CHAPTER 375: STANDOFF

The next day, Damien’s whole team was back at work. Lane had barely managed to get anything done, and he already had to go on more boring inspections... No, to say that he got ANYTHING done was an overstatement. Although he had put a lot of work (especially for his standards) into searching through all the reports and files, and had consulted Ava, he had been able to find out... absolutely nothing. Just as before, all he had were a lot of suspicions, primarily focused on Blanc, but no actual proof.

And now that he was back at work, he wouldn’t have any time to continue with his private investigation anytime soon. The Association’s Field Agents’ schedules were always busy, after all. He almost regretted joining the Association on Damien’s request. He could have been an ’idle’ house boyfriend...

Almost. Despite the workload, there were still good things about being a part of Damien’s team. Such as being able to spend more time with Damien, fight monsters sometimes...

And keep an eye on Ethan. This last thing, while not exactly ’good’, was especially important. After all, aside from spying on Lane, a part of the Guide’s mission was to seduce Damien and lure him to the Allen Guild...

Ethan, as well Blanc, were constantly on his mind (aside from the time he spent cuddling with Damien in bed, of course), until the moment he fell asleep at night, and from the moment he woke up in the morning. He was mulling over it as he and Damien got up, when they went to the gym, following Damien’s routine (Damien asked Lane to come with him, since he was worried that Lane might be late otherwise, and Lane agreed to join, because why not? The gym at the Association was hardly good enough for S-rank Espers like them, but at least it was better than a civilian gym), and as they showered, got changed into their uniforms, and ate breakfast in Damien’s office. He only stopped thinking about it when they picked up the keys to the minibuses and went to the parking garage...

But that was, of course, because they were supposed to meet up with the rest of the team, including a certain annoying and suspicious pest known as Ethan, so Lane had to be on high alert, looking out for any signs that might help him figure out what the man’s intentions were.

They were the first to arrive, because of course they were. Damien was the one dictating their schedule, and with how strict and serious the man was, even Lane’s tardiness couldn’t delay his over-punctuality too much. It took a good ten minutes before the other team members started to arrive.

Of course, even though Damien was overly punctual, that didn’t mean he would waste his time just waiting. Even as they were standing in the garage, he was going through various paperwork or something on his tablet. As for Lane... Lane also used this time ’productively’.

By sucking on a strawberry lollipop.

The moment he spotted Ethan approaching, though, his jaws tightened. The hard candy crushed into multiple tiny pieces between his teeth with a loud, crunching noise, but Lane didn’t even seem to notice. He just focused his eyes on the Guide, who was marching toward them. In the blink of an eye, his laid back attitude was gone, and even though he was still casually leaning against the pillar with the white lollipop’s stick sticking out of his mouth, his senses all sharpened.

The spy was here, and Lane had to spy on the spy!

On top of all the things he had to hide from the said spy, of course.

"Good morning, Team Leader! Good morning, everyone!" Ethan greeted Damien and all the team members with a smile.

Just a normal smile, though. A fake polite one, but not hiding any malice or smugness, even as he glanced at Lane. Which, of course, wasn’t anything odd on its own - even someone like Ethan, who was at the Association to spy on Lane and Damien and try to separate them, wouldn’t try to provoke Lane at all times. Sometimes, he would just do his job as a temporary Field Agent. Especially early in the morning, when they were just gathering in the parking garage, and there was nothing going on.

It was normal... But for Lane, it was too normal. So much so that it was bothering him (well, Ethan’s presence, and his whole existence, bothered Lane no matter what the man did or didn’t do, but that was not the point). Why was he so normal? Shouldn’t he be smug about reporting Lane’s odd expertise in fighting monsters to the Allens? Or about whatever it was that he was planning?

Lane didn’t understand it at all?

"Is there something the matter?" Ethan turned to Lane, asking all of a sudden, as he rubbed the side of his neck. As for why he was rubbing, that was because of Lane’s intense stare, which seemed to burn his skin.

It was just in his face, of course. Lane didn’t actually use any of his abilities to burn Ethan or anything.

Even though he wanted to.

But his question reminded Lane that he was being a bit too obvious about it. He had always been hostile towards Ethan, yes, ever since the Guide joined the Association, but that didn’t mean that he spent all of his time glaring at the man. It was only when Ethan had done something, especially to Damien, that Lane gave him warning glares. But now, the only thing that Lane could be angry or suspicious about (aside from Ethan’s existence) was the report that Ethan had submitted...

...Huh?

Lane’s eyes momentarily widened, as an idea struck him.

What if that was a trap? What if the Allens were trying to see if he would find out about the report? Perhaps they already had some suspicions that Lane and Nyla might have made up... Maybe the reason why Ethan omitted some things in his report was for this very reason?

Of course, it was just a possibility. When Lane thought about it, some things still didn’t quite add up. For example, even without any information from Nyla, Lane would know that Ethan was reporting to his parents - it was just too obvious. And unless he had not a single functioning brain cell, he wouldn’t talk about what Ethan did or didn’t report in front of the Guide...

Then again, Lane’s parents had never thought much of him, so perhaps they expected him to make this kind of amateur mistake.

"Did I do something wrong?" Not getting any answer, Ethan asked again, taking a step towards Lane, but he got ignored once again. Lane scoffed, rolled his eyes, and swirled the lollipop’s stick with his tongue, averting his eyes with a bored expression on his face, as if Ethan wasn’t worth even a sliver of his attention. He continued to play with the lollipop’s stick, as he let his eyes wander around lazily...

There was no candy left on the lollipop’s stick. The end that was stuck in Lane’s mouth was slowly turning into nothing but watery paper, which neither tasted good nor had a pleasant texture. It was annoying to hold it, especially since the sweetness from the candy seemed to have washed off Lane’s tongue already, at least for the most part, and Lane wanted to pop another candy in his mouth to replenish his sugar...

But he couldn’t. He was looking so indifferent, so blasé right now, with his half-closed eyes wandering around, his arms crossed on his chest, and the stick sticking out from between his lips... But if he wanted to take out the stick and replace it with a new lollipop, wouldn’t that ruin his current air a bit?

Ethan was still staring at him. Which is why Lane absolutely didn’t want to do anything. For some reason, he felt that if he moved, he would lose.

Lose what? He didn’t know himself! But it was like a staring contest, only that Ethan was the one staring at Lane, while Lane pretended that Ethan was air.

Minutes had passed, and more and more team members arrived at their meeting point, but Ethan and Lane were still in their weird standstill. They weren’t particularly close to anyone on the team, so no one really came to talk to either of them - most team members stuck to their fellow teammates from their previous teams. It was only some time after Clara arrived, that they were finally ’interrupted’.

"What are you two doing?" Clara asked, sizing both of them with narrowed eyes.

They were her brother’s boyfriend and suitor, and she was still uncertain about Ethan, and suspicious of Lane. When she spotted them acting weird, of course she had to find out more...

Lane only shrugged his shoulders, though. "What am I doing?" he asked with a light scoff. "I’m only waiting for everyone to gather!"

Clara thought about it for a moment... But eventually, she nodded her head.

Lane was right. He wasn’t really doing anything out of character. Ethan, on the other hand...

She turned her eyes to the Guide.

But Ethan was already gone. Realizing that he had been watching Lane for a bit too long, he quickly turned around, and joined the nearest person, starting a casual conversation.

His mission might have been to spy on Lane, but it was better not to let the other teammates, especially Clara, know, as they might not like that the Allen Guild spy had joined their ranks. And if he were disliked by his teammates, that could affect his mission negatively... He needed them as extra sources of information, after all.