There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 259 - 252. Gilded Lily

Chapter 259: Chapter 252. Gilded Lily

Just because Zein wanted to, didn’t mean he could just go up to the Temple.

In the first place, he was supposed to stay hidden for the time being. And him being literally on the Temple’s bad side made an official visit a tricky business. Generally not a good idea.

Even Radia had to sit still for a good while to contemplate all the risks and calculate what he needed to do for them to thread on this safely. However much he loved these two, he couldn’t afford to make a jeopardizing move. The fate of Trinity and even Mortix was hanging in the balance, and he couldn’t sacrifice hundreds of people just to satiate one man’s jealousy--even if that man had no idea how to spell the ’J’ in jealousy.

All the while, the only thing Zein could do was watch Radia finish three golden needles before finally, the older man got up and told him to wait in the annex. Once again, Radia walked to the main house, and when he got back, a white robe was in his hand.

"Come," he told Zein briskly.

The short words and dry tone were telling Zein that Radia still churning his brain even now. The man still made a phone call--several phone calls--while he walked toward somewhere deeper in the mountain. They walked to an inconspicuous large building that turned out to be a hangar. Instead of the other aircraft Zein used before, however, the one in this place was unmarked--no Trinity or Mortix sign on its side, just a plain black color.

"Jock, I need you to pull a barrier master and infiltration specialist," Radia said to the bodyguard while handing the white robe to Zein. "Wear this, and listen to me well..."

And then Zein had to listen to precise instructions for a good half an hour, before, for the first time, he was face to face with two members of the shadow guards.

So it was an emergency enough situation.

He knew there were still a lot of things Radia did on the side to make this possible, but for now, his role was to go as stealthily as he could, finding Bassena and perhaps finding out if it was truly the Temple who was behind this.

For that, Jock was replaced by two people Zein never saw before, but who had already been around him for months now. A stealth barrier was put on him, and he wore the white robe; a quiet heavy, traditional-looking cloak with iridescent shimmer and crimson embroidery on the inside, coming straight out of the Mallarc’s treasure vault.

With that ammunition, Zein casually strolled through the Temple. Yes, casually. The barrier and the robe did not make him invisible like Han Joon’s nightwalker skill. What it did was make him blend so well with his surroundings that people would mistakenly think he was just another tourist or even one of the guides staying at the Temple. The combined effect of the robe and the barrier put on him distracted people from paying attention to him.

And last but not least, Zein took off his mask.

To make sure the spell working effectively, Zein couldn’t wear anything impactful. Right now, with him being the headlines, people were drawn to his main trait; the black mask he always wore. So he had to let that go, going barefaced inside the place that was still rather crowded even in the evening. But people didn’t know his face, so even if they somehow saw through the barrier and distraction, they wouldn’t know it was Zein.

It was regretful that when he finally visited a Temple, he couldn’t even enjoy the beautiful scenery. The white marble lobby of the outer sanctuary was filled with people--espers--waiting for their turn to get cleansed, while working guides and their apprentice walked around in pristine white clothes--Zein saw the benefit of wearing this robe now.

As he walked through the route he had painstakingly memorized from Radia’s instruction, Zein could see why people liked to visit this place, even as tourists. Unlike the imposing Tower, the Temple was calming, neat, and peaceful. It was always warm, and flowers bloomed all year round. The atmosphere was vastly different from the esper-filled Tower, with hawk-eyes agents and reporters crowding around. Here, it was tranquil.

Especially when Zein arrived in the inner sanctuary. He was told that Esper couldn’t use their skill and mana in this place, which was why it was the safest place for guides. A must-have safety device since the espers coming here were of high rank, seeking guiding from the elites of the Temple guides.

Including the Saintess.

Which meant, Bassena must be in there too. But it also meant the barrier skill cast on him would get sealed. From this point, he was truly alone. The shadow guard had been going off somewhere to do another task Radia gave them while Zein was wandering around the Temple.

Not that it mattered. The blessing of the Goddess worked well for him; the system sealed espers, but he wasn’t one. This meant Zein could still use his own mana even here, which he used to detect his surroundings. Because of that, he could always take the empty road, avoiding any place with people.

And with this, he also managed to find traces of Bassena’s mana.

