The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]
Chapter 91: A Little Gamble

Chapter 91: A Little Gamble

The moment he woke up in the middle of the night, the first thing Lane did was to take some sleeping pills, tie himself up, and switch back to his real body for a bit. The usual, annoying routine. After getting some sleep, his mind cleared up. He knew he had to do something, ANYTHING, about Damien.

Even if just for his own peace of mind.

Before making any decisions though, he needed more information, first and foremost. And one of the ways to do so was to check what Damien had been writing to Aidan recently... The problem was that Aidan’s phone was still in Forbidden Zone No. 74. And the trip was so bothersome, with having to bring Xavier with him and all... Not to mention, although it was his day off, so he technically had time, there were a few other things he wanted to take care of.

Should he just ask Vulcan to bring it over to the Capital for him? But what if Damien had been tracking mobile data? Then if he brought it back now, all this trouble would have been for naught... It wasn’t certain whether Damien had confirmed his identity yet, after all.

Although the chances that he did were high.

"Argh!" Lane growled, tousling his hair in exasperation. It was exhausting, the whole situation was way too mentally exhausting, with all this hiding, dodging, playing cat and mouse... "Fuck it, whatever."

He took his ’work’ phone out of the safe, turned it on, and dialed Vulcan.

"Boss?"

"I need you to bring me that guy’s phone. You know, that Aidan guy who came to the Zone not long ago," Lane said, browsing through a food delivery app on his other phone. "It’s in the safe in my room."

"Bring you... where?" Vulcan’s voice on the other end of the line was drowsy and drawling, as if he had just been woken up by the call. Which could very well be the case, considering the hour.

Lane, however, didn’t even notice, too preoccupied trying to decide on his order. Not that it would have mattered anyway. "To the Capital, of course," he answered matter-of-factly, adding some new limited-edition dessert options to his basket.

"Uh, but Boss... There’s a little problem..."

"Yes?" Lane clicked his tongue.

"I don’t know the code to the safe."

"Ah." Finally, Lane paused, turning his full attention to the conversation. That was indeed a problem.

Technically, he could just give Vulcan the code. There wasn’t anything in the safe that the man shouldn’t see, as all the electronics there had their own passcodes, and he wouldn’t dare touch any of the equipment either... But the code itself was the issue. And while Vulcan might have been one of his trusted underlings, said trust was very limited. Extremely so.

"Then how about you bring the whole safe?" he suggested instead.

"But, uh, Boss..." Trying to raise another objection, Vulcan sounded extremely uneasy on the other end of the line, eventually giving up without even trying. He was already used to the fact that his Boss could be a bit... unreasonable sometimes. "...I’ll be there as soon as I can."

"Alright, just let me know when you’re close, I’ll meet you at the usual spot." Having said that, Lane disconnected. What Vulcan most likely wanted to say was that the safe was built in, so he wasn’t the slightest bit curious - he already knew about it, and yes, it did give Vulcan more to do... But it was still a better option than giving the man the code, at least from Lane’s point of view.

A few hours later, when he drove to the forest outside the Capital, Vulcan was already there, waiting on the empty, dark, muddy road.

"Boss! I’ve brought the safe!" he called out, opening his trunk and revealing the safe, as soon as Lane stepped out of the car.

"Mn." With just a light nod of his head for a greeting, Lane moved on to the safe, pressing the digits. 0-2-2-7. Perhaps setting up his real birth date as the code wasn’t the smartest choice, but otherwise, chances were he wouldn’t remember it.

"By the way," he said, rummaging through the safe, "I need you to set up a few more minor Guilds in the Capital’s area. I want them to purchase a few higher-ranking dungeons, and leave them uncleared... I’ll send you all the details later."

Vulcan fidgeted a bit, playing with his hands, his eyes wandering around, as he hesitated for a moment. Eventually though, he pointed out, "Won’t they be taken by the Association if we leave them uncleared? Then we will suffer losses..."

"Don’t worry about it. It’s my personal project, so I will pay for those dungeons." Lane waved his hand dismissively, closing the safe and turning on the phone. It instantly started buzzing, as soon as it caught the signal.

It was already November, and the night’s air was cold and humid, carrying a heavy scent of wet leaves and moss. The wind tugged at Lane’s thin clothes and caused goosebumps to appear on his arms, but he didn’t even seem to notice, too preoccupied with going through the notifications. Only when raindrops started to platter onto the screen, did he finally bother to get back in the car.

"Ah, you can go now," he waved at Vulcan, who was still standing rooted in place, without sparing the man a single glance, his eyes fully focused on the phone.

There weren’t many new messages from Damien, not really. Less than he thought there would be... But then again, they were in the dungeon for over a week, so it should have been expected. Most of them were sent before the raid... And then the last one, sent this morning, right after their return: [Are you sure you are still alive?]

Lane stared at the message for a long while, before typing. [If I’m not alive, how am I texting with you?]

He turned the keys, starting the car. He barely got to drive to the end of the road, before his phone buzzed again. Impatient to check the text, Lane pulled over, grabbing Aidan’s phone.

[You know what I mean.] The message from Damien stated.

A chuckle escaped Lane’s throat, the corners of his lips rising unwillingly. [Do I? What makes you think so?]

There was a long silence. Lane sat in the car, waiting, but the answer didn’t come. He even started dozing off a bit from boredom...

Ping!

When the phone finally sounded out again, startling Lane awake, the sky was already bright outside. Still a bit drowsy, Lane scrambled to pick up the phone that slid out of his hand, and checked the message.

[Even if you don’t admit it, I already know.] was all that it said.

"How menacing." Lane tapped the phone on his lips, looking out of the window, lost in thought.

Of course, he was already almost certain Damien had caught him again. That’s why he urged Vulcan to bring him Aidan’s phone so urgently... The problem was what Damien intended to do with this discovery. There was no point asking, because no matter what Damien was to say, Lane wouldn’t trust his - or anyone’s besides Ava’s, for that matter - words anyway. Not unless he was certain they PHYSICALLY wouldn’t be able to lie to him.

’Should I take a little gamble?’ he pondered.

Even though, in fact, he had already made up his mind. He was about to do something absurdly risky and stupid.