There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 648: Side Story 2. Dance of Flame and Shadow - 7

Chapter 648: Side Story 2. Dance of Flame and Shadow - 7

"Here," Agni places a mug with steaming hot coffee in front of the kid--licensed esper.

It was the only mug he had, so he poured the rest of the coffee into his flask and drank it from there while sitting on the other chair. Ron grabbed the hot coffee and blew on it before sipping on it little by little and making a satisfied face right after. But then, he felt the amused gaze of the older man and immediately put on a stoic mask.

Smiling inwardly, Agni held out his hand toward the young esper. "Hive me your hands."

Ron was frowning at first, but when he saw Agni take out a key, he immediately shoved his shackled wrists toward the berserker. When he was finally free, he rubbed the reddened wrists which was no one’s fault but himself, glancing at the berserker.

"...thank you," Ron gripped the mug and mumbled behind it. Agni raised his brow in response, and the young scout glared at him again. "What?"

Still spiky. "Nothing," Agni smiled and drank his own coffee.

He usually gulped down the whole thing, since the temperature was nothing for him. But if he did so, then he had to sit there with an empty flask and confusion about how he should start talking to the kid, so this time, he drank it leisurely, giving the liquid enough time to awaken his nerves.

Ah, damn it. He should have gone with a tea.

Perhaps both of them had the same thought because none of them said anything for a while. Both just stared at random things while sipping their coffee once in a while, little by little, as if biding for time.

In the end, the bolder one spoke first. Ron raised his head when the coffee was halfway down his system, staring sharply at the berserker. "Now, answer me."

Look at this kid; people usually spoke cautiously to Agni, especially if they were only me for the first time. His berserker physique and rough facial features were an easy deterrent for people to act out, but this kid had been going at him fearlessly despite Agni’s ability to break him into two in a few seconds.

Was it because he was still young and inexperienced? Or was his anger made him fearless?

Well, at least the kid was talking instead of snarling like before, so Agni decided to give the kid proper respect. "Yeah," he nodded. "You know beasts don’t eat humans, do you? But miasma devours everything."

The dark eyes traveled to the papers sat aside on the table. Ron had skimmed over them because his father’s name was on the box, but he read the ’manual’ file quite a bit, because he saw his father’s scribble on them a lot. One of the first few things written in the manual was about what happened to humans in the Deathzone.

What happened while they were alive, and what happened when they were dead.

Ron pressed his slightly trembling lips before speaking. "So...that creature in the Deathzone..."

Ah, crap. That was what Agni worried about. But he had decided to treat the kid with respect, so he wouldn’t dodge it. "Well, something like that," he tapped the table, thinking about how to convey the fact since he wasn’t very good with it. "But that doesn’t mean the one you faced came from Cap...Nolan. It’s not like one’s body turned into a wraith, but--"

"I know," Ron cut him before he could ramble incoherently, pointing at the manual. "I read them."

"Ah," Agni smiled awkwardly. "Well, that’s good."

The silence came back then, but it was way more awkward. There was still some coffee inside their cups, but none touched them. The air felt heavy as Ron’s eyes were fixed on the papers that used to belong to his father, and Agni’s gaze was fixed on the changing expression on the younger’s face. The hard and tough facade was slowly unraveling, and Agni could see the young face he saw when Ron was sleeping.

"I...know that I probably won’t find him, but..." Ron bit his lips; his jaw was clenched and his fists curled tightly on the edge of the table. "...it had been six years."

Agni frowned deeply. It was hard for him, but how much harder it would be for this kid, who had an actual blood tie with Nolan. He was still grieving after a year, but six years of absence must have been hell for someone, especially when he had to experience it during his teenage days.

Agni shifted a bit, wondering how should he reply to it, but before he could do anything, he heard a diabolical sound of dripping water. Drip. Drip. The sharp visage of the young kid faltered, and the snarky lips trembled as tears flew down his cheeks and dripped into his curling fists.

