There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 214 - 208. The Sheltered One

Chapter 214: Chapter 208. The Sheltered One

It was a big announcement that affected not just the whole Eastern Federation, but also the whole continent.

Journalists were busy with so many topics of discussion they could cook, and the headlines of news sites were changing every minute. Interview requests were flooding, yet espers were hurriedly going back to their lodging. Not because they wanted to avoid the press, but because they had to discuss the next agenda; which faction should they rally behind?

The member of Trinity was never seen leaving the association building, simply because the basement parking lot of the headquarter was connected to Mortix’s hotel. Should they take another route, they would be swarmed with countless journalists--especially those who already connecting the dot and realized the significance of the Strike Guide Division.

And so, while the world was abuzz with countless discourses among every layer of society, Zein turned off his commlink and spent a peaceful afternoon tea time with the others.

To his surprise, Dheera and Nadine didn’t look so shocked. They might, initially, but by the time they arrived at the hotel, they were already fine. If anything, they were more shocked by the journalist staying outside that immediately spotted their black uniform and chased them aggressively. It was Lex and Alice’s quick wit that saved them, as the assistants immediately pulled the guides to the basement corridor that led to the hotel right after the announcement was made.

"I see," Dheera nodded while stroking her chin solemnly like a sage. "I understand now why Captain never stop training us even after the trial run."

"Is that why you’ve been delegating your task to me?" Nadine raised her brow as she came to the realization.

"You are my insurance, yes," Zein confirmed. "The division had to keep functioning even while some of us are in the Deathzone."

Dheera widened her eyes. "Wait--so sister Nadine will stay behind?"

"Yes,"

"Nooo!" Dheera clutched the older guide’s arm. "What should I do without you?"

"Silly girl--you don’t even know if you’ll come along," Nadine flicked the younger’s forehead, prompting Dheera to look at Zein in question.

The Captain chuckled and replied with a shrug. "We’ll see,"

"What?? But I want to come!"

Zein certainly didn’t expect Dheera to actually be this enthusiastic about joining the project. But the girl did have a free spirit and was adventurous, so that was to be expected.

"By the way, the group chat has been buzzing," Dheera informed him. "You turned yours off, didn’t you, Captain? They’ve been asking me about the announcement."

"That’s fast," Zein muttered. But then again, the media had been on fire since the announcement was made, so of course Althrea already heard about it. "Just tell them the Guildmaster will make further announcements after the whole event is over."

"Okey dokey!"

"But...where is the Guildmaster?" Nadine asked, and Zein looked down then, looking for an answer from the esper that had been using his lap as a pillow.

Bassena, despite closing his eyes since earlier, responded with a sleepy voice as if he knew Zein expected him to answer. "He’s going back."

"Already?"

"There will be fluctuation in the stock market with this announcement, so he has to do some damage control."

"Knowing him, there won’t be a problem," Zein said relaxedly. There was no way Radia didn’t calculate the public reaction to this.

"Or...you know, he might just want to avoid Mobius," Rina laughed from the minibar, having Lex make her some heavy stuff.

Zein let out a long sigh. Whatever the reason was, Radia’s absence made him busy for tomorrow--making an agreement with Scarlet Moon and joining the guide conference, all while avoiding the press.

Talking about tasks, though...

"Boss, they’re here," Alice come inside the room with Lex, and Zein patted Bassena’s cheek to wake him up.

"Let’s go,"

It was time to meet Azure Sky.

* * *

Just like Bassena wanted, the meeting with Azure’s guide--as well as his Guildmasters--were done in their lodging.

To be precise, it was done in Radia’s personal suite. The man had left one of his summoned secretaries there, and led the people from Azure inside. But there was only the twin Guildmasters when Zein and Bassena arrived. A presence, however, could be sensed from one of the rooms, which the secretary said had been converted to a dining room.

As Zein turned his face to look in that direction, the older twin stood up and greeted them. "Thank you for responding to our request," he said diplomatically. There was a reason why he was the guildmaster in charge of external affairs, rather than the more temperamental Alcor.

"Well, we do have a request on our own," Bassena responded; more docile now after having a light nap on Zein’s lap.

While Zein did have an interest in this guide that was even more mysterious than him, they didn’t have to do it for free--especially since the other party came up with a request first. It wasn’t anything too complicated though, just to make sure Azure Sky wouldn’t make a cooperation with Celestia or hinder Trinity’s effort until the project was over. There were other things as well, but that was for Bassena to negotiate.

