There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 345

Chapter 345: Chapter 337. Raising the Curtain

Erasing someone’s trace wasn’t such a hard thing to do. The point was doing it before someone else tried to follow that trace.

The moment Darleon stepped inside the portal into the enclosed arena beneath Mortix Hill, a team of shadow guards under Radia Mallarc’s command already moved to alter all CCTV recordings showing Darleon driving to Varion’s house, and then moving to one of the hotels owned by Mortix. By the time Darleon got back to his house, no one could tell that he had left his house at all.

So, when the Internal Security Department checked on Varion’s whereabouts once the secretary reported that the Guildmaster couldn’t be found in his house, they found nothing. Nothing but a messy house that looked like it had been ransacked. And yet, there was no valuable getting stolen—or at least, what should have been stolen had it been a robbery, like money and expensive equipment, were still there.

Varion Belthera, the Guildmaster of Celesta, had vanished. Based on the acquired footage, he was seen leaving the guild building on Wednesday morning, heading into an area that had no CCTV installed. He was seen coming back to his house in the evening, and had never left his house until his secretary finally checked up on him Friday morning after the no-show on Thursday.

The secretary immediately notified Internal Security as per the standard operating procedure, as well as contacting his father. The former Guildmaster wasted no time to come to the guild, asking for clarity, and they could see how furious he was.

"We looked inside his house, and while there were traces of more than one person coming inside, we couldn’t find any identifiers," the Head of Internal Security, Siyu reported; hands behind her back and head lowered in regret.

"What about his commlink? Can’t you guys trace his commlink?!" Darleon Belthera sounded agitated, and rightfully so. Everyone in the guild knew how much the old man loved his son.

"I’m sorry, Sir. We had tried, but to no avail," Siyu lowered her head even more. "Whoever has the commlink must have destroyed it beyond repair or—"

"What do you mean you don’t know?!"

Darleon roared inside the office, and even Senia flinched. While she only became an active esper after Varion became the Guildmaster, she had seen the old man from afar before, and his strict, scary aura still affected her.

The former Guildmaster swept his angry gaze around the room. "Is this not Celestia?! Is this not the best guild in the Federation?!" his voice could be heard in the hallway, even through the closed door. "How could you say to me that you can’t find your own Guildmaster?! My son! My—"

Darleon gasped and winced, clutching his chest with a pained expression all over his face. He toppled backward, and the room stirred in panic.

"S-Sir!"

"Master!" Siyu hurriedly threw herself forward, holding the old man’s arm, and guided him to the armchair as she knelt on the floor. "Are you alright, Sir?"

"Do I look alright?!"

