(BL) Hunting The Field Guide - Chapter 345

Chapter 345: A Guides way of life
Rhys was unhappy, but when they both came back into frame, and they were unmuted, everyone expected him to tell them that Kellen had been wrong. Instead, he let out a deep sigh and ran his hand through his hair.

“We might have someone who can help. I’m not going to offer them up without speaking to them first, but there is a chance.” Rhys muttered. Lieutenant Fisher’s eyes widened as he glanced between the two men, before he swallowed.

“Well, that sounds good. As soon as you know, if they can help, I would love to be informed. I figured that Captain Sergei and Captain Sakura would not be able to help in this situation.” Lieutenant Fisher was trying not to sound hopeful, but at the same time, Kellen could tell that he was really looking for someone to be able to help him. It was clear that because of the argument that they overheard with Uncle Tom, things weren’t going exactly well in the D.E.C.

While it was probably not Lieutenant Fisher’s intention, Kellen knew that if it had been Uncle Tom in his position, he would’ve attempted to use the other Guilds and their Captains as canon fodder for whatever he had planned that he didn’t want the DEC to deal with.

It was an old school tactic, and one that Kellen’s Mom was probably very familiar with.

It appeared that Lieutenant Fisher truly was just overwhelmed and needed help, especially since he was reaching out to the Guilds with Uncle Tom around. He was kind of rubbing it in his face that Uncle Tom had not helped him enough, and there was nothing Uncle Tom could do about it.

Kellen’s lips turned up slightly and he turned his head away so that the others couldn’t see it. He had caught what Uncle Tom looked like out of the corner of his eye and he was livid. Any handsomeness he had was gone from the pure rage that the younger generation was working together, and working well.

Kellen wanted to look behind him to see what his Mom thought of this all, but he didn’t need to. He was sure she would tell him once this meeting was over.

“If things work out,” Kellen started, placing a hand on Rhys’ chest to take away some of the sting that Kellen was speaking for them, “I’ll reach out. I really think that if we’re going to do something like this, we’ll need some help from a few Guides. General Guides, that normally see lots of people moving in and out of the area. Can you give me a rough idea of what Guiding Center is around the area where the…hideout was found?” Kellen asked and Lieutenant Fisher seemed surprised that Kellen was taking over.

He glanced at Rhys, and when the other man didn’t make a move, he spoke to Kellen.

“Well, it was found between two different grids, but if I were to guess…I’d say maybe Guiding Center C?” Kellen tsked upon hearing that, and it was like he’d set a bomb off. Captain Sakura and Captain Sergei seemed very interested in his response.

“Do you have a problem with Guiding Center C? You? You don’t seem to have any issues with anyone, Kellen.” Despite her words, Captain Sakura’s eyes danced. She was clearly excited to hear about whatever issue he had, and Kellen glanced up at Rhys. Kellen still had his hand on his chest, and Rhys was frowning.

“Can I…should I…?” Kellen trailed off, more asking what he should do than for permission. Whatever the rest of them thought of it, he didn’t care. He just wanted to make sure that Rhys was okay with it. Especially after he kind of jumped ahead without consulting with him first.

Rhys stared at Kellen, before he shrugged. He grabbed Kellen’s hand, raising his fingers to his lips before he pressed a kiss to them. Kellen knew his face was red as Rhys stared down at him, his yellow gaze softening.

“You don’t need to ask me about this. I and the Guild support you, especially after what they did to you when you asked for help.” Rhys said softly, and Kellen swallowed. He nodded, but Sakura’s gasp filled the air, interrupting their moment.

“You asked for help? And you didn’t reach out to us?” Her voice was a little high, and when Kellen looked over at the screens he could tell that Captain Sergei, and Sakura were a little upset. Even Lieutenant Fisher seemed a little upset.

“Well, it’s a Guide issue, and it stemmed from something I did, so I didn’t think you would care. I also didn’t want to involve other Guilds in our business, plus it’s only a temporary contract with the chance of permanent employment if they like it here. I didn’t want to offer that to your Guides since that would be considered stealing.” Kellen said, and Sakura seemed to catch on the fastest to what Kellen was speaking about.

