The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]-Chapter 40: Would You Consider Joining the Guild?

"Is it my turn?"

Lane lifted his eyes, looking at Damien who stood right in front of him, and let out a quiet sigh.

He had heard the conversation Damien had with Miles Allen earlier. How could he not? Everyone did.

And everyone had heard very well that Miles offered Damien Zoe’s guiding.

In such case, it really made no sense for Damien to seek Lane’s guiding. Zoe was higher in rank, not to mention their matching rate... Lane, on the other hand, was an A-ranker, who had just given guiding to a few Espers, right after the fight in which he used some of his Mana to activate his weapon at that. And his compatibility with Damien was a mere 21%.

Of course, he didn’t really mind giving Damien guiding - the man already knew how his guiding felt, so it wouldn’t make any difference for Lane to do it again, but...

He wasn’t exactly eager to do it either.

The truth was, Lane wasn’t particularly fond of guiding, not when he was on the giving end. While it didn’t feel bad most of the time, it wasn’t all that great either, especially when compared to how it felt on the Esper side. Plain and boring, that’s how it was.

The only times when Lane actually enjoyed guiding Espers was when he used it as an excuse to flirt... He wasn’t supposed to flirt with Damien though. Not right now. It could be considered sometime in the future, when his identity wasn’t under question... That, however, remained to be seen.

So, he lifted a corner of his mouth in a weak half-smile. "I’m tired, Team Leader..." he muttered apologetically. "How about... You ask someone from the Allen Guild? Guild Leader Allen said..."

Damien paused, hesitating. He was the one who said they had to share. Of course, that was also supposed to mean that he would eventually get his share of guiding as well...

The situation had changed since then though. It would be unreasonable of him to overwork one Guide, when there were several other suitable Guides around.

Taking advantage of this moment, Lane shot Zoe a pleading look.

As expected, she was already lurking around, waiting for her chance. Miles must have instructed her to try her best to give Damien guiding, knowing the man would be in the dungeon. Luring Espers with compatible Guides was a well-known scouting tactic among the Guilds.

Now that the opportunity had finally arisen, she stepped forward without hesitation.

"Team Leader Lennox. Would it be alright for me to give you the guiding?"

"This..."

"Are you perhaps angry at me for leaving the Association? Is that why you don’t want to have anything to do with me anymore?"

"That’s not it," Damien let out a heavy sigh, brushing back his hair. "You know why I..."

"No, I don’t. I thought I did, but..." Zoe briefly glanced at Lane, before meeting Damien’s eyes.

They stared at each other in silence for a long while. The atmosphere wasn’t tense - both Damien and Zoe were perfectly calm, with no trace of any animosity - but it still was... weird. Lane’s eyes wandered between the two of them.

What exactly happened in the time he was gone from the Association? Did Zoe perhaps know something he didn’t?

He wouldn’t get the answers he wanted, though, because Damien sighed again, finally agreeing, "Alright. Then, please guide me."

They moved to an empty sofa nearby, sitting down while holding hands. Lane’s eyes, which had been following the two, lightly twitched at the sight, but he didn’t think anything of it. It must have been because he was tired.

"I’m gonna take a little nap," he said to Arlo. "Wake me up if anything happens."

"Sure thing. Want to sleep on my lap?"

"Hmm..." Lane shot a glance at Damien.

Should he? He was supposed to pretend to be straight, to differentiate himself from ’Evan Greene’... But then again, using someone’s lap as a pillow didn’t really mean anything, right? It was just for convenience’s sake.

So, he turned to Arlo. "Yeah, if that’s okay, I would like that very much. Thanks!"

"Hahah, no problem." Arlo scratched his head, letting out a slightly bashful laugh. He took a seat right next to Lane, Lane immediately taking him up on the offer and making himself comfortable.

It stank of blood quite a lot, but other than that, Arlo’s lap made quite a decent pillow. It didn’t take long for Lane to start dozing off. He didn’t lie to Damien - after guiding several Espers, he truly was tired.

Half-asleep, he glanced once more in the direction of the Allen Guild members, before his eyes slowly closed.

***

"...ah. Noah!"

"Mmmh," Lane groaned, as something shook him lightly, waking him up from his nap. He let out a yawn and rubbed his eyes, lifting himself up. "What is it?"

"The evacuation is over. We’re leaving."

"Already?" Lane took a glance around.

The reception hall was once again filled with people - the Allen Guild members, and the representatives from both the Trailblazer Guild and the Association, just standing around and engaging in conversations.

"How long did I sleep?"

Through the entrance Lane could see that the sky was still dark outside, so it couldn’t possibly have been that long.

"Just over four hours."

...Perhaps it could, after all.

