The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]-Chapter 455: Been There, Done That

Chapter 455: Been There, Done That
It wasn’t that Tyler meant to accuse Lane of breaking the law, not really. Rather, he expected Lane to get flustered (well... maybe not, at least not outwardly) and start saying some excuses, until eventually revealing that he had only read about it online. None of them had known about this information before, but that was likely due to the fact that they simply weren’t interested in the topic enough to dig up any news or posts about the Forbidden Zones written by anonymous people on the Internet. Either way, those were not reliable sources, thus, once Lane was exposed, all of his arguments would crumble...
He wasn’t entirely wrong - there were a lot of posts on the Internet, on various forums and so on. None of them were viral, but they weren’t intended to be - it was just the secret organization’s way of luring people into the Forbidden Zones so that they could recruit them. They needed to increase their ranks, after all, but it had to be done stealthily, without alerting the authorities. Not that the Association could do anything to them, but on the slim chance that they would be willing to ask the Guilds for help, it was best to remain cautious.
Lane was naturally aware of it all. However, he didn’t even consider using it to explain his knowledge, and instead, just smiled.
"How do I know it?" He glanced around, before saying in a theatrical whisper, "Because I’ve been there, of course!"
"...What?"
Everyone was momentarily stunned. No one quite expected such a response. Not necessarily because no one was suspicious about it - unlike Tyler, the rest actually thought it was a possibility - but rather because they hadn’t expected Lane to admit to it. And to do it so easily!
At the end of the day, while visiting the Forbidden Zones wasn’t anything appalling - crazy and dangerous, but not immoral - it was still illegal. Telling anyone about it would be unwise, and to talk about it when they were at work, with their Team Leader not too far away from them?
All when Team Leader Damien Lennox was known to be particularly strict and a stickler for the rules! Lane might have been his boyfriend, but still...
Everyone instinctively looked to the front, where Damien was. He wasn’t looking their way, busy discussing something with Hannah Jones and Cooper Morris, the other two Team Leaders, possibly the arrangement for their next camp. It seemed that they (or, well, Lane, since he was the only one talking about breaking the law) were safe for now, but that still seemed like such a risky move on Lane’s part...
Lane observed them with an amused smile tugging on the corner of his lips. He could guess what they were thinking... And he would truly want to see their faces if they knew that not only Damien was already aware of Lane’s illegal activities (well... some of them), but he had even been to a Forbidden Zone with him before!
Of course, he wouldn’t actually say any of it. Admitting to his own transgressions was one thing, but he wasn’t going to drag Damien into it just for a moment of fun.
"Uh... Should you really be telling us about it?" Cora asked hesitantly. Although she was curious to know more, she didn’t want to land Lane in trouble because of it... She could ask Lane about it later, in private, when there would be no one around who might snitch.
Lane just shrugged his shoulders, though. "Eh, why not?"
"Uh, because it’s illegal?"
"So?" Lane shrugged his shoulders again, his lips stretching in a wicked smile. "It’s not like I’ve left any evidence that might incriminate me!"
"But... You’ve just admitted to it?"
"Does that matter? I can always say that I was talking shit just for fun! Lying is not illegal, after all. Not yet, at the very least."
"This..." Cora wanted to say something more, but... What Lane had said technically made sense. Whether it would work or not, she wasn’t sure, but since Lane himself was saying that it was alright...
"Besides, even if I’m caught, in the worst-case scenario, I will have to pay a fine," Lane added. "I’m not short on money, so I don’t really care about that."
He could also be suspended from work for a while... But honestly, as long as it happened once they were done with the raids, it would be rather convenient for Lane. Now that Ethan was no longer at the Association and no one was trying to seduce his boyfriend, Lane didn’t feel the need to stay at Damien’s side at all times. Having a week or two ’off’ would be good for him, as he could finally catch up on all of his secret organization’s stuff...
Unfortunately, a suspension was unlikely to happen to him. Considering his ’A-rank’ status, which was rare in the Association, as well as his contract, which made Lane work some of the hours for free, the higher-ups were unlikely to let him go, even for a little bit. The Association needed Espers like him, so they might let him go for now, and hold this offense over his head later. Unless Section Leader White intervened - he was the only one who knew about Lane having concealed his rank in the past, so he already had an even better ’weakness’ he could use to keep him in line (or so he probably believed) - Lane likely wouldn’t suffer any serious consequences.
Especially since Damien would probably step up to his defense.
Either way, Lane’s claims of basing his knowledge on his personal experience had effectively shut down any further arguments from Tyler or anyone else, causing them to proceed in silence. Even if some of them still had some doubts, they had no way to disprove Lane’s words. After all, even if they tried to confront him, asking him more questions about his visit to the Zone, no one here would be able to verify his answers, as they didn’t know what any of the Forbidden Zones was like!