CHAPTER 403: RETURN AFTER A YEAR

Unsettling as the news about the summit was, with no clue about the Allens’ plans for it or a way to find out, and with Blanc still unaware of anything, there wasn’t anything Lane could do about it. Nor did he have any time to, since the very next morning, he had to be back at work, inspecting (or, well, at least tagging along while the rest of the team was doing the job) a dungeon after a dungeon.

And a day after that, they were scheduled to depart on their Eldenveil ’trip’ with the A-rank team, scheduled to last five days. Which would be then followed by the A-rank team’s joint training, and only after that, he would have a day off...

Such was the life of the Association’s Field Agent. The working hours were ridiculous, and the days off were treated as an afterthought.

And then they wondered why they were lacking in personnel...

Truly, abolishing the Association would be doing everyone a favor. Lane still firmly believed that... It was just the method that he was hesitant about.

Either way, for the time being, he was stuck playing his role, since it wasn’t convenient for him to ditch the job and do his own thing. He had to put both the summit, as well as his search for the ring, aside, and stroll around empty dungeons. As for his team...

Well, there was only Ethan who required any particular attention, aside from, of course, Damien. But the Guide was currently keeping a low profile. Since he had pulled that embarrassing and annoying stunt of falling off the cliff just the other day, and he hadn’t gotten any answers from Clara either, at least not any satisfying ones, it was hardly the time for him to mess around. He wasn’t an idiot, he knew that he couldn’t afford another mistake. Damien might not be able to throw him off the team, but...

Spying on Lane and Damien wasn’t the only task he had.

Clara was also quiet. When they gathered in the parking garage on Monday, ready to depart for the Eldenveil, she met Lane’s eyes briefly, before lowering her head. Which was... better than if she were to try to explain herself to Lane, asking him to put a good word in for her with Nyla or anything along those lines... But this oddly quiet and withdrawn version of Clara was also rather disturbing.

Lane could only hope that her attitude was caused by a lack of sleep or something. Because any other option was simply... goosebumps-inducing.

Regardless of the teammates’ moods, the job had to be done. Damien briefed the team on their schedule for the day, and they boarded the minibuses, heading for the site of the Gate.

The Allen Guild’s representatives were already waiting for them there. Two A-rankers that Lane didn’t really recognize - they must not have been anyone important. Even though A-rankers were considered to be relatively rare, the Allen Guild had no shortage of them - and leading them there was...

Gia Collins.

’Ugh.’ Lane rolled his eyes. He wasn’t glad at all to see his cousin’s face.

Although, to be fair, Gia also didn’t look as if she wanted to be here. No wonder - she was an A-rank Esper with a lot of experience, not to mention, a member of the Allens’ extended family. She should be hunting monsters in the dungeons, not accompany a team from the Association on boring, routine inspections... She had only been sent over because of Lane.

And, as she had inherited her temper from her mother, Gracie, she didn’t even attempt to hide her displeasure.

"Welcome to the Eldenveil," she muttered, acting like a moody teen, even though she was actually two years older than Lane.

Just this. No ’how are you’ or ’it’s nice to see you’ or anything. Although she knew that the Allen Guild was trying to scout Damien, at that moment, she was too annoyed to care... Besides, she already knew that Damien was Lane’s boyfriend. If the man was willing to date her useless cousin, then surely, there must be something wrong with his brain? And yes, she was aware that Lane was A-ranker now, just like her, so he wasn’t exactly all that ’useless’ anymore... But the opinion that had been held her whole life couldn’t be changed so easily.

Luckily for her, Damien didn’t mind. "Thank you," he just said, pretending not to notice her rudeness. "Shall we get started?"

"Alright," Gia turned around on her heel, and walked straight through the Gate. The other two Allen Guild’s Espers exchanged glances, not knowing what to do...

"Team Leader Lennox, please, after you," one of them said hesitantly, gesturing at the Gate.

