There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 313 - 305. Unexpected Guest

Chapter 313: Chapter 305. Unexpected Guest

I don’t need them anymore.

Bassena glanced at his guide’s bare face as he drove. It was such a simple sentence, but what it entailed was far from simple.

What was the mask for Zein? It wasn’t just a tool to keep miasma away from his respiratory system. It was also a tool to keep other filth away from him. It was a tool of survival. It was his dagger and his shield.

The mask was the icon of his security.

It contributed to the serenity of his mind, and had little to do with his physical security. Otherwise, he would have shed his mask the moment he stepped into the relatively safer green-zone, not to mention in Bassena’s presence.

But back then, aside from the time he was eating or drinking, Zein rarely retracted his mask, even inside the safe guild building with Bassena beside him. Only after he got closer and more comfortable with other guild members did he start to ease up a little bit. Even then, he would only be comfortable enough to retract his mask in front of Han Shin or Radia.

Others wouldn’t understand, but for Bassena, seeing Zein open his mask more and more was like seeing a man on his healing journey. It meant seeing Zein trust people more and more; it meant seeing Zein lowering his wall more and more; it meant seeing Zein letting himself more and more free.

And to hear the guide say he didn’t need that mask anymore, despite being fresh out of an awful experience, despite knowing there were people still targeting him out there...

Bassena bit his lips because he didn’t want to cry again. But he couldn’t help the welling emotions of seeing Zein coming out of a horrible experience even stronger than before; seeing Zein healing instead of succumbing to dark thoughts.

He was so happy about this positive result that he forgot what kind of effect Zein’s bare face had on people. It was a passive charm trait which effects included mesmerization, petrification, and to some extent, temporary stupidity--as is; whoever they were, they would just stop and stare at that face like an avid fan meeting their celebrity idol.

Which was what happened in the guild lobby.

Of course, for some guild members, it wouldn’t be their first time seeing Zein’s face in person. But it was their first one seeing Zein deliberately not wearing his mask at all; his fair neck was free off the choker-like device. And it means, they could see that beautiful face without any hindrance, freely--not just a few stolen moments when Zein drank his coffee or had his meal.

And for those who had only seen it through pictures taken from afar...well, now they understood why their colleague swore Guide Luzein was way prettier in person.

"Captain?" Nadine widened his eyes when he saw Zein. She was the only one, aside from Alice, who knew what happened to him. More than the fact that Zein was no longer wearing his mask, she was more concerned about the fact that Zein was in the guild already instead of resting. "Are you--"

"I’m fine, thank you, Nadine."

Zein patted her shoulder lightly, not just to show that he was alright, but also to tell her that no one should know about this. "I’m not here to work today anyway," Zein told her, even though he clearly wearing his guide uniform. "I’ll be spending time in the guildmaster’s room today, but give me an update for now--and the guiding schedule I missed."

Nadine blinked, for a few seconds only able to stare at Zein dumbfoundedly. No--not because of the pretty face, but because Zein acted like nothing happened in the past two days. As if he wasn’t sick or being kidnapped. As if he just come back from a vacation, glowing brightly and ready to tackle any work.

How...?

"Nad?"

Still blinking slowly, Nadine asked without removing his gaze from the older guide. "Captain...can’t you just take me to the frontline?"

Zein raised his brow; he thought Nadine had already given up on the assignment list, but it seemed like she still wanted to go. Truly, it was still fascinating for him to see someone eager to march to the Deathzone.

"Who will run the division back home, then?" Zein smiled subtly and patted the female guide with the paper in his hand. "You have to keep producing more combat guides to aid me upfront and I trust no one but you to do that."

"And who will aid you there?" she pursed her lips a little bit, for the first time looking grouchy.

Who would aid this Captain of hers who kept on pushing himself to work and work without taking care of himself adequately?

"Have you so little faith in your fellow guides?" Zein chuckled while giving the paper bearing his delayed schedule back to the receptionist siblings.

Again, Nadine just pursed her lips, so Zein gave her a consolation before he moved on to the top floor. "After we establish more than one base of operation there, I will need someone to coordinate the guides there."

Nadine blinked before widening his eyes, and Zein patted her with a smile on his face. "Come and give me an update."

* * *

"Nora?"

