There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 93 - 90. A New Wave

Chapter 93: Chapter 90. A New Wave

[The Sole A-Class Guide During The First Half Of The Year Signed With Trinity]

[First Glimpse of Trinity’s New Guide]

[The Mystery Guide Revealed: The Appearance of Black Uniform]

[Trinity Launch A New Concept: The Strike Guide Division]

[Trinity Will Bring More Guides To Their Raid With The Establishment Of New Division]

[Should Guides Come Inside The Dungeon? Analazying Trinity’s Newest Project]

[The Rising Young Guild: What Is Radia Mallarc Plotting?]

[Taking A Look At The Serpent Lord’s Dedicated Guide]

[The Guide That Makes Trinity Cease Their Temple Service]

[Further Discussion On Trinity’s New Division On Sentinel Talk Tonight]

Right after the raid ended in success, Althrea was flooded with headlines about Trinity. While the squad members raid the dungeon, the guild made a press conference regarding the appearance of the four guides with the black uniforms, as well as introducing their newest contracted guide, Luzein.

It swept the green-zone like a storm, and quickly spread toward other places, including the Capital.

"Guides who specialized in dungeon raiding, huh?" a man in neat attire and a handsome appearance looked at the various headlines on the screens hovering in the air in front of him.

"It seems like they created the division after the new guide sign a contract with them, Guildmaster," a man who seemed to be a secretary explained. "They probably want to capitalize on the man’s experience in the borderland."

The handsome man, the Guildmaster, leaned into his armchair and tapped his cheek in contemplation. "No," he decided after a while. "Something like this can’t be made in just a month. They must have been planning on the formation for a while now--you know that Trinity had been sending guides inside the dungeons every once in a while."

The Secretary closed his mouth and kept silent for a bit, before bowing and saying politely; "Forgive my ignorance, Master. I will try to gather more information."

The Guildmaster just made a swatting motion in the air, and the Secretary excused himself from the room, keeping his eyes on the ground as he stepped out.

Right after, a woman dressed in a pantsuit tapped on the table she was seated on, tilting her head with pursed lips. "Would that really change anything? It’s just bringing more people inside a dungeon..."

She didn’t seem to think that bringing guides inside a raid would change anything. Would it really be more beneficial? Was it such a groundbreaking concept?

"We never have to bring guides in a raid, and we always bring a stellar result as usual,"

"Hmm..."

"I always thought Radia Mallarc was silly by making that policy about guides--they just need to sit tight and wait to serve us, aren’t they?"

The Guildmaster chuckled at that, but replied in a cold tone. "Senia, I told you I don’t like hearing that name," the man smiled in a friendly way, but his golden eyes were cold. "And get off the table."

"Ugh--I get it, I get it," she jumped off the desk, pouting as she took a seat on the chair instead while mumbling. "So sensitive..."

The Guildmaster ignored her comment and continued to look at the news, staring keenly at a particular masked man and his deep blue eyes. "A competent guide in a raid could up the esper’s survival rate. Especially, espers would no longer need to conserve their skills in fear of corrosion, since there’s a guardian angel behind them,"

"Hmm..." the woman chewed on her inner cheek. "You just need to get strong enough to not struggle, though..."

With a benevolent-looking smile, the Guildmaster replied. "But there’s a lot of weak people in this world, Senia."

The woman clicked her tongue and shook her head with an exasperated sigh. "So pathetic, all of them."

"Irregardless, those people might see Trinity’s new attempt as a groundbreaking concept. Knowing that man, he might even provide the development curriculum with the Sentinel Association just to gain more influence," he deleted the screens until only one left hovering in front of him, the article with a picture of those deep blue eyes.

"Huh, that will be annoying!" the woman responded with furrowed brows.

"Indeed," the man smiled deeply, still staring into the blue eyes.

He reached out to push a button on the phone. Without averting his gaze from the newly talked guide in Althrea, he spoke to the speaker. "Get me Askan Bellum. I need an explanation on why we lost this A-class guide to the likes of Trinity."

Varion Belthera, the Guildmaster of Celestia, closed his golden eyes as he tried to quell the fury inside his heart. "Luzein..." slowly, his lips stretched into a smile as he muttered the name. "Luzein, huh?"

It wasn’t just the green-zone that was filled with the news of the new A-class guide and Trinity’s new concept. Just as Celestia’s guildmaster predicted, a lot of mid and small guilds were showing interest in this concept, especially the one that struggled with corrosion management.

There were lots of discussions being made about the feasibility of this new division, the pros and cons of following the concept. Especially among the guides, it became a constant topic of discussion, as some didn’t like how it put pressure on the guides, and some thought that it made them get more respect. There were already scholars and specialists ready to analyze this concept in depth, even trying to purchase the recording of the raid.

