There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 229 - 222. Day of Contending Nerves (2)

Chapter 229: Chapter 222. Day of Contending Nerves (2)

Despite the displeasure, Zein still commanded Jock to provide their guests with drinks.

Not him, however. He had no intention of letting these men have the pleasure of seeing his face.

They started with the investigators recounting the events happening yesterday, from the auction to the instant outbreak that came without warning. Zein merely added the movement of Trinity members after the earthquake-like vibrations.

"We would like to know why you are separating yourself from the other member," the glasses man asked.

Zein openly scoffed at this inquiry. Inquiry--but they started this by accusing him already? "All of us are going to different places, so I’m not exactly separating myself," he said in a flat and dry tone.

"Understood," the man simply nodded, while the younger investigator made notes in his journal.

Zein observed that their role had been fixed; the glasses man asked the question, and the younger one made the note. It seemed that they still wrote down his answer even though there was a recording device already.

"I went to check on two things," Zein added, to explain why he was heading to the vault room.

"And that was..."

"My earring--ah, excuse me; my esper’s earring," Zein took the box that was nestled in the small table beside the couch where he put his book down.

They had planned to make that piercing so Zein could wear the earring to the banquet tonight, but it got delayed because the Association called Bassena over.

And now this.

The investigators glanced at the small velvet box, and then shifted their gaze back to Zein. "And the other one?"

"My friend’s older brother."

The younger investigator paused and looked up from his note, but the glasses man followed immediately. "You mean, Captain Han?"

"Yes,"

"Were you close?"

Zein tapped on his arm a few times. He wondered if they were actually suspecting him, since he was the one who immediately headed to the room. "We’ve met and talked on a few occasions. I know my friend loved his older brother dearly, so I was thinking of checking on both."

"Were you involved with the subjugation?"

"Not at all. It was all over when we arrived," Zein shrugged, before adding like an afterthought. "Ah, I did guide the Captain, as I had intended."

The glasses man paused for a bit by sipping on his drink--perhaps giving the younger one the time to write everything down. He also seemed to contemplate his next question for a while, before deciding on the topic after a minute. "And you were the one who found the exploding formation?"

"That’s a tricky one," Zein leaned back and tilted his head slightly to ponder his answer. "I realized something was weird from the barrier formation that I was familiar with. But I wasn’t sure what it was, because I wasn’t an expert on spell and formation," he explained. "I only knew where they were coming from, and the Association members were going to ask for support. But Glasswing came and one of them was an expert, so she took over."

"You could detect differences in formation without knowing about them?" Here, the one who asked was the younger investigator. Whether it was his curiosity, or because he was doubtful.

"No," Zein could see the glasses man’s eye twitched at how his junior chimed in the inquiry. "I could detect the difference in the mana sequence that was used in the formation."

The glasses man seemed to want to say something, but the younger guy beat him to it. "Does a guide usually know how to do that?"

"They should be if they are trained well enough," Zein smirked, but only his piercing eyes could be seen, so it would seem like he was offended. "It’s in our trait to react sensitively to mana."

"Is that so?"

"You wouldn’t question it if you educate yourself first," Zein replied dryly, and this time, the glasses guy acted before the younger one could make a blunder remark again.

"My apologies," the man sighed. "Did you recognize any of the intruders?"

"I didn’t look at them clearly enough, since they were already on the floor, so I can’t say for sure," Zein shrugged, replying vaguely to make sure he couldn’t be indicted if it turned out he did recognize someone. Who knew--perhaps one of them came from the red-zone. Still, he had to make it so he looked innocent--which he was--so he added. "But from what I saw that night, I didn’t recognize them."

"I understand," the glasses man nodded again. "What happened afterward?"

"Glasswing took them into custody, and I guided Captain Han until my esper came to pick me up," Zein’s reply grew flatter and dryer, as if he got bored recounting all of the events again.

Still, the glasses man persisted. "And you went back to the hotel after?"

"Yes."

It was clear by this time that Zein had hit his patience milestones, so the man hurriedly said. "May I ask one more question?" and despite saying it like that, he didn’t wait until Zein agreed to throw the question out. "Who do you think would be behind this?"

Zein raised his brow. Did they ask everyone that? Did he ask that to genuinely look for information, or to bait a suspect?

If it was the latter, that didn’t sit right with him.

"I don’t know," Zein shrugged. "It’s my first time attending this kind of event, so I have no knowledge pertaining to forces that might want to do harm," he paused, turning his face toward the window where they could easily see the Association building. "Or forces that might know how to detect instant outbreaks."

