mysophobic Villain? Absolutely Not! - Chapter 213
“Maybe it’s because I drew a line, thinking he’s from a completely different world than mine.”
“A different world? You mean you thought he was on a different level?”
“……”
I know dividing people into levels is a bad thing, but maybe I did it unconsciously.
I’ve never doubted the fact that I’m ordinary. Although I have a peculiar trait of guiding inconsistently, unlike typical Guides, I never thought I had a reason to get personally involved with Claude, the final boss and the villain of this world.
I believed such things were meant for someone more special.
I shrugged and replied,
“Maybe. I thought I was too ordinary compared to him, so I didn’t notice anything despite him hovering around me.”
“Well… if it were me, I would have wondered what terrible sin I committed in my life if Lord Claude were following me around.”
“……”
“…Ah, Rose. What I just said was purely hypothetical, you know that, right?”
Epine, who had been nodding seriously in agreement, suddenly realized her words sounded strange. She must have thought I might misunderstand, as she waved her hands frantically to deny it.
I found Epine’s reaction cute and smiled inadvertently. Then I looked up and…
…met Daniel’s eyes, who had been watching us.
“Uh…”
I was slightly startled and hesitated.
Daniel, standing at a distance… It seemed like he had been watching me with an intense gaze for a while.
The moment our eyes met was very brief. Daniel soon turned his head nonchalantly and started talking to the people next to him with a smile.
…It must be my imagination, right?
I mocked Epine when she kept saying she met Daniel’s eyes. Maybe this is why.
I almost got caught up in a strange delusion myself.
While I was calming my startled heart, Epine persisted.
“Answer me quickly, Rose. I’m not an unethical Guide who covets my friend’s Esper…”
“F-Friend’s, you say…?”
“Huh? What about it?”
The person who called me a friend… you’re the second one…
Fortunately, that unnecessary delusion quickly disappeared from my mind.
* * *
I ended up having another meal with Daniel.
It wasn’t planned, but it happened somehow.
What happened was, Demona informed me that the goal score of the Rose Something-or-Another Idol Project had been achieved.
The deadline was still several months away, but the condition of ‘improving the average score by more than 10%’ was already met.
I felt bewildered since I hadn’t done much except for scolding Oscar.
It was like getting an early admission offer from the desired university right after taking the mock test in the third year of high school. In other words, it felt too good to be true.
In fact, about 60% of the project’s success was due to Daniel. His frequent appearances at the Guide Division and his attendance at joint training significantly boosted the attendance rate.
Of course, Oscar not being in the Center helped maintain the average as well.
Thanks to that, a whopping 1.3 million Berks was deposited straight into my account.
1.3 million Berks.
An office worker’s annual salary was less than 10,000 Berks. Earning money equivalent to 130 years’ worth of work this easily felt almost wrong.
Feeling conflicted, but also thrilled, I decided to approach Daniel, who had become a regular in the Guide Division, for the first time in a long while. I excitedly explained the situation and thanked him, to which Daniel responded with a bright smile.
With a dazzling smile that seemed to scatter light particles, he said to me…
“On an empty stomach?”
“?”
…Was he joking?
Confused, I looked up at him, but he just smiled silently.
It was only then that I realized he wasn’t joking.
“Uh, well, in that case… how about 300,000 Berk from the 1.3 million Berks to you, Daniel?”
“Didn’t you just say that 60% of the credit was mine?”
“…”
“If it’s 60%, then… that would be roughly 700,000 Berks.”
His words struck me like a bolt from the blue!
Claude had blown away 400 billion Berks without a second thought. I felt sorry for Daniel, but since he was also an S-Class Esper, I assumed he’d be just as unconcerned about money as Claude.
I thought he’d consider 1.3 million Berks a pittance and congratulate me!
