Chapter 181: Ch 181: A Waking Nightmare - Part 1

Once Erin had died, Noah felt like a lost child, not knowing where he was supposed to go. So he kept wandering around without any destination at first, hoping that he would find a place that helped soothe his hurt soul.

And that was when he reached the edge of this village and decided to settle down here.

He had not even meant to come here, but his feet had moved on their own. And before he knew it, he was out there.

The small cottage was not owned by anyone, and it did not have signs of anyone having lived here either. It was, however, falling apart, so it was up to Noah to patch it up before use.

But almost as if someone had anticipated his actions, all the supplies to patch this place were inside, and Noah had no problem getting started. He even had money to buy things from the local village if he ran out.

And speaking of the local village, it was a lovely place where people did not look at him with odd desires in their eyes. Noah felt a lot calmer and happier interacting with these people as well.

He still did not want to go out much, but he no longer shied away from it either.

Soon, people grew bold enough to approach him and start a conversation as well, and there was no one faster than the local espers... who did not even know they were espers.

You see, the disadvantage of being in such a remote village was that there was not a lot of outside news that reached here. So despite knowing what espers and guides were, the villagers were under the delusion that none of them could be an esper or a guide.

As a result, the young espers who kept coming to disturb Noah did not realise they were doing this because he was a guide.

Luckily, there were only a handful of these espers. But unluckily, they all looked like they were on the verge of collapsing. And for a good reason. It seemed like they were too exhausted to go on without guiding.

Their natural inclination to be near a guide was driving them towards Noah and making them seek him out... which he did not mind. Being near other people kept his own thoughts away... as long as they did not touch him first.

Noah’s guiding was broken right now, and as a side effect of the medicine Ethan’s mother had given him, he could feel it leaking out and surrounding these young espers.

They realised it, and their eyes glazed over before they took a step towards Noah, and he quickly realised that the situation was getting dangerous.

It was time for him to step back and head back home.

"I am done with my shopping, so I will take my leave now. If you are sick, then you should head to the village doctor... Or perhaps, you should go to the next town over. I heard that they have a few guides to take care of awakened espers. I can help with medical injuries, but there is little I can do for your lack of guiding."

Noah said this carelessly, almost as if he did not know what he was talking about. But he had calculated the impact of these words, and as expected, the villagers caught up.

At first, they did not believe that there were actually espers in their town, but their curiosity about his words must have piqued because he heard rumours of them seeking out villagers the next day.

And just as Noah expected, those people who had awakened and had no idea did turn out to be espers.

The news had shocked the village and elevated his status as a miracle doctor in these people’s eyes, just as he wanted. And from that day onwards, people began to seek him out.

It was one person the first day, and then two, until there were more than a dozen seeking him out for his knowledge.

And it felt rewarding at first. Noah had no time to think about what he was doing as he helped people out. But even that did not last for long.

There were only so many problems the villagers could bring to him, and after a week, the number of people who sought him out began to dwindle. He was even able to relax in his free time.

But every time he closed his eyes, he felt restless. And any time blue flashed across his vision, he felt like he had to check out what it was.

Even his dreams were not safe for him, reminding him of Erin and what he had lost. And just thinking about it made his chest feel like it was on fire.

In his dream, he could see the small blue figure fluttering in front of him, and Noah felt desperate to chase it down. He needed to get to Bluey.

But the more he chased, the more it felt like he was being slowed down by people around him. These people had no face, no name, and no identity. They might as well be the same person for all he knew.

However, they were stopping him from chasing after Bluey, and that was a fact he could not ignore.

He somehow made it across the crowd, but just as he was about to chase the last of the blue in front of him, someone grabbed his arm, and Noah felt like he had to look behind him.

"Hello, Noah! Did you miss me? I know that you did."

It was Erin’s body, draped across his back and speaking directly in his ear. It felt soft and sweet, but Noah felt terrified of that presence.

"Y-You..."

"Yes, I am here. And I have a question... why did you let me die? You knew what was going to happen if you left me alone and let me do what I wanted, right? Then why?"

The flash of blue fell over Noah’s face, and his breath refused to work.