The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]-Chapter 24: Time Out

For the rest of the day, Lane worked hard. He needed to think about what to do next, as well as distract himself from his X rated thoughts, so it was convenient to have something to do with his hands. Besides, he could feel the tingling on his nape from Damien’s gaze that frequently fell on him, so slacking off wasn’t really an option anyway.

Now that he was actually busy, the time passed by fast. Before Lane knew it, it was already late afternoon, and their work was finished for the day.

"Good work, everyone. You can stop now," Damien said, putting away his pickaxe. "You can take a little rest, and once I deliver the Mana stones, we will go back to the Headquarters."

"Greene," he turned to Lane...

But Lane was already gone. As soon as Damien announced the end of work, he vanished, running away to a different level. He expected that Damien would likely ask him to come with him to the collection point, but he didn’t want to be alone with the man for the time being. He needed some time out, to properly collect his thoughts and come up with a plan.

Damien’s face darkened as his eyes fell on the empty spot, but he let it go. Even when he found Lane, chatting with some of the teammates, he didn’t say anything. He just collected all the stones, and delivered them all alone.

Lane followed the man with his eyes, his expression complicated. Damien seemed to be back to his usual self, calm, collected, serious and proper. It should be a good thing... But somehow, it made Lane feel even more uneasy. He couldn’t read the man at all.

"...Noah. Noah! Are you listening?"

"Hmm?" Lane turned back to the group. "Sorry, I was distracted for a moment. You were saying?"

"Hahah, it’s alright. I was just talking about the training we have tomorrow," Arlo smiled at him, waving his hand lightly. "I was wondering if you’re going to be alright after today. I have some drinks that might help you recover if you want..."

"Ah, yeah... It would be great if you have something that could help... My arms are killing me right now." Lane glanced at the man. He had been flirting with him recently...

But honestly, compared to Damien, Arlo was really... nothing much. Especially after witnessing this new, intense side of Damien, Lane lost all the interest he previously had in the man.

It was only natural. If you compared a spicy dish to something even spicier, then the first dish would suddenly taste kind of bland.

Since that was how he felt right now, perhaps it would be better for Lane to change to a different target...

Lane swept his eyes over the team, his gaze pausing on Ana, a C-rank Esper specializing in defense.

Yes, changing a target was definitely a good idea. Not just for his own entertainment - it could also help him throw Damien off. After all, Damien knew that ’Evan Greene’ liked men, but had no idea that he was actually fine with both. If Lane were to show that he fancied Ana, a sweet and shy petite young woman with a cute face, wouldn’t that cast a doubt on his identity? It wasn’t even important whether he seduced her or not, as long as he could make Damien believe that he had a crush on her. Maybe not straight away, as it would appear unnatural if he change was too sudden, but he could slowly introduce it over time...

Now that he had cooled down, he dismissed all the thoughts about doing anything with Damien. No matter how hot his Team Leader was, he wasn’t worth risking his life and freedom for. Lane would have to be a fool to get swayed and succumb to the temptation.

No matter what, he had to ensure to erase all of Damien’s suspicions that he might have anything to do with ’Evan Greene.’ Sure, Damien had no proof, so he couldn’t do much, and if he were to try to tell other people about his identity, most of them would think he had lost his mind...

But ’most’ wasn’t ’all.’ Claiming that ’Noah Murray’ was the same person as a recently deceased ’Evan Greene’ was far-fetched and extremely ridiculous. In the age of the Awakened where there were people with all sorts of abilities, however, it wasn’t entirely impossible. If Damien’s theory were to catch the interest of some talented scientist, how much would they be able to find out? Lane’s scientific knowledge was severely lacking, so he couldn’t tell at all. Would they be able to somehow trace it all back to the real Lane?

Lane shuddered at the mere thought. Anything but that. If he was caught, his current carefree life would be over, gone forever. There weren’t many things that he was afraid of, but... He would rather die the most painful death a hundred times - in other people’s bodies, of course - than allow that to happen.

While he has been mulling over it all, Damien has returned, and they headed back, out of the Restricted Zone. As they arrived at where their minibuses were parked, Lane hesitated for a moment, looking back and forth between the two vehicles. So far, he had always ridden with Damien...

This time, however, after giving it a thought, he jumped into Hallie’s minibus, squeezing in next to Arlo. Doing anything out of the ordinary wasn’t exactly a good look, but he really didn’t want to be anywhere near Damien right now. He needed more time to come up with a reliable plan on how to act to dispel the man’s doubts.

As he settled in his seat, he briefly met Damien’s eyes. He was looking at Lane and Arlo with a dark, somewhat pained expression...

Lane averted his eyes, pretending not to have noticed.

Was it bad? Perhaps. But when has he ever cared about stuff like that? Compared to everything he’d done so far, hurting one person’s feelings really wasn’t that much.

Besides, the only reason why Damien suddenly cared about Lane flirting with anyone else, was because he believed that Lane was ’Evan Greene’, someone he had gotten somewhat intimately involved with before. Once Lane successfully got rid of all suspicions, any feelings Damien may or may not have wouldn’t matter anymore.