Becoming the Guide of the Mysophobic Villain? Absolutely Not! - Chapter 56
***
Claude Denhardt. He was a man seemingly blessed by the gods themselves.
Born into a wealthy family known for producing high-ranking officials in Artheon, Claude was exceptionally gifted, learning tenfold what others could. His celestial appearance needed no explanation.
People naturally gravitated towards him, envious yet admiring.
No one doubted that Claude’s future would be anything but brilliant – not even Claude himself.
That was until he manifested as an S-class Esper.
Initially, everyone considered his manifestation a blessing, but it turned out to be a curse.
Regardless of his looks or family, as an S-class, he should have received abundant guiding. But Claude suffered from a horrific guiding allergy, unprecedented in anyone else.
Guiding should have been salvation for an Esper, but not for him.
Physical contact with any Guide caused him unbearable pain, as if being pricked by dozens of tiny needles.
He rejected guiding, but the future for an S-class Esper refusing it was bleak: enduring unbearable pain until an eventual berserk death.
His father even brought Guides to forcibly attempt guiding him.
It was a desperate attempt to save his son but ended in failure, leaving Claude with a severe trauma, making him loathe any personal contact.
He nearly went on rampage twice, once before and once after becoming an adult.
The first time, he was comatose for a month. The second time, he lost all his senses, including sight, for months.
Both incidents were grave, but Claude foresaw the third impending crisis as more than serious.
Perhaps he would go mad or even die this time. He had long given up trying to overcome his guiding allergy, burdened with severe mysophobia and trauma.
One dawn, Claude realized it might be his last day.
Although a cool breeze blew, he felt as though he was being fried alive, overwhelmed by heat and agony.
He had lost his sight long ago, the world around him engulfed in darkness. His senses were running wild.
He wished for nothingness, hoping this time he might lose his life and end the excruciating pain.
Claude had given up on everything.
But then, unexpectedly.
A new sensation trickled through the searing pain.
Like a breeze, like a stream.
Fresh and pure.
An overwhelmingly clear and refreshing sensation.
Desperate for life, in contrast to his death wishes, Claude clung to it. He recognized it instantly – it could only be one thing for him.
Guiding.
Just a little more. More contact.
For the first time, he desperately sought someone else’s touch.
Claude forcefully seized his Guide, holding them tight.
“Slowly.”
“…”
“Gently, do it softly.”
His head was buzzing, voices barely discernible. But they were soft, kind, caring.
The comforting touch was faint, but it had a strange power to control his unrestrained self.
And the ensuing kiss…
Despite his senses going haywire, Claude experienced ecstasy like never before. Never in his life, before or after manifestation, had he felt such pleasure.
I need to have this.
He tightened his grip around the person in his arms.
But perhaps too intoxicated by this newfound pleasure, the person in his embrace escaped. He tried to hold on, to see, but failed.
The excruciating pain that was about to burst vanished, leaving behind a void of yearning.
And the guiding he had ingested on the brink of rampage enveloped him like warmth at the end of a harsh journey.
***
The next day, Claude woke up in the Esper ward of the Center, where Espers on the verge of going on rampage were confined.
Ignoring the protesting doctors, he shrugged off the cumbersome examination equipment and headed towards the Guide Division.
He didn’t need any tests. He knew his body better than anyone.
Never before, neither before nor after his manifestation, had he felt so light and energetic. The severe migraines that had plagued him since his manifestation, along with all other pains, had vanished as if washed away.
For the first time, everything felt clear, sharp, and vivid.
As if proving that yesterday’s guiding was not a delusion of a rampaging Claude.
All that remained was to find his Guide.
But he couldn’t find them anywhere.
