There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Chapter 22. Where Dangers Abound

At Bassena's words, the rest of the espers took their position, and the researcher scooted back. But there was no fear or panic, just a rightfully places tension.

Balduz took the equipment and moved away from the brook, along with the researchers. He positioned himself behind the two civilians, eyes vigilantly observing the surrounding. Han Shin put himself in front of the researchers; even as a healer, his constitution was still way higher than a normal person, not to mention that his equipment was all focused on boosting defense.

As the outsiders, Ron and Zein positioned themselves to flank the researchers, effectively putting the civilians inside a close-knit defense. Logically, Zein should be inside this protection too, but they already knew about Zein's extraordinary strength.

In the meantime, Bassena stood at the edge of the brook and peered down without making any movement. "Sierra, take care of this," he said in a firm, commanding voice.

"Yes, Sir!" the sharpshooter climbed into a rock that was as tall as Bassena, and took out her gun.

Without looking at the sharpshooter, Bassena threw her a question. "Can you see it?"

Zein looked at the man who stared at the water with an easy smile. His question sounded more like a test in Zein's ear.

"Yes Sir," Sierra answered readily, eyes gleaming and focused at the depth. It would be a disgrace for a sharpshooter if she wasn't able to see that much. The vice guildmaster would probably send her to the training camp again if she failed this.

"Can you kill it in one shot?" Bassena asked in a casual tone, armed crossed like an instructor waiting for his student's answer.

It wasn't a question to test Sierra's strength. Otherwise, he would just tell her to shoot it dead. Instead, he carried on a conversation as if they were in a simulation training module, so it was clear that the one he gauged was the sharpshooter's judgment.

And true to someone who passed Trinity's test course, she answered without hesitation. "No, Sir."

It wasn't an answer to show that she wasn't confident. It was her objective judgment based on the target's property and her own prowess. She was a sharpshooter who excelled in rapid fire, not the sniper type that could do big damage. It mattered not whether she could achieve big damage—it was more important to have a correct grasp of one's own ability.

"Then, what should you do?"

"I should bring it out of its domain," she paused for a bit, and when Bassena said nothing, she continued. "I should lure it out so everyone got a visual on it. Also, I will be able to spot and exploit its weak point."

"And how will you guarantee it will come out?"

In terrain like water, beasts that live underwater were troublesome because if they weren't killed in one shot, they could easily run away. And then they could come back after, bringing a pack of other beasts as if they wanted to enact revenge.

Then, the only way to make sure they didn't run was—

"Aggravate,"

—by pulling aggro. Something like this was usually done by a tank type like Balduz, but that didn't always work for water creatures. So another way had to be done.

However, Bassena turned his head, and Sierra almost pulled a trigger from flinching. "How can you pull an aggro of a B-class scale-beast with your damage?" the casual voice turned sharp and cold, and even Zein could see the sharpshooter trembling.

"Your strength is rapid-fire, Sierra," Bassena looked at the water again. "Utilize that. Only shoot at it at the beginning, and then shoot at the water. You know where, don't you?"

Sierra stilled for a full second, before her eyes came back to stare at the water with a new blaze. She fixed her position and trained her gun on the brook again.

'Shoot at the water in the direction of its head, where it most likely will run off to,' she drew the trajectory plan. 'Make it thinks that there's nowhere to run off to except the ground,'

She drew her mana, and heard the voice of her vice guildmaster—no, the strike commander. "Lure it out. If you fail, you'll go back to the camp next month."

"Yes, Sir!"

Zein looked at this exchange with interest, as Sierra put her plan into action and Bassena only watched from the side with crossed arms. He looked at the researchers, who still set up their equipment as if they were in the middle of the lab instead of the Deathzone, and at Han Shin who looked ahead with an easy expression.

"Is he using this as a training course?" he decided to lower his tension since everyone seemed to be at ease, although his hand never left the hilt of the Black Pearl.

Han Shin turned his head toward Zein and smirked. "You feel weird, don't you?"

Zein just shrugged as an answer, and the healer looked forward again with his explanation. "He might look like a rude, selfish asshole—no, wait..." Han Shin corrected himself. "He might be rude and a selfish asshole, but he is still in charge of our guild's strike division, and he does his job properly; training the strike squad member is one of them."

Hmm...Zein tilted his head. Honestly, Bassena never really struck him as rude or selfish. He acted conceited, but then he also got skill, so Zein found no fault in that. For someone like Zein who lived in a hellhole all his life, the way Bassena talked or acted was considered mild at best. And compared to people who had been coming at him so strongly it bordered in assault—or just went full assault—Bassena's advance actually could be called...considerate.

Well...he might have a low standard to begin with, with the way he lived so far, so Zein also had no intention to rebuke Han Shin's description.

But he had to admit that this put the esper in a new light. At least, he wasn't just the type who glorified his own power and thought of those below him as unsalvagable trash.

Zein had met many espers with that kind of mindset before, especially in the red-zone—those who were strong in front of the weak and weak in front of the strong.

"But why people don't like him?" he muttered softly to himself, but Han Shin gave him an answer.

"Because he doesn't move the way people want," the healer laughed. "And because people get jealous easily at successful young men who can't be shaken by anything."

Zein had no idea what it felt like to be a successful young man, but he knew how it was when people got jealous of him. Even someone like him, who barely had anything but skill, had people feeling jealous and spreading bad rumors.

So what would it be like for someone like Bassena?

During their talk, Sierra had successfully driven the beast out of the water. Her bullet couldn't pierce the hard scale of the beast, however, and Bassena had to step up and killed it, as well as other, smaller beasts that running and scattering around after the big one got eliminated.

But the task Bassena gave her was only to lure it out, and she breathed out in relief when the Saint-class did not admonish her.

"I'll give you a pass for now," Bassena remarked shortly, as she came down from the stone.

"T-thank you, Sir!" she almost bowed then, clutching her gun.

Since the battle seemed to be over, the others broke their formation and walked closer to the water. Han Shin approached the sharpshooter with a laugh and patted her shoulder. "Gratz for avoiding the camp,"

"C-chief..." she looked at the healer with glistening eyes. But her touched expression turned rigid with Bassena's cold words.

"What are you putting down your guard for? Why are you abandoning your position?"

Sierra straightened her back in reflex, like a soldier being scolded by her commander.

"The safe zone hadn't been established yet, why are you relaxing instead of securing the perimeter?"

"I-I'm sorry! I'll go straight away!"

The Sharpshooter scurried away almost comically, climbing an even higher stone overlooking the land across the brook, while Han Shin laughed quietly. The healer turned his head and grinned at Bassena.

"You're not being hard on her just because she met him before you do, right?"

Bassena rolled his eyes, and flicked the grin off the healer's face. "I'm not that petty."

"Yea, you are! Stop trying to fix your image here—agh stop flicking me!"

"She's an asset with a usable skill, I have to make sure she has what it takes to survive," he glanced at Sierra who just arrived on top of the stone. "Or else Radia will nag me about losing investment,"

At Bassena's words, the researchers and Han Shin made groaning sounds that prompted Ron and Zein to stare at them in surprise.