Zein’s task was to fulfill the request made on their side.

"He’s there, right?" Zein craned his neck toward the occupied room. "I’ll get going then."

"As straightforward as the rumor, I see," the younger twin commented with a smirk. "I have to warn you a bit, though; our guide is...well, he’s pretty delicate. So please handle him with care."

"If that’s the case, shouldn’t you look for someone less harsh?" Zein raised his brow.

"No, no--we do need someone ’harsh’," Mizar chuckled. "We want someone who can talk to him with cruel honesty about the world. But you see...he doesn’t like meeting other people."

"Especially espers," Alcor chimed in.

"And the other guides were too soft-spoken, or too afraid to offend us," the older twin shrugged. "But I’m sure someone with the protection of Radia Mallarc and Bassena Vaski won’t have to be concerned about that, right?"

"That’s right," it was Bassena who answered without an ounce of hesitation or lie. "But you don’t have to worry about Zein acting too harsh. He’s only spiky on the outside."

The twins chuckled at the same time, and Mizar said with a playful smile. "We know. At least, if he’s truly the one who wrote that guidebook about dungeons."

Zein stared at the closed door, and what he could infer about the guide from the twins’ words. "The reason why he refused to meet other people," Zein said while glancing at the twins, "Can you tell me, or should I ask him?"

He could see that the twins tensed up for a little bit. But Mizar quickly regained his composure when he saw Zein’s piercing eyes. "It’s not our secret to tell," the older twin said. "But...whatever you’re guessing right now might be true."

"Although not everything you thought is the truth," Alcor added with a self-deprecating smirk.

"Hmm..."

Zein looked at Bassena then, and patted the esper once without saying anything. Radia’s summoned secretary led him to the private room where he would now use to dine with a stranger. As the door to the room opened, he could see the beautiful night view of the city through the glass wall. A dining table had been set in front of said window, and sitting there, looking at the night view, was the sheltered guide.

A fair white skin that was leaning more toward being pale, like pure snow. A similarly snow white hair, long and tied in a neat ponytail with a light blue cord. A slim body, thin arms, and a small waist. And a pretty, delicate face with big brown eyes like an innocent deer.

Perhaps he was an innocent deer.

When he heard the sound of the door opening, he was frozen at first. It wasn’t until Zein walked come closer that he woke up from his stupor and gasped, fumbling with himself and trying to stand up before Zein raised his hand to stop him.

The guide sat back awkwardly, fiddling with the napkin on the table. He was young, just a tad bit older than Dheera and Yath. Zein heard the man had only become the twins’ exclusive guide for two years now. Young and very nervous. Zein didn’t think it was only espers that the man was uncomfortable with, but people in general.

Zein took a seat that the secretary had pulled out for him, eyes never left the young face. The brown eyes looked down, seemingly too nervous to look at Zein, and he suddenly remembered what people usually said about him.

Chuckled inwardly, Zein pressed the button on his mask, revealing his face to the guide. People said he looked softer and kinder without the mask, the spiky and scary vibe retreated with those.

And just as expected, the guide looked up now, looking less guarded. Zein looked at the young man and held his gaze, trying to be as gentle as he could because, just as the younger twin had said, this man looked like he might faint with the bearest of mean words.

"Good evening," he greeted first. "You can call me Zein."

"Oh!" the man perked up at the voice that sounded gentler than he thought, and he looked even less guarded now. At least, he was no longer fiddling with the napkin nervously. "Ah, I’m Xue Ren."

"Xue Ren," Zein repeated with a smile. He paused until the secretary was done with laying out their dinner and retreated from the room. But his gentleness ended the moment they were left alone. "I don’t know why you want to see me, even though I heard you don’t like meeting people. Is there a reason why you don’t mind doing this now?"

The dark brown eyes blinked slowly, before the younger guide answered with an exclaim. "Ah! It was Mizar and Alcor that told me to do it. They said it might be good for me, to talk to other people who...umm...might understand..."

"Understand?"

"Umm...yeah," the bright eyes suddenly dimmed again, and the man lowered his sight, staring at the warm soup in front of him as he fiddled with the spoon.

But he had stopped talking, and Zein, after taking a breath, asked dryly. "Did you perhaps...get assaulted in the past?"