There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 396 - 388. Settlement

Chapter 396: Chapter 388. Settlement

"Seventy percent, huh?"

Bassena looked at all the articles that came that night through Zein’s shoulder, leaning into the guide like a spoiled puppy. Most of it was talking about the day’s trial, and the rest was talking about the main event tomorrow.

Of course, there were some articles condoning the whole thing, and criticism was raised from people who had received benefits from House Horins. But Zein wasn’t the type to care about the voice of dissent, so it didn’t matter.

Besides, those voices would probably disappear after the atrocious things that Operation Kronos did were exposed to the whole Federation.

"It sounds like a lot, but isn’t it only the residential compound and the money needed to maintain it?" Han Shin pursed his lips while lying on his stomach, enjoying the soft rug in Radia’s drawing room.

"That’s the only thing that useful, anyway," Zein shrugged.

The rest of House Horin’s assets were academic stuff like research centers and foundations for archeological efforts. Certainly, Zein had no intention of moving the funds for those establishments to his own coffers. Instead, the government took over the institutions and gave Zein the stuff that could be turned into money should he want to.

"But you get the eternal dungeon that they have," Bassena smirked. "Pretty good for the Iron Shield’s business."

"That, I agree," Zein nodded. Since the Horins didn’t have enough liquefiable assets to support the penalty they had to pay to House Ishtera, the eternal dungeon was used as compensation.

Of course, if he didn’t have anyone to manage it, having an eternal dungeon was only a burden. But for a household whose main income came from weapon making? An eternal dungeon was a blessing.

A pretty good result for having to endure being treated like a pitiful victim for hours.

Now, he also didn’t have to feel bad for the members of the Iron Shield for not having anything to do. And if anything happened to him...

Hmm...it was probably time to make his will. He should talk to Logan sometime soon.

"You know, I heard that if someone proved to be orchestrating an Old House to get annihilated, the punishment should be equal," Reina, who rarely joined them nowadays, chimed in from where she was lying, using Han Shin’s back as a pillow. "Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth...life for a life..."

"Mm..."

"So...legally, you can kill all of their family members?"

Zein hummed without pausing his hands, shuffling the cards they were using to play before they got bored. And yes, based on the rule book, he could demand such things. But what use he had of blood?

"Money seems more useful, don’t you think?" Zein shrugged. "I can get so much from settling to spare the rest of their life."

"Agreed!" Reina laughed and got up, scooting back to the table in the middle of the rug. "Shall we play again?"

"If you want."

"Bet?"

"No bet!"

"Excuse me people, but why are you congregating in my house?" Radia stood at the door, still with the suit he wore to work this morning.

"A celebratory party!" Han Shin and Reina threw their hands up with a cheery laugh.

Radia looked around the drawing room then--his drawing room, which somehow had turned into a playground with board games, snacks, and drinks. There were even additional cushions and blankets around the table and the couch.

"And you don’t even wait for me to get home?" the summoner shook his head and shed his coat, which was promptly taken by the butler. "I should consider revoking your permission to use my mansion."

"But this is the best place for a party," Han Shin argued with a giggle. "Besides, you’re my brother-in-law, so it’s alright, isn’t it?"

"Brother~in~law~"

"..."

Radia stared at the engaged couple who had the same frequency of mischievousness while lamenting on his weakening heart. Damn cunning kids.

"What game are you playing?"

* * *

"A will, huh..." Radia nodded.

After hours of playing cards and some board games with a shot of Radia’s prized mana stone-infused liquor, Han Shin and Reina fell asleep in frustration at their failure to beat Zein in cards and Radia in board games. While Bassena carried both of them to a bedroom, Zein and Radia came to the garden’s patio to get some fresh air.

"That’s good, you should do it."

They leaned against the railing and Radia took out a golden needle. It was a celebration night, so Zein did not tell the man to stop. "Talk about it with both Logan and your financier," he said, before lighting the magic cigarette. "Now that I think about it, I need to renew my will."

