(BL) Hunting The Field Guide - Chapter 350

Chapter 350: A little more detail, please
“Alright. What do you want to know?” Carlos asked, but turned his attention towards Gunther instead of Kellen. Kellen, slightly confused, almost corrected him before he realised what was going on. He was turning his attention to Gunther because he was the one going undercover. Kellen might have questions, but Gunther’s took precedence because he was the one in active danger.

“Uh, well, what is the E. A. G.? In your mind?” Gunther asked, looking at Carlos before sliding his gaze towards Kellen. Kellen shook his head. Carlos wanted Gunther’s questions, he probably wasn’t going to answer anything from Kellen, even if Gunther said it.

“What’s it like in my mind? Hmm, in a word, chaos.” Carlos said. “That’s what they want to sow, and also what they are intrinsically. Tell me, have you ever had any issues when it comes to Guiding?” Carlos asked, and frowned when Gunther shook his head. “Say yes when they ask you. Don’t tell the truth, or fall back on a situation from someone else that you know. The more detailed, the better. They don’t like people who haven’t struggled, since then they think that they can’t manipulate you. If you appear downtrodden, or weak, they will use you properly.” Carlos was speaking from his heart, and Kellen hated the little self deprecating smile he got on his face.

Guide Martinez appeared to feel the same way, but she remained on the other side of the room, doing something that Kellen couldn’t see since her hands weren’t in his line of sight. Her expression was grim, her eyes hard, and Kellen could tell from the distance that her jaw was tight too.

“But I’m coming in after leaving the Saturn Guild as a Lieutenant. That’s not really great advice for me.” Gunther said and Carlos laughed.

“You were a lieutenant? Sorry, you’re still a lieutenant? Then that’s perfect. They know you can follow orders well, and that you can have a conviction. They are just going to have to make sure you follow their orders. That’s a good angle to go in at, but I’m serious when I tell you this. If you think, for a second, that your cover is blown, get the fuck out of there. They’re crazy, and the upper levels of the E. A. G. are even crazier than you think. They have an S Class running the whole thing, and I’m not sure if the others are S Class either.” It was news, big news, but also not exactly surprising.

At least to Kellen. He had kind of expected that in some capacity. S Classes were known for forming their own Guilds, their own families. If someone had terrible beliefs and wanted to hurt others, why wouldn’t they try to start a family that would allow them to get away with that kind of behaviour?

It made perfect sense, and Kellen was pretty sure he thought that was the case in his mind before now, he’d just never fully put the pieces together. From Sakura’s grim expression, she was the same way. She crossed her arms, glaring at Carlos.

“Carlos…you should have told me that before now. I shouldn’t be finding out about this years after taking you in.” Sakura warned and Carlos shrugged while Gunther narrowed his gaze. As he had been looking into this as a Lieutenant, Gunther must have tried to find out this information before now. Having this information confirmed for him, from a man who was basically in hiding, really told him how hard it was to get this information.

“Sorry. You never asked.” Carlos told her casually and Sakura groaned.

“Because you never gave me a chance to!” She protested and Lieutenant Spencer stepped up, placing her hand on Sakura’s shoulder. She turned a smile towards Carlos, her gaze soft, sweet. Kellen didn’t trust her for a moment.

“Carlos, you should have known better that we would have wanted to know something like that. Please keep that in mind for the future.” Lieutenant Spencer said carefully, softly, but the threat was still there. Carlos chuckled.

“Heard and understood.” Carlos replied, giving her a salute and Gunther sighed. He pressed his hand against his forehead, before he spoke again.

“Alright, so there’s a chance that the guy that we’re chasing is also an S Class in town?” Carlos slid his gaze to Kellen, before shaking his head. His gaze had scanned Kellen from head to toe, and Kellen wondered why he had done that.

“Nah. I’m going to say that probably not, given that Kellen and his Dad are still alive. If it was one of the guys I think is an S Class, they wouldn’t have survived the shooting.” Carlos was too casual about how he said that. Kellen’s hands clenched tightly while the other Esper’s in the room glanced towards Kellen’s slightly trembling form.

“Dad almost didn’t make it, Carlos. So don’t be so sure. I just…I just moved on instinct, so I don’t think it’s a fair call.” Carlos didn’t argue with him. Kellen had saved his life with his quick thinking before, so he simply nodded.

“If it was that close, then maybe.” Carlos sighed. “I’ve been out of it for a while, so the upper structure could have changed a bit since then. They want me dead, so I don’t get outside much.” Carlos joked. “With that said, I saw the tape that they played on the news. My guess is that it’s a man, and my guess is probably not one of the unique ones was sent here. Their fear might have been that they could have been caught since there are so many S Classes here in close proximity, but the gate really threw their plans up into the air.” Carlos frowned. “The longer that this gate is an issue, the more power they are going to get. Without all of the S Classes around, things could get worse and they might get bolder.” Kellen chuckled.

“They aren’t targeting my family again, Carlos. If I have to dig them out myself, I will.” Gunther rolled his eyes as he heard Kellen speak.

“Kellen, back down. There was a reason you offered me up on a silver platter, so just let me do my job. I can be hateful enough, can’t I?” Gunther said with a smirk, while Carlos laughed.

“You better be. If you can’t handle a little bit of hate, you’ll never survive. They surround themselves with hateful rhetoric that could make paint peel off the walls. At least from what I remember. So grow a strong heart, and bury your beliefs deep inside of you. If you have a run in with one of the Saturn Guild people, hate them more. Hide it. Never let them find out if you care about them still. They will use that against you.” Carlos told him, and Kellen could feel the grain of truth hidden in that.

Kellen had never asked why Carlos gave up on the organisation, outside of Kellen being able to guide him without pain and being able to find him another Guide with potentially better compatibility, but he had a feeling he was getting a hint here. Clearly, Carlos had valued something before, and they had taken it from him.

Gunther’s gaze grew distant, and he nodded.

“I didn’t think joining a terrorist organisation was going to be easy, but I didn’t think it was going to be this difficult. Well, I guess I truly am entering my villain era.” Gunther joked, but Kellen felt his face twist.

“You aren’t evil, Gunther.” Kellen insisted, needing to, while Carlos gave Kellen a hard look.

“Don’t encourage him in that direction, Kellen. He needs to be evil, he needs to be a villain. I will be quite disappointed in you if you end up dead, Gunther.” Carlos told him and Gunther chuckled.

“Okay, well, let’s go over some serious details then. Obviously, I don’t have much information on the current layout of the group that is in the city, but I’d like to pick your mind on some information that we’ve received, and found on our own.” Gunther then went on to speak about information he had pulled up in his search on the E. A. G.

At some point, they all grabbed chairs and sat down since standing was getting tiring and Kellen just sat back and listened. He was truly more of a guide today then anything else, and it was good to see some parts of the Gunther he knew back in action. The serious, good at his job Gunther instead of the mopey, woe is me Gunther.

He was pulling himself together, even if it was fake, and Kellen appreciated that kind of strength from him. Even if he knew that Rhys was scared, and so was Hill, but Kellen had a bit more faith in Gunther. He was a lot stronger than they gave him credit for. Besides, everyone was damaged, Kellen included, but they were still able to get to work and get the job done.

Gunther was no different in that regard.

Once Gunther had asked all of the questions he wanted, and Carlos had answered them and then some, Lieutenant Spencer moved onto the next topic of concern.

The potion to battle the poison leaking out of the gate.