There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 327 - 319. Threat

Chapter 327: Chapter 319. Threat

The laughter that filled the yacht sounded both aggravating and chilling for some reason, perhaps because the crimson eyes were glinting coldly during everything.

"Oh, Gods...you can’t be like this, former Guildmaster," Radia chuckled at the end of his laughing fit. He tilted his head as he looked toward the confused old man. "Satisfied?"

With a raised brow, the lips that were smiling widely a second earlier lost their curve in the blink of an eye. "My guild member was getting assaulted, my guild progress halted, and you think I’ll be satisfied by giving you a helping hand?" the voice dropped lower. "Have you become too dull from retiring?"

"Radia Mallarc!"

"Belthera," the lighthearted, nonchalant tone that Radia had been using all this time vanished like a lie. The coldness coming out between those lips was now matching the crimson gaze. "When someone is doing something, there should be consequences," Radia continued, before adding in a dry tone. "A punishment. An atonement."

It didn’t sound like a suggestion, not any attempt at negotiation. It sounded like a warning.

It sounded like an announcement.

"I don’t want you to just take Varion off the Guildmaster’s seat, I want you to bring him to me," the summoner paused, seemingly contemplating on something before correcting himself. "To us."

"For what? So you can kill him?" Darleon felt the rage bubbling up his chest, and despite his effort to hold back, he slammed his hand on the chair as he yelled. "Do you think I’ll just let you do that?!"

The younger man, however, didn’t even flinch at the displayed emotions. "Kill him? Of course not, we’re not savages," he chuckled, waving his hand lightly in dismissal.

The aloof nature of the other esper, eventually, cooled the old man a little bit. Darleon stared at the summoner with a clenched jaw. "Then what do you want? You just said punishme--"

"Answer," an unexpected reply came from the younger man. "What we want is an answer."

Darleon only grew even more confused with this reply. But this confusion also helped him to further cool down his emotions. It was also because the crimson eyes looked genuine, without the mockery displayed earlier.

"Varion is a bastard, but not even he would be so daring," Radia continued, ignoring the frown on the father’s head when he cursed the son. "Among the groups he sent to attack our guide, there are espers who are not a part of his people."

Darleon’s eyes widened, and his commlink beeped to signal an incoming message. It was another document containing the pictures of three people; a female, a male, and a cloaked figure he saw exiting the car in the previous CCTV recording.

"We believe these people were lent to him by someone else," Radia continued. "We would like to know the one behind him."

There was a mixture of emotions inside Darleon’s slightly shaking eyes. Relief, at the thought that it wasn’t purely Varion’s deed; anger, that someone dared to use his son to commit a crime; dread, at the probability of that person’s identity being someone he knew.

"Don’t worry, we’re not so cruel," Radia took out a portable astray and snuffed the golden needle as he continued. "As I said, we just want an answer, so we will only keep him until we get that answer."

In other words, they would still take him captive, beyond the eye of the law.

"Of course, the easier he opens his mouth, the easier it will be for him," Radia added, a simple smile playing on his lips. Perhaps because he knew how proud Varion was, and it was unlikely that the man would easily cave.

And Darleon knew that.

"Do you think...I can just trust you on that?" he gritted his teeth. How long would it take before Varion talked? How far would they go to make Varion talk?

"Of course, not," the summoner’s lips stretched wider. "But this is not a negotiation, Belthera. This is an offer. You can take it or leave it, your choice," he shrugged, propping his head against the armrest. "Didn’t I tell you that I’m giving you a chance?"

"You’re going too far, Radia Mallarc!"

The return of the mocking tone did not bode well with his emotional state. He stood up in outrage, knocking the fishing rod off the holder. The clattering sound echoed along with the sound of brief laughter. Darleon glared at the younger man, but his anger had to be suspended as his commlink beeped again. He wanted to ignore it, but there was no way he could, knowing it was Radia who sent it.

So he shifted his gaze to the screen, which was filled with rows and rows of documents. He opened them one by one, and each one blew his eyes wide. Details of embezzlements, reports of assault cases, tax evasion, illegal gambling, deadly practices, violation of human rights...

Every shady thing happened inside Celestia. Much more than abducting another guild’s member. Much more than Darleon knew.

