Becoming the Guide of the Mysophobic Villain? Absolutely Not! - Chapter 294
“Are you seriously saying that now? Rose was in no condition to even stand on her own.”
“…”
“And yet, you’re telling me that she vanished overnight along with the nurse you arranged, as if they went for a pleasant stroll?”
The man didn’t shout or curse, but the icy tone of his voice conveyed the simmering rage of a man who had lost his beloved.
Trying to make excuses would be futile. It was better to remain silent and not provoke him further. This wasn’t just a learned tactic from years of experience—it was an instinctual reaction, like a prey facing a predator’s fangs.
The doctor bowed even deeper and kept his mouth shut, and Claude took a deep breath to calm himself.
Rose often disappeared or caused trouble the moment he took his eyes off her. He wanted to believe this was just another one of those times, but the timing was much too horrible.
When he had picked her up, she was too weak to even hold herself up, panting heavily. There was no way she had recovered enough in half a day to evade everyone looking for her and escape. Moreover, she had disappeared with the nurse.
If the nurse had kidnapped her for ransom from visitors to the capital, that would be one thing. But in this chaotic time, with mutants running rampant, would anyone dare to take such a risk?
“Take him away. Use any means necessary to make him remember.”
Claude pushed aside his worst thoughts and gave the order. Finding Rose was the top priority.
“Yes. We are searching everywhere for any trace of Lady Rose,” Wilhelm said, forcibly lifting the trembling doctor.
He wasn’t exaggerating. The quiet village, filled with empty houses from fleeing residents, was being thoroughly searched for any sign of Rose since her disappearance was discovered.
Even so, it took a full day to find a clue about Rose’s whereabouts.
And even that wasn’t particularly hopeful news.
“After confirming with the doctor… it appears this was indeed the nurse.”
Claude didn’t respond. No, he couldn’t respond.
What was found in the secluded mountain behind the village was a corpse.
Due to the cold weather, the body had not yet started to decompose. The eyes, wide open as if having seen something utterly shocking, gave the eerie illusion that the person was still alive, frozen at the moment of death.
…If you ignored the fact that the lower half of the body had been completely torn off, leaving only the upper half.
“It seems to be the work of a mutant.”
It was clear to anyone who looked. The distinct bite marks on the severed part were unmistakably not from a human or any known animal.
Two people had gone missing, and one was killed by a mutant. The remaining person, who was barely able to move, was unlikely to have survived.
Claude, of all people, knew this too well.
The only reason he hesitated to make a definitive judgment was simple.
An Esper without their imprinted Guide had no future. To speak of her death was tantamount to pronouncing a death sentence on Arteon’s national hero.
Claude had been staring at the body in silence. His face had turned pale, his jaw was tightly clenched, and his eyes trembled. He looked like someone being strangled by an invisible hand.
“Lord Claude, we will search this area thoroughly…”
Wilhelm, unable to bear the silence any longer, stepped forward cautiously.
But before he could finish his sentence, Claude suddenly knelt down. He forcibly pried open the stiffened fingers of the corpse, which had been tightly clenched.
Inside the clenched fist…
“…Find her. No matter what it takes. Do not waste a single moment.”
Claude’s voice, when he finally spoke, was uncharacteristically shaky.
The Espers could only bow their heads in silence.
In the corpse’s hand was a tuft of pink hair. The profound despair of their commander, upon finding it, was all too apparent.
