The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]-Chapter 230: Forbidden Zone Date

When Lane woke up the next day, Damien was already long gone, his side of the bed cold. He had left even before dawn - he had work, after all, and didn’t want to make a habit of neglecting his morning routine. He was strict on others, but even more so on himself.

There was a note left on the table for Lane, though. And a spare key. And breakfast for him in the fridge. Ready, ’just’ waiting to be reheated...

But it seemed that Damien overestimated Lane’s domestic capabilities. He could reheat food, of course... In a microwave. Which Damien’s place lacked. There was only some ancient stove...

And Lane had never used a stove. Not that kind. Only the mana-powered types on dungeon raids, and even then, he rarely did anything besides supplying Mana.

Was it worth risking burning food made by Damien just to eat it warm? Lane didn’t think so. He just plopped down by the table, and ate it all cold.

It was still good. Maybe not as great as the pancakes he got the last time, but good nonetheless.

Once he finished all the food, almost licking the plate clean, he leaned back in his seat, taking a look around. While it was his fourth time here already, each of the previous times he was too focused on Damien to take a good look...

Not that there was much to look at. The place was barely habitable. Clean, but otherwise, completely unacceptable. There was no way Lane could possibly allow his boyfriend to keep on living in such conditions, right?

Of course, telling Damien, ’hey, I’ve bought you a new place, you should move there!’ probably wasn’t going to work. Even now that Damien knew how rich Lane was, he still seemed reluctant to accept any financial help... Even though his apartment was no longer just his problem, as from now on, Lane would be staying over often. Obviously. With time, he’d probably get used to it and learn to allow Lane to spoil him...

But for now, an excuse was needed. Lane already had a plan in mind, and originally wanted to get to it the night before, but with Clara’s unexpected arrival, it was all ruined, and after that, the mood just wasn’t right anymore.

Well, there would be other opportunities. For now, Lane had to focus on planning their Forbidden Zone date. Damien promised he’ll try to take the next two days off - he WAS supposed to be off, he was only coming in to deal with more paperwork and some other extra work - and Lane wanted to fully take advantage of it. He had to decide on his ability before visiting Diana, after all, and he didn’t want to leave it until the last moment. Not when his foreseeable future as an Esper depended on it!

Then there was that all-day date he had agreed on with Damien a few MONTHS ago that was STILL PENDING...

Lane let out a sigh, scrambling off the chair. That’s what happens when you fall for a workaholic. Plans get perpetually postponed.

Oh, well. It was what it was. Lane had been single and fine his whole life, so it probably shouldn’t bother him if his boyfriend didn’t have much time for him, right? Pushing the tinge of sulkiness aside, he returned home to plan their trip.

After careful consideration, he ended up choosing Forbidden Zone No. 183. It was located around four hours away from the Capital, and consisted mainly of fields and a small forest, with only three small villages, one of which was completely destroyed. According to the reports, the community was frequently fluctuating, with many people going in and out just for the sake of training, as there were several types of A and B-rank monsters living there. Thanks to that, the residents weren’t paying much attention to newcomers. As long as Lane and Damien disguised themselves so that they wouldn’t be recognized, they should be able to get in without much trouble. The gate was password locked, and due to low population, there weren’t any guards stationed for extra security.

In other words, perfect for Lane’s purposes. The only problem was how to explain to Damien how he knew the entrance code... But it should be fine. Probably.

With everything all planned and equipment packed for them both, Lane picked up Damien the next day. In the afternoon, from work. Which was much later than they agreed on. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

"...I’m really sorry about that," Damien said, as he got in the car. "But a few things came up, and I had to take care of them urgently..."

"It’s fine," Lane just waved his hand dismissively. He wasn’t angry or anything. Well, maybe a bit annoyed - but more for Damien’s sake rather than at the fact that the man made him wait - but that’s all, he already half-expected that anyway. "Should we go grab dinner first?" he suggested. "We have a bit of a drive ahead of us."

"I’m... fine, unless you want to?"

Lane glanced at Damien, trying to assess what his ’fine’ meant. In the end, he deduced it probably meant ’not starving yet, but haven’t eaten in a while’, so he said, "Well, I’m hungry, so let’s go eat," and took a turn, heading to one of his favorite places. They were already delayed so much, one more hour wouldn’t make much of a difference.

"By the way. What’s that urgent business you had to attend to on your day off?"

"Oh, nothing much... Just two dungeon raids to plan," Damien answered, letting out a sigh as he leaned back in his seat. "One B and one A-rank. Two smaller Guilds bought rights to them a long while ago, but they haven’t made much progress on them, and now they are growing overpopulated... We need to take care of them soon, or else we’ll have to deal with more dungeon breaks."

"Oh? Which Guilds?"

"Dragon Claw and Red Streak, I don’t know if you’ve heard of them..."

Damien’s words almost made Lane choke on air. It was good that they were standing on the red light, or else he could have caused an accident!

Heard of them? Lane had more than just heard! Those were the Guilds (indirectly) owned by him!

Then those dungeons... weren’t they the ones he purchased with his own money? So that he could go on raids himself?