There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 240

Chapter 240: Chapter 233. Because I Know

"Will you stay here...after it’s done?"

Senan asked it carefully, observing Zein’s reaction with rapt attention. The man in question let go of his esper’s cheek, and glanced slightly at the old man’s direction. It was clearly written in those eyes what the old man wanted to hear--what image he was drawing in his mind; remnant of the past that he failed to protect.

Zein understood this. But understanding and fulfilling it was a different matter.

"Hmm..." the blue eyes shifted to gaze at the esper that was patting his freshly squeezed cheeks. Bassena tilted his head, looking at the guide confusedly with a big ’what’ within the ambers. Zein smiled slightly as he made his reply. "I don’t think I’ll use it as a permanent resident."

Bassena blinked, feeling just as surprised as Senan. He personally thought that Zein would want to reside in this place after it was done, since it was very fitting with Zein’s style and personality; it was far from crowds and noises, it had a large body of water, it had a nice air and a lot of trees and plantation.

Bassena wasn’t really picky about where he would live, as long as they were together. Of course, it was quite a distance from Althrea, but they could just build a launch pad and a helicopter to commute just like this.

Why wouldn’t Zein want to stay here when he even reconstructed the whole place?

"You heard about it already, don’t you? I wouldn’t be here for the next five years," Zein said as he shifted his gaze back toward the lake.

Ah...somehow, Bassena forgot about this. Was it because they were just having fun playing skipping stone a few minutes ago? It made him think that their days would always be as bright as today’s weather.

"But...it’s not fixed yet, isn’t it?" the old man argued; there was a frown on his head and his voice. It wasn’t subtle at all, the way he implied that he objected to Zein going to the Deathzone. Surely, if Zein was truly his ’young master’, Senan would have told the man ’no’ and done anything to prevent Zein from going.

But Zein wasn’t truly his ’Young Master’. Zein did not grow up under him, and had ended up as this independent adult that could make his own decision without outside intervention.

So all he could do was merely express his concern.

"Oh," Zein, however, replied with a nonchalant tone. "My employer does not bet on something without making sure he’d win."

"Young Master..."

"It’s the reason why I joined Trinity in the first place," Zein said. His voice was firm and devoid of hesitation. "Because I want to get rid of the Deathzone."

"But Young Master--" Senan opened his mouth, before pressing his lips as he crouched down, closer to the boulder Zein used as a bench. "You said...you said you don’t want to be the vessel--"

"Who said anything about being a vessel?" Zein looked at the old man with a frown. "You think I want to do that because I’m supposed to be someone’s vessel?"

The frowning brows and sharp eyes clearly conveyed how offended the guide was.

"T-that’s..." the old man stuttered, before lowering his gaze and staring at the hard, cold soil instead.

For a while, he just kept his silence. And so did Zein, who just wordlessly looked at the lake again--at the serene water of the lake. The gem in his earring sent out a soothing sensation that swiftly calmed the guide, and as he took a deep breath, the old man finally spoke again.

"Then...why? You’ve been there, you already knew how dangerous it was..."

"Exactly," Zein replied without hesitation, eyes staring straight into the water. The water that was like a dream to him at this time last year, and the year before, and all the years he spent surviving. "Because I know," his voice dipped low and solemn, as his fingers clenched into a fist. "Because I know how dangerous it is, and how dangerous it would be if it were left unattended."

And because he knew, how it was living while longing for that clear water, for this fresh air, for the sun and the greens that people liked to take for granted.

And because he realized, day by day, that the only way things could change for people in the red-zone was for the red-zone to be disappeared completely. For a new beacon to be lit inside the Deathzone and for every drop of miasma to be cleansed from the environment.

It had nothing to do with becoming a vessel. It didn’t even have anything to do with an act of heroism or wanting to help people.

No--it had something to do with the frustration he had as he grew up in the suffocating air beneath the red sky. And it had everything to do with the oath he made to the twins as he blew the birthday candle.

"Young Master..." the old man let out a long sigh. But it seemed like he had given up on persuading Zein to stop going--not that he had any confidence from the start. "Yes, you really do things like Master Roan."

Senan smiled fondly as he looked at the back of the black hair which reminded him so much of his Master. But then he recalled that Zein wasn’t really fond of being treated like his father’s replacement. "Ah, excuse me--I don’t mean to..." he waved his hand in fluster and stood up, stepping back to bow apologetically. "I’m sorry,"

Zein did not reply, and the old man couldn’t see the guide’s expression from his position, so he just swallowed his sigh and cursed his stupidity.

In this atmosphere, Bassena casually turned around and addressed the young esper who had been staying quiet all this time, unlike his old vocal self. "What about you?"

Arlo blinked--it took him a few seconds to realize Bassena was talking to him. "M-me?"