There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 341 - 333. Interrogation

Chapter 341: Chapter 333. Interrogation

When no one made any response to his statement, Varion looked up to skeptical gazes. "It-it’s true! I have no memory beyond that!"

"Hmm..." Zein stood up and walked away, approaching the sitting summoner. "I want to make sure if they truly have a connection to the cult, but I guess that’s not possible?"

"It’s hard; there’s a reason we haven’t found them yet," Radia crossed his arms. "Even spies would think thrice before peeking around the internal matter of an Old House."

There was a reason Old Houses could maintain their power and authority, after all. The only reason House Ishtera fell was because the conflict came from the inside.

"If we can get the evidence for that, however, we might be able to absolve a whole clan," Radia added eerily.

"Pardon me, but...what is this about a cult?" Darleon asked. "Also, can you release him now? It’s not like we can escape or anything."

The old man glanced toward Bassena Vaski, who looked like a ticking time bomb in his eyes. He could see that the room was designed for esper training, and the fact that he couldn’t feel the outside world meant there was a sensory blocker in the building itself. His experience told him that the prison they used to store their captives would be somewhere in this building too.

So, even as a former active five-star esper, Darleon knew he wouldn’t be able to run. He didn’t even know the exit.

Radia looked at the guide, who took a while to contemplate before nodding. Only then that the pitch-black tendrils retreat from Varion’s body. The man almost toppled from the lack of energy and the pain from the guide’s forceful backhands, but Darleon swiftly held him.

"Thank you," the old man muttered in relief.

Radia moved this time, since Zein had paved the way. To make the situation feel more...amicable, he conjured up more chairs so everyone could take a seat. Once again, Han Shin healed Varion and Radia provided food and water to the man who hadn’t had anything since yesterday.

But they also did not relent in the questioning.

"When did you first get in touch with them?" Radia asked right after Varion downed a whole bottle of water.

The man glanced at his father, who gave him an affirmative nod. Be cooperative. They are the only ones who can help you right now. The old man’s gaze seemed to say that.

How pathetic, Varion thought. He was the Guildmaster of the number one guild just yesterday--no, he still is! But his father was right. There was nothing he could gain by defying these people, at least not now. He needed to survive and bring down the House of Horin if he wanted to at least go back to his position. Settling for the humiliation he felt today could come later, after everything was over.

"I don’t remember exactly--sometimes after I finished my first trial," Varion replied while watching the staff bringing in a tray of food. He winced disgustingly at the sandwiches on the plate, but he wasn’t exactly in any position to request a five-star treatment.

With a sigh, he continued while struggling with the sandwich’s wrapper. "They told me bit by bit about how I have the blood of Horin, sprinkling it between a few occasions for a few years," he said, pausing to bite into the sandwich. "At one point, I asked if I could see the patriarch, but they told me I needed to prove myself first before I could do that."

"Hmm...did they give you quests?" Radia asked.

"Yeah; things like bringing them stuff from high-ranking dungeons or auctions," Varion grimaced at the half-eaten sandwich in his hand. Should he continue to eat this abomination? But would they give him something better if he asked, though?

"And? When did they let you meet the patriarch?"

"...after I become the Guildmaster," Varion said, pausing before the sandwich could enter his mouth.

Radia smiled deeply at that information. He thought that the spike in Varion’s arrogance and the sense of rivalry with him stemmed from the fact that he became the Guildmaster of the number one guild at such a young age. But there might be some external influences at play here--although the man honestly had been needlessly arrogant and irritating since their academy days.

How funny; they didn’t even come from the same academy.

But it was also understandable now, why Darleon had no idea about Varion’s involvement with House Horin. Varion only actively went to the House after Darleon retired and became somewhat of a recluse who rarely followed the news of the sentinel community anymore.

"Did they do something weird to you during your visit?"

"Do you think I wouldn’t know if they did?" Varion glared indignantly.

"Maybe," Radia shrugged. "They could do it through something you ingested, or...well, who could tell you were even conscious when they did something."

Varion gritted his teeth when he realized he could not refute that possibility. In his annoyance, he chose to stuff his mouth with the sandwich he loathed.

"So, was it the patriarch that ordered you to abduct Zein?" Bassena asked sharply.

