The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]

"Everyone, this is Noah Murray, a new A-rank Guide. Starting today, he will join us as a member of our team."

Now that Lane was fully qualified, Damien didn't waste any time and immediately brought him to meet the team. He didn't want to delay it any longer. After all, there were inspections his team needed to conduct, but without having at least one Guide per eight Espers, they weren't legally allowed to enter a dungeon.

This ratio was the very minimum, and it was considered extremely low. The fact that Damien's team struggled to meet this requirement showed just how precarious a situation the Association was in.

Aside from Damien, there were 13 Espers on the team. As Lane swept his eyes through them, he couldn't help but be a bit surprised.

Out of the original team he was a part of before his death as 'Evan Greene', only two Espers remained. Tina, a B-ranker specializing in defense, and Scott, a C-ranker who was a fairly competent scout.

There were a few more Espers he somewhat recognized, as he had seen them around the Association, so the new team wasn't made out of complete newbies, but the change was much bigger than he anticipated.

Did all of them just die during the dungeon break? Or simply broke their contracts, despite the high cancellation fees, and left the Association?

Either way, Lane didn't really care. They might have been his teammates for close to two months, but he wasn't attached to any of them or anything.

What caught his attention more were the Guides. Aside from him, there were two more on the team, one B and one C-ranker.

Damien's main Guide, an S-ranker named Zoe, was missing.

But Zoe couldn't have died so easily. She was an experienced Guide who had worked for the Association for close to four years now. As she was their only S-ranking Guide, the Association treated her extremely well, providing her with the best defensive equipment they could afford. Especially ever since Damien was transferred to the Headquarters a year ago - their matching rate was 72%, so they were instantly paired up.

She wasn't even sent to the affected area when the dungeon break happened, despite having excellent equipment and extensive combat training. She was kept on standby nearby, in case she needed to provide guiding, but her safety was guaranteed.

Zoe was simply that important. 

She was an essential part of the team as well. She was Damien's Guide, after all, and Damien practically carried this team. Not to mention, a team with an S-rank Esper always had to be accompanied by an extra A or S-rank Guide when going on missions. 

With her absence, it was no wonder that Damien had no choice but to recruit Lane.

Lane couldn't help but be curious. If something happened to her, it should have made the news… Unless the Association was able to hide the information somehow?

"Team Leader, Team Leader," he called out to Damien in a hushed whisper. "Is Zoe Parker not a part of our team?"

Damien gave Lane a sidelong glance, before answering curtly, "No."

"Oh… I thought she might be, since you're both S-rankers…" Lane pursed his lips in disappointment. "I was hoping I would get to meet her…" He glanced at Damien again expectantly.

But Damien had no intention of providing any explanations. He simply returned to introducing all of the members of his team one by one. Lane had no choice but to hold back for now, and focus on trying to remember all the names - he would have to interact with those people on a daily basis for the foreseeable future, after all.

It was only once the introductions were all done and Damien ordered everyone to return to their training, which they were in the middle of, that Lane found the opportunity to excuse himself to go to the restroom. As soon as he was out of Damien's sight, he quickly pulled out his phone, and looked Zoe up online.

The first few hits were irrelevant - it seems that somebody did indeed stop the news from spreading, at least temporarily - but after scrolling through a few results, a website of a certain Guild popped up. Zoe Parker was listed there, among their other high-ranking members.

"So she joined THAT Guild, huh?" Lane muttered to himself. "Well, if it's them, they would have no problem paying the cancellation fee… I wouldn't be surprised if they were hoping to snatch Damien as well… I bet they did make him an offer."

Unluckily for the Guild, Damien cared too much about public safety. He wouldn't be tempted by things like money, access to high-ranking dungeons, or fame. Lane honestly doubted that there was anything a Guild could offer that would motivate Damien to leave the Association.

Even if the Guild in question was the best in the country, if not in the entire world.

Lane couldn't help but chuckle as he imagined the expression the Guild Leader must have had when Damien refused to join him. 'I wish I could have seen it…'

It was a bit of a shame about Zoe - she was quite fun to be around, but…

Oh well.

With his curiosity satisfied, Lane stuffed his phone back in his pocket, and returned to the training hall, taking a seat on the benches by the wall. Since it was his first day, he was exempted from participating, but Damien still asked him to stay and watch.

Not that Lane minded. He had a few other things to take care of, but they were not that urgent and would require some time to complete anyway. He might as well use this opportunity to carefully observe his teammates - especially since most of them were new, resulting in a completely different team dynamic.

They were far more competent than he expected, honestly. Although their ranks were not particularly high - mostly B and C, with even two D-rankers - they were all competent Espers with a few years' experience in the field. The same could be said about the Guides. Judging by their movements, they completed at least the Intermediate Combat Training, perhaps even the Advanced one…

Of course, their team synergy still left a lot to be desired, but considering they've just been put together recently, it wasn't bad. Rather promising, in fact. Lane was almost impressed. 

But, was it just his imagination, or was Damien even stricter than usual? Sure, he had always pushed them almost to their limits during their trainings... He was so strict only because he cared about his subordinates though - he wanted them to be fully prepared for any situation that might happen on a mission. Everyone knew it, and also gave it their all. And if they absolutely couldn't go on any longer, they would just say it, and Damien would let them off.

Right now though… The training was so hard that some of the younger ones seemed to be on the verge of tears. Even Tina and Scott, who had been with Damien for a while, wouldn't say a word, despite barely holding on. 

Lane tilted his head, observing Damien with his chin resting on his hand. He was certain that his harshness came from his care for all of them, just like before - it's just that for some reason, it was harder to see that now.

'Hmm… Should I do something about it?' he considered for a moment.

But in the end, he just shrugged it off. Even if it results in some conflicts within the team, so what? That wouldn't affect his plans at all.

Rather, more chaos would suit Lane just fine.