The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]
Chapter 73: Matching Test

Chapter 73: Matching Test

Lane lay on the couch, casting sidelong glances at the box of homemade sweets standing on the table.

Sent by Damien, of course. Delivered to the office, with an apology note.

He hadn’t touched them. Well, not yet. He was going to, of course - his frustration with Damien was one thing, but he couldn’t let perfectly good treats go to waste. It’s not like Damien would know whether Lane would eat them or not.

He just couldn’t bring himself to enjoy them yet, that’s all. For some reason, whenever he reached for one, he felt a sour taste in his mouth. And it’d be a shame if that sourness were to affect his sense of taste as he ate them.

Eventually though, the sourness within him was too much to take. He jumped right off the couch, grabbed one of the pastries, and bit into it.

It was sweet. Very sweet. Soft and fluffy, dusted with powdered sugar, and filled with strawberry cream. Exactly his taste.

He hated to admit it, but Damien knew exactly how to please him. Like no one else, probably.

He finished the pastry in a few bites, savoring the taste, and threw himself back on the couch, liking the sugar off his sticky fingers.

As expected, the sour taste still remained.

***

Five days later, Lane sat by his desk in the office, staring at another box. Sixth one already. Every day, without fail, there was a new box of homemade treats delivered to him. Every day different, every day super sweet and delicious.

But he’d be damned if he let himself be swayed by that.

There were no longer any notes attached, beside ’Aidan’ written on the top. In a clean and very pedantic handwriting, which suited Damien well.

And there was also the guiding request, waiting in Lane’s schedule. Lane couldn’t help but glance at it every time he opened the page, but still ignored it all the same.

Damien might have apologized, but he still explained nothing. Or said anything about what was going to happen next. Would he let Lane’s application finally go through? Or was he planning to leave Lane still stuck in the General Staff?

Either way, Lane wouldn’t allow himself to get caught up in the man’s pace any longer. It’d be best if he could switch identities again... But even if he hid Aidan’s death, once he returned as another Guide, who knew how long would it take before he was discovered again...

’Should I take a break from possessions?’ Lane let out a sigh, leaning back in his chair. ’Maybe get back to my real body, and chill in the Forbidden Zones for a bit...’

It would be a bit inconvenient for his plans, but whatever. He wasn’t making any progress anyway, the way he was right now.

He glanced at his schedule again. Should he meet up with Damien one last time, before ’fleeing’ to the Forbidden Zone, or would it be better not...

’Hmm?’ Lane paused, noticing a new item in his schedule. A compulsory one, marked in blue, scheduled for 3 PM. Not a guiding session, but a compatibility test.

’...It’s not with Damien, is it?’

It was unlikely. Even if it was Damien, the management would complain if he scheduled himself a compatibility test with a C-ranker. A waste of resources, they would say. With such a big difference in ranks, ’Aidan’ could never be Damien’s main, or even secondary Guide, no matter their matching rate.

Damien might have done something unusual, abusing his position recently, but still...

And sure enough, it wasn’t Damien, but rather some B-ranker named Xavier Owens whom Lane had never heard of before. Must be a new field agent, considering he is being tested for compatibility with the General Staff Guides.

Not that it mattered. Lane wasn’t going to become his main Guide anyway. His compatibility with Espers as a Guide had never surpassed 50% before, which wasn’t nearly good enough to get any proper assignment. And besides, he probably wasn’t going to stick around for much longer anyway...

But since he was scheduled, he might as well go. It wasn’t his problem if the Association wasted money on pointless testing.

The compatibility testing rooms were located in the main building, in the same part as the rank assessment rooms. They weren’t only used by the Association members, any Awakened could book themselves a test - for a hefty price, of course.

The machines used for testing required liquid Mana stones, which were a consumable material, and very rare at that, making it super expensive. Only new Esper field agents ranked B and above could get tested for free, since they needed to have at least one reliable Guide assigned in case of an emergency... As for anyone else, they would have to pay, so hardly anyone ever used them.

It wasn’t anything new for Lane though, so he just entered the room, greeting the Esper and the machine operator, disinfected his hands, and placed them inside the liquid. It felt like jelly, smooth and cool to the touch. It tickled a bit once the ability was activated, Lane’s guiding flowing into the liquid, and then being absorbed by Xavier. The machine measured the remaining Mana, calculating the matching rate.

Lane didn’t expect much, or anything at all, actually. So, he was a bit taken aback, when the machine operator suddenly exclaimed,

"Huh? Is it broken?" He pressed a few buttons, his confusion only growing.

"Uh... I apologize, but I think we need to move to a different room to retake the test," he eventually said.

"Is there something wrong?" Xavier asked. His voice was fairly nice, a bit high for a man, but very soothing and mellow.

The operator shook his head in response. "I’m not sure... I think the machine might be broken, or maybe the liquid wasn’t exchanged... Because it shows the matching rate 1%."

1%?

Lane instantly perked up, craning his neck to take a look at the screen.

It really was 1%.

Lane turned his eyes to Xavier, taking a good look at the man.

It seems his luck had finally turned.