"Yeah," the answer was brief, but there was a hint of hesitation there.

"Do you know why?" Zein asked with a slight frown.

Varion ate the sandwich again, thinking back to the day the president announced the winning guild for the reclamation project to distract himself from the awful taste. "I’m not sure," he said carefully, glancing at Zein before continuing. "I only know he talked about looking for someone with striking blue eyes before."

The moment he said it, he could see the rest of

Trinity’s members tensed. Even Radia Mallarc frowned for a second, before getting back to his usual aloofness. The one clearly in fury was Bassena Vaski, whose fists had been clenched so hard it probably started to draw blood.

"Do you know why he searched for that person?" asked Radia.

"No. He said I didn’t have the right to know yet," Varion shook his head. "Only if I successfully bring the guide will he tell me about it--or so he said."

Bassna clicked his tongue. "Tsk--how useless."

Varion wanted to glare at the Saint-class esper, but he had enough self-awareness that he was no match for Bassena Vaski. Wasn’t that why Celestia had been trying to groom young espers to be as good as the Serpent Lord? So he just swallowed his annoyance and unwrapped another sandwich.

"Does the former Guildmaster know anything about it?" Zein shifted his gaze to Darleon, but the old man shook his head.

"I’m sorry, but no one had said anything about it to me before--not my father or siblings."

"He couldn’t know," Radia said. "He would already left the House when the Golden Viper received the request."

"I see..."

The room fell into silence, the only sound was coming from Varion and his sandwich. Darleon looked at Radia and Zein who was in the middle of a deep ponder before deciding to repeat what he had been asking since earlier.

"Excuse me, but can you now tell us about this ’cult’ you have been talking about?"

Radia looked up at the exasperated old man, whose inquiry had been neglected, and chuckled. "Ah, pardon me. We believe there’s a cult that worked with the force of Deathzone--you know, the one who caused the outbreak in the last annual conference."

"What--"

"We were talking about the possibility of the House of Horin’s cooperation with the force of Deathzone, remember?" Radia shrugged. "It just feels fitting if they are also in possession of a Specter core that harmed your son."

Of course, everything was still nothing more than conjecture, because, in the end, there was no conclusive evidence for that. Varion was clearly being afflicted by something from the Deathzone, but it could also be caused by another item.

There was something they might be able to conclude, however.

"Varion, did the clan employ the Golden Viper too?" Radia asked the man who, despite his blatant aversion, managed to eat all the sandwiches.

"Hmm...they did send someone from that guild to assist me on one of their ’quests’ before," the man replied vaguely. But it was enough for them to get that one answer; of why they might want to abduct Zein.

Even if they weren’t the cult, they had enough motive to abduct the vessel of Setnath.

When he saw the deep smile on Radia’s face, Varion couldn’t help but frown. He put the plate aside and faced the summoner seriously. "Are you seriously going to fight them? Don’t you know how powerful they are?" he asked, the dread palpable in his voice. "I don’t know what card Grandfa--the patriarch has, but he used to be able to control the government."

Not to mention, if the clan truly had something to do with the force of Deathzone...they might even be more powerful than he thought. If they could make people lose their minds like they did to him, then...

Wait. Could it be...

Was that why the patriarch did not support his endeavor to win the reclamation project? After all, that would mean attacking their ’ally’.

Varion felt his nape getting cold, and he lifted his head to see a lack of agitated response. "I’m serious!" he insisted, sounding strangely sincere in his warning.

Well, he already grabbed into this rope, so if they charged recklessly at a force they couldn’t conquer, he would also die!

"Control the government, huh..." Radia muttered.

"Is it something to do with being a cult?" asked Han Shin.

"Who knows," Radia shrugged, before looking at Varion again. "But you said ’used to’, didn’t you?"

"Oh..." Varion stroked his chin to recall the conversation he had with the patriarch. "He did say he couldn’t do it for now,"

"Well, what’s the problem then?" Bassena shrugged nonchalantly.

"He said for now! It means he might be able to again!"

"Which means we should move as fast as we can," Radia clapped his hand to bend the attention toward him. He looked at Varion and pointed at the man’s head. "First, by looking at the memory hidden in your brain."

"...what?!"

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