The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]-Chapter 45: Attitude

When Lane finally made his way to the office, Damien was already sitting by the desk, working on his laptop, with a cup of black coffee right next to him. There was also one more cup, with much whiter coffee, standing on the other side - most likely waiting for Lane.

"Please, sit down, have a drink." Damien nodded at Lane, closing his laptop.

"Oh, is that for me?" Lane took a sip. His eyes instantly widened.

It was sweet. Very sweet. Perhaps not as sweet as Lane would like, but still very good.

Out loud though, he said, "Thank you, Team Leader. Although it’s a bit too sweet for my taste... And with too much milk."

"Is that so?" Damien lifted his brows. It didn’t seem to believe in even a single word. "You don’t have to drink it if you don’t want it."

"No, Team Leader had already made it for me, I can’t possibly let it go to waste..." Lane cleared his throat. "Anyway, what did you want to talk to me about, Sir?"

"Right. I didn’t want to lecture you in front of the others, but I need to remind you that you’re a public officer. With your behavior, you represent the Awakened Association. Therefore, things such as mocking civilians during the evacuation are highly inappropriate..."

"I’m sorry, Team Leader, but when did I ever mock anyone?" Lane interrupted, blinking his eyes innocently. "I’m always very nice and polite!"

Damien paused for a moment, staring at Lane in silence. "...Putting on a polite smile doesn’t matter, if your words are rude."

"I know that, naturally... When did I ever say anything rude though?" Lane acted all surprised and hurt.

Damien only gave Lane a long look in response. "Anyway, you need to work on your attitude."

"Yeah, yeah, if Team Leader says so..." Lane barely managed to hold himself back from rolling his eyes.

Inwardly, however, he was growing increasingly confused.

Was it all? Did Damien really summon Lane just to reprimand him for his improper behavior? Not that it would be out of character for him, but...

Before he could start to relax, though, Damien spoke up again, "Just keep it in mind in the future. Now, the next thing... Is there something going on with you and the Allen Guild?"

"...What?"

"You seemed to have a lot of animosity toward the Guild, especially Guild Leader Allen."

"How did Team Leader arrive at such a conclusion?" Lane furrowed his brows. Sure, perhaps his hatred toward the man might have been somewhat reflected in the way he interacted with Miles Allen. However... "If it’s about my so-called attitude, then I don’t think that I behaved all that much different from how I usually act..."

"Yes, I know you can generally be quite rude, especially to people who annoy you," Damien nodded, giving Lane a reproachful glance. "However, it’s not just about what happened in the dungeon. I remember you had an odd reaction when the Allen Guild was mentioned once before..."

"When was that?"

"I don’t remember exactly. It was during one of the inspections, when Pearson mentioned seeing the Allen Guild on the news..."

Ah.

There it was, another trap.

That ’Pearson’ Damien had just mentioned wasn’t someone he should know. She was a former teammate, who was already gone by the time ’Noah Murray’ joined the team.

How could Lane slip up with something so obvious though, when he was all on his guard and paying attention? He tilted his head. "Pearson? Did Team Leader mean Peters? I don’t remember ever talking with Cora about the Allen Guild though..."

Damien didn’t say anything. He just continued to stare at Lane intently.

He was just looking, but his gaze was so serious and intense, that it made Lane extremely uneasy. It was as if Damien could see right through him, all of his thoughts, and pick up on every lie...

What if it was his supporting ability? So far, the only one of Damien’s abilities that Lane knew about was the ice. And high-rankers tended to have some other, minor abilities on top of their main one... What if Damien had ’lie detection’, or something along those lines?

No, it couldn’t be.

Lane shook his head, almost wanting to laugh at himself. He was getting paranoid. Even if Damien had an ability like that, it wouldn’t work on Lane. Lane could already resist an SS-ranker ten years ago, after all. With difficulty, but still.

Damien just had unbelievably sharp intuition. That was all.

Having calmed down his nerves, Lane cleared his throat. "I don’t know what Team Leader is talking about. Is Team Leader confusing me with someone else again? Well, anyway, Team Leader is not entirely wrong, I do dislike the Allen Guild... That’s hardly unusual though, no? There are plenty of people who feel the same way."

That was true. The Allen Guild was a textbook example of how the world was completely unfair. Owning a massive conglomerate, the Allens were at the top of the world before the Gates appeared... And nothing changed afterward. Right in the first wave of the awakenings, many of the Allen family members awakened as high-rankers, including the CEO Miles Allen and the head of the family, Cyrus Allen... Having both money and talent, they were the first to set up a Guild and take control of plenty of dungeons, leaving all the competition far behind.

How could it not attract endless envy from the people?

Damien naturally understood it as well. However, he still said, "While that might be true, I have a feeling your dislike for them is more... personal. I won’t force you to talk about it if you don’t want to, just let me know if you’re uncomfortable with them. Then, I’ll try my best to make it so that you don’t need to encounter them again..."

Lane lifted his brows slightly. Was that Damien trying to be considerate of him, or was it another trap?

Either way, there was no need for that. Uncomfortable or not, Lane could handle himself perfectly fine.

"Thank you for your consideration, Team Leader, but there is no need for that. I’ve never had any personal interactions with anyone from the Allen Guild. The last time in the dungeon was the first time we’ve ever met. No one close to me had anything to do with them either. So, how could I have any personal feelings about the Guild?" Lane lifted his cup, finishing his coffee in a few big gulps.

"Now, if Team Leader doesn’t mind, I’d like to excuse myself. I need to get to my next appointment, and I wouldn’t want to risk being late..."

"...Alright." Damien let out a sigh. "You may go."

Lane bowed slightly, and quickly left the office, before Damien could change his mind.

In truth, there was still a lot of time left before his appointment. And he didn’t need to go far - the place the appointment was supposed to take place was an office one floor above... But who knew, perhaps he could get in earlier.

Either way, waiting around was better than staying in Damien’s office. Although the ’talk’ wasn’t as bad as Lane expected, he still couldn’t help but feel nervous...

Damien’s perceptiveness was simply that terrifying.