The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]-Chapter 310: Week-long Trip

The meal that Damien had prepared was sweet. Very sweet. So sweet, that it could even taste sickly for some. Not for Lane, of course, since his taste buds were trained (read: ruined) to endure the levels of sweetness any normal person couldn’t possibly handle...

But for a person with ordinary taste buds, such as Damien, it was a bit much. Since Damien was too busy to cook separate meals for himself and Lane, he had no choice but to eat the same food as him... And perhaps he had overestimated himself a bit, or the sweetness of the dinner he had prepared. Although he could still swallow it, he had to take a sip of water every now and then, to clean his palate and to be able to keep on going without getting nauseous.

At least Lane seemed to be enjoying himself.

They ate in silence. Usually, they would have a light conversation during dinner, talking about their day... But today, they didn’t.

For obvious reasons. After what happened in the morning, anything even remotely related to Ethan was like an anthill that both men were reluctant to so much as nudge with a twenty-foot-long stick. It had to be addressed eventually, but... Neither knew how to bring it up.

"Ahem," Damien cleared his throat, breaking the silence as he took a little break from his overly sweet meal. "Your next exam re-take is the day after tomorrow... How are your preparations going?" he then asked, picking a safer topic to start the conversation.

"Good, I think. I’ve been studying the whole day!"

Damien threw Lane a doubtful glance. As if he couldn’t tell from Lane’s wavelength that the man had gone on another monster-hunting spree when they had touched in the kitchen earlier!

"I really did!" Lane defended himself, pouting his lips.

It wasn’t even a lie. He had been listening to Damien’s voice notes all day yesterday, and earlier in the dungeon as well. Technically speaking, you could say that he had been studying diligently all day long! Yes, he had also been hunting monsters at the same time... But that’s called multitasking. Plenty of busy people did the same, as far as Lane was aware, learning languages or listening to audiobooks while exercising or doing chores. That was a great way to make the most of your time, no? Why shouldn’t Lane be able to do the same?

"Well, if you say so," Damien let out a sigh, giving up on pressing Lane, even though he was still unconvinced. "It would be good if you could pass this time, as we are going on the inspection to the Eldenveil soon, and we will be gone for at least a week."

"The Eldenveil?" Lane paused, looking up at Damien. "Why for a week, though?"

"It’s territory expanded a while ago, and as a reactivated Gate, it requires a far more detailed inspection..."

"...Ah." Hearing Damien’s explanation, Lane went silent.

The Eldenveil was an A-rank dungeon which had previously been cleared by the Allen Guild, and then sold to the Trailblazer Guild, which had turned it into a luxurious holiday resort... Lane had been there a few times, including two trips with Damien as a member of his team, first as ’Evan Greene’, and then once more as ’Noah Murray’... And it was during that second trip of theirs that the dungeon had suddenly reactivated, the Wall expanding, and they had been faced with the onslaught of high-ranking monsters.

In other words, it was a complete mess.

And it was all because of Lane. Lane, who had planted the capsules with the Fertilizer there...

Of course, he wasn’t acting just on his own. It wasn’t even his original idea. He was just following the plan devised by the planning division of the secret organization, working together with the scientist to bring forward the Manaforming of their world. Lane wasn’t knowledgeable enough to come up with such schemes on his own, after all. And their goal wasn’t to hurt anyone, just to advance the civilization. Any casualties were just... ’collateral damage’.

...But Lane doubted Damien would understand, if he ever were to find out about it. Lane possessing people, stealing their abilities and lives, was already bad enough. And if he discovered that Lane had been involved in the incidents that caused so many deaths? Forget Ethan seducing him, he would probably leave on his own accord!

Naturally, that would only be the consequences of Lane’s own actions, his just desserts. It wasn’t like he was so dumb that he didn’t know what he was doing. And just like Diana had always told him, some sacrifices had to be made to achieve your goals.

But...

Lane shook his head, chasing the thoughts away.

There was no point worrying about that now. It’s not like there was anything Lane could do about it. And Damien was still unaware of what was going on...

All Lane had to do was to make sure that he wouldn’t find out.

"When are you going?" he eventually asked, after a long pause.

"The week after the next," Damien said. "We’re still adjusting the schedule, but most likely on Monday."

There wasn’t much time left, then. If Lane didn’t pass the upcoming exam, then he would only have one chance left. And that was being generous. After all, once he finally passed the written exam, he would still have the practical left... Which would be a breeze - with his skill and experience, Lane would be able to pass it with flying colors. The only problem was the schedule - for Espers, the practical exam was more time-consuming, conducted one-on-one, with every person displaying their proficiency in the use of their ability in front of the examiners, who were chosen based on the ability type. Thus, sometimes an Esper wanting to take the exam had to wait several days, especially someone like Lane, who had been re-taking written test for a month now, and hadn’t even attended the Basic Esper Training...

Lane HAD to make it work somehow, though. The Eldenveil might not have been the same as when they had been their last - after the monsters’ reappearance, the resort had been closed, and it was still not accepting visitors up to this day, so there would be no need for anyone to share rooms - but...

There was no way he was going to allow Ethan to go with Damien on a week-long trip, if he wasn’t there as well!