“You’re speaking about that scandal that happened, where you were caught on camera beating up a Guide.” She smacked the palm of her hand with her fist, her eyes bright. “Oh! I forgot to tell you about what I thought about that! Damn Kellen. Even I got a shiver down my spine from the coldness on your face.” She laughed and Kellen shifted uncomfortably. He wasn’t regretful of his actions, probably never would be.

He just hated how what he was doing, what they had done, was still affecting the Guild to this day.

“I understand why you didn’t reach out, but you still could have given us a chance, Guide Kellen.” Captain Sergei said with a sigh. “When have I ever turned down a contract you’ve sent to me before? I’m sure there are a few Guides who might have wanted to see if the grass was greener somewhere else.” Rhys tensed beside him. Kellen had no idea why he was getting upset, and Kellen rolled his eyes.

“Do not say that to me when you got Rene, alright? I know better, and now that I know who was writing the contracts you sent me, everything makes sense. Of course your contracts would have been so favourable to me. She likes me a lot.” Captain Sergei chuckled, giving a rare smile.

“What can I say? She shares my sentiments, but beyond that, what happened at Guiding Center C? I am truly seeing that we are lacking immensely since I had no idea that something had happened. We’ll need to consider this more as we continue to lead this city in the right direction. We clearly have a few blind spots.” Kellen’s cheeks warmed, before he cleared his throat.

“I agree, but I…mm, I’ve already reported them to the organisation that overlooks most Guides, but I guess I should have reported it to the city as well.” Kellen said, humming and hawing on how to being. “I, well, we had to clear out a significant amount of our Guides due to some…views that they shared.” Kellen started and Sakura snorted.

‘Yeah. Views. I heard the rant.” She said and Lieutenant Fisher furrowed his brows.

“I don’t think I did. Is the video still in existence?” Rhys sighed, shifting and pulling out his phone.

“I’ll send you the original.” Rhys muttered while Kellen flushed. Damn it.

“Either way, we had some issues, and they dragged on. So, I reached out to the Guiding Centers to see if they could spare any Guides. Several of the smaller ones thought it was a joke, so I offered to visit in person or speak to them over the phone to assure them that I was in fact real, and that I needed their help if they could spare anyone. Even one Guide would be of great help. Guiding Center C outright refused.” Kellen exhaled. “I was confused as to why, since I had never had any negative interactions with them before, so I decided to meet them in person.” Kellen’s face grew stony. “Let’s just say it ended rather poorly, and I basically prevented a murder from happening. I then reported the manager to the appropriate organisations and I haven’t had time to see if that has been taken care of yet.” Kellen admitted.

He didn’t let them know about the weird situation that happened after he had taken over guiding for Charlie, or Charlie by name. It was clear that they didn’t know what he meant when he said a murder though, and Rhys, noticing the confusion on their faces spoke up.

“When a Guide guides over their limits, they can kill themselves. They were not taking care of their Guides. If there was a Doctor on staff, they weren’t using them and were pushing the Guides to dangerous levels. Kellen overheard such a session, and interrupted it. While normally that is against protocol, correct?” Rhys confirmed with Kellen, who nodded. “It was extraordinary circumstances, and thus, allowed. Who knows what could have happened to the Guide if they had not been saved, nor if they hadn’t left the Guiding Center.” Rhys shuddered. “Even I can’t say.” He said, and Kellen let out an exhale.

“I had thought that kind of behaviour was saved for only Field Guides, and Guides who are not affiliated with Guilds or Centers. That, apparently, is not the case.” Kellen murmured. “But, if you are saying that this hideout is near Guiding Center C…” Kellen shook his head with a sigh. Something was there, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. The Esper who claimed he was from the front lines, Charlie, that awful feeling…

Something wasn’t quite right here. Kellen was sure that the A. E. G. were involved in some way, but he didn’t know how those points connected.

“Wow. I had no idea.” Captain Sergei said and Kellen chuckled.

“On a lighter note, I wonder if you know about the tensions between Guiding Center B and Guiding Center A?” He asked and watched as all of them had a blank look on their faces. Kellen laughed, and then explained some lighter tensions, hoping that no one would ask about the Guide that had been impacted.

It was far too soon to reveal him to anyone, and he would divert attention as he saw fit. Not yet. Maybe never.