There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 323 - 315. We Only Need One

Chapter 323: Chapter 315. We Only Need One

There was a frown on Zein’s face that made Senan tense. But he also could feel that Zein wasn’t as displeased about it as before.

Still, it was clear that the guide didn’t see it positively.

"I have no use for a clan," Zein said after a long silence, putting his plate away as the shadow child gave him a bottle of water and a bowl of sliced fruit like a faithful attendant.

Senan wished he was the one who did that; he should be that faithful attendant, tending to his young master’s needs and protecting him.

And while he already said Zein had the right to do anything he wanted with the family, it was hard to let go of the only thing he held precious in his life; his loyalty to the House. Deep in his heart, he still couldn’t let it go; the fact that the clan would be demolished just like that.

No, Senan did not expect the House of Ishtera to regain their former glory. He didn’t need the House to be glorious at all. He was just struck by the fact that he didn’t know anything about his young master’s security situation, and only found out by chance.

How shameful. To be unable to protect his young master in the past, and still unable to protect him in the present.

"How could you say that?" Senan frowned, the plate in his hand trembled slightly as his grip tightened. He looked up, staring at the surprised guide. "Don’t you need manpower to go to the Deathzone?"

Zein frowned slightly, and the dock fell silent. No one moved but the shadow children, who were still grilling meat for everyone. But those people were too scared to put the meat in their mouths, observing the guide while holding their breath. Observing their Master.

When Zein kept his silence even after a minute had passed, Senan opened his mouth again. "I can’t prevent you from doing it, but..." the old man sighed, "At the very least, can’t you let this old man fulfill his duty before he dies?"

"Don’t talk like someone who’s on their deathbed," Zein replied with a sharp tone, eyes narrowed unpleasantly.

"I’m sorry," Senan couldn’t help but smile at the scowl on the guide’s face. Zein might not show it much, but Senan knew that he cared about them. Wasn’t that why he abolished the Templar of Arms Master? Because he wished freedom upon them. "Still...I’m almost at the age where I’ll retreat from activity," Senan shifted his body, crouching with one knee on the ground. "Won’t you give me one last chance to show my respect to your father?"

At last, Zein shifted his gaze from his esper who was fighting on top of the lake with the female five-star to look at Senan. When the blue eyes flicked to the other members of the Iron Shield, Senan immediately spoke again.

"And it’s not just me," the old man said. "Perhaps not the new generation like Arlo and Lisa, but the older ones, like me..."

As Senan mentioned them, some of the older Espers, the one who was already born during that eventful day, lifted their eyes to meet the guide’s gaze. They were the ones who grew up being groomed to be the future Ishtera’s knight. They were the ones who swore themselves to protect the House of Ishtera.

"We want to stand with you," Senan looked into the blue eyes, speaking firmly. "We want to protect you."

Right after he said it, Senan lowered his head and smiled bitterly, mockingly to himself. "I know this is my selfish thinking, but...right now, I am truly too ashamed to face Master Roan in the afterlife."

Zein took all the gaze of the esper who wordlessly looked at him, and as he turned his head to look at the fighting over the lake again, he felt the heaviness of having the patriarch title attached to his name. The heaviness of having people who were willing to follow him.

"It doesn’t need to be a clan," Senan shifted closer to Zein’s chair, trying to haggle his grounds. "If you don’t want to build a clan, won’t you give us permission to be a brigade?"

"You don’t need my permission to do that kind of thing."

"But we wanted to be your brigade, Young Master," this time, it was Cohen who said it. "We want to be able to guarantee your safety, become your hands and feet, and help you when you need it."

"At the very least..." the old man spoke again, bit his lips for a moment before taking in a deep breath. "At the very least, I will be able to face Master Roan proudly."

It was heavy. Zein had always wondered how Radia could shoulder a multi-billionaire group and a guild simultaneously without looking like he was breaking apart from the pressure. He closed his eyes and swallowed his sigh.

"I’ll think about it," he said finally.

Senan widened his eyes, visibly perking up. "Young Master..." he couldn’t help the delight bubbling inside his chest, even though Zein hadn’t given them any positive answer.

