The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]
Chapter 100: A Danger Alert

Chapter 100: A Danger Alert

The cleaning took long. Even though Lane only hypnotized the young woman twice for a few minutes - first to move Xavier from his private en suite bathroom to the guest one, and then to bring him back there after the woman finished cleaning it - so her speed was more or less the same as normal. That’s not to say that she was slow... Lane couldn’t really tell, since he never did it himself, or paid attention before. It was just that the whole process took much longer than he would have expected.

Thinking back about Damien’s studio, how did the man manage to find time to keep it so clean? On top of all of his work and training... It was unlikely that he hired a cleaner like Lane, judging by the cheap place he lived in, so he must have done all the chores on his own. And on top of that, he still somehow found time to make strawberry protein bars for Lane... The man’s time management skills were unreal.

Whoever gets to marry the man will surely be one lucky guy. Or girl, who knows, maybe Damien swung both ways. Lane felt almost envious of them, even though he had no intention of ever getting married, or getting into a proper long-term relationship... Or, at least not a PERMANENT one.

Either way, it was none of his concern. Damien’s marriage wouldn’t be happening any time soon, not with how much the man was hung up on Lane. And by the time it would, Lane would surely have long got bored of Damien.

Wasting no more time pondering about such irrelevant futures, Lane moved back to his business, going through all the data about the new recruits from Forbidden Zone No. 74. The last batch was quite promising, especially Carmen and...

Rrrring!

All of a sudden, Lane’s phone sounded out loudly, the same sound also coming from the kitchen, where the cleaning girl was.

A danger alert. Issued by the Association, notifying everyone in close proximity about a new dungeon break.

Lane quickly pulled out his phone, checking the alert. The area... was close to the Restricted Zone, but out of the bounds. And the evacuation directions.

That was all. Nothing about the type of monster, or the rank of the dungeon...

Well, the notification was for the civilians. And for them, whether it was an F or and A-rank, didn’t matter all that much. They had to flee for their lives either way.

As for Lane...

He jumped off the couch, heading to the kitchen. "Hey, you’re gonna take much longer?"

"Hmm? I’m almost done, why?" The cleaning girl fixed her hair, hooking a loose strand behind her ear, as she glanced at Lane.

"Ah, I just need to head out. You’re done with my room though, right?"

"Yes, but the dungeon break..."

"It’s not around here, so don’t worry," Lane quickly interrupted. He knew what the girl was about to say, but the dungeon break was precisely why he was in a hurry! "Alright then, thanks for today. Oh, and," his eyes flashed with a red glow," forget about the Allen... No, wait. Hmm... Maybe... I don’t have anything to do with the Allen Guild, alright?"

It was the best command he could come up with, using the hypnosis to plant the idea in her head. Otherwise, if she thought about it later... Even with his pink hair, the family resemblance was undeniable. She’d have to be dumb or blind not to figure it out. What if she went around saying she’s cleaning the apartment of Lane Allen from THE Allens then?

And Lane didn’t want to break the deal he had with Miles. Not yet.

"And don’t leave the kitchen for the next 10 minutes." Lane added, before withdrawing his ability.

Next, he rushed into his room, lay down on the bed, switched to Xavier, and sneaked out through the balcony, as always. When he got back to Xavier’s place, several messages were already waiting on his phone. It was their day off, but due to the dungeon break, Damien messaged the whole team, asking anyone available to come to the scene to help. Lane changed into his uniform, and only when he was already on the way, running toward the Restricted Zone - driving a car wasn’t an option, not with the traffic, it would only slow him down - did he check all the information.

’Another A-rank, huh? That’s nice... But,’ Lane furrowed his brows, double-checking with the map, ’Since when there’s an A-rank dungeon there? Unless...’

Unless it was a new one, which just appeared - in which case the break would be caused by the Mana fluctuations in the Restricted Zone, and would be relatively small - or perhaps another hidden one? Either way, it was good news for Lane.

He arrived at the blockade ten or so minutes later.

"Hi! I’m a B-rank Esper under Team Leader Damien Lennox," he reported to one of the Association members guarding the place. "Where should I-"

"Owens!" Before he could finish, a low voice came from the road ahead. Damien glided through the air - or rather, slid on the ice path he created a good few feet above the ground - and landed right in front of Lane. "I saw your response, so I came to pick you up..."

The corners of Lane’s mouth twitched, but he just lifted his brows, giving Damien a questioning look.

"...I know you’ve asked about more freedom, but it’s an unknown A-rank dungeon... I thought it would be safer for you to stick next to me," Damien explained himself, fixing his collar nervously, as he looked away.

"Yeah, no worries. I was planning to find you anyway." Stifling a chuckle, Lane approached the man, giving him a firm pat on the shoulder. "Come on, let’s go, let’s talk on the way."

They walked side by side at a brisk pace, toward the dungeon, Damien shortly explaining, "It’s a new dungeon, appeared only this morning. It’s assumed to be an A-rank, based on the monsters... But we don’t have any concrete information yet."

So it was a new dungeon affected by the Restricted Zone. Seems like the Zone would soon get an upgrade in terms of the total surface it covered!

"Then the scale?" Lane tilted his head. "Must be small?"

However, in response, Damien shook his head. "No. Actually, it’s unexpectedly big. As if the monsters were chased away... Regardless, the point is, there are two types, one B and one A-rank, so your ability’s effectiveness might be diminished. Stay back and be careful, alright?"

"Ah, oh well, I still have my daggers!" Lane laughed out loud. "And, well... It’s not like I’ll really die anyway."

Damien didn’t find it funny though. With a serious frown wrinkling his forehead, he grabbed Lane’s wrist, and then slid his hand down to squeeze Lane’s head. "Please. Stay safe."

He was tense. Extremely so. His green eyes, glued to Lane, appeared feverish, his breathing shallow and his shoulders shaking lightly from the excessive tension...

Well, they were not far from where he first had seen Lane die. And the circumstances were similar, them being the first responders on the scene of an A-rank dungeon break... Even if he knew about the possessions now, and Lane was also stronger, being a B-rank Esper, the memory of that tragic event was hard to suppress.

Lane let out a quiet sigh, returning the squeeze. There were several other bad jokes bouncing around in his head - such as asking Damien for that final kiss ’Evan’ never got to have - but in the end, he only said, "Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. We’re gonna get it all under control... And grab some dinner later, what do you say?"

"...Alright." Although the tension was not gone, Damien let go of Lane. There were monsters running around, and he was needed on the scene... They both were.