If what Trinity aimed was to make a wave, then it certainly worked, since the news traveled as far as the edge of the living world; the red-zone. Of course, guides coming inside a dungeon weren’t exactly a new thing there, and didn’t garner much attention, only scoff. But it made a certain mercenary group stirred.

"This is Zen, right?" a member of the Scarlet Moon asked, bringing a printout of the news article to the leader’s office.

That brought Alma, who was doing pull up in the corner, and Zach, who was laying sideways on his chair, almost jumped to the table where the esper put the printout in. It was the one with the picture of a masked man staring toward the camera with deep blue eyes and a slight frown.

"Yeah, I wouldn’t mistake those eyes for anyone else," Zach took the paper, reading the article with Alma peeking from his shoulder. The more they read, the more their eyes widened. In the end, Alma cackled loudly, joyfully.

"This brat! When did he even reach the green-zone?" she laughed boisterously. "An A-class, huh? Not that I’m surprised--hey, what kind of guild is Trinity?"

"Tsk--I told you to learn more about the big names, Boss," the esper who brought the printout said, although he did it while jumping back to avoid the berserker’s slapping hand. "It’s a guild affiliated with Mortix--you at least know about Mortix, right? It’s a nice guild, I think, certainly with money."

"That’s good then," Alma nodded her head, staring at the pristine-looking black uniform and a flashing golden badge. Zein looked the same as ever--cold and nonchalant--but also better; he looked like he was eating well, his eyes were brighter, and he had a better haircut. "Looking like a celebrity there, huh? Oh--I know this man!"

Alma pointed at the esper that was also in the picture, looking like he was waiting for the guide. Platinum blonde hair, dark bronze skin, amber eyes, a high-quality leather coat and dragon-scale armor...

"The Serpent Lord..." Zach muttered, voice rather quiet and contemplative. He stared at the amber eyes, which were looking straight at the guide with undivided attention.

Alma whistled, and then grinned as she watched her brother’s sour face. "Jealous?"

Zach made no reply, which prompted Alma to cackle even more. Ignoring his sister, he put the printout on his desk, and glanced at the drawer containing the letter of invitation.

"Does it mean we’ll meet him at the conference?" Zach tapped on the printout, gazing back at the blue eyes he hadn’t seen for almost five years already.

Alma grinned widely at that, looking out the window in the direction of the higher zone. "I sure hope so,"

* * *

"There’s probably suspicion already, about our real objective in creating the division," Radia tapped on a huge glass tank in front of him, prompting the school of little fish to scatter. "What about this one?"

"Where would I put that big thing in my room?" Zein turned his head away from the tank that was as tall and big as a whole wall. They probably could fit a shark there. "Why would they get suspicious?"

And why did they have this conversation in an aquarium supply store on the weekend?

Well, the answer was that Zein meant to go to one--the talk about the aquarium with Han Shin made him want a fish tank in his room, and that could make a running water sound. And while he was considering between calling a taxi or calling Bassena, the Guildmaster called him to talk about something, and here they were, in a big aquarium supply store that got emptied of every customer with a single casual call that Radia made in the car.

"Because people who know me understand that I only do things that are profitable for me," the crimson eyes curled at the colorful display of fish. "What size do you think of?"

"Just enough to freshen up the room, something that can be put above the shelf," Zein continues to scan the store while the staff and the owner stand nervously on the far side, waiting to be summoned. "Will they catch on though?"

Radia chuckled, rubbing his lips contemplatively in front of a 100-liter aquascape tank. "They’ll probably think I did it for clout,"

Zein stopped beside the red-haired man, staring at the exquisite aquascape inside. "Didn’t you?"

"Among other things," Radia smiled deeply, the gleam of his crimson eyes reflected on the tank’s surface. "You like this one?"

Zein watched the fish swimming in and out of a tunnel, playing hide and seek between jungle-like landscapes. Somehow, the staff was able to make something like a waterfall inside of...well, water, which was fascinating.

"You can make a request if you have a certain landscape in mind,"

"Wouldn’t it be hard to maintain?"

"I believe they have maintenance service, you can schedule for routine check-ups,"

"I see..." Zein put his hands on the tank surface, and the fishes were gathered there instead of dispersing, staring into his blue eyes. "So, are you here to talk about public opinions?"

Radia watched the gathering with interest, as more and more fish joined the others in front of Zein. He wondered if it had something to do with how the guide was able to communicate with the shard fragment of Setnath.

Well, they were here for that answer anyway.

"No," he said with a smile. "I’m here to talk about your mother."