Zein already had a hunch that Celestia was somewhat behind this--or at least their guildmaster. But the fact that it was Nora who alerted the guild about the possible kidnapping basically confirmed it.

No wonder they came relatively fast, only about three hours after the abduction. Without that, they would probably only know about it after Bassena came home. By that time, only two possibilities might happen; the abductor come first, and Bassena going berserk.

Honestly, Zein didn’t expect much when he sent Nora over to one of Celestia’s branches, but it seemed like his investment paid off.

Now that Zein thought about it, he hadn’t checked his commlink at all ever since he got back. It had been running low on battery and went off sometimes after the abduction, and he hadn’t turned it on again after charging it up this morning.

The moment he turned it on, it was ringing non-stop from belated notifications. Dozens of calls from Nora, Nadine, Han Shin, and of course, Bassena. He could sense the panic in their countless attempt to reach him.

"Thanks for the update," Zein nodded and Nadine left the office as he combed through his commlink.

He pondered about Nora for a while. Should he call the man? But there was a possibility that the guide was in the middle of his guiding duty in the guild, and it might harm Nora if he did so. From what Nadine told him, it seemed like Nora called from his new apartment.

So instead of calling him, Zein decided to send the guide a text instead. [Good job] he typed. It should be enough to tell Nora that Zein considered he passed the test.

There was no reply for a long time, until thirty minutes later, when Zein was about to leave his office, he received a short message.

[thakyoi]

He had to tilt his head in confusion for a minute before realizing Nora was too shaken to type properly. Perhaps he’d call the man later, to see how it was in Celestia with some of their espers ’missing’.

Jock had told him this morning that they had cleaned the building and captured the people who were supposed to take him away. They weren’t in Trinity, however. Radia had put them in another ’prison’--the one that belonged to the Mallarcs, which means he still wanted to hide the case for now.

Good--the only way they could find the root of all this was by working in silence.

With that thought, Zein left his office--and was immediately greeted with noises from the lobby. It looked like there was a congregation there, and he could hear them making sharp whispers. Curiously, he stepped out into the lobby, seeing that everyone was staring wide-eyed toward the elevator.

"Hurry up!" he heard a strangely familiar voice. Strange, because the owner of that voice wasn’t supposed to be in Althrea, much less in Trinity.

Swiftly, Zein parted the crowd to approach the receptionist’s desk, and right away, he could see a beautiful, petite figure dragging two identical espers.

"Don’t run,"

"But you’re so slo--"

"Ren?" Zein called out the long-haired guide in surprise, prompting the beautiful face to turn around.

"Zein!" Immediately, the young guide brightened up and let go of his espers’ sleeve, unhesitatingly running toward the surprised Zein.

And as if he wasn’t astonished enough, the young guide went straight to hug him, circling small arms around Zein’s midriff. Well, those arms were slightly thicker now, better than the time Zein met him the first time almost three months ago.

But...

"What are you doing here?" Zein asked the young guide, and glanced toward the twin Guildmasters, who only shrugged at him as the rest of the people on the seventh floor watched the interaction with lips parted, completely flabbergasted. Meanwhile, the staff that was supposed to guide them seemed to be lost--clearly, this visit to the seventh floor was not planned.

Xue Ren, still hugging the older guide, looked up with a worried look in his eyes. "Zein, I was so worried! Are you alright now?"

What? Zein raised his brows. How did Ren knew about it? He was confused at first, and then, his eyes flicked sharply toward the twin Guildmasters, who immediately made an ’X’ sign with their fingers.

"I heard you were sick," the young guide said again with a sad tone, and Zein swallowed a sigh of relief. He, more than anyone, didn’t want Ren to know what truly happened to him.

"Ah, I had a fever," he replied while patting the younger’s hair. "But I’m alright now, see?"

"Really? But they said it might be bad..."

Again, Zein glared at the twins, who were now averting their gaze. The younger twin even scratched his neck awkwardly, while the older one gave him an apologetic look. So it seemed like Ren didn’t know what happened but...the twins knew?

As he frowned dubiously at the twins, the elevator door opened again. This time, it was Radia, who massaged his temple the moment he saw the commotion, and Bassena, who looked at the arms hugging his guide with narrowed eyes.

This time, it wasn’t just Radia who felt a throbbing headache.

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