(BL) Hunting The Field Guide novel Chapter 269

Chapter 269: Side story- 6 years ago Kellen and the Captain part 4

He’d fucked up. He fucked up so bad that he was sure that this was the end of his career here. Damn it. He should have learned to keep his damn mouth shut!

Everything had been going so well until the questioning period.

After the little back and forth between Esper Hill and the Captain of the Saturn Guild, Kellen had turned and started drawing out his battle plan. Kellen had laid out a serious, no nonsense plan about how to tackle the gate that they were wanting to enter, with a play by play for all the monsters that were going to be inside of the gate as well.

Kellen had tracked the patterns, behaviours, and mating seasons of all of the monsters, flora, and anything else inside of the gate. He could draw charts from memory, and had to reference his notebook a few times as he drew out all the information he wanted to convey.

He didn’t have to refer to his papers too often when it came to the speech, and he felt confident when he was interrupted and asked questions. He answered them in depth, with research to back his statements, and he felt confident that he’d surprised Esper Hill, and the Captain as he continued.

Even the Guide at the end was shocked. The only person who wasn’t obviously impressed was Taylor.

It did, unfortunately, make sense. They’d had a few group projects together in high school. She would be used to this level of detail from him.

Everything had gone perfectly up to this point. He could feel that he was reeling them in. Even if he didn’t get this contract, he was sure he could get something from them later down the line. Maybe the next one.

New Guilds like this one usually had something else lined up, so maybe they’d consider him for that. Kellen wasn’t going to get his hopes up considering what Esper Hill had said about the other Field Guide. But he was sure he had impressed them.

Until the true questions began.

"So, it is clear that you’re quite intelligent, so that begs the question. Why do you have so few completed contracts under your belt, Field Guide Woods?" The Captain caught Kellen off guard. He shouldn’t have, Kellen knew he should have been expecting this.

Kellen sighed, his shoulders dropping as he turned from facing the white board, to facing the panel who was judging his fate.

He wasn’t going to get any contracts from them. He could feel it. It had nothing to do with Taylor, and everything to do with the smug way Esper Hill was smiling at him. As if she knew what was wrong with him.

"I have...low compatibility." Kellen stated, the sting in his chest something he wasn’t sure he could ever get used to. They stared at him, even Taylor, as if they couldn’t understand what he was saying.

It was only the fellow Guide who seemed to realise what that meant. His gaze, which had been neutral until now, grew sad. He pressed his hand against his throat.

"Oh that’s too bad." He murmured, and the three Espers turned their gazes towards the Guide. Kellen felt his shoulders rise as he grew uncomfortable. Damn it. This was the worst way it could be revealed, but this seemed to be the only way it was ever revealed.

Like it was a damn dirty secret.

"What does that mean, Lieutenant Casper?" The Captain asked, and Kellen tried not to let his surprise show on his face. This Guide was a lieutenant of a Guild? That was surprising. He must be a high Class Guide then. Good for him.

"It means that even if he was a higher Class, his compatibility is low. He can’t do high level guiding with others, or, I should say, even if he did, it wouldn’t matter. He’s better off holding Esper’s hands and guiding that way then going further." Kellen felt his cheeks flush as the truth was spoken.

At least Lieutenant Casper was speaking about it in a nice way. Others had been...less kind.

"Wait? Does that apply to everyone? Ever Esper?" Esper Hill asked. Kellen swallowed.

"Uh, well, I haven’t tested it with every type of Esper yet, but it appears so." Kellen mumbled, before he cleared his throat. "But that doesn’t mean that I’m useless. I’m good at guiding, even if it is at base level. Every Esper I’ve guided so far has had a good experience, and I haven’t had any obvious complaints." He’d had complaints of course, about how he wouldn’t go further, but that was a practical thing.

Like Lieutenant Casper had said, it didn’t make sense for him to guide with more intimate forms when it didn’t make a lick of difference for the level of guiding that they were receiving.

"I see." The Captain said and Kellen felt dread fill him. That did not sound good.