Zein glanced at the summoner and smirked. "For your brother-in-law?"

Radia chuckled and blew an odorless white smoke into the midnight air. "I need to at least leave him something for his marriage, no?"

"Ah...they don’t seem to have any plan to hold a wedding sometime soon," Zein tilted his head. "Even though the person who opposed them is no more..." he paused as he pondered more about it. "Are they waiting for Joon to come out?"

"Most likely," Radia smiled and took a deep drag of the golden needle. "There’s no way Shin will have a wedding without his beloved hyung--even if Joon told him to proceed with it."

"He can be cute sometimes," Zein chuckled. "Anyway, I haven’t gotten any call from the prosecutor for tomorrow’s trial."

Zein was supposed to be a witness for the Operation Kronos case, as someone who had seen a Specter’s core personally inside the dungeon. But there was no call until now, and he didn’t expect them to inform him on the day of the trial.

"Then it means they don’t plan to use your testimony for tomorrow," replied the summoner. "Unlike today’s case, the trial for Operation Kronos won’t be concluded in one day."

"Oh?"

"Because there’s more than one perpetrator," Radia explained. "All of them will be tried, and it’s something that has been going on for almost a century. Lots and lots of evidence needs to be cross-examined, not to mention witnesses," he glanced at Zein with a smirk. "And their lawyers will battle it out in the court."

Zein straightened his back and raised his brows. "They won’t plead guilty like Torodeo’s today?"

"No," Radia flicked the golden needle to the edge of the railing. "Not all of them. Those with a lot of money would try to wiggle out of it as best as they can. Some would argue that they had no idea what the system was used for, and some would try to lower the penalty, at least."

"And...what do you think the result be?"

Radia looked up and smiled deeply at the blinking star. "I don’t know," he said. "But there’s no way I’ll let people who had ruined the last decade of my life go away easily."

Zein turned his eyes away from the gleaming crimson eyes. It was at a time like this he was glad he wasn’t the one at the end of that gaze. He was pretty sure that Radia didn’t just talk about putting them in jail, but also robbed them of their wealth as much as possible.

"You’ll ask for compensation, right?"

"For the victim’s families, yes," Radia nodded and moved away from the railing, walking to the patio table to snub the golden needle in the ashtray. "And there’s a lot of them."

The quiet chuckle coming out of the summoner’s mouth sounded almost sinister in the dead of the night. If Zein didn’t know this man was an ally...

"Hmm?" he tilted his head as something clicked in his head. "Is this why my trial was scheduled today? Before the Kronos trial?"

Radia looked back at Zein briefly, flashing a smile before walking back inside. "If we’re doing it otherwise, the assets of House Horin would be used to pay the compensation too. And as the head of the operation, the ratio would be massive."

Zein followed the summoner inside as Radia continued with a soft smile. "I know you don’t exactly need the money, but it’ll be quite unfair for you to not receive anything, right? Torodeo will receive the death penalty anyway, and in that case, your trial would be moot."

"Huh..."

"Well, you don’t have to mind this one too much. Just enjoy the show from outside," Radia signaled the house staff to lock the patio door and led Zein to the stairs. "You should think about what you want to do with the Horin’s residence and have that vacation you said you’ll take."

"Right..."

Radia glanced at the guide who just accepted his suggestion without arguing about having work to do and kids to teach. Rather unexpected, knowing that the guides didn’t fare well with the newest Deathzone simulation system.

He stopped at the base of the stairs to turn and looked at the guide. "Have you decided what to do with the residence already?"

"Yeah,"

"Huh," Radia stretched his lips, looking rather proud for some reason. "And here I thought you were eager for some vacation."

Zein looked up and smiled, staring at the waiting Bassena on top of the stairs. "It can be both," he shrugged, smiling contentedly at how nice things had been going these days. "It can be both."