"Thank you." Damien nodded at the rest of his team, letting them know to follow him, and crossed the Gate, Lane trailing closely behind him.

It had been over a year since he had last been in the Eldenveil... It was where he had first witnessed a dungeon’s expansion. And TRULY witnessed it, down to seeing the Wall recede... He had been right next to it at that time, after all, planting Fertilizer.

A lot had changed since then. Not only in Lane’s life...

But also inside the dungeon. The former fancy holiday resort was no more... After it had been overrun by the monsters, the Trailblazer Guild hadn’t bothered to restore it. Because why would they? The repairs would cost them a lot of money. Money that they would never be able to recover, since the interest in the dungeon tourism had dipped... And it wasn’t as if they could afford it anyway, not after all the lawsuits that they had faced from the victims of the Eldenveil incident.

Lane glanced around, as they walked through the abandoned reception hall. It was relatively well-preserved, since the monsters had never actually made it inside, thanks to their defense efforts... But even it presented a rather sorry view. The windows had all been covered up, blocking the light, but even in the murky darkness, Lane could see the layer of dirt covering the floor. It was made out of mud... and dried blood. A lot of dried blood.

Aside from Lane, though, no one else really paid much attention to their surroundings. It was a different team that he had entered this dungeon with the last time. They didn’t have any memories of the place, and they didn’t notice how much it had changed. Since they didn’t remember how elegant and luxurious this reception hall used to be, they weren’t all that shocked by this building now, when it bore more resemblance to an abandoned factory...

Except for Damien, of course. He had been there with Lane, witnessing everything. And while Lane - or, ’Noah’ at the time - hadn’t died back then... A lot of other people had. Including two members of his team, Dylan Webb, a scout, and Abel Wood, an Esper specializing in defense. He might not have lost his lover, but it was still a harrowing experience...

But he only furrowed his brows, and quickened his pace, leaving the building. After working in the field for a while, while he couldn’t exactly say that he was used to it, he was able to more or less deal with his feelings. At least to the extent that it wouldn’t get in the way of his work.

Gia was already waiting for them at the parking lot outside, next to the jeeps. The very same jeeps that the Trailblazer Guild had once used to drive their guests around... At least those that didn’t get destroyed by the monsters, that is.

"Where would you like to go first?" she asked Damien, getting straight to the point. She already opened the front door to one of the jeeps, ready to hop inside, but Damien stopped her.

"We will be moving on foot."

"...On foot?" Gia looked almost appalled. Not that she was necessarily against traveling on foot, when they were raiding a new dungeon, they never had any other ways to move around, but... During raids, it was understandable, because they had monsters to fight almost all the time, but... Moving on foot in an empty dungeon seemed like such a waste of time! Especially a dungeon as large as this one!

Lane couldn’t help but snicker, seeing his cousin’s expression. She clearly had no idea what the inspections were like! And she obviously wasn’t prepared for this terribly boring and dull experience...

Gia threw him a dark glare, but she didn’t get to say anything in response to his chuckle, because at that moment, Damien spoke up.

"Miss Gia, you can wait for us at the Lakeside Villas if you prefer," he suggested. He had also noticed her attitude... Because, well, it was hard not to. Although, to be fair, the real reason that he proposed this was because of the tension between Gia and Lane. He could tell that the cousins did not get along... And since it was so, then it was probably better to separate them.

Gia hesitated for a minute. She had been ordered by Miles to assist the team during the inspections and guide them around the dungeon... But was that really necessary? The Association had received the updated map of the dungeon from them, so they should be able to get by on their own. Not to mention, there were those two other A-rankers from the Allen Guild accompanying them. And they already had their spy, Ethan, on the team... So was it really necessary for her to tag along as well? She could use this time much better!

"Alright, that sounds good," she eventually agreed. "I will go ahead, then, and prepare the villas for tonight’s stay! You two assist Team Leader Lennox!" she ordered the other two Guild member, before jumping in the jeep, and driving away, before Damien could change his mind.