There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 395 - 387. Daylight Legal Robbery

Chapter 395: Chapter 387. Daylight Legal Robbery

As a witness for the House Trial case, Zein had to talk to a prosecutor too. Although, since it was a House Trial, they called her the inquisitor. Interestingly, the person was Radia’s aunt--Calix’s younger sister, who was the mother of the sisters Zein met on his first visit to the Peak.

It would be Zein’s first trial, so, much needed to be done to...set an agreed-upon story. They had to cull any part that would implicate Zein instead--like how he almost killed all of his kidnappers. They wanted to take as much as they could from the Horins, so even though he didn’t like it, he had to play the part of a pitiful victim.

"I better gain a lot from this," Zein stared at the prosecutor’s team sharply. He didn’t mind playing tricks, but he didn’t like having to look weak and pathetic--not now that he was a patriarch of a clan.

"Don’t worry, Sir Ishtera," Tilia Mallarch smiled confidently. "We can get you their residential compound if you’d like."

Zein raised his brow, but she had the kind of smile that her mother and nephew had. He pondered about it for a few seconds before replying. "I’d like that," he nodded.

"Then, it shall be done."

Zein wondered if being confident was the trait people with the blood of Mallarc had. Well, it wasn’t a bad deal for him--although he had to make sure someone was with the Elder during the trial, or else the old man might faint from high blood pressure when he heard about how those people kidnapped Zein the first time.

The inquisitor team talked with Senan next; not just as a witness to the second kidnapping attempt, but also as a witness to the Black Viper’s attack in the past. Strangely enough, to tie the past case to the Horins, Bassena would be present as the lawful owner of the Golden Viper’s old log and account books.

"This is interesting," Zein muttered when he knew.

"Right?" Bassena chuckled as he chopped the ingredients for their dinner. "I didn’t think we’d be involved in the trial like this--what do you want to do with the potato?"

"Mashed them," Zein said, with a ferocity that made people question if he was really talking about the potato. "You know what--I’ll do it."

Bassena laughed and slid the bowl of the boiled potato over to Zein’s side, who proceeded to beat the potato as if relieving the day he beat his assaulters. But the esper’s laugh soon ceased as annoyance took place.

"Tsk--I just remembered that I would be there in association with the people who attacked your family," the chopping that he did suddenly turned ferocious too, until he paused to take a deep breath and calmed himself down.

"But you’ll do it to incriminate them, so it’s alright," Zein shrugged.

"I should probably change my name soon, huh?"

Bassena glanced at Zein, who was only smiling subtly in response while mashing their potatoes. There was a certain tension that usually came when someone was tiptoeing around, and Bassena felt both embarrassed and nervous at the same time.

"Just do it if you want to," Zein replied nonchalantly. "Or is it hard to do it?"

"Hmm..."

Bassana bit his lips slightly, pondering about it while he sauteed the vegetable. Hard...was it hard? Of course, it was hard. After all, he didn’t want to just register a new name. He wanted everything that came with that new name--if he was allowed to have it.

If he was allowed to have it.

For that, there was a certain step he must take, and he had a certain scenario and place in mind for that. The thing was... no matter how confident he was, he could never be confident enough to be certain of Zein’s answer.

Even if Zein didn’t give him any negative sign.

Bassena sighed inwardly. Well...it was fine. It wasn’t the time yet. They hadn’t been in this relationship for long, so talking about the next step might feel too fast...too abrupt. He looked at the relationships around him; whether it was Radia and Joon, or even Han Shin and Reina, they had been doing it for years--more than a decade, even.

So he probably shouldn’t be too hasty about it. Besides, there was too much on their plate right now.

"I’m done with the potato," Zein said, breaking Bassena’s wandering thought.

"Ah, can you get me the milk?" Bassena shook his head slightly, decided to push away any unnecessary thoughts for now. "Anyway, I didn’t think you’d be interested in their property."

"Huh?" Zein tilted his head after closing the fridge. "Ah, you mean with the Horins? Well...I’m not above robbing everything I could from them. Doesn’t matter if I had no idea what to do about them afterward."

Bassena laughed as he put another pan on the stove. "Then you must start to think about what you’ll do with them, don’t you think?"

"Will I really get them?"

With a smirk on his lips, Bassena glanced at the guide. "If Tilia Mallarc said it can be done, then it can be done."

* * *

The trial for Operation Kronos was done on Saturday, but the House Trial was held separately a day before. And because it was a House Trial, it wasn’t open to the general public.

