There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 219 - 213. The Guide Conference

Chapter 219: Chapter 213. The Guide Conference

The conference, honestly, wasn’t what Zein had thought it would be.

To be fair, he didn’t have much experience regarding this kind of convention. All he ever attended were the guild meetings and the opening event. So he was expecting the conference to be like yesterday, some kind of symposium.

But the guides attending weren’t many, and the conference room was small, so instead, it was filled with several round tables, each occupied by six to seven persons. The panelists on the slightly elevated platform were seated on several armchairs, like a talk show.

It was a pretty casual setting, and almost felt like the interview Zein did for the television that one time. There was a moderator who acted as a host, and three panelists including Zein. They would first present their own topic, and a Q&A session would be opened after all three speakers delivered their topics.

Initially, Zein had the last turn to speak, perhaps in consideration that it was a last-minute request. But he didn’t like just sitting there waiting for his turn to come, so he told them he would speak first. He didn’t care if he delivered his speech differently from the others, he just wanted to get it over with.

But he might be saying it too harshly, or it might be due to his image, but the moderator even stuttered as they redistributed the order. As a service--or just a ’fuck you’--Trinity even distributed a printed material that Alice had made before lunch to every guide there, including the moderator, the organizer, and the journalists. Alice deliberately distributed the document to the table with Celestia’s guides last, held it about five centimeters about the table in front of said guides, before letting it go with a loud thud.

The documents were banded nicely considering it was a quick job. It had a proper cover, with a bold Trinity logo on it, and a clear statement that it could only be acquired in today’s conference.

Meaning, if the document got spread out, they would know it was from someone in this room.

A privileged, luxurious threat--ahem, treat.

That, coupled with Zein’s presentation, made the guides swallow their saliva quietly. Zein didn’t even try to be menacing, but since he wore the black uniform and mask as usual, he still looked as imposing as he could be, with his tall and athletic build. Also, he delivered his topic the way he would do his lecture during training--like a military instructor.

Definitely not for a faint heart.

"Oh, this is nostalgic," Dheera muttered with a slight giggle. "Looking at Captain lecturing us with that mask."

"Right," Nadine replied with a smile. "Is it because his eyes are so sharp? His vibe totally changes if we can’t see his whole face."

"Ah, but Captain’s face is our guild’s treasure, so I’d rather not share it with anyone else," the younger guide giggled again. "I bet Sir Vaski would like that too."

As the two were talking, someone from the same table suddenly called for them. "Umm, excuse me," a woman leaned forward into the table, looking at them with interest. "You are from Trinity, yes?"

"Yes, can we help you?" Nadine replied diplomatically, giving out her public relation smile.

On such occasions, Dheera knew enough that she had better shut her mouth and let Nadine do the talk, since the older guide had more experience. She pretended to pay attention to her Captain while also trying to follow the conversation at the table. Coincidentally--or not--their table was only filled by them, who were from Trinity, that woman who just called out to them, and her friend.

"Do you really go through all of this training regime?" she asked with genuine wonder while showing the page containing Zein’s carefully curated physical and mental training.

With an amiable smile, Nadine nodded gracefully. "Yes, of course. The basic physical training regime is mandatory for everyone, and we have to do that until we hit the minimum parameter," she explained, although it was already stated there. "After that, Captain--I mean, Sir Zein would create personalized training for each of the members."

"Personalized regime?" the woman seemed to be surprised. It did say after the guide meet the required parameter, they had to follow it with a training regime that catered to each of their body types.

But there was nothing about the Leader made it personally for them.

"Ah, yes," Nadine chuckled a little bit, with a little silly gesture as if she had a slip of a tongue, before adding with lower volume. "It’s because our guild has several strike squads with different needs, so each of us requires different physical capabilities according to our designated squad."

The woman raised her brow, before nodding in satisfaction. "It’s very organized."

"Thank you," Nadine widened her smile a little bit, just enough to not make her look smug, but still proud nonetheless. She shifted her gaze to the front, where Zein had sat back on his chair after finishing his brief deliberation. "It’s thanks to Sir Zein’s excellence."

"Oh, did he design everything?"

"More or less," Nadine nodded, looking at the woman again, who seemed to be keen on talking to her about the division more than listening to the next speaker.

But it was the kind of question that would possibly come up during the Q&A session, so it was alright for her to divulge that. In fact, they would only give information to those who actually asked instead of challenging them.

"Of course, it was also going through ample consultation with physicians and nutritionists," Nadine added, just so she didn’t accidentally paint Zein as someone careless. "There was also a psychologist and mental healer on standby during simulation training."

The woman looked at her with sparking eyes, looking like she was truly fascinated with the system. "It’s safer than I thought," she commented. "I had this misconception that this new concept would be too burdensome for guides."

"Oh no, it’s geared more toward our survival," Nadine shook her head with a slight frown. "Even if it’s not in dungeons, guides should still function well during outbreaks."

