There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 219

Chapter 219: Chapter 213. The Guide Conference

The conference, honestly, wasn’t what Zein had thought it would be.

To be fair, he didn’t have much experience regarding this kind of convention. All he ever attended were the guild meetings and the opening event. So he was expecting the conference to be like yesterday, some kind of symposium.

But the guides attending weren’t many, and the conference room was small, so instead, it was filled with several round tables, each occupied by six to seven persons. The panelists on the slightly elevated platform were seated on several armchairs, like a talk show.

It was a pretty casual setting, and almost felt like the interview Zein did for the television that one time. There was a moderator who acted as a host, and three panelists including Zein. They would first present their own topic, and a Q&A session would be opened after all three speakers delivered their topics.

Initially, Zein had the last turn to speak, perhaps in consideration that it was a last-minute request. But he didn’t like just sitting there waiting for his turn to come, so he told them he would speak first. He didn’t care if he delivered his speech differently from the others, he just wanted to get it over with.

But he might be saying it too harshly, or it might be due to his image, but the moderator even stuttered as they redistributed the order. As a service--or just a ’fuck you’--Trinity even distributed a printed material that Alice had made before lunch to every guide there, including the moderator, the organizer, and the journalists. Alice deliberately distributed the document to the table with Celestia’s guides last, held it about five centimeters about the table in front of said guides, before letting it go with a loud thud. _{frёewebηovel.cѳm}

The documents were banded nicely considering it was a quick job. It had a proper cover, with a bold Trinity logo on it, and a clear statement that it could only be acquired in today’s conference.

Meaning, if the document got spread out, they would know it was from someone in this room.

A privileged, luxurious threat--ahem, treat.

That, coupled with Zein’s presentation, made the guides swallow their saliva quietly. Zein didn’t even try to be menacing, but since he wore the black uniform and mask as usual, he still looked as imposing as he could be, with his tall and athletic build. Also, he delivered his topic the way he would do his lecture during training--like a military instructor.

Definitely not for a faint heart.

"Oh, this is nostalgic," Dheera muttered with a slight giggle. "Looking at Captain lecturing us with that mask."

"Right," Nadine replied with a smile. "Is it because his eyes are so sharp? His vibe totally changes if we can’t see his whole face."

"Ah, but Captain’s face is our guild’s treasure, so I’d rather not share it with anyone else," the younger guide giggled again. "I bet Sir Vaski would like that too."

As the two were talking, someone from the same table suddenly called for them. "Umm, excuse me," a woman leaned forward into the table, looking at them with interest. "You are from Trinity, yes?"

"Yes, can we help you?" Nadine replied diplomatically, giving out her public relation smile.

On such occasions, Dheera knew enough that she had better shut her mouth and let Nadine do the talk, since the older guide had more experience. She pretended to pay attention to her Captain while also trying to follow the conversation at the table. Coincidentally--or not--their table was only filled by them, who were from Trinity, that woman who just called out to them, and her friend.

"Do you really go through all of this training regime?" she asked with genuine wonder while showing the page containing Zein’s carefully curated physical and mental training.

With an amiable smile, Nadine nodded gracefully. "Yes, of course. The basic physical training regime is mandatory for everyone, and we have to do that until we hit the minimum parameter," she explained, although it was already stated there. "After that, Captain--I mean, Sir Zein would create personalized training for each of the members."

"Personalized regime?" the woman seemed to be surprised. It did say after the guide meet the required parameter, they had to follow it with a training regime that catered to each of their body types.

But there was nothing about the Leader made it personally for them.

"Ah, yes," Nadine chuckled a little bit, with a little silly gesture as if she had a slip of a tongue, before adding with lower volume. "It’s because our guild has several strike squads with different needs, so each of us requires different physical capabilities according to our designated squad."

The woman raised her brow, before nodding in satisfaction. "It’s very organized."

"Thank you," Nadine widened her smile a little bit, just enough to not make her look smug, but still proud nonetheless. She shifted her gaze to the front, where Zein had sat back on his chair after finishing his brief deliberation. "It’s thanks to Sir Zein’s excellence."

"Oh, did he design everything?"

"More or less," Nadine nodded, looking at the woman again, who seemed to be keen on talking to her about the division more than listening to the next speaker.

But it was the kind of question that would possibly come up during the Q&A session, so it was alright for her to divulge that. In fact, they would only give information to those who actually asked instead of challenging them.

"Of course, it was also going through ample consultation with physicians and nutritionists," Nadine added, just so she didn’t accidentally paint Zein as someone careless. "There was also a psychologist and mental healer on standby during simulation training."

The woman looked at her with sparking eyes, looking like she was truly fascinated with the system. "It’s safer than I thought," she commented. "I had this misconception that this new concept would be too burdensome for guides."