Zein had expected something amusing and exciting like that night meeting, but a trial was more boring than he thought. Because of the rule, everyone must speak politely, without raising their voice, and in an orderly manner. They must only speak when they were compelled to, and Zein had to answer based on what had been briefed to him.

"Trial is boring ninety percent of the time," Radia said. "Everything had already been said and done behind the stage, and the sentence had already been decided," he paused and added a moment later with a deep smile. "Especially for a big case like this."

Zein was skeptical before, but looking at the side of the defendant, he admitted that it was true. He had thought that Torodeo Horin, as the main offender, would be more...aggressive, with how he had acted before his arrest. But the man was staying still, and even pleaded guilty.

Tilia had explained to him that with all the evidence presented, there would be no way for Torodeo to get away, so pleading not guilty would only make him look bad. The best he could do was look remorseful to decrease the sentence as much as possible. It had only been a bit more than a week, but he suddenly looked like a pitiful grandpa who could do no harm.

"Don’t get deceived," Tilia Mallarc said during recess. "It was a trick to induce leniency."

In the House Trial, the sentence and compensation settlement could be adjusted if the plaintiff’s side and the jury decided so. Emotional approach was a common trick to be used in such cases.

But Zein knew enough elderly who would show kindness in their face and kill mercilessly while smiling in the red-zone. "He’s not deceiving me," Zein said. "Even if he’s groveling and sniveling on my feet, I won’t accept anything less than what we’ve planned."

Tilia looked at the deep and firm blue eyes before smiling in satisfaction. "Good. Let’s proceed then."

Her confidence, thankfully, was translated well. Zein had never thought his ’beauty’, as people called it, as a privilege. For him, it had always been a curse. But he felt than now.

When he was talking about his experience on the witness stand, people were paying extra attention to him. While his eyes were sharp, his face was considered pretty and delicate, so the way he never smiled made him look like a tragic beauty who had been traumatized for life. Moreover, because he wasn’t used to censoring things, he made pauses in his deliberation sometimes, and Tilia told him to lower his gaze when he did so. Thus, those inside the courtroom would see a beautiful person who had difficulty retelling his traumatizing experience to the public--experiences that might rob him of a smile ever again.

And people were simple; they wanted to see a beautiful person smile. It worked better than an old man looking pitiful--unfortunately so.

Certainly, the reporters who were selected to watch this particular trial would have a field day weaving a story. Rather than writing about how an old patriarch who was definitely guilty looked like he was repenting his action, they would have more readers by telling a sob story of how a young patriarch had to endure the annihilation of his own family, even becoming a victim of abduction attempt twice.

Plus, they got to put the picture of that young patriarch’s beautiful appearance in their articles. A guaranteed hit.

And so the trial went smoothly--so smoothly that Zein felt like he was only coming for a meeting instead of a trial. There was no doubt about the guilt, and the witnesses’ statements only conveyed to measure whether the plaintiff’s demand was warranted or not.

And while it was boring, the House Trial had its own brutality. Especially because the one deciding the outcome was the representatives of the Houses who had voting rights. Usually, if there was a dividing opinion, it could lead to a prolonged debate that took more time than the trial proceeding itself.

In this case, however, Torodeo Horin had a sin toward the rest of the Houses. There was no dividing opinion, and Ludya Mallarc had ’warned’ them ’politely’ to agree upon whatever demand the plaintiff made.

Besides, it wasn’t such an unreasonable demand for these Houses, who lived more comfortably than anyone else. It didn’t even take half an hour for the verdict to conclude after all the evidence and witness statements were presented.

"Losing three Houses because of this scandal weakened the power that the Houses have. If they got weaker, the balance of power in the Eastern Federation would crumble," Radia explained after they retreated to the lounge. "So they would want House Ishtera to have more power by absorbing House Horin’s assets."

Zein narrowed his eyes. "What balance of power?"

"The government, the Houses, the conglomerates, and then the guilds--they were entities who kept each other in check so no one became an absolute ruler," Radia chuckled and patted the guide’s back. "So learn more about your role in this world, Mister Patriarch."

"Ugh," Zein groaned. Playing politics had never been his forte.

But now he could see why the other leader of the Houses worried about him going to the Deathzone so much. Zein glanced at the articles about the House Trial that had already been circulated. A particular title caught his attention, and brought a little smile on his lips.

[Seventy percent of House Horin’s assets will be delegated to House Ishtera as the result of today’s House Trial]

Well. It didn’t feel so bad after all.

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