CHAPTER 381: BIRTHDAY PLANS

The following days passed by quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was already Damien’s birthday.

The day started almost like any other. Early in the morning, the screen of Damien’s phone lit up, as the phone started vibrating with the alarm. The sky outside was already getting bright - they agreed to skip gym that day, to get more rest, since it was Damien’s birthday, and they were planning to celebrate it after work. They got up, had breakfast (ordered by Lane, since he couldn’t possibly make Damien cook on his own birthday!), quickly got ready, and went to the Association. Then, they picked up the keys, and went straight to the parking garage. They only had to inspect four low-ranking dungeons that day, and they would be done.

Damien arranged it that way, before Lane even mentioned anything, just so that they could spend more time together in private, regardless of whether Lane had any special plans or not. It was impossible to completely free their schedule, but they were still quite lucky - because Damien’s birthday was on the 18th, it fell on one of the weeks where Damien and Lane (and Ethan, but that was not important here) were with Damien’s original team, thus Damien could be a bit more flexible with adjusting the schedule. With the A-rank team, they only had six days per month together, so the schedule was particularly tight.

Although they had gotten up later than usual, they were still the first to arrive. It took a good ten to fifteen minutes before the rest of the team members gathered in their meeting spot. Once they finally did, Damien quickly told them the plan for the day, rushed them into the minibuses, and they departed for the site of the first Gate they had to inspect.

Twelve minutes ahead of schedule. So far, so good. The Gates were located relatively near each other, three in the same residential district, so aside from the drive from the Association to the district and back, they shouldn’t have many delays because of the traffic. If everything went right, they should be back by 5 PM, maybe 7 PM at the latest.

Damien drove the minibus towards the district. Although it was the rush hour, most of the cars were driving towards the city center, not towards the suburbs, so the traffic wasn’t too bad. Not that there was none at all, but it wasn’t too bad. The road was going smoothly so far...

"Team Leader," a voice came from behind his back, causing Damien to briefly glance at the rear view mirror, while Lane, who was sitting in the passenger seat next to him, couldn’t help but scowl. It was, of course, Ethan. "Happy birthday!"

"...Thank you," Damien answered, a bit taken aback. How did Ethan find out it was his birthday today? It couldn’t possibly be because of his father. He didn’t ask, though.

Not that there was any time for him to ask, because a moment later, another person joined in, "Team Leader, your birthday is today?"

"Really? I didn’t know!"

"Happy birthday!"

One by one, everyone in the minibus exchanged their wishes.

"Thank you," Damien answered with a slight nod once they were done, adjusting his grip on the wheel awkwardly. He wasn’t used to things like that... But they were done now, right?

Wrong.

"So, Team Leader," Ethan smiled. "How about we go celebrate after work? We don’t have many dungeons to inspect today, so we should be able to finish quickly... We could have some dinner and drinks together. How does that sound?"

"Oh..." Damien hesitated for a moment, glancing at Lane. "I’m sorry, but I already have plans."

This little glance of his naturally didn’t escape Ethan’s attention, and his eyes instantly narrowed. It only lasted for a moment, though, before he sighed, dropping his shoulders with disappointment. "Oh... That’s unfortunate. But I guess that’s too be expected... I should have asked earlier."

Damien didn’t say anything in response, just nodded his head. "Mn."

But how could Ethan be satisfied with this? He waited for a moment, before asking, "Are your plans perhaps with Clara, Eloise, and Samantha? If so, perhaps they could join us instead?"

That wasn’t it. Of course, Damien’s sisters asked him about celebrating his birthday, but they had agreed to have a birthday dinner together on their next day off. Meanwhile, Damien’s actual birthday was reserved for Lane. Damien glanced at Lane once again...

"I’m sorry, but our plans are private," Lane interjected, getting annoyed.

"Ah, alright. Perhaps another day then," Ethan backed out.

He backed out, but... Lane couldn’t help but have a bad feeling about it. It felt a bit too easy...

And in life, if something felt too easy, then it often wasn’t right.

But what could Ethan even do? Send Lane’s parents to bother him? Very unlikely. His parents were busy people, they couldn’t possibly have time for something so petty as disturbing Lane and Damien on Damien’s birthday, right? It’s not like they had anything to gain from it, aside from annoying him.

Still, just in case, he made sure to keep an eye on Ethan, to see if he tried to contact his parents. Only when they had entered the Gate without the Guide so much as touching his phone, he finally calmed down.

If he hadn’t even let his parents know, then there was no way they could get in his way.

The inspections went smoothly. They cleared the first Gate in around an hour and half, took ten minutes to walk to the site of the second one - there was no point of getting into the minubuses to drive when the Gates were so close to each other - and inspected it in around another hour and half, more or less. Those were only F-rank Gates, so they were relatively small with a very few spots they had to take the Mana levels measurements in, so with everyone keeping up a brisk pace, the job was done swiftly. Everyone was excited to go home early for once, so no one was slacking and slowing them down.

Then there came the third Gate, the last one in this district, before they would move to their final one in the neighboring town...

Their third Gate was also an F-rank, but because of its mountainous terrain, it was expected to take a bit longer, at least two hours, potentially even up to three. It was filled with steep cliffs and narrow mountain passes. Thus, while the area was still small, they had to proceed with more caution, as their team members could potentially get hurt, especially the Guides.

Fortunately, at least the weather in the dungeon was on their side - the sky was mostly clear, with only a few fluffy white clouds passing by, and it was the middle of the day, so it was bright. Perfect conditions for that dungeon. As they stepped through the Gate, they found themselves in the middle of a shelf on the side of the cliff. Damien immediately started leading the team members down the path, to make more space for those that were behind them. Then, once everyone was in the dungeon, he measured the Mana fluctuations for the first time, and after confirming that they were within the norm, he proceeded to walk towards the next spot they had to check...

They had walked maybe for five minutes or so, when all of a sudden, he heard a loud, "Ah!" coming from behind his back, followed by a splash. He quickly turned around...

Only to see that a few members of his team were standing right by the edge with their arms still stretched out, staring down blankly.

And they were missing a member.

Ethan.

Damien quickly rushed over, looking down. The cliff... was neither high nor low. Too high to safely jump from, but low enough to have a chance of survival. Especially since there was a river flowing underneath.

But this river was also a problem now. It was running fast, probably carrying the missing Ethan away with each second... And on top of that, the man was nowhere to be seen.

Right next to him, Lane sucked his breath sharply. "That fucking..." he swore...

And before Damien could say anything or try to stop him, he was already jumping down, briefly slowing his fall with Sky Step. Then, there was another splash, and Lane also disappeared from view.

If Ethan was underwater, then the fastest way to find him was to also go underwater! As to why he had fallen...

Lane didn’t think it was an accident. Actually, he was one hundred percent sure that it wasn’t. Yes, Ethan was just a Guide, but he was fit, well-trained, and experienced. How could he make a mistake like that, in good weather, on a relatively easy terrain? Although Lane hadn’t seen what had happened - since they were in a dungeon, when there was no signal and no way for Ethan to contact the Allens, he had thought there was no need to watch the man, and had stuck by Damien’s side instead - he was certain that Ethan must have faked his fall.

Why? To get in his way, of course! If he delayed the inspections, he could ruin Damien and Lane’s plans.