The Guide Played Her Role as a Stand-in a Little Too Well - Chapter 207
‘Not a monster, but a person…… attacking people?’
I was confused.
The man drew his bowstring again. The first person who fell was just the beginning.
“Aaaaah!”
A muffled scream echoed. People who were running away from me with their backs turned fell one after another.
The speed of shooting arrows was abnormally fast.
‘……This is no ordinary person.’
In this empire, only Espers have such power.
An Esper attacking people. As I repeated this fact, chills ran down my spine.
‘I have to stop it.’
But Pheon, who was holding my hand tightly, showed no reaction.
“……Lord Pheon?”
When I called his name, only then did Pheon smile.
“Shall we move?”
“We need to stop that person first, don’t we?”
“Is there a need for that?”
Pheon tilted his head, looked around, and muttered.
“We should use anything to divert Hedonia’s attention.”
His voice, deep and sticky like a swamp, echoed dully in my ears.
“……What?”
“To be satisfied with just wooden crafts, there’s so much more I want to receive from you, Karina.”
His face smiling brightly at me was grotesque.
“I have no intention of handing you over to Hedonia.”
Pheon’s forehead lightly touched my shoulder. When he raised his head again, his eyes sparkled like flames.
“I want you.”
“……”
“All of you.”
With Pheon’s last words, spoken as if groaning, my vision changed.
The luxurious room with a chandelier had a plush carpet, a large bed, and even a fireplace.
But there were no windows.
With a dreaded thought, I turned my head, and Pheon confirmed as if delivering a coup de grâce.
“Welcome to your new home, Karina.”
With those words, my suspicion turned into certainty.
I was trapped here.
I had been kidnapped by Pheon.
‘……Why?’
Making such an irrational decision to confine me. It didn’t make sense at all considering how Pheon usually was.
He had offered me his magic tower, but…… Pheon was someone who knew how to keep boundaries.
“What are you suddenly talking about?”
“It’s exactly as I said.”
Pheon shrugged his shoulders.
“From now on, Karina will live here for the rest of her life. Guiding only me.”
Not only his suddenly changed attitude, but also his lack of surprise at seeing an Esper attacking people bothered me.
Was Pheon behind all of this?
“Don’t tell me you planned all of this?”
“Well, it might be better for you not to know.”
Pheon didn’t seem to have any intention of answering my question.
“You’re calmer than I expected. I thought you’d be extremely shocked.”
At his words that seemed genuinely surprised, I bit my lips repeatedly.
I just knew too well that panicking wouldn’t solve anything right now.
Stay calm. They say even if you enter a tiger’s den, you can survive if you keep your wits about you.
‘Hedonia will come.’
Since the situation has escalated to Espers attacking people, Hedonia will try to find me faster.
Even if my appearance is vague, there’s no way Hedonia won’t find me. They know I was last with Pheon, so they’ll suspect him first.
‘I need to understand the truth behind the incident.’
I needed to figure out how the situation had come to this point.
‘It’s strange.’
Pheon was sincere about solving this case, even going to investigate Cayden.
His attitude towards the aggressive Esper was the same.
‘Was it all an act?’
Was everything I’ve seen of Pheon a lie?
I recalled the time I spent with Pheon.
I couldn’t believe that he had kidnapped me and imprisoned me here.
He was the first person who had been respectful to me when I was a stand-in.
Even though he seemed to brush off my words lightly, he was actually someone who respected everything I said.
Even when I first refused his offer to become his guide, he accepted it and suggested other options, and when we entered the island, he accommodated my convenience.
The bag I brought today still contained the documents he had organized and handed over to me.
I had certainly read about Espers turning evil in books.
But the reason I didn’t include Pheon as a suspect was because he had given me trust as a person.
Trust that came from his actions, not his words.
“Lord Pheon.”
“Yes.”
“This isn’t like you.”
There must be a good reason for Pheon’s change in attitude.
“……Who did you get something from, and what was it?”
I intend to figure this out.
“Could it possibly be from Lord Cayden?”
To perfectly solve the current problem.
