There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 88 - 85. Debut

Chapter 88: Chapter 85. Debut

[Laguz] was one of Trinity’s permanent strike squad. With a water drop as their insignia, the team symbolized flexibility. It derived from how the team comprised of espers with magic-related skills, from the tankers to the supports. The use of magic made it possible for a lot of combination skills, which was why they were deemed the most flexible.

Aside from the member of [Anzus], Bassena probably had the closest relationship with the member of Laguz, since most of them were magicians-type espers, just like him.

The leader of the squad was a 4-star support-type magician named Florence, who was in the middle of wondering if she should approach the executives talking closely among themselves. She stood in the distance, watching the Serpent Lord lean down to whisper something in the new Guide Captain’s ear.

She already heard the rumor about those two’s...intimacy, but it was the first time she saw it with her own eyes. He didn’t know about the impassive-looking guide, but the saint-class esper definitely had feelings for the other man. Those usually fierce and sharp amber eyes turned into a warm hearth as they gazed at the masked man. Even the smile felt different somehow--more sincere.

It was like the esper didn’t even try to hide his affection.

Would she have to witness this scenery throughout this coming raid?

Before she could make up her mind, the guide already spotted her, so she decided to just walk up to them. "They’re all here, Sir," she told Bassena, and then looked at the masked guide. "The guides too."

There had never been a raid briefing involving guides before. Guides either waited outside or just came to the raid on d-day. But now, there were already three guides waiting inside the conference room--the A-class Nadine, B-class Allen, and C-class Dheera, who was particularly beaming about wearing the black uniform.

"Capta--!" when Florence entered the room with Zein in tow, the energetic C-class stood up cheerfully, calling for her boss, before shutting up abruptly after seeing Bassena following the guide.

She clasped her mouth and grinned in embarrassment. The rest of the room immediately stood up to greet the vice-guildmaster.

"At ease," Bassena put his hand down and sat beside Zein. "Although I will participate in this raid, the Captain will still be Florence. I will only come as overseer, along with Guide Zein."

The eyes shifted to the silent guide then, and toward the other three guides.

"The formation and strategy are entirely in your Captain’s hand. If there’s anything I will add..." Bassena looked at Zein, who just shrugged, before chuckling and facing the espers again. "Yes, if there’s anything I will add, it’s just that you should know by now that the raid would also be a trial run for the new guide division. So while there will be guides coming alone, we won’t delegate special guard for them."

The espers stirred then. Of course, they knew the concept of this new guide division. But actually hearing that the guide didn’t need dedicated espers to guard them was...

"What I’m trying to say is, just treat them like another support or surveyor," Bassena concluded his opening, sweeping his amber eyes to the rest of the room. "Like a team member."

The esper glanced at each other, before asking carefully. "Would that...really work?"

Bassena smirked and tilted his head at Zein, as if telling the guide to speak. At that, the man just responded calmly with firm eyes. "Isn’t that what we’re trying to find out?"

* * *

It was a norm for dungeons on the orange-level and above to have media coverage. The simplest reason was for surveillance and early warning, so it would be harder for rogue guilds and criminals to mess with the raid, as well as prepare the surrounding citizens in case an outbreak would happen.

Other than that, dungeons at those levels would usually have at least one 4-star esper, and pictures of them would already gain them traffics. Especially if it was a well-known guild like Trinity, which members easily had some fanbase on their own. For example, the leader of today’s strike squad, Florence Blire, was a brand ambassador for a skincare brand. Trinity also allowed the distribution of their member’s pictures with commissions.

But for some reason, there were a lot more media than usual for a dungeon at this level. Most of them didn’t know though, that some of the journalists and media came because Trinity’s PR department intentionally told them that there would be a scoop in today’s dungeon raid.

As the scheduled time drew closer, vans bearing Trinity’s logo entered the construction lot where the gate appeared at. Immediately, cameras were pointed at the personnel coming out, focusing on the more well-known members.

It wasn’t until three people in Trinity’s guide uniform came out that the reporters started to stir. "A black uniform? I never knew Trinity has a black uniform for their guide...do they have uniform changes?"

Within their surprise, the reporters who were told about a ’scoop’ suddenly felt wronged. "A new uniform? Is this what they meant with a scoop? A freaking new uniform?!" one of them hissed in annoyance.

"Hmm? It’s fine isn’t it?" an entertainment reporter shrugged. "It’s been a while since I caught sight of Miss Nadine. Her last drama was--"

"Who cares?! I canceled my vacation for this but...a new uniform? Are you kid--" before the person finished his angry spat, however, another reporter suddenly shouted.

