The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]-Chapter 445: Potential Recruits

Chapter 445: Potential Recruits
Yeah, that.
Lane turned his eyes to Cora, who had just spoken.
"Don’t you think so?" She lifted her brows, sweeping her eyes over the group. "They seemed to be able to hold multiple conversations with the monsters, learning about their customs and so on. And now suddenly all of those videos are gone, they claim that they can hardly communicate at all, and the videos they are posting now are... just odd. What is it if not suspicious?"
The group went silent, processing what she had just said. Of course, not all of them had been buying Hallie’s explanations, having already consumed a lot of content focusing on analyzing the myths and comparing them to the Earth’s current situation, but to hear it rebuked so quickly, and with so much confidence...
"Huh, that really DOES sound odd," Lane decided to help Cora out by fanning the flames. Not because he wanted his teammates to panic or anything, but simply because he was curious and wanted her to talk about it some more... He was a bit out of the loop due to being too busy recently, and they were heading to the dungeon in a moment, so he didn’t really have time to catch up on his own. Thus, he could only rely on others to fill him in.
"Right?!" Cora turned to him with excitement, glad that someone agreed with her. "Have you seen the videos as well?"
"Well, I’ve seen the original one about the myth, but I’ve been on the raids recently, so..."
"Ah, let me explain it to you, then!" Cora instantly caught the bait. "We have actually met those monsters ourselves, so you’re in good hands!"
"Eh? Really?" Lane feigned surprise. Of course, he already knew it...
Because he had been there as well. Together with them.
Only that he had done it as ’Xavier’, so no one knew about it, except for Damien.
"Yeah! It was... interesting, that’s for sure!" They had been there in December, when no one had known how to communicate with the teddy bear monsters just yet... But that was just a tiny, inconsequential detail, so Cora omitted it. "Either way, since you’ve seen the original videos, you know more or less what they are... Is there anything specific you’re curious about?"
"I don’t know... I’m kind of curious about what other people are thinking about it all. Because if the Manaforming is truly unavoidable... Then what are we even doing all of this for?"
"Hey, aren’t you taking it..." Hallie was about to protest, but before she could say anything, Cora interjected,
"Right? That’s what a lot of people are wondering as well! Of course, we can’t just let the monsters run wild, but... Is our current strategy truly correct? Rather than fight the change, shouldn’t we, I don’t know, try to take control over it, increase the number of the Awakened, and use it all to our advantage? I’ve heard that people are still living in the Forbidden Zones, which are already Manaformed, and they are doing just fine, even though they don’t have any support from the government!"
Silence fell among them once again, as the members of Damien’s team stirred uncomfortably. Their reaction varied - some of them had read and watched the same content as Cora, where various people analyzed the teddy bear monsters’ legends and what they could mean for humanity, while others were a bit more out of the loop, and hadn’t thought that far yet...
And most importantly, they were the members of the Association. Even if some people were starting to question their organization’s ways of doing things, they at the very least should have faith in their government. Hallie and Tina clearly thought so, judging by their dark expressions. The only reason why neither of them had rebuked Cora just yet was because... They themselves didn’t know how. Hallie was likely weighing her words in her head, to make sure that once she finally responded, her arguments would be convincing enough.
But how could Lane possibly give her that chance? He, for once, was glad to hear what Cora was saying. The more people thought that way, the better it was for the secret organization. Easier for them to win people’s support once they took over. And recruit more people for their cause...
After all, while Lane might have been holding the secret organization back recently, stopping them from making much progress, he still believed in their goals. Manaforming the world and increasing the Awakened’s numbers were necessary for progress. As well as Esper liberation, which would allow them to use their powers more freely without being prosecuted for it.
It was just the ’collateral damage’ that he felt guilty about, ever since Damien had re-awakened his consciousness. Some of it was probably unavoidable... But it would be great if their strategies moving forward could be adjusted so that they would result in fewer casualties.
For now, though, Lane didn’t want Hallie to lecture Cora and try to affect the point of view of his potential future recruits, so he quickly asked, shifting the topic,
"You have the point... But what was that about deleting the videos? I haven’t been following it, so I haven’t seen anything... Is their old content gone or something?"
"Mn. The original channel had been pretty much wiped clean of all the videos when the experts were having coherent conversations with the monsters," Cora nodded her head to confirm. "They only left the earliest videos... And the new ones they are posting are... weird."
"How so?"
"Well... They are acting as if they don’t understand what the monsters are saying at all, answering with simple words... And the monsters... They seem very confused by this behavior. I don’t know, the vibe is just completely off."
"Hmm..." Lane rubbed his chin. He wasn’t entirely surprised that the Association was trying to cover it up. It was to be expected, since the truth could rattle the very foundations of their current society. That’s why his organization was trying to spread it as much as possible and steer the conversations in the right direction. However...
The way they were doing it seemed way too stupid! They were almost making it too easy for Lane’s team! At this rate, they would soon lose all the support from the public...
Lane glanced at Cora. He was tempted to carry on and plant more seeds of doubt in the team, but... Perhaps it was enough for now, the internet would do the rest. It’s not like he needed to scout any of his current team members specifically (except for Damien, but Lane already knew there was no way that it would work). He was about to change the topic...
When all of a sudden, Arlo spoke up,
"Actually... I watched a ViTube creator talk about it yesterday. They said it’s a government’s conspiracy..."