CHAPTER 407: ACCOMMODATION PROBLEMS

After the meal, Damien went with Gia to verify all the staff’s licenses. He only took Hannah Jones, the other Team Leader, with him, asking Lane to head back first. Part of the reason was that there was no point in bringing too many people for such a simple task... But more importantly, it was so that they could complete it efficiently and PEACEFULLY. He could tell that it was better to distance Lane and Gia, at the risk of a conflict erupting.

Lane was initially a bit hesitant to leave Damien with his cousin... But then again, they wouldn’t be alone. And what could Gia even do other than talk shit about him? So, he eventually agreed with his boyfriend, deciding that rather than participating in another boring task, his time was better spent warming the bed in their room...

But then he ran into another problem.

Accommodation type.

"We have prepared seven villas for you to stay in," the Allen Guild member who stayed behind with them announced. "I apologize for the inconvenience, but for safety reasons, we cannot give everyone a separate place to stay. However, please rest assured, all of those villas are family-type, therefore each has two or more beds..."

’Whatever,’ Lane rolled his eyes. Even if there were twenty beds, he was still going to sleep with Damien. He had even done it the year before, even though back then, he had been trying to avoid Damien due to the suspicions that the man had harbored... Now that they were dating, it was obvious how the night was going to go.

...Or was it?

Lane’s expression froze, as he was suddenly handed a key card.

"Wait... We don’t get to decide who we want to room with?" he shot the Allen Guild member a sharp look.

"Ugh..." The man was immediately uncomfortable, feeling immense pressure. Although Lane wasn’t a part of the Allen Guild and his existence hadn’t been made public, before this mission, he and his colleague got some information about the Association’s A-rank team, thus he was aware who this pink-haired man was... Still, he answered politely, "The Allen Guild has taken the liberty to assign the rooms, taking the safety precautions into consideration."

The moment he heard it, Lane had a bad feeling about it. But he still had to ask, "Who am I sharing the room with, then?"

"That would be me," a cheery voice came from behind him.

Lane knew who the owner was even without turning back.

Ethan.

"Why you?" he couldn’t help but ask, half-appalled, half-confused.

It literally made no sense... Shouldn’t Ethan, as well as the Allen Guild that was behind him, be trying to share a room with Damien instead? Of course, Lane would much rather be the one to be subjected to this suffering rather than have his boyfriend be stuck together with this annoying Guide, that went without saying, but...

He just couldn’t understand what Ethan was thinking.

And Ethan had no interest in explaining it. Because of course he hadn’t.

"If we got assigned that way, that must mean that it’s the best possible arrangement!" he just said.

"Ugh..." A groan escaped Lane’s mouth.

Now wasn’t the time to be groaning and dejected, though. He might not have been assigned with Damien, but so what? He could just ignore the Allen Guild’s arrangements, and sneak into Damien’s villa! All that he needed was...

"Which villa is Team Leader Lennox staying in?" he turned to the Allen Guild member handing the key cards again.

Once again putting him on the spot.

"Uh... I apologize, but I’m afraid I cannot divulge this information for privacy reasons..."

"Why?" Lane lifted his brows. "We’re not here on holiday, we’re here on an official MISSION!"

Which was rich coming from him, since he usually treated those trips more like holidays (even if very boring ones), but that was not the point.

The Allen Guild member was still unconvinced. So, after giving it some thought, Lane added, "You should make the list public for safety reasons. If something happens at night, for example the dungeon reactivates again, we need to know where to look for each other, no?"

"This..." The man hesitated. He had been instructed not to reveal the list, but Lane’s argument made sense... Indeed, it was actually kind of weird that the Allen Guild insisted on keeping the information hidden. He had no right to make the call and reveal it, though...

He subconsciously glanced at Ethan, who was his fellow Guild member, silently asking for help. And Ethan was about to speak up... Which he actually had been planning to do regardless...

However, before he could argue with Lane, someone else spoke up first.

"I think that Agent Allen is right. Everyone’s location should be disclosed," Eston Cruz, another of the Association’s Team Leaders, supported Lane. "The Mana fluctuation readings might have been within the norm until now, but we have all witnessed how quickly the situation can change. If you cannot disclose the room assignments to all of us, then I believe we shouldn’t sleep in the villas, but set up a camp instead!"

Lane gave him an approving look. Although he normally disliked the man... This time, he spoke really well!

And the rest of the team seemed to agree with him, nodding their heads. It was nice of the Allen Guild to have prepared villas for them, but they were being rather unreasonable, if not downright sketchy, with their ’privacy’ arguments! And while they all certainly wouldn’t mind sleeping in fancy villas on comfortable beds, they were elite Field Agents (at least for the Association’s standards), they weren’t new to camping in dungeons. The weather was nice and warm, it would actually be quite nice to camp by the lake!

Seeing that the team seemed to have unanimously agreed on it, Ethan knew better than to try to convince them otherwise. He let out a sigh and said to the Allen Guild member, "My teammates are right. Please make the list public... I’m sure that the Allen Guild will understand."