And it led him to this beautiful garden overlooking a shimmering lake; a wonderful scenery to feast upon while the outside world was covered in snows and cold. But he couldn’t really appreciate the scenery, because all his mind focused on was the trace of his esper’s mana.

It seemed like, with the protection system against the esper in this place, there were no guards in the inner sanctuary. It was meant to be a peaceful place, after all. How could people fully rest if they had to see imposing guards walking around and standing stiffly on alert?

Thanks to that, Zein could waltz in unperturbed. And there, inside the round-shaped pavilion in the middle of the garden, he could see his esper, talking to a guide whom he assumed to be the Saintess. From her beauty and confidence, Zein could see she held the authority here. Wearing his mask again, he came closer and listened to their conversation from a distance.

For some time, however, Zein just spent his time looking at Bassena. He had no idea what they were talking about before this, but the esper looked pissed. Bassena couldn’t even detect Zein’s presence from his climbing emotions.

Ah, they talked about him. Seeing Bassena defending him so much put a smile on Zein’s now-hidden face. But soon, that smile turned into a frown, and he couldn’t help but approach the pavilion, heart growing cold with each step.

Which brought him into this situation now; staring face-to-face with the Saintess, who looked at him with a mix of irritation and disgust. The kind of stare Zein had experienced too much in the red-zone, from all those guides who thought he was stealing their clients, their espers.

Seemed like it had nothing to do with the zones they lived in.

To Zein’s inquiry, perhaps fueled by indignation, she no longer bothered to act as if it was all an accusation. "So what?" she tilted her head, brow arched and scoffing.

Perhaps she considered dodging the accusation to be proof of her fear, and while she was fine doing it to Bassena, she didn’t want to appear scared in front of Zein. There was no way she wanted to feel inferior in front of the very person she had been putting down since earlier.

"Why?" Zein asked calmly. The way to bait a narcissistic person was to anger them into talking. And there was no better way to anger a temperamental person by staying calm. "Why do all of this? What for?"

She didn’t answer, just crossing her arms and turning her face away as if talking to Zein was a waste of her time and energy. It almost made him laugh. "Do you hate me?"

"Pfft," she scoffed, glancing at his in ridicule. "Why would I have to be concerned about someone like you?"

"I don’t know," Zein shrugged, walking toward the center of the pavilion and dragging a chair to casually sit on it. "Maybe because you think I don’t deserve to guide Bassena?"

The Saintess twitched in fury. Zein didn’t know which one angered her more; that he brought the esper’s name, or that he nonchalantly took a seat, uninvited, in her territory. Perhaps both.

"If you know, then you should have fucked off!" she spat out angrily, voice dripped with hatred and poison. "Stop clinging to people you don’t deserve to be around!"

"Hey--"

Zein raised his hand, stopping Bassena from stepping out of his sideline. Still staring at the narrowed Hazel eyes, he asked with a calmness that never faltered. "Why do you think I don’t deserve to be around them?"

"You’re dirty!" the reply came all too quickly and without hesitation, showing that she had been having this thought since forever.

"Saintess!"

Zein glanced briefly at Bassena, and the esper pressed his lips, walking out of the pavilion to calm himself; a precaution so he would not accidentally strangle anyone.

After watching Bassena pacing back and forth beside the pavilion for a bit, Zein shifted his gaze back to the Saintess. "Because I came from the red-zone?"

"Yes!"

Zein chuckled at that matter-of-factly tone. "So you think people from the red-zone are dirty, huh?"

"Of course they are! They are people who don’t get to live under the graces of our Gods!" she said spitefully, her gaze was that of someone seeing a rat coming out of a sewer.

"The grace of Gods, huh?" Zein leaned back and crossed his legs, tapping on the armchair as if he were the one who owned the place and angering the Sainteas even more.

Why did this unnamed guide who came out of nowhere sit casually in the middle of the pavilion while she was there standing by the railing? This was wrong!

But clearly, the male guide had no distinction of what was right or wrong--or if he did, he just didn’t care. What could she expect from someone coming out of that godforsaken place--

"Tell me...Saintess," Zein rolled the title in his mouth and asked solemnly. "Have you ever stepped foot inside the red-zone?"