The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]
Chapter 351: The Wall

Chapter 351: The Wall

The nights in this dungeon were long.

Very long.

In fact, even though the night had fallen a few hours before they had left the team, it had been hours before they saw any light. A faint glow on the horizon...

But that wasn’t a sunrise. It was the Wall. The night was still as deep and dark as before.

Recognizing the glow, Lane slowed down, grabbing Clara, who was about to pass him, by the arm to hold her back.

"Hey, what are you-!" she raised her voice in protest, but Lane quickly hushed her.

"Shh, look ahead."

Still, angry, Clara looked, but saw nothing. "What do you..."

"Take off your goggles."

Although she still didn’t understand, she actually did as she was told.

"Oh..."

Without the night vision goggles, the glow was more obvious. Especially the fact that it wasn’t the fact brightening up in announcement of the upcoming sunrise, but rather the eternal, faint, ethereal, milky glow of the Wall.

It was still far ahead of them, barely visible. It might even take them two or three hours to reach it, perhaps even more. But, the point was that now that they were nearing the Wall, they had to proceed with even more caution. If the dungeon had indeed expanded, there might be monsters lurking around nearby.

Clara let out a sigh, rubbing her forehead. She had to be more vigilant from now on... But to be honest, she was tired. Exhausted even. Maybe not physically, but mentally. Walking through the empty grasslands, then following the slow river, might have been peaceful... But she had been constantly on edge. They were in a dungeon, after all, one that might have reactivated. The night was dark, and she was walking alone... Well, perhaps not alone, but the company that she had didn’t bring her any consolation. Rather, it only displeased. She couldn’t possibly count on Lane, so she remained focused, constantly scanning and listening to her surroundings, to be ready in case the monsters appeared...

But it was starting to get to her now. The peacefulness of the night, the soft rustling of the grass, the gentle murmur of the river, where like sharp claws tugging on her nerves. With each minute, her sanity was slowly chipped away...

Although she wouldn’t admit it, the perspective of wandering into an even more dangerous territory, the way she was now, was simply terrifying. She was already flinching at every louder rustle or the gurgling of the water. At this rate, by the time they would encounter the real danger, she would be too weak and queasy to react well...

She gritted her teeth, and clenched her fists. Even if she was scared, she couldn’t let it show. "S-so, let’s go..."

Her voice shook.

Undeniably so.

Her eyes widened, and she gritted her teeth harder...

Judging by Lane’s lifted brows, and the amused smirk playing on his lips, he definitely noticed.

Clara took a deep breath, preparing herself to defend against any mocking remarks Lane might throw her way...

"Let’s take a break here."

"...Huh?" Clara blinked, confused.

"Let’s take a break," Lane announced, already making himself comfortable on the coat he had thrown on the grass. "It’s been hours. It would be best to eat something while we can. After that, we might enter the monster territory, so we might not get another chance like that anytime soon..."

Clara stared at Lane, dumbfounded. ’Are you not going to mock me for being scared?’ was what she wanted to ask... But if she said it, then wouldn’t that be kind of like admitting that she was indeed scared? And if Lane hadn’t actually noticed, then she would only be shooting herself in the foot...

Of course, Lane had indeed noticed. And it wasn’t so much that he didn’t want to make fun of her - she had mocked and provoked him so many times before, so anything would be a fair game - but... It wasn’t the time, nor the place. He might poke fun at her later, once the mission was over. But for now, it was better to ensure that she was doing well.

As for the break, it was at least partially as he said. It would be harder to find such an opportunity later. If there were indeed monsters around, they would at best be able to crouch somewhere in hiding, and quickly swallow some food and Recovery Pills...

Not that they had much food on them. Lane had already eaten the lunchbox that Damien had made earlier, and was only left with a selection of snacks. Not the best choice, but it could fill the stomach. He wasn’t an ordinary human being anyway, so he wouldn’t run out of energy even if he went without a proper meal for a while.

Seeing that Lane paid no more attention to her, and just relaxed on the ground, tossing chocolate balls into his mouth and letting them slowly melt, Clara also took a seat. Then, she pulled a lunchbox from his spatial bag. The third one - she had already finished one earlier, and gave the second one to Damien...

The third lunchbox had initially been made for Lane. Although Clara didn’t mention it to Damien and Lane, but Eloise and Samantha had prepared lunchboxes for all three of them. Because, to Clara’s affront, they had already accepted that pink-haired menace as their most-likely-future-brother-in-law.

She stared at the healthy and delicious food in the lunchbox, then glanced at the chocolate balls Lane was snacking on, before turning her eyes back to her box, filled to the brim with proper food. All of a sudden, she felt a little guilty for no reason...

"Is that all you have to eat?" she asked, her insides almost twisting with disgust at the thought that he was showing the man any concern. But they were on the mission together, so it was different, ensuring he was well was also for her own sake, or so she reassured herself...

"Hmm?" Lane looked up, surprised. "No, I also have other things to eat..."

Clara almost exhaled with relief. But then she saw the ’other things’ Lane was talking about...

And they weren’t any better!

"Ugh," she let out a groan, battling with herself for a while longer. She had no responsibility over Lane, and it was not her problem whether the man had a proper meal or not... But there was still a part of her that nudged her into making an exception, just this time. For the sake of the mission!

Surprisingly, although it was much weaker, that hidden tiny part of her won in the end. She took out the empty lunchbox from her spatial bag, and scooped half of the food onto it, before handing Lane the rest.

"Eat this," she muttered through clenched teeth, clearly still unwilling. "You need to be at a good condition for the mission to go well..."