(BL) Hunting The Field Guide novel Chapter 282

Chapter 282: You will not take this city

Sakura was all smiles as she approached the podium that Lieutenant Fisher said they had set up for her. It was a few steps further then the one for Kellen, and she basically acted as a shield for Kellen from that side. _{ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com}

Kellen stared at the thick, wooden podium and had no doubt that the material it was made out of came from a gate. His suspicions were only confirmed when he placed his hands on the wood and the texture was familiar. It reminded Kellen of the door to his apartment.

Sakura adjusted the mic poking out of the podium to her height and smiled as she glanced around at the crowd below them. The chattering from the crowd hadn’t dimmed as they had gotten into position, and Kellen had no idea if that was a good or bad thing.

Glancing back at Pamela, who remained at the base of the stairs while Esper Blake had followed Kellen up onto the platform, he noticed she was frowning heavily.

"Good morning everyone. No doubt, you are anxious to see what we have to say. Originally, this was a press conference for just the Saturn Guild, but they have been kind enough to allow the other Guilds and the D.E.C. to join them during this time." Sakura was a lot better at this than he thought. Kellen guessed he just hadn’t paid attention to when she had been having press and the like.

That was shitty of him. He’d do better from now on.

"As for questions, our love Esper Weston will be in charge of managing those. Of course, we also have official statements that we need to speak first, despite the new information that everyone is privy to." Her tone was light, her expression bright, and she glanced at Kellen. Kellen swallowed.

"Of course. We planned to have this conversation before the takeover of the news just a few days ago, and no doubt everyone has questions they would like to ask in that regard, but there is a more pressing issue that we need to address, that unfortunately, has to deal with part of the same topic." Kellen said, scanning the area.

Any one of them could be the man who attacked him and his Dad. Any one of them could have a weapon on them. Of course, they had screened everyone, but that didn’t mean shit in such an open space. Kellen really was just painting a giant target on his back.

His grip tightened on the podium where he was holding onto it and he let out a shaky sigh.

"I am sure that it escaped no one’s notice that I, and my Father, Guide Woods, were shot at in this very area." Kellen couldn’t help but look towards where he’d truly been. They had obviously cleared the blood away, but some things didn’t fade as easily. "The people who did this call themselves the E.A.G. Espers against Guides. I’m sure that he didn’t mention that when he took over the news. That his true motive has very little to do with making it an even playing field for everyone, people who haven’t awoken, and those who have. No. They spread seeds of discord across the whole world just to forward their dream. Which is, the complete and total servitude of Guides, like the days of old." Kellen could feel his expression hardening, and he swallowed thickly.

"Of course, as a Guide, I am going to be biased about this. I won’t deny that. That does not excuse their actions. They have done this plenty of times before. Tearing apart families and pairs because of their hatred for others. While claiming it’s for the greater good. What greater good could that be? When the Esper’s and Guide’s mission is to fight against the monsters that pour out of gates, and not fight each other? I cannot agree with a group that hates who I am fundamentally, all because they believe that they are superior to ⅔’s of the population of humanity, if not more." Kellen didn’t look at anyone, staring out over the crowd and towards the cement buildings around him.

Kellen waited for them to calm down, and when they didn’t, he tapped on his mic. The awful noise from the mic seemed to work to draw their attention to him.

"This new gate type is quite dangerous. It’s only been noted, at least officially, once before. And that gate exploded." Kellen stared around at the crowd, noticing that the tone had shifted. "We’ve already lost our scouting party that went inside. I lost colleagues I had worked with on the front lines for years, and the only comfort I can take from this is that they died doing what they had sworn to do. Protect the people of this city, and of this world." Kellen sighed. "As someone who has been at the bottom of the power structure until now, I can understand where your frustrations come from. I know what it’s like to be kept in the dark ’for your safety’, but I can honestly say, with my whole chest, that this isn’t something that you want to know." Kellen told them.

"I mean it. Often, we keep the condition of gates from the public while they are fluctuating because we know that they would stablise over time. It is simply not needed to make you panic over something we normally have measured down to the decimal point. However, with this gate, we are in unknown territory. We have the help of all Guilds and governments who will help us, including the government and the Guild who were in charge of the previous gate that exploded." Kellen told them. "Does that mean that our gate won’t explode? I won’t lie to you and say that it isn’t the case. I also won’t lie and say that I didn’t feel a shiver of fear down my spine when I realised I recognised the gate colour from the reports I had read on gates for my Field Guide studies." They were advanced studies, but they didn’t need to know that.

"What Guide Woods is trying to say," Sakura stepped in "is that we understand why you would be upset that it feels like we are keeping things from you. We absolutely understand, and when we say that it is for your safety, it probably feels like an excuse. We, as a country and a city, have done our best not to hide anything from you. But this? This situation is different and unique." She shifted slightly. "We do have some good news to give despite the heaviness of this topic. This might mean nothing to you, but this is a very important step of our conquest of this gate, especially with the clock ticking on us being able to defeat it without the gate exploding. We have finally completed suits that are able to neutralize the toxic fumes that are coming out of the gate. With our advanced technology, we have done it. We need to test them more, but we are moving towards a future where this gate doesn’t explode." Sakura said with a grin on her face.

"We didn’t want to just come to you and be all doom and gloom about this topic. We wanted to give you some good news as well. Now that we’ve said all we wished to say, I believe Esper Weston has picked out a few people for questions?" Sakura suggested and turned towards Pamela.

Pamela nodded, and with the help of an Esper from the D.E.C. she went around and offered the mic to a few people around. Some were journalists, while others were the common folk. Kellen swallowed thickly, worried about what kind of questions they were going to come up with. What things were they going to be worried about?