But it was definitely better than instant rejection.

"Senan,"

"Yes, Young Master?"

"I found my mother."

It wasn’t just Senan that froze with eyes blown wide. Most of the esper who came that night had met Lucia before, so they all stared at Zein in shock. "What--"

"Her remains," Zein let out a long, heavy breath. "I found her."

"What?!" Senan scrambled toward Zein, grasping the side of the camp chair. "Wh-where?"

"In Eiyuta."

Senan parted his lips, completely flabbergasted. How? He remembered trying to look for Lucia in Eiyuta before, to no avail.

"Well, it’s a long story, but..." Zein took a deep breath, looking at the dark ceiling of the dome. "Now that I found her, I want to find my father too," the blue eyes hardened, and his fist clenched tightly without realizing it. "I want to make sure they could be together."

"Young Master..." Senan was trembling now, eyes visibly shaking. "Please...please, let me help you! Let us help you!"

Zein glanced over his shoulder, sweeping his gaze toward the shaken Iron Shield members. "Isn’t that why I told you?"

"Young Master!"

Zein turned his head again, feeling rather embarrassed that they were calling him young master nonstop. The shadow children patted his knees, and he chuckled slightly, stroking their heads in return. "I’m alright," he said. The shadow tilted their head, and, after deciding that Zein was indeed looking fine, they pointed toward the lake. "Ah--he’s almost done?"

Over at the lake, Bassena was crossing the water using platforms made of his darkness, dragging the female five-stars who almost looked like a pincushion. Across the ground, other shadow children were dragging the rest of the espers from the forest, piling them on the side of the dock; some were groaning, some only twitched languidly.

"He looks...scary," Cohen laughed awkwardly, limbs tensing in caution. He couldn’t help it; in the eyes of a police officer, Bassena Vaski looked like a threat to society.

Zein, however, just chuckled casually while stroking the child of darkness crouching between his legs. "He’s just having fun venting his anger."

"Honey~" as he stepped into the dock, Bassena threw the esper in his hand to join her bound partner on the side of the dock. "What should we do with them?"

Zein stared disinterestedly at the strewn figures on the ground. Bassena meticulously made sure that everyone was alive. Certainly in agonizing pain, but alive nonetheless.

"Any notable face?"

"Not really," Bassena shrugged. "You know what someone like that bastard thinks--only use the disposable ones."

Those who still managed to hold onto their consciousness tilted their head to look at the dock; at the man who was supposed to be their target. The man who casually sat down being surrounded by a troop and a one-man army.

"Well, that’s simplifying things then,"

The man, who held their fate in his hand.

The blue eyes glint coldly, and the voice that came through the red lips was even colder.

"We only need one."

* * *

"Why haven’t they come back?!"

It was a question that Varion had been throwing since last night, and a question that no one could answer.

He was expecting news by midnight at the latest; the moment they supposedly managed to secure the guide. But even until the next morning, there was nothing. Not even from the scouts that were supposedly only observed from afar.

This was just the same thing as last week.

The team he sent had simply vanished. There was no distress signal, no one coming back. But there was also no word from the target, no accusatory phone call from Radia Mallarc, no angry outburst in front of the guild building by a saint-class esper known for his nasty temper.

Hell--there wasn’t even any media play!

"What is that bastard thinking?" Varion bit the inside of his cheek. He looked at the tense secretary, who immediately sprang to attention. "Are there any words from the people waiting in the dungeon?"

That person who used to be in Golden Viper was supposed to send Bassena Vaski to the dungeon; the trick the Golden Viper had used in the past. But the secretary shook his head, and Varion slammed his fist on the table, letting out loud curses within the safe vicinity of the sound-proof office.

"Goddamnit!" Varion took a sharp breath, massaging his throbbing temple. Everything had been going south for him these days, and he was not used to it.

But hail did bring frost in its tail. While he was still stressed out from what seemed to be yet another failure, his commlink beeped, and the message he had been dreaded came.

[Where’s the guide?]

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