The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]
Chapter 99: Dungeon Acquisition

Chapter 99: Dungeon Acquisition

Everything went back to normal. Well, sort of.

The relationship between Lane and Damien was... somewhat like a mix of what was going on between them when Lane was ’Evan’ and ’Aidan’. That was probably the best way to describe it. When Lane was ’Aidan’, because the fact that the attraction was both sided was obvious and clear, as clear as it could possibly be. Although Damien still was reserved in public, Lane could always see the unmistakable warmth flickering in those emerald eyes whenever they fell on him. As to the similarities to when Lane was ’Evan’...

Well, that was the state of their intimacy, for the most part. The most Lane could hope for was a few kisses here and there, in the privacy of Damien’s office, when he poked and bothered Damien for long enough (although no excuses were any longer needed). There weren’t even many opportunities for him to do that, not with the long list of scheduled inspections...

It was frustrating. Very frustrating But, at the very least, Damien fulfilled Lane’s first request, letting him off the hook. Now, whenever Lane lagged behind, no one came looking for him. He tested it over the next week, in all the dungeons they inspected, which ranked from F to D, and then again planting Fertilizer in three C and two B, and everything proceeded smoothly.

Not that he could get caught, with his scouting support abilities. With a B-rank Esper body, he could use them easily, without much risk of having an ’allergic reaction’.

...Come to think of it, it was weird that Damien never asked him about that. Could it be that he forgot about it? No, that couldn’t possibly be... It was likely that the subject would come up sometime in the future, so Lane should start thinking about potential excuses...

There were a lot of things he needed to make up excuses or fake stories for, if he was going to stick around by Damien’s side for an undetermined amount of time.

Despite those minor problems though, life was good. It’s been a long time since Lane felt so relaxed. With the threat of Damien suspecting his ability finally alleviated, he could finally refocus on his ’work’.

***

Lane sat cross-legged on the couch in just a pair of boxer briefs, droplets of water dripping from his wet pink hair, sinking into the frothy towel hanging from his neck. The cold spoon stuck out from his mouth, the aftertaste of strawberry ice cream, the half-empty tub of which was slowly melting on the coffee table in front of him, almost vanished from his tongue, leaving only the metallic taste of the spoon behind. However, even with his favorite treat - at least as far as food was concerned - right in front of him, Lane was too focused on the screen of his laptop to grab another bite.

He had to pick wisely - not all dungeons were equally interesting, even within the same rank, and not all of them were suitable for Damien’s team. He couldn’t just haphazardly buy them in bulk - not only was that a waste of money, but it could make his Guilds appear suspicious. The right, well-planned picks were needed, especially for B and A-ranked dungeons, which would be auctioned...

After long deliberation, he finally settled on 6 dungeons, ranks C to A, two of each. It seemed enough for the start. Although on paper, they would all be bought by different Guilds, it could still be troublesome if anyone noticed that so many of the failed dungeons were purchased around the same time. Such a coincidence, naturally, would appear suspicious, even though nobody but the Association would truly benefit from it in the end.

Just mere minutes later, his phone rang.

"Boss, all those dungeons are meant to be left uncleared?" Blanc’s calm and monotonous voice asked on the other end of the line.

Holding the phone between his ear and shoulder, Lane reached out for the ice cream tub. However, as he quickly found out, it could hardly be called ice cream anymore, having turned into more of a sticky strawberry milk soup. It still tasted good though, so after pondering over it for a brief second or two, he shrugged his shoulders, abandoned the spoon, and sipped the sludge straight from the tub, as he chatted with Blanc. "Yeah, is there something wrong with it?"

"Well..." Blanc hesitated. In the end though, he explained, "Those dungeons are worth fortune, the two A-rank in particular. Is it really a good idea to give those resources to the Association?"

Lane licked his lips, savoring the sweetness. A few high-ranking dungeons wouldn’t be enough to significantly strengthen the Association, but... "Let’s raid it first then, and take as much resources as we can without arising suspicion. Smuggle it all to the Zone, and then leave the monsters alone so that they can procreate in peace."

Things would take much longer that way, but perhaps it would be for the best. If left uncleared, the dungeon should become overpopulated sooner or later anyway, and this way, it would at least appear that they made an attempt.

"I understand. I will send the scouts immediately after the successful purchase, and then write the proposals right away."

"Good." Lane smiled, tilting his head back and turning the tub upside down, trying to shake off the last drops of pink liquid. It was really a good idea to hand the leader position to Blanc. Everything was going much smoother, and the Zone’s economy improved significantly... Even Lane could tell that much. Although he was undereducated and ignorant of the subject, he at least passed eight grades and knew basic math. One didn’t have to be a genius to compare numbers and graphs on clear and simple reports.

"As for..." Blanc started, but at the same moment, the intercom sounded out, and the front door opened.

"Ah, can’t talk now. If there are any issues, email me later." Lane quickly disconnected, closing the website with the dungeon listing, and switching to a random tab he had opened.

Just in time, because just a second later, a young woman walked in. The cleaner girl Lane hooked up with once before, some time ago, he didn’t remember exactly when... But she looked a bit different this time though. She was wearing makeup, tight leggings, and a tight T-shirt with large cleavage...

"Oh, hi." She blushed at the sight of half-naked Lane, smiling bashfully, as she tugged on a loose strand of her hair, twirling it around her finger.

"Hi," Lane returned the smile. "Sorry, I forgot today was the day... again."

"Ah, no, no, I-I don’t mind!" She approached the couch, her eyes sliding over Lane’s abs, although she tried to look away... Well, it was a natural reaction. Lane’s body was the most eye-catching thing in the room. Her efforts, however, led her to glance at the screen, causing her to lift her brows. "Allen Guild, huh?"

"What?" For a brief moment, Lane was confused, until he followed her eyes.

Damn.

Just his luck. Of all the tabs he kept perpetually open, did he really have to click on THAT particular displeasing one?

"Now that I think of it, isn’t your surname ’Allen’ as well, Sir? Could it be that..."

"’Allen’ is not exactly an uncommon surname, it’s just a coincidence, we’re not related in any way." Lane shut his laptop, quickly changing the topic. "By the way, since I’m here, can you clean my room? It’s pretty dusty."

"Oh, of course. Should I start with it?"

"Yes, please... Actually!" Hit by a sudden realization, Lane jumped off the couch as if scalded. "Give me like ten or twenty minutes!"

He shot to his room, leaving the door open, and then into the attached bathroom. There, in the bath, lay an unconscious man, wrapped in high-grade monster leather.

Xavier.

’Shit, that was close,’ Lane swore inwardly. He was not used to keeping his possessed bodies in his real apartment, typically having used large safes or similar arrangements in the past, thus he almost forgot. If that girl walked in on such a scene, it’d be difficult to explain...

Should he quickly switch, sneak out as Xavier while using cloaking, and switch back? It would be too risky to leave Xavier unattended at his own place though. Then maybe...

He stepped out of his bedroom again. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, what..." As soon as the woman turned to Lane, meeting his gaze, her voice trailed off, eyes turning blurry.

Why bother with some convoluted ideas, when it could all be solved with just a little bit of hypnosis?