Agni stiffened; his brain froze. Tears? The kid just...cried? For a few seconds, he could only watch in panic and confusion, even more unsure of what to do. How...how could a person like him console someone? Wait--before that...

Tears. He should so something about the tears. Agni grabbed several sheets of paper napkin--another privilege of a Captain--and gave it to the young scout. "He-here..."

"Urk--" Ron took the napkin and grabbed it, but wiped his tears with his sleeve instead. The napkin ended up crumpled in his fist and became a stress ball. "I...I never even...received a letter or any--hicc--anything..."

"...what?"

"Not...not even after Mom’s funeral," Ron sniffed and bit his lips, clearly trying to control his emotion. "I know he couldn’t leave the borderland, but--"

"Wait--wait!" Agni grabbed the scout’s shoulder, staring straight with widened eyes at the younger man. "What do you mean you never received any letter? And...what--" his own lips trembled slightly. "What do you mean by your mother’s...funeral?"

Ron was startled at the berserker’s reaction, and it actually helped in stopping his tears. He blinked at the agitated face in front of him and replied with a slight confusion. "We-well...I’ve never heard a peep from him since the last time we met..."

Agni frowned. "No letter?"

"No?"

The frown went deeper. "What about the money?"

"What...money?" Ron frowned too; the tears had stopped completely as confusion overridden his grief. "Also..." he traced back to what the berserker said earlier. "Are you saying you didn’t know about my mother’s death?"

"No! And neither did Nolan!"

Nolan had been sending later every month and his accumulated salary twice a year for the four years he spent in the borderland. Granted, there was never any reply, but he chalked it up to them getting angry at his selfish choice. He even joked about the first letter he got in the future being his divorce paper from his wife.

But, what?! The letter and the money had never reached his family? And his wife was dead?! There was never any notification about it from the headquarters or the military!

"What..." Ron was just as shocked as Agni.

His anger, his disappointment, and also his longing...all stemmed from the fact that his father disappeared from his life. The only notification he received was his father’s death, because the military wanted him to come to the administrative office at that time, but mysteriously canceled it before he made the journey.

"He...didn’t know about mother...?"

His eyes widened and blanked. More than knowing he could never find his father’s remains, this fact was shaking his core even more. It flipped his whole life’s foundation.

"Fuck--tell me everything," Agni released his grip on the scout’s shoulder. "Tell me what happened to you after our trial."

* * *

For as long as he knew, Ron hardly saw his father all year round. He did remember that the man was still staying with them when he was a toddler, and he recalled the warm and nice feeling during that time, so even though his memory was blurry as a child, he could tell that his father was a good man.

Or maybe because his mother always told him that. Your father is a good man. He’s not home because he’s doing good things. She would answer as such every time little Ron asked where his father was. And when they could meet, whether on the military base or at home, everything felt as warm and nice as he remembered.

Naturally, as he grew up and entered adolescence, the absence felt more and more. It was a stage where a son needed his father the most, and sometimes, he would fill with resentment. But it was a normal feeling to have, said his school consultant. Coincidentally, he also started to learn about the sentinels in his school; about guides and espers, and where they would work once they were awakened and gained their license.

It was during that time he learned more about the esper division of the military, and finally understood what his mother meant by his father being a good man. The teacher even showed them a few recordings of the espers in action, both from the private sectors like the guilds, and also from the military. Whether it was intentional or not, the teacher put in a recording of a military squad clearing a dungeon in a secluded place. His father was the leader of that squad.

When he came back from school that day, all of his little resentment for the times his father missed some milestones in his life turned into pride. He was proud of his father. His mother was right; Ron’s father was a good man.

And so, despite rarely seeing his father, Ron did not resent him anymore. The warm and nice feelings remained, and Ron was happily waiting with his mother for the time he could meet his father, giggling when it was time they could receive his call from the barrack.

But then, one day, on the day they were supposed to receive his usual call after a mission, they received a call from the military instead.

And they said his father would be sent to a military trial.