"Huh? Wait--isn’t that the Serpent Lord’s car?"

It was then that the reporters and spectating people’s attention shifted all at once. They descended into silence in shock. Why would the Serpent Lord come for an orange-level dungeon? Some even doubted that it was the Serpent Lord, although the plate numbers indicated his registered vehicle.

But when the car door opened and the tall, handsome figure of Bassena Vaski came out, it became chaotic then. The security personnel had to hold the barricade to prevent cameramen and photographers from breaching the line.

"What? Is this a training session? They use a normal dungeon for a training session?"

"Sir Vaski, please look over here, Sir!"

"Sir, an interview--Sir!"

The yelling and shouting became even more chaotic, until the PR staff came forward and told them the guild would make a press conference later. While it curbed some of the excited shoutings, it didn’t stop the flashes of cameras. Bassena Vaski wasn’t exactly elusive, but since the man usually entered the most dangerous dungeons where the presence of civilian reporters was restricted, it was still quite hard for some of them to see him in front of a gate.

Despite all the loud calling, the esper paid them no mind. Instead, he stood beside the car, holding the door open for someone else with a subtle smile. Of course, such action immediately made the keen reporters shift their attention curiously.

The one who came out of the car was a quite tall and fit man whose face was covered with a black filtering mask. They thought the man was an esper at first, until they saw the black guide uniform.

"Huh...that man--!" someone suddenly shouted in the middle of the confusion. "The new A-class!"

There was a few seconds of pause after that piece of information spilled out, before the reporters turned even more frenzy.

The new A-class guide! The elusive guide that Trinity had been hiding for the past month!

The reporters who had been trying to dig into the rumored guide that got ’kidnapped’ by Bassena Vaski last month were now in full throttle. How many times had they tried to sneak into the guild’s compound for that scoop? How many of them got chased out from the street around Trinity’s compound until they gave up?

The flashes got even crazier after that. The tall guide, either because of curiosity or annoyance, turned his head toward the masses, and the sharp blue eyes got captured instantly.

"Ignore them," Bassena smiled as he ushered the guide toward the other raiding members.

"It’s...weird..." Zein confessed, frowning just a bit from the blinding flashes. Thankfully, Bassena shielded him from the light, so it felt less dizzying.

The esper chuckled for a bit, feeling thankful that Zein always wore his mask. If the world got a glimpse of Zein’s beauty...

But for someone facing so many cameras for the first time, Zein looked more disturbed than nervous. He just felt annoyed by the flashes, not the crowds. Perhaps because he didn’t care for attention. He was just busy fixing the new gauntlet Bassena gave him last week, another artifact called Gauntlet of Haldamir, which helped the wearer distribute magic energy more evenly to their fist to maximize the force of their arms.

Which meant that Zein could even punch Bassena to the ground if he used all of his energy reserve.

"Comfy?" Bassena asked as they reached the others.

"Mm,"

"Your daggers?"

Aside from the gauntlets, Bassena also bought him another dagger with a haste buff for the wearer and a slow debuff for the opponent. Zein insisted that he only borrow the esper’s point, though, and he’d pay the man back after he managed to save the point required.

Bassena just smiled and agreed to it, although he had no intention of receiving any payment from the guide.

Zein took both the Black Pearl and the Knife of Acheron from his waist, taking the attention of both the raiding members and the faraway reporters. Even for the guides, it was their first time seeing Zein with a real weapon, instead of the dummy one he used in training.

The pitch-black dagger and the pure white knife, strangely enough, looked right in the guide’s hand.

Bassena opened his palm suddenly, and a simple ring with runic engraving sat there. "Put them here."

Zein blinked and looked up at Bassena with slightly widened eyes. The esper just smiled and explained. "It’s my old storage ring. Not so much space though, but it should be enough for your daggers."

Without waiting for the guide’s response, Bassena took his hand and slipped the ring on Zein’s left thumb. The ring automatically adjusted its size to the guide’s finger, and Zein immediately felt the storage space.

Not much space my ass--Zein narrowed his eyes. It was at least one cubic meter--way more than enough for a dagger. There were even potions and emergency scrolls inside already, along with rations like water and...candies.

Of course, people who weren’t esper and couldn’t wield mana could not open storage rings, but it didn’t matter for Zein. With a defeated sigh, he let go of the daggers, and willed them to enter the storage.

Well, it indeed made things easier, so Zein could not complain about the esper’s generosity.

"How envious~" Dheera clung to Nadine with a finger on her lips while watching their bosses’ exchange. "I want some nice shiny artifacts too..."

"Then go find a rich boyfriend," the A-class answered with a laugh.

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