The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]-Chapter 448: Camping in the Open
It wasn’t until more than twelve hours later that Lane finally got an opportunity to talk to Damien. They had timed the start of their raid better than the last time, entering the dungeon around the time the dawn broke inside, thus having more daylight time before they had to stop for the night.
Was that necessary? Not really. If it were a short raid in a small dungeon, then perhaps. But this raid was bound to last for at least two weeks, perhaps even more. In the grand scale of things, it didn’t matter how many monsters they would be able to kill on the first day, since no matter what, that would have only been a fraction of all the monsters waiting for them inside...
Regardless, that was the raid plan that Damien had come up with, and the other Team Leaders on their team had approved it, so the rest of the team members had to go along with it.
As a result, once the night had fallen, most of them were pretty exhausted. Especially the Guides and the B and C-ranking Espers. The lizard monsters were challenging enough for them, and on top of that, they hadn’t even had proper breaks throughout the day... Just a few minutes to catch a breath, get a sip of energy drink, or devour a granola bar or something. Then, it was time to move forward, and fight monsters again!
It was no wonder that once they finally stopped to have a camp, they dropped to the ground as if they were dead!
Lane walked around, scouting the perimeters. Unlike the last time, he was actually helping out with setting up the camp this time... He had no reason to get into an argument with Clara, after all, so he decided that he might as well be helpful. For Damien. Score some brownie points.
They were camping on top of a large rock formation this time. It wasn’t as cozy as the caves, but... There weren’t any explored caves in these parts, and besides, after the last raid in this dungeon, some of their team members weren’t too keen on that... Damien might have known that the rockfall had been caused by Lane, but the others didn’t. So, while they knew they would have to enter them eventually, they preferred to rest somewhere else...
At least for now. Lane suspected that they would change their minds eventually. After all, even if they were on top of a tall rock formation, that didn’t mean that they were safe... The lizards could climb rocks as well. Tina and some others might have created barricades with their abilities, but with all the lights, and all the food they were cooking, they were bound to attract monsters. As they slept in turns, the groups that were awake would have to constantly defend the camp from the monsters trying to sneak in.
Some rest it was...
Well, not like Lane minded. Personally, he wasn’t tired at all. For an SS-rank Esper like him, the raid so far had been a breeze. Just blowing off some steam. Like an active, real-life version of a video game. On top of that, because Damien wanted to keep an eye on him at all times to ensure that Lane wasn’t up to any mischief, they were in the same group when it came to the guarding shifts...
Perfect.
Lane finished scouting, and walked back to the central part of the camp with a smile on his face.
"There are several mid-sized groups of lizards hiding not far from us," he reported, plopping down on the ground next to Damien. "They seem to be observing the camp, but there are no signs of movement yet."
"Mn. I understand." Damien nodded his head, stirring the stew. He ladled some of it into a mess tin, and handed it to Lane. "Here. Your portion."
Lane eyed the food without much interest. It was the usual Association’s rations of questionable quality, and even more questionable taste. If it were up to him, he’d much rather try roasting some of the lizards, as they could hardly get more tasteless than this...
However, because of the toxic substance that they had produced, the lizards were likely inedible for most of the members of the team, even when cooked. As for Lane... He had no way to explain to others why he could handle toxic, corrosive substances. There were also other monsters in the dungeon, of course, but they weren’t hunting them yet as they posed far less danger, so Lane hadn’t been able to collect any carcasses to cook. Damien also surely wouldn’t let him go to hunt any now either...
Thus, he accepted the food with a heavy sigh.
Another bad thing about the dungeons: even when Damien was cooking, the food was questionable.
He finished the stew quickly, before tossing the mess tin aside, and leaning against Damien’s back...
"Lane."
"Hmm?" Lane muttered, not moving an inch, even though he knew what Damien must have meant. Sure enough, a moment later, Damien reproached,
"We’re in a dungeon. Behave yourself."
"But I am?"
He was just resting against his boyfriend. He deserved at least that much after a whole day of hunting monsters, right?
Damien let out a sigh. It wasn’t as if he didn’t like the feeling of Lane’s back against his back, after all... It was just that he found it inappropriate. In the end, though, he only let out a sigh, and let it be...
People went to him one by one as they finished their tasks to get their portion of the stew, until eventually, everyone was fed. Despite the scent of food, the camp was still quiet... It seemed that the lizards were more cautious at night, not eager to attack. Of course, it was still too early to lower their guards, but since they had a moment of peace...
"Lane."
"Hmm?"
"What was that about earlier? About the myths and conspiracy theories?" Damien finally brought up the topic that had been bothering him the whole day.
