Free Web NovelChapter 487: Checking the Cages
Not long after, they arrived at the small parking lot near the lake, where a small cafe and a boat rental used to be, back when the Eldenveil had still been a fancy resort. Brian parked the jeep, and they both got out, Lane immediately taking a good look around.
Everything was quiet and still, almost unnaturally so. There were no crickets to be heard, no fireflies swirling in the air, enchanting the view with their glows. The place looked almost abandoned, with only the lamp over the entrance to the building being switched on. The space inside, however, was shrouded in darkness, the large cafe windows pitch black.
"Where is everyone?"
"Hmm? What do you mean?" Brian furrowed his brows, surprised by the question.
"Don’t tell me that you were assigned here alone."
"Ah! No, of course not! There’s an A-rank Esper on shift with me."
Only one?
Lane lifted his brows. He had already checked the schedule in the car, and there should have been three people watching over the lake...
Still, he didn’t point that out, since that was knowledge he wasn’t supposed to have. The schedule could change. What was more important now was,
"So? Where is he?"
"Hmm? Probably doing rounds or something." Brian shrugged his shoulders, not particularly concerned about his coworker’s absence.
For him, it was a safe, easy job. Just watching over the monsters that were locked up. What could possibly go wrong? His partner was a high-ranking, experienced Esper, with relatively high position in the Guild. And he was nearing the S-rank, so even if he came too close to the cages, there was no way he would have been affected. Since he hadn’t radioed Brian, it meant that nothing had happened since he had left.
"Let’s go. The sooner we take care of it, the better," he rushed Lane, heading to the pier.
"Shouldn’t we at least wait for his return?"
It made sense that the Esper wasn’t diving with them, since they needed one person to stay on the shore, so that he would be able to ask for backup in case anything happened, but he should at least watch over them from the pier, no? Wasn’t that the whole point of bringing Lane to help, rather than Brian checking the cages with his partner?
But Brian just waved his hand impatiently. "I’m sure he’s already heard us arrive and will be back here soon. We’ve already wasted too much time. We have to check it before the fluctuations get any worse and trigger the alarm. Everyone is already busy enough with the Blue Pine Inn, let’s not make it any worse for them, shall we?"
Listening to the Guide’s rambling, Lane couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Brian sure had a lot of faith in the Allen Guild, huh? Too bad that for them, he was only a disposable piece, a sacrificial lamb used to dispose of Lane...
Probably. Of course, it could very well be that Lane was being paranoid, and nothing would happen. Maybe the setup wasn’t exactly to end his life, but simply his career? The goal might have been to make Lane refuse to assist Brian or something, which would make him seem like an unreliable, lazy, and undisciplined Field Agent.
Either way...
Lane let out a sigh, and pulled his hoodie over his head. Brian had already explained everything on the way, so he knew what to do. They had to dive into the lake and inspect the cages to make sure that none of them had been faulty or damaged in any way. A simple task that didn’t require any special skills or knowledge, just having enough Mana reserves.
"Ready?" Brian asked, taking a glance at him, before quickly averting his gaze and clearing his throat with embarrassment. "Ahem. I’m sorry, we don’t have any spare suits..."
While Brian was wearing a full, special diving suit made by ManaTech, Lane had to strip down to his underwear.
"It’s fine," Lane waved his hand, securing his spatial bag around his waist. "Let’s just get it over with, okay?"
Then, not waiting for Brian’s answer, he jumped into the lake.
The water was quite warm. Warmer than he had expected. Although it was currently autumn in the Eldenveil, the weather was still quite good in here. The temperature was pleasant enough to take a dip without any protective layers.
Lane nodded to himself with satisfaction. Of course, he actually had his own diving suit hidden in the spatial bag... But, unless it was necessary, he didn’t want to expose any of his equipment. It was something he had accumulated through all of his years of working in the field, so there was a risk that someone could notice that some of his items were older than they should have been and so on... Having a diving suit from ManaTech could still be explained, but still.
The less he revealed, the less suspicions there would be. It was best to stick to this rule to make a habit out of it.
Splash!
Behind him, Brian also climbed down from the pier and onto the water.
"Alright. Ready?" he asked Lane. "Since we have only one flashlight, make sure to follow me around closely. If you need to resurface to take a breath, just tap me on the shoulder to let me know... But you’re an Esper, so you probably can last underwater longer than I can, right?"
"Probably, yes."
Most definitely. Although Lane didn’t know his limit, as an SS-ranker, he should be fine for at least an hour.
...But, as an A-rank Esper, with no water-related ability, the time should have been much shorter, so he didn’t say anything.
"Alright. Great. Then, you should be fine if you simply resurface together with me." Brian nodded his head. Then, he took a breath and dove in, swimming towards where the cages should be, Lane following closely after him.
Beneath the surface, everything was dark and murky. The faint rays of moonlight that broke through didn’t travel too deep before dissipating. Even Brian’s flashlight didn’t lighten up their way as much as it should...
The darkness was almost unnatural. Lane looked around, instantly alerted. For a moment, he was even tempted to activate his Mana Scan, but in the darkness, the glow in his eyes would have been way too obvious, and he couldn’t have Brian noticing... He just focused on following the Guide, as he continued to glance around, waiting for his eyes to adjust.
Then, all of a sudden-
Everything turned even darker, as Brian’s flashlight went off.
"Hmph?!" Brian almost gasped out loud. He tried flicking the switch several times, but nothing happened.
With no light, they couldn’t continue. Although he still hadn’t run out of air, Brian started swimming up. They needed to resurface, and then check on the flashlight. If it still didn’t work, they would need to wait for Brian’s partner to borrow his flashlight...
However, after swimming up for not even five seconds, Brian ran into another problem.
There were bars over their heads! freewebnovёl.ƈom
...Did they somehow end up swimming into the cage?
But that couldn’t be. Not unless there was a gap somewhere...
The cages shouldn’t have been opened, after all. He certainly hadn’t done it, and no one else had any reason to do so either.
Panic instantly took over Brian’s mind. Still, he maintained at least enough clarity to know he had to get out of the lake, FAST. He started swimming back the way they had come from...
Just as he thought that things couldn’t get any worse, though-
SLAM!
The door of the cage shut close.
As it turned out, it had been open, after all.
Until now, that is.
Whatever error there had been, it now had been fixed...
Locking Lane and Brian inside.
