(BL) Hunting The Field Guide novel Chapter 116

Chapter 116: The first wave

The ride in the elevator down to the Guiding Division was quiet. Brent had picked up a few more shakes on his way out of the training room and was busy draining them into his body. He still looked thin, but he was slowly gaining colour back into his face.

The three Guides who had witnessed everything, and had been guiding, were still pale and slightly shaking. Kellen wasn’t sure if it was from his outburst, or if they needed more shakes like Brent. Either way, he was planning to grab some shakes once they arrived to the Division proper.

Keeping an eye on them as the doors opened for the elevator, Brent led the way while Kellen took up the back with the three Guides in the center. Brent opened the door, and they found that inside of the Division was a mess. People were running all over the place, and Guide Anderson was barking orders out to others. He had a hard look on his face, which told Kellen that he had been briefed on what was happening.

Kellen glanced around the room, noticing that some of the older Guides had similar expressions. He assumed that they were the few that Casper trusted, and it was confirmed when Guide Anderson spoke to them, and with his help they began organizing the rest of the Guides into small groups to interview. A few Espers entered into the Guiding Division behind Kellen’s group, and headed directly for Guide Anderson. From their grim expressions, they were here to oversee everything.

Much to Kellen’s surprise, Pamela was one of them. Her eyes were glowing the pink shade of her powers, and Kellen was surprised to find that her companion Esper had the same shade. It gave a hint to what her powers were, but he wasn’t going to ask. She didn’t even acknowledge Kellen as she breezed past him in civilian clothes.

Kellen turned his attention to a small group of Guides who had tucked themselves into some couches out of the way of everyone else. It was about half an hour past when their class should have starters, but no one seemed to be anxious to get going. Instead, they were clearly worried about what was going on.

At first, when they caught sight of the two Field Guides in their uniforms, they seemed to perk up, until they saw the shell shocked, pale faces of their fellow Guides.

"W-What happened?" One of the braver Guides asked.

"We got a lesson in what not to do." Bree answered coldly, and half of them froze. Kellen watched as their eyes darted around the room, taking note of who was and who wasn’t here, and he narrowed his eyes. He smiled at them.

"Now, who wants to admit that they were doing something wrong before we find out that you did something wrong?" Brent, who still looked gaunt, but now had colour in his face, asked, a smile on his face. The look in his eyes gave away his anger.

Horrified, most of the Guides admitted to doing something wrong immediately without more threats. They were also clear that most of them that had joined the class and were waiting down here had only done it once or twice before their conscience got to them. Casper would be the judge of that.

The fact that none of them came forward, and it was Gwen, not even one of the Espers who was being affected that broke this news to them, told Kellen a lot. Someone insidious had taken hold in the Guides of the Guiding Division, and it was going to take a lot of manpower on Casper’s part to weed it out. He was not looking forward to it.

The one thing Kellen could say that was in favour for them is that they did appear to be riddled with guilt, where the others upstairs had not. Sure, some had thrown up, but Kellen was sure it was more about the fact that the consequences of their actions had caught up to them. Nothing more, nothing less.

That being said, while Kellen was raiding the shake fridge for Bree and her two other Guide companions, he spoke to Guide Anderson and had him jot down the names of those in his class that should be questioned more. Guide Anderson, who was understandably busy, took a second to do as he asked, while also making sure that Kellen drank a shake as well. When Kellen gave him a look, the man smiled at him softly, easily.

"Guide Woods, I work with Lieutenant Casper. Your glare, at least when it comes to this, doesn’t affect me. Drink a shake please, it will give me some peace of mind." His words were lightly teasing, and Kellen was happy to see that the man that Casper kept around him at least took care of him properly. Kellen patted him on the back, draining the shake, before tossing it into the recycling and grabbing an armful.

"You’re a good man, Guide Anderson. Let us know if you need any help. Brent offered himself up as a Guide, I don’t know if Casper told you that yet, but wait until we finish our two lessons before putting him to work. Today is going to be a long day." He sighed at Kellen’s words.

"Lieutenant Casper had informed me of that, and I was of the same mind, but I appreciate you letting me know. I hope that your class goes well, Guide Woods." He smiled at Kellen, before looking over his shoulder at the chaos of the office space. He sighed. "It’s going to be a long, long day. Hopefully the Lieutenant will be here soon." Kellen nodded, before heading back to the group.

Brent was hovering over them like a hawk, and with his scar, and still sharp features added with the all black outfit, he was sure that the new students weren’t going to fuck around for a while.

Kellen approached Bree and the others, offering them the shakes which they took, before he offered the spares to Brent. Brent poured them into his body like a faucet, and it was clear from some of the expressions on the Guides faces that they had never pushed themselves this far.

Oh, if they survived today, they were in for one hell of a first month.