Chapter 16 - 15. Delicious Lure
"He really takes his sweet times, huh?" Han Shin peered toward the entrance of the lounge from behind a book.
Bassena had been gone for quite some time. With his speed, it should only take five minutes to reach the guide station. But now, almost half an hour later, the man was still absent, and the guide still not here, even as Balduz started to lay the cooked meal on the dinner table.
"Is he going on a date or something?" he mumbled in wonder. Bassena was a quick and efficient man, so much so that he could be annoying because he grew impatient very quickly if others lag behind. So it was weird that he took this much time just from picking up someone.
The fact that he went out on his own to escort someone was already weird in the first place.
"Sir Han, I've been meaning to ask this since earlier, but..." the pathfinder, Ron, came to sit on the chair not far from him. As Shin signaled for the man to continue, he asked with a pondering gaze. "Does Sir Vaski and our guide know each other before?"
Hmm...now, how should Han Shin proceed with this? Honestly, he didn't know too much. He just knew that Bassena had been looking for one particular guide ever since four years ago. But the only one who knew the details was their guildmaster, and Shin himself only found out because he overheard them talking about it.
From how Bassena had been acting unusually proactive, there was no mistaking it that the guide they hired today was the one Bassena had been looking for, but then the guide acted like he didn't know the esper, so now Han Shin was still in the middle of unraveling this exciting drama.
"Well, maybe? I don't know much. Why do you think so, Mister Ron?"
"Ah, just call me Ron, please," the pathfinder waved his hand. "It's just a feeling. Zen is really good with his poker face, unless he is very upset about something," he glance at the sharpshooter girl that had been feeling gloomy since the meeting earlier. "But I feel like his eyes changed when he looked at Sir Vaski."
Han Shin, obviously, wouldn't know, since his eyes weren't as keen as a scout-type esper. "Isn't that because Bas is someone famous?"
"Ah," Ron smiled awkwardly. "This might come out as insulting, but...Zen wouldn't know anything about that. He has no interest in the world outside the end-zone."