Some happened even from the time Darleon was still the Guildmaster, but he could see that these cases saw an increase in the past three years. Right after Varion took the Guildmaster position. And in the center of it all, was Varion’s involvement in those shady businesses.

"This is..."

Darleon kept scrolling and scrolling and scrolling with a trembling hand. But before he could even manage to reach the bottom of it, the document vanished, as if being swallowed by the screen, like papers getting set on fire.

"Wait--"

"There are so many axes in my arsenal, Belthera. I can cut that tree whenever I want," the lighthearted smile was back on the summoner’s lips. "Perhaps not completely, but you’re disillusioned if you think the damage wouldn’t be massive."

The hand that was scrolling just a while ago curled into a fist in midair, and Darleon looked at the crimson eyes with a mix of indignation and dread.

"Not even your son could avoid the court, and I don’t think the major shareholder will be too pleased with that," the younger man continued. "He’ll probably lose the Guildmaster seat even if you don’t do anything, and it’s not really a hard thing to capture an esper like Varion," and then, with a deep smirk, he added. "It’s not like he’s a Saint-class."

"You dare threaten me?!"

A wave of mana burst forth from Darleon. He might be retired, but he also used to be a five-star esper before he relinquished his license. The pressure of mana release alone was enough to churn the artificial sea and shake the yacht. Radia had to admit that if the old man faced him with weapons, it would be quite dicey.

However, it was a mistake to contest the Crimson Summoner purely with mana. Except for Bassena Vaski, no one in the Eastern Federation had more mana than Mallarc.

"A threat, huh?" despite the turbulent sea and stormy skies, Radia laughed, feeling amused at how responsive the weather spell creating this artificial space was. "Haa...it seems like further conversation wouldn’t be possible, so let’s end it here."

"You--" Darleon gritted his teeth at the refined protective barrier around the summoner, rendering his pressure attack useless.

"So here’s what I want," as if ignoring the old man’s outburst, Radia spoke nonchalantly. "I want you to deliver Varion to me, and in exchange, we will give you the sponsor your people need, and full support to clean Celestia. Easy, no?"

At the lack of effect his action had on the other man, Darleon retracted his mana; jaw clenched and teeth gritted. Easy? Easy?

"You’re telling me to sell my own son," he said with a voice trembling in subdued rage.

"Sell?" Radia chuckled. "I’m here to save him."

"What kind of bullshit--"

"Haa...it seems like you haven’t even checked who the victim is, despite Askan already telling you about this case," Radia shook his head and leaned back in his chair. As the old man looked at him in deep confusion, Radia exhaled in pity. "Darleon Belthera, your son ordered the abduction of an Old House’s patriarch."

The old man widened his eyes. Swiftly, he looked at his commlink again, and, for the first time, searched for the news about the guide in question; the victim. As he filtered through the top news titles about the guide, his lips quivered. "No--"

"The court?" Radia tilted his head, a mocking smile on his lips. "Your son would face trial in the House Council."

There was a reason why the Old Houses were special. They were the circle of heroes, of founders. They had their own law that sometimes superseded the nation’s law. And this was one of them; someone who harmed the direct members of the Old House could receive a trial in front of the Council consisting of the Old House’s representatives.

"You should know that cutting tails or manipulating evidence will not work there," Radia continued.

There would be no instance of bribing the judge. Unless the suspect had enough power to influence more than half of the council members, the trial would be conducted with the raw evidence as it was. No trick, no dodging accountability.

And if the council found Varion to be guilty of abduction and assault, they could put him in jail for the rest of his life, unquestioned.

No--jail might be better than whatever the council could decide. Especially because the victim was a patriarch with the power of vote, his son could end up in a basement somewhere for all Darleon knew--somewhere he could never see.

"Either you comply with our demand, or you lose him forever," Radia said with cold eyes and a dry tone as he stood up and patted his sleeve. "Well, it’s almost time. Please enjoy your lunch, and give me a reply right after," he continued as he walked toward the old man to reach the exit door behind. "If you don’t provide me with an answer by three p.m., I’ll take it that we’re free to do what we want."

Darleon lifted his head, staring at the crimson eyes of the man who walked past him. "Now, Belthera," he heard the smooth, lighthearted tone of the summoner. "This is what you would call a threat."

This time, the chill in his back persisted longer even after those crimson eyes left the room.