There was a spike in his voice that made the investigators know their time for questioning should stop there--unless they wanted to annoy the guide, and thus, incur the wrath of his espers. They made a motion of shutting down the recording device and packing up the journal.

Zein, however, did not let them go just yet.

Not before he gained something back.

"Do you know who they are?" he asked, still looking at the Association building.

"As of now, we still trying to figure it out," the glasses man answered diplomatically, and he was awarded by a piercing blue gaze.

"You don’t know anything at all? Aren’t you supposed to be the ones who know the most about this?"

Zein looked his coldest at this point, even more than the time he looked offended earlier. The gaze that was akin to an icicle was as if questioning their audacity to inquire things from him without giving anything back.

The younger investigator, despite being an esper, swallowed hard. While Zein only wore a casual white, oversized sweater, the vibe around him reminded him of the veteran espers who already had decades of career. Perhaps it was that black mask, or the fearless eyes that they had never seen in a guide before.

The glasses man sighed inwardly and finally opened his mouth. "We’re suspecting it to be the doing of a cult."

Zein’s eye twitched at the word. "A cult? Who...knows where and when an instant outbreak occurs?"

"Yes," the glasses man, now abandoning his official role, leaned back on his chair and talked in a more casual tone. "Not all cults were established to worship Celestial Being."

Zein raised his brow. "What then?"

"A lot of hidden cults are actually anti-deity," the glasses man said. "There’s also a cult that supports the Age of the Apocalypse, and thinks the world should remain in that condition."

"Wait..." Zein shook his head slightly as if trying to clear his head so he could hear better. "They want...everything turned into the Deathzone?"

"More or less," the man shrugged. "Doing that kind of attack after we announce the Reclamation Act seems likely."

"And with that kind of assumption, you came to interrogate Trinity?" Zein tilted his head in confusion.

The man, surprisingly, chuckled. "This might sound paradoxical, but investigating the final candidates is actually the priority."

"...are you suspecting we might try to win the project to actually sabotage it?"

At this, the glasses man’s lips stretched into a deep smile. "We sure hope that is not the case."

"I can say that’s not the case with Trinity, but that won’t do anything, will it?" Zein arched his brow and said dryly.

Again, the glasses man chuckled. He stood up then, buttoning his suit and putting on his formal face again. "Thank you for your cooperation, Sir. Once again, we apologize for the inconvenience."

The younger investigator also stood and bent his waist to bow in Zein’s direction. "Pardon my rudeness, Sir."

Zein sighed inwardly and stood up too. "You need to work on your baiting."

Widening his eyes for a bit, the younger man replied sheepishly. "I’ll...keep that in mind, Sir."

"Well, then," the glasses man smiled, genuinely this time, as he offered his hand for a shake. "Good day, Sir Ishtera."

"Yes, good day," Zein sighed. He just felt glad that this unexpected event was over. As always, talking with people was exhausting for him.

He wondered how long Bassena would take in that building. It’d be nice if they could spend some time on that piercing first before getting ready for another exhausting event in the evening.

Why did this annual gathering full of exhausting events?

He was busy thinking about this as he escorted the two investigators to the door, and he didn’t realize that Bassena was already in the foyer.

Starring dagger into the two investigators.

"I wasn’t told about this."

Zein stopped, feeling delightfully surprised. He almost missed the slightly trembling younger investigator and the glasses man that suddenly got pale.

"Ah..." the glasses man could say nothing but that, frozen beneath the gaze of the Serpent Lord.

So they did avoid Bassena. Despite his initial annoyance, Zein decided to throw these people a bone. "You’re done?" he asked Bassena, who immediately shifted the amber gaze to the guide.

Zein beckoned the esper to come closer, so Bassena stopped staring down at the poor people, bypassing them as if they were air to fulfill the call of his guide.

"Yeah, it’s just telling them what happened last night," Bassena replied, holding into the guide’s waist with a frown still on his face. "But why are there people here without an appointment?"

Zein, shooing the two people away behind the esper’s back, chuckled. "Maybe they’re afraid of you?"

"Is that supposed to be enough reason?"

"For people who are afraid of you...maybe?" Zein shrugged. Bassena turned his head to stare at the investigators that were slipping behind the door, but Zein turned the esper’s face back by his cheek, smirking. "Come, you still have to pierce my ear before the banquet."

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.