The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]
Chapter 150: Totally Spy

Chapter 150: Totally Spy

The cheers and the sound of fighting felt awfully distant, separated by thick, Mana-reinforced walls. Lane’s rushed footsteps, although light, seemed to echo unbearably in the dark, empty hallways. So much so, that he took a risk to activate Sky Step, moving just slightly above the ground, to reduce the noise. As long as he wouldn’t use too much Mana, the sensors shouldn’t be able to pick up on him...

If there were even on. With the fights going on in the Arena, it was likely they weren’t, or they would be going crazy by now.

He ran as fast as he could - as fast as Xavier’s body allowed him to. He didn’t want to use Mana to boost his speed further, since he was already using Sky Step - constantly glancing at the numbers on the walls. Molzen left through the exit in sector M6, so it should be around...

All of a sudden, Lane paused, as the sound of a conversation drifted to his ears. Almost holding his breath, he slowly moved closer, step by step, quietly and carefully...

He recognized the voices. Molzen and that guy he was with at the gala... Talking in a language Lane didn’t know.

Of course.

Brushing back his hair, Lane held back a sigh. Well, never mind. This time, he was prepared for that.

He pulled out his phone, opening a translator app he bought the other day. Multilingual, offline, with voice recognition option. Back when he bought it, he thought the ’offline’ function was rather unnecessary... Who would have thought it would come in handy so much?

Pressing his back against the wall, he lifted his phone, moving it as close to the end of the wall as he could without being spotted, and pressed record.

...But how could his phone’s microphone pick up on the hushed conversation taking place more than twenty feet away?

All he got were some scraps.

"...active."

"Any news from ...?"

"Five minutes ... spotted wave on ... side."

A wave? What wave?

"Any ...?"

"Not yet. Team ... observe barrier."

"Update when ... appear. ... radio."

"When ... obstruction start?"

Lane furrowed his brows. Obstruction? That sounded... ominous.

"Wait ... sign. After you ... activate portal ..."

Portal? As in Gate? But ’activate’? Activate what? That didn’t make any sense.

"... team leave?"

"Team Five ... Transfer orders ... Immediately."

"Alright, ..."

There was a loud groan, as some heavy door closed, and the two men moved.

In Lane’s direction.

Lane barely had enough time to turn off his phone screen and jump up, hiding on one of the concrete ceiling beams, before Molzen and his companion - subordinate? Or a ’work’ partner? Lane couldn’t quite tell - emerged from behind the corner. They were wearing masks to hide their faces, Molzen’s Guild logo nowhere in sight.

Holding his breath as he tried to minimize his presence as much as possible, Lane waited, motionless, his eyes staring blankly onto a wall - he couldn’t observe the men, even though he wanted to, lest they might sense his gaze. It was a good thing that he at least tended to wear dark clothing as Xavier, because it helped him to blend in with the dark ceiling...

For a moment, he hesitated. Should he take a risk and follow them? His cloaking ability wouldn’t work against Molzen, who was an S-ranker. If they spotted him, there was a chance... no, it was certain he would be attacked. Defending against them would be challenging in Xavier’s body, but not impossible. The commotion it would cause though...

There was also that heavy door that had just closed. Maybe it would be better to check out that instead. It was a safer option, without a doubt, and he still might be able to get some clue. And then, quickly return to Damien’s side.

Having made his decision, he waited until the steps completely faded in the distance, before he pulled out his phone again, reading through the conversation a few more times.

But no matter how many times he reread it, it didn’t make much sense. It was clear that they were working on something, executing some sort of mission, RIGHT NOW - Lane’s intuition was correct, Molzen was indeed up to something! - but what it was, he had no clue. It sounded suspicious, that’s for sure, but as for any details...

Hopefully it wasn’t anything particularly important. He saved the audio file, so maybe he could find someone among his underlings who could translate it once he was out. Or split into multiple chunks, so that the context was lost, and commission a few different translators to get it done.

For now though, he scanned the area with Mana Scan to ensure the coast was clear, and jumped down from the bean, slowing down his fall with Sky Step to avoid making any noise. He walked past the corner to where Molzen and the other guy previously were, and glanced around.

There were a few doors in that hallway, all of them equally massive and heavy, identical, save for the numbers on them. There was no dust, no stains, no marks, no footprints on the ground, nothing that could help him figure out which were the ones Molzen had closed.

The only unusual thing he noticed was that the surveillance camera was off. It was convenient for him, of course - he was wearing a mask and a jacket over his uniform to hide his identity, but it was still better not to be recorded - but that didn’t change the fact it was odd. Molzen must have been the one behind him, but that meant he had gained access to the security system somehow.

"Ugh," Lane groaned, staring at the doors. Was he supposed to try them one by one? He could, of course, opening safes with telekinesis was his specialty, so he’d be able to deal with those doors as well, for sure, it was just that...

It was time consuming. And Damien was waiting.

As one last try, Lane activated his Mana Scan again. It was no use though, behind each and every door were various Mana tools and weapons, so it was impossible to figure out which were the ones Molzen-

Oh?

All of a sudden, Lane paused, staring at one of the doors, third last on the right. That type of Mana behind them...

Without a thought, Lane rushed to them, using his ability to manipulate the massive lock, until it finally clicked, letting go. He swung the door open...

And he instantly froze on the spot.