There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 283 - 276. Extended Family

Chapter 283: Chapter 276. Extended Family

"What the hell is wrong with this schedule?!"

Bassena looked up from the rows and rows of everything he needed to attend for the next week; talkshow, commercial shoot, interview, another talkshow, product testing, more talk show...

"Isn’t that normal after a dungeon clear?" Lex cheekily shrugged. It was also clear that his response stemmed from the fact that he was the one who had to handle all of Bassena’s business during the trip to the Northern Alliance.

He had to push all of Bassena’s existing schedule, handling the constant calls, and everything. And now that Bassena came back all clean and bright, he decided that it was time for his boss to be as miserable as him, dropping the schedule while they rode the elevator.

"It’s your fault to be MIA for three days, Sir," Lex continued nonchalantly. "And it was all approved by the Guildmaster, so..."

Bassena parted his lips dumbfoundedly, and Zein took a peek at the screen. "Well, at least you’ll still sleep at home," the guide said, not really helping his case. "Work hard, baby."

"Zein..."

"Look, I still give you some free time on the weekend so you can have a date or whatever," the assistant huffed at the way Bassena whined at the guide. Acting cute in front of his boyfriend—pfft.

But Zein only patted the esper’s cheek twice before bidding them goodbye to get out on the seventh floor.

Once again, he had to face the cavalry of his little chick that he needed to groom into chickens ASAP—especially since he was getting more and more certain that Trinity would be the one getting the reclamation project.

Even if Celestia did something behind the scenes—lobbying, bribery, and whatnot—there were at least two Celestial Beings behind Zein and Bassena who would support their cause, so the government and the association should at least take that into consideration.

In that case, he needed to get these guides into shape even more. It would no longer be training for the dungeon, but for the Deathzone—and there was a significant difference between them.

He got together with Nadine and Alice to talk about a new training regime, and while Nadine was grimacing, Alice had a subtle smile hidden behind her tablet. Which was a sign that the training regime was hard enough—good.

He would only start implementing that after the announcement, of course, but he showed them the regime still, and the sound of their groan could be heard from the lobby. The espers that were visiting for regular cleansing blinked in surprise, but the other guides and the receptionist siblings just waved their hands nonchalantly as if it was a common occurrence.

"New torture?" Abel smirked as a greeting when Zein came out of the meeting room.

"Yeah, need to prepare them for the view," Zein shrugged. "How is it going with yours?"

"My torture?" Abel’s smirk turned into a grimace. "Going well. So good. I finally met the extended family and now I have to remember all of them before the ceremony," he answered dryly.

Now it was Zein’s turn to smirk. He probably shouldn’t be laughing about it, but he and Bassena had no extended family to be remembered. Hell—they didn’t even have a family. Well, anyone with the same blood, at least. If the scoop was widened, then...

"Ah," Zein raised his brow at the very nice timing that reminded him of an ’extended’ family as Arlo came out of the clinic.

"Oh, good afternoon."

Like a good boy, so different from his rebellious self, the young esper bent his waist and greeted Zein politely. It was clear that his life here, the fulfillment of his dream, had got the young esper brightened up even more. He no longer looked like a rebellious teenager who glared at people left and right, but a mischievous young man with an abundance of energy.

Every time he looked at Arlo, Zein was getting reminded of the twins, and it was as painful as it was nostalgic.

"Is this pre-cleansing?"

"Ah, no. I was in dungeon duty yesterday,"

"So you’re free after this?" Zein asked, and Arlo nodded in affirmation. "Have lunch with me."

"Huh? Oh, yes!" Arlo answered as if it was an order, and Abel chuckled at the way the others were looking at the young espers. Guessed they still didn’t know what their relationship was.

"Your kids will be so~ jealous," Abel commented with a smirk.

"They can only have lunch with me if they get an A," Zein responded as if the guides were college students asking for a reward.

An A for Zein’s infamous hellish training regime? After all that groaning sound they heard earlier?

"They will be so~ brokenhearted,"

Zein scoffed at the guide and told Arlo to follow him down to the restaurant on the ground floor. "Order whatever you want," he said.

It was in his understanding that new members were yet to receive their first paycheck, and unlike the scouted talent, there was no contract downpayment for the one who came through the entrance test. Moreover, they wouldn’t have enough guild points yet because all they were raiding was the guild-owned eternal dungeon. So, Arlo wouldn’t have a lot of chance to eat as much as he liked in the green-zone.

"Are you sure?" Arlo peeked at the guide behind the menu. "I eat a lot."

"It’s fine. Young esper should eat a lot so they can train better," Zein told the esper it was alright, and a while later, their table was filled to the brim. He raised his brow at the young man who grinned sheepishly in front of him. "You were starved or something?"

