The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]-Chapter 410: Rooming Arguments

They were still at it when Damien finally showed up. The man could hear their bickering even before he turned the corner and the villa he had been assigned came into his view. That’s not to say that Lane and Ethan were particularly loud - they both knew better than to yell about things that were better not being overheard by others - but in their agitation and annoyance, they couldn’t restrain themselves to hushed whispers either.

Damien let out a quiet sigh, feeling the upcoming headache. He had already been aware that the night wouldn’t go smoothly from the moment that Gia handed him his key card and (after some probing from Damien) the list of the villas... But just because he had known about the problem a few minutes in advance didn’t make it any easier to solve.

Lane was the first to react. Just as Damien had heard his and Ethan’s voices, he had heard Damien’s footsteps. The moment Damien finally appeared at the end of the path, he instantly abandoned his argument with Ethan, jumping to his feet with a smile.

"Damien! You’re finally here!" he exclaimed, his lollipop clinking against his teeth and his tongue piercing as he spoke. "Help me get rid of this nuisance, yeah?"

The ’nuisance’ went silent. He didn’t continue arguing with Lane, but he didn’t say anything to Damien either. He just turned his eyes to look at his Team Leader, his expression unreadable.

Naturally, this silence was only temporary. If Damien took Lane’s side, Ethan would defend himself.

Damien quietly sighed again, his frown slightly deepening. Seemingly, the situation was rather simple: it was just about the sleeping arrangements for the night. It wasn’t anything that would have any serious, long-lasting consequences.

And the best way to solve it? That was surely to ask Lane to stick to the sleeping arrangements. They were on a mission in a dungeon, as members of the Association, so causing drama over personal preferences would be inappropriate. Although Damien also would have preferred to share a room with Lane, it’s not like anything would happen if they had to sleep in different beds for one night... Or even for their whole stay in the Eldenveil.

That would have been the most sensible solution.

...But it wouldn’t work well with Lane, now would it? Even if Damien asked the man to go back now, Lane would most likely sneak in again later...

"Let’s discuss it inside," he said. If they had to argue, they should at least do it in private, not on the porch, where anyone could overhear.

Lane’s face dropped in disappointment, a bit unhappy that Damien didn’t immediately chase Ethan away, but he didn’t raise any protest. Damien had Damien’s ways of doing things, and as long as the final result was satisfactory...

Damien’s villa was a bit smaller than the rest. Not that Lane had much comparison, since he hadn’t even bothered to check the one that he had been assigned... But after they entered inside, he very quickly realized that it was the same type of villa that he and Damien had stayed in last year. A couple villa, with only one large bed.

Well, not like it mattered. Lane didn’t plan on destroying any beds, so it’s not like they needed spares.

Then again, the Eldenveil was currently under the Allen Guild’s control, so... Perhaps it was worth giving it a thought?

Lane saved those considerations for later, though, since they had a more important issue on their hands.

As Damien closed the front door, the villa fell into an awkward silence. Lane plopped down on the couch, rolling his lollipop with his tongue, and acting like it was his place. Because, let’s be honest, it kind of was - although he and Damien were not married, or even engaged, yet, they were still a COUPLE. Damien’s place was Lane’s place, and so on. Especially when it came to things like accommodations, where they would stay together if they had a choice.

Ethan, on the other hand, was far more reserved. He stepped into the room, but he didn’t take a seat, instead choosing to lean against the wall with his arms crossed, staring at Lane. As for Damien... Damien was naturally stuck in the middle, standing somewhere between them.

And in the end, he had to be the one to break the silence.

"Mr. Wagner, if you don’t mind... Could you let Lane stay here, and return to your room on your own, please?" he asked politely. He even called Ethan with an honorific title, even though he usually referred to his subordinates - which was what Ethan currently was - just by their surnames. On top of that, he had ASKED Ethan rather than giving an order, even though that was something that he was perfectly entitled to do, given his position as the Team Leader...

But it was of no use. Ethan just glanced at him calmly, and responded with a question, "Team Leader, why do you think I was assigned a room with Lane?"

Why indeed. To Damien, it was a complete mystery. Usually, the Guide would be trying to get as close as possible to him, so this sudden change was unexpected and beyond confusing...

And that made it even trickier. Because how could Damien come up with a good strategy to deal with the situation, when he didn’t even quite understand what was happening?

Even to the question that Ethan had just asked... Damien thought for a moment, but didn’t know how to respond.

Only Lane’s face darkened. He had already heard the supposed reasoning behind the arrangement. He didn’t volunteer the information, though, in hopes that perhaps Ethan wouldn’t use this stupid reason in front of Damien...

But no. After waiting for a while with no answer from Damien, Ethan explained seriously, "It’s for safety precautions. If the dungeon were to expand at night and the monsters came to attack, as a Guide, I would be defenseless. That’s why I have to be paired up with an Esper who would be capable of protecting us both until we reunite with the rest of the team..."

Lane couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

Defenseless? Yeah, compared to A-rank Espers, perhaps Ethan was weak, since he didn’t have any powers besides his guiding ability. However, that didn’t mean that he was entirely helpless - Guides, just as Espers, had Mana, which allowed them to use Mana tools and weapons. And, as someone who had been a member of the Allen Guild for eight or so years, Ethan was rich enough to afford them. Surely he must have plenty of high-quality equipment hidden in his spatial bag, which should be sufficient for him to survive long enough to meet up with his teammates who were sleeping in other villas RIGHT NEXT TO HIM. In fact, with his equipment combined with the superior amount of Mana he had as an S-ranker, he had better fighting power than some of the lower-ranking Espers...

It looked like Damien hadn’t realized it, though. Or perhaps he had, but still couldn’t ignore Ethan’s ’reasonable’ argument. After all, while Ethan could potentially be capable of defending himself, it still wouldn’t be as safe as having an ’A-rank’ Esper such as Lane by his side...

Seeing that Damien was accepting Ethan’s argument, Lane rushed to try to salvage the situation by providing an alternative solution.

"Then how about you share a room with another Esper?" he suggested, but Ethan instantly shot him down.

"Everyone else is already paired up."

"So what?" Lane shrugged his shoulders. "Just switch up!"

There were more Espers than Guides on their team, so that shouldn’t be a problem. They even had two male Team Leaders on their A-rank team, who would surely be more reliable than Lane, no? If Ethan was so worried about his safety...

But Ethan only sighed in response. "Really, Lane? You’re going to cause all this trouble for everyone just because you don’t like your room assignment? Everyone has already gone to rest, do you really think it is appropriate to disturb them for something so trivial?"

"That’s your problem," Lane rolled his eyes again, but Damien’s frown deepened. While it was unlikely that the others were asleep just yet, they were surely getting ready for bed... To bother them just to switch rooms due to personal preferences wasn’t something that should be done.

And, although Lane disagreed, he could still guess Damien’s thoughts without the man saying anything. He couldn’t help but grit his teeth...

But he respected Damien’s feelings, so he tried to suggest next, "Then how about you check if any of them have a spare bed? Or a couch. You can sleep on a couch just fine, yeah?"

That would still be bothering others, but to a lesser extent.

Ethan was about to argue back, probably stating that fact and insisting that they shouldn’t inconvenience others... But then, he paused, an odd light flashing through his eyes as a new idea hit him.

"That’s right," he smiled. "Three people can also share one villa..."