The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]
Chapter 155: Dirty Little Secret

Chapter 155: Dirty Little Secret

"Gah!"

A pained groan escaped Lane’s throat, as T Rex’s cousin’s teeth tore through his back, his vision momentarily turning black, and he collapsed into Nyla’s arms, not knowing what was happening around him. By the time he came back to, he was already away from the field, hidden in one of the exits from the tribunes, with Nyla leaning over him.

"Mr. Owens? Are you... Are you alright?"

"Eh. Been better," Lane muttered, his voice weak. He tried to adjust his position a bit... And soaring pain instantly shot through his body, making him wince and hiss. Still, he slowly turned his head, trying to take a glance at his back... But, well, of course he couldn’t. From his experience with receiving all sorts of injuries though, he could more or less guess what his state was.

It seems he was lucky in his lack of luck, because while he didn’t dodge in time, the monster’s teeth only ’grazed’ him, not tore him apart. The wound was still deep and he was bleeding a lot, but he wasn’t dead.

Well, at least not yet. His current chances of survival... were fifty-fifty, if he had to make a guess. All depended on when he’d be able to run into one of the healers - because there were supposed to be at least fifteen healers in the Arena, not counting any that could be among the spectators, but where they were now, Lane had no idea - or when they would be able to get out of the dungeon so that he could receive civilian medical attention.

So, it was not hopeless just yet.

On the chance he did end up dying though...

"Promise me one thing." He grabbed Nyla by the wrist. "If I don’t make it... Please don’t tell Damien that I died... I mean, got badly injured trying to save you."

Nyla was just about to protest, tell him that he absolutely wasn’t going to die, but the words died in her throat as she heard the last sentence, and she could only stare at Lane blankly, blinking, completely dumbfounded. "...What?"

Saving someone... was a good thing, right? Risking your life for someone else’s sake was considered heroic. Of course, Nyla didn’t want the man in front of her to die, and Damien Lennox would undoubtedly be heartbroken, devastated even, no matter what ’Xavier’s’ cause of death was... And it would be hardly any consolation that he died a heroic death... But still.

Wouldn’t anyone want their good deed to be widespread? So why was this man...

"Please."

"...Why did you even do it?"

"Hmm?" Lane tilted his head, confused. And instantly winced from the pain.

"Why did you save me?" Nyla repeated in a choked voice, clenching her shaky hands on the tight material of her Guild uniform. She couldn’t even look Lane in the eye.

"Ahahah, well..." Lane forced out a chuckle. He scooped three Recovery Pills, and popped them in his mouth. "It’s just that... One of my cousins is your huge fan, so... He’d be sad if something were to happen to you..."

"...What?" For the second time in the span of two or three minutes, Nyla was completely stupefied.

"...Don’t you think your cousin would be even more sad about your death?!" she uttered once she finally regained her voice.

"Yeah, well." Lane shrugged his shoulders. Wincing. "I didn’t think I’d die... I might have... overestimated myself."

Or rather, overestimate the body he possessed.

Or to be even more precise, he didn’t ’estimate’ anything. He very obviously acted without even a shred of thought...

He didn’t regret it though. Maybe Nyla would have actually managed to avoid the monster’s jaws. But, maybe not, so...

"Anyway, remember what I said. Don’t tell Damien about it. Just tell him that I was just being reckless or something if he asks..."

"But-" Once again, Nyla wanted to protest, but Lane instantly shot her down.

"Please. Trust me, it’s better that way. I know him well."

Nyla met Lane’s eyes, doubt written all over her injured face, but eventually, she slowly nodded her head. "But you’re going to make it. So, you’ll talk to him yourself."

"Yeah." Lane’s lips curled up in a faint smile. "I will. That’s just... Just in case I don’t."

Silence fell between them, only the roars and sounds of fighting echoing in the empty passage. Lane slowly turned his head, glancing toward the field, "How’s the situation out there now? I blacked out for a moment, so I didn’t see... Didn’t that T Rex chase after us?"

"Ah, no. A group of Espers reached us right after you... were hurt, so they held the monsters back. As for right now..." Still crouching, Nyla crept closer to the end of the passage and peaked outside. "It’s slowly... getting under control. At least around here."

"Do you see the healers anywhere?" Lane asked. The healers working at the tournament were all wearing neon green reflective arm bands, so they should be fairly easy to recognize...

But after looking around for a moment, Nyla shook her head. "Can’t see anyone."

Which meant that they were either: A)Dead and melted, B)Buried under the rubble, or C)Fled the scene.

"We should probably go," Nyla returned to Lane’s side. "I’ll take you out of the Gate..."

’If we can even get out of the Gate,’ Lane thought to himself, but he didn’t share it with Nyla. Maybe his suspicion was wrong, so there was no need to stress her out ahead of time.

"It would be better if we could at least stop the bleeding..." Unaware of the (potential) obstacle on their way, Nyla was busy trying to figure out how to move Lane. With her ability, yes, but the man was still bleeding, A LOT, so she was afraid to move him, even with her telekinesis...

"Ah, about that. Wait a sec." Lane dug his hand into his spatial bag, and after a moment, pulled out a first aid kit. When Nyla saw it, she gave him a look ’Why didn’t you do that earlier’...

However, once Lane flicked the clips and opened the lid, they could both only stare at the box’s content in silence, before letting out sighs in synch.

The first aid kit was almost empty, save for a few bandaids, scissors, tweezers, a thermal blanket, and half a pack of antiseptic wipes.

Lane may have remembered to keep spare weapons or a hearty stash of sweets on hand, but restocking the first aid kit? Who’d remember about that!