Arlo grinned apologetically in response, but Zein waved his hand and told the esper to start eating. "Are you doing well so far? No difficulties?"

Since he was busy eating, the esper only answered with his raised thumb, although it was also apparent from his bright disposition that he was doing well. After he swallowed his food, Arlo elaborated more. "All the facilities are state of the art, so much I’ve never used before, so I have fun trying them one by one," he said, putting more food before continuing. "And there’s a lot of them so I don’t have to fight with the other to use it. Oh, also—the simulation room is...oh my God, just wow! And..."

For a while, Zein just listened to Arlo gushing about what a great place Trinity was. It was kind of fascinating for Zein, thinking that half a year ago, he would just agree with it but nothing more. This time, however, he felt this feeling of pride when this—technically—young cousin of his was singing praise for the guild.

He chuckled inwardly, recalling that he initially signed the contract refusing to be a ’member’ permanently; just a temporary addition for the reclamation project. But now he easily called the guild home, and it became a comfortable and safe place for him aside from Bassena’s apartment.

Well, their apartment now. Apparently, Bassena put Zein’s name on the lease so the guide could have the right over the apartment’s affair. A bold move that would have made Zein uncomfortable before, but he did not particularly hate it, just like he did not mind that Bassena was putting him as the esper’s medical proxy.

Things felt like they were moving fast, but Zein had been avoiding things for so long, Bassena had been restraining his feelings for far too long, and they only had a few months left before things would either go so right or so wrong for their future. So Zein couldn’t blame the esper for moving fast, honestly.

By the time Arlo finished talking about how much he liked working for Trinity, the young esper had already finished half of what he ordered, and Zein had finished his own. While ordering something sweet for his own dessert, Zein inquired about the esper’s other family members—well, in a sense, Zein’s extended family members, although they had no blood relations.

"Uncle Senan still overseeing the construction, but he took another uncle and a cousin of mine to help him now," Arlo tapped on his lips using the spoon as he recalled the news he heard from home. "I heard Lisa had gone to Neyta to learn with that charity management foundation. Oh—" he paused and leaned forward to look at Zein seriously. "You remember that you promised her she could work in the foundation you will establish, right...umm, Sir?"

Zein chuckled at the protective tone the young esper used for his same-age cousin. He had heard that they were practically raised together, so they were more like siblings than cousins at this point. "Don’t worry about it," Zein reassured him.

He actually had been talking about it with Bassena; at first asking about the step he had to do to establish one with all the inheritance he received. But later, the talk developed into a joint foundation, since Bassena also had his mother’s trust fund in his hand. For now, with how busy they were, it was up to Logan and Bassena’s financier to plan the establishment of this new joint foundation and finish it before both beneficiaries went on their suicidal mission in the East.

Which reminded Zein he had to make a will too.

Heh—making a will. Zein had never thought he would make a will before, seeing that he almost had nothing. And no one to give to, for that matter.

Arlo looked at Zein, who seemed to have been smiling easier since earlier, and made a mental note to include this in his letter to home next time. "Oh, right. Umm...Sir, may I ask you...hmm..." Arlo bit his cheek hesitatingly, wondering if he should go forward with the question or not.

"The Northern Temple?" Zein, however, made the decision for the esper. "I refused the Goddess’s offer, if that’s not obvious yet. And oh..." he looked at the young esper and smiled mischievously. "She seemed to be pissed at the Ishtera for failing to protect my mother’s ancestor."

Arlo, the new generation who had never lived in the Northern Alliance, wasn’t fazed at all. He even looked mischievously joyful at this. "I’ll make sure to tell the Elder that,"

"Cheeky brat," Zein laughed softly. "You’ll give him a heart attack."

Arlo grinned in response, and by the twinkling in his eyes, Zein knew the boy would definitely relay that message. "Oh, right—Lisa told me big brother Cohen finally accepted the woman who had been chasing him for years."

"Oh?"

"He said he couldn’t before because...you know, he didn’t want to involve her in the clan business," Arlo shrugged, before grinning widely as he looked at Zein. "But thanks to you, we are free to do what we want now."

Zein paused the spoon of the warm cake in the air. "That’s good," he muttered.

If he had to be honest, while he did want them to do what they wanted, Zein never thought these people would actually sacrifice this much for their mission of finding him. He wanted to sigh, but he didn’t want Arlo to think that he was troubled or anything.

"I heard they even talked about getting married, and..." Arlo paused, looking at his food silently for a while before asking cautiously. "Is...is it possible that you...might come...Sir? He didn’t want to impose on you, so he told us not to ask when the time comes, but—"

"Sure," Zein answered without hesitation.

"R-really?"

"Well," Zein put the sweet, warm chocolate cake in his mouth and cracked a small smile. "Aren’t you my extended family, anyway?"