Chapter 313
In the original game, Claude eventually went on rampage at the Center after being deprived of guiding for a long time. This resulted in the deaths of S-Class Espers.
The story beyond that point was omitted in the game, but considering that all the S-Class Espers perished, it was no stretch to assume that the Center itself collapsed entirely.
However, my interference with the original plot occurred when I was transmigrated into this world. Claude overcame his long-standing guiding allergy after meeting me.
Why was it that the strongest person in the world, Claude, was the one suffering from a guiding allergy?
And why did something come up that forced him to leave the Center just after overcoming it by meeting me?
Why did another S-Class Esper, Daniel, face the same risk of going on rampage due to the same illness when Claude wasn’t at the Center?
Could it be that the guiding allergy they suffered from was part of a meticulous plan by a third party aiming for the Center’s collapse?
When Claude didn’t go on rampage because of me, nothing happened to me at that time. If that was because removing me didn’t provide a significant advantage—since Claude had endured over ten years with the allergy—then it made sense.
But with Daniel also not going on rampage after being associated with me, I inevitably caught their attention.
To them, I was the one who had twice snatched away opportunities to overthrow the regime that had been stable for the past fourteen years.
And the force most disturbed by someone like me would be…
“Did you… Did you orchestrate all of this…?”
Before I could fully process my thoughts, I blurted it out. Hermann’s indifferent gaze finally landed on me.
Hermann was completely different from the last and only time I had seen him.
Back then, I had thought of him as an amiable and hearty old man, despite his strong presence.
As always, I had no sense of discernment. The kind look in his eyes was gone, replaced by a cold and merciless gaze, as if looking at something base and inferior.
His eyes alone were enough.
There was no need for further confirmation.
“You were the one behind Claude’s guiding allergy that tormented him for so many years…?”
The first emotion that surged up as I realized the truth was anger.
“You orchestrated it so that Lord Claude, who did nothing wrong, would suffer from the guiding allergy. Lord Claude’s rampage and the subsequent collapse of the Center would have been your opportunity.”
“…”
“And not only that, but the reason the investigation into the missing Guides Outside the Line was always sluggish is because you, the power behind Arteon, managed the state-owned pharmaceutical company under the guise of—”
But I couldn’t finish my sentence.
An Esper standing behind me struck the back of my head, making me lose my train of thought.
“Did… Did you hit me…?”
In disbelief, I looked up at the Esper who had struck me, dumbfounded.
I had been living as Rose Valentine, who was so identical in every way, for almost two years.
Despite my constant defiance toward the notoriously ill-tempered Irene, Shana, Oscar, and even Claude, I had never been physically struck.
Yet now… someone dared to hit me…?
I didn’t have time to think about the pain. Realizing how much my situation had changed made me feel a surge of sorrow, and tears welled up in my eyes.
“How spoiled must she have been to not know the fear of Espers, acting so recklessly…”
…The tears receded immediately.
I sensed from Hermann’s contemptuous gaze and voice that if I cried now, I would face trials far worse than a simple slap.
This was more an instinct of a small animal that had spent its life in constant danger than learned experience.
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