"Quite right!" the woman nodded and exclaimed energetically.

She continued to ask Nadine more about the details in the document, as if she couldn’t wait until the questioning session.

"Excuse me,"

Their discussion, however, suddenly cut short by a shiver running through their spine. Simply because of those two words that were delivered in a low, cold tone, coming from the platform.

"Uh-oh..." Dheera bit her lips, grasping Nadine’s sleeve in nervousness. "Sis, I think Captain is angry."

Confused, Nadine asked what happened. Based on Dheera’s explanation, it seemed like Zein got annoyed at what the third speaker was talking about. The topic the third speaker talked about, turned out, was his view that there were still too many guides acted submissively to espers. This, he argued, was what made espers still think they could walk all over guides.

Zein was yet to get triggered at this point, although Dheera caught the blue eyes rolling in exasperation as the speaker used Zein as an example of how guides could be respected in the world of espers. What lit the fuse, however, was when the speaker used someone’s name as the ’bad’ example of a submissive guide that ruin their image.

The speaker mentioned Xue Ren.

"Oh, shoot!" Nadine hissed. Zein might only know Ren for a day--no, a few hours. But from the way Zein spoke fondly of the man during breakfast, she knew the Captain had a soft spot for the Azure’s guide. "Alice--"

"Why? Just let him be. Guildmaster said Boss can do anything he wants regarding guide’s matter," the assistant shrugged, and continued to watch Zein with a subtle smile on her face. Nadine even suspected she was enjoying this immensely.

And to be honest, she was too.

Zein rarely showed his emotion in such a blatant way in a public setting. So he must have been truly angered. And...it wasn’t like she agreed with the speaker’s motion too.

"Have you actually talked to him?" the low and cold voice resumed, blue eyes staring piercingly at the speaker. "Do you know what he’s actually thinking? Do you even know how his espers treated him? Do you even know what drove him to that condition?"

The speaker, whether it was from shock or because he had no answer, just opened their mouth without any sound but stuttering "Uhh...umm..." as they clutched the microphone tightly as if it was their lifeline.

"You demean other guides by shallow deduction without even proper research?" Zein tilted his head. His voice was still low, but his tone was now filled with blatant mockery. "So you tell me you’re fighting for equality? When you don’t even treat other guides equally?"

"Th-that’s..."

The speaker was trying to reply, but ended up mumbling incoherently, so Zein wasted no time to speak out more. "Why don’t you fix your own mindset first? Right--why don’t you go down to the red-zone or the underworld?" Zein chuckled--a mocking laugh that sound so eerie and bitter. "See how guides there are being treated, why don’t you? See what kind of life and mentality a guide that had been abused has!"

At the rising tone in the end, even Dheera and Nadine felt their heart shook. They too, had no idea what kind of abuse the guide in the end-zone experienced; what kind of situation their Captain was in during his younger days. Knowing where Zein came from, the words seemed more painful. It was something that came from Zein’s own reality, so they couldn’t even doubt the emotion contained behind each bitter sound.

Interestingly, the guides from Celestia were actually flinched at this. Their table was the furthest from Trinity’s--probably a deliberate arrangement from the organizer--but Nadine swore she felt they were shrinking slightly, lowering their gaze and staring hard at the table.

If she could see better, she might be able to catch how their eyes started to redden.

"Do it, and you might start to understand why some guides couldn’t help but become submissive, why are they so scared to speak up," Zein continued, his eyes now sweeping the room instead of focusing on the speaker, who already became a frightened statue.

He wasn’t just talking about the guides with extreme conditions like him or Ren. He talked about everyone who was forced to be silenced because they had no power of voice. Because they were in such an oppressive situation that no one was willing to believe, simply because they ’looked’ like they were doing ’just fine’.

Yes, like those guides from Celestia.

"You want equality?" he scoffed and stood up, the tall figure felt even more imposing with the way his blue eyes darkened in suppressed fury. "Then change the condition that makes guides feel like they are an inferior being."

The glint inside the blue eyes was akin to icicles; sharp and freezing. There was no one countering, no one shouting in protest. Even the moderator, who was supposed to control the situation, only stared at the tall guide with parted lips and widened eyes.

"Tell those people in the Temple to rescue the guides in need, not just wait for someone to knock at their door," Zein walked to the edge of the stage, his voice reverberating clearly even without the help of a microphone.

A voice that clearly contained disdain and disappointment.

"Because those guides..." he paused, jaw clenched and eyes blazed in cold fury. "Those guides can’t even walk out of the door of their captivity!"

Even for Dheera and Nadine, it was their first time seeing Zein being so angry and raising his voice. They still felt fascinated as they hurriedly followed Zein who left the room in long, furious strides.

"Well, it’s good that Captain gave his presentation first, right?" Dheera whispered within the quiet hall as they went back to the lounge.

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