Lane clicked his tongue. He took two Recovery Pills earlier, and slept over four hours, and yet he was still tired?

’Damn this useless body.’

He couldn’t get used to how weak Noah Murray was at all.

His stay in this body was only temporary though, and he would be able to get more rest once he got back home, so there was no point complaining too much. Shrugging it off, he slowly stood up from the sofa, his eyes searching for Damien.

He didn’t have to look for long, as he soon spotted the man, standing near the Gate, talking with Miles Allen.

"Are you sure about it?" Miles’s words reached Lane’s ears, as he passed through the crowd, approaching the two men. "Your father has already joined us. Both of you have almost identical ice abilities, you would make a great team."

A dark shadow seemed to have passed through Damien’s face, and his brows twitched. It was so faint though, and disappeared so quickly, that Lane wasn’t sure if he really had seen it, or if it was just a trick of an eye. Either way, Damien’s voice was perfectly calm when he answered, "I will stay in the Association."

"If it’s about the contract, then you don’t need to worry about it. We can cover the cancellation fees. Naturally, it won’t affect your pay. We treat it as a welcome bonus," Miles wasn’t giving up.

"This..."

Lane’s eyes narrowed, and he stepped forward, appearing right by Damien’s side. "Team Leader, you’re not going to leave us, are you?"

"Of course not." Damien turned to Lane, his expression softening as soon as his gaze fell on the man. "I don’t plan to leave the Association. Not now, and not in the future."

"Good." The corners of Lane’s mouth unwillingly went up. Although he considered Damien to be too stiff and uptight, and their relations were rather unfavorable to Lane at the moment due to Damien’s suspicions, he didn’t actually dislike the man. Definitely not to the point that he would be happy to watch him board a sinking ship.

...Of course, everyone would find it ridiculous to refer to the Allen Guild as a ’sinking ship’. After all, it stood strong, right on the top, for so many years already. It was a ship with no holes. Seemingly unsinkable.

They said the same thing about the Titanic though, and then what? All it took was one iceberg, and it went down, to the bottom of the sea, completely unsalvageable.

Unaware of Lane’s thoughts, Miles turned his eyes to him. "Is that your new Guide?" he asked, noticing Lane’s badge. "How do you like it at the Association? Would you perhaps want to consider joining the Allen Guild?"

Lane had to try hard to hold himself back, or else he would burst out laughing at Miles’s words. He knew exactly what the man was thinking - Miles was trying to steal Damien’s new Guide, to entice him to change his mind. The Allen Guild had nothing to lose - even if the plan didn’t work in the end, at least they would get a new A-ranker. It was all perfectly reasonable. A good business decision.

Still, from Lane’s point of view, it was simply laughable. Although he had got the offers from the Allen Guild several times before when possessing other people, it never ceased to amuse him.

To be invited by this dear father of his to join his Guild, after being pretty much tossed out of the house, and paid enormous sums of money every month just so that he would stay quiet and pretend he didn’t exist?

Really, could there be anything funnier than that?

Lane met Miles’s eyes straight on, twisting his mouth in a wide smile. "It is truly an honor, to get such an offer from Guild Leader Allen himself... However, I’m afraid I must refuse. I have some standards, you see."

"...What?" Miles drew his brows together, staring at Lane with confusion. Surely, he must have misunderstood? The young Guide’s words right now seemed...

"Guild Leader Allen, if I may," Damien quickly cut in, sensing the storm brewing in the air. "My team members are all tired after all the unexpected events. If it’s alright with you, we would like to return now and get some rest."

"...Of course. I won’t be holding you back any longer." Miles’s expression returned to his usual cold calmness.

"Please think about what I’ve said. The offer still stands," he added, as he turned around and left.

"Thank you, I will. My answer, however, will remain unchanged." Damien nodded politely, watching Miles as he walked toward the Trailblazer Guild Leader. Once the man was finally a safe distance away, he let out a relieved sigh, and turned back to Lane.

"You..." he started, about to reproach him. After seeing the satisfied expression on Lane’s face though, he just shook his head, and let it go, at least for now. Luckily, he was around and intervened fast enough to stop the situation from escalating, so nothing serious happened.

Besides, although Damien disagreed with Lane’s attitude, he was actually happy about his firm rejection. After all, if he agreed... That would not only benefit him financially, but it was also a great opportunity for him to slip away from Damien’s grasp...

"Team Leader?" Lane tilted his head, finally noticing Damien’s weirdly warm gaze on him. "So, are we leaving or not?"

"Ah, yes." Damien motioned for everyone to gather.

After the long two days and nights, they were finally leaving the Eldenveil. Earlier than expected, but much more tired than they should...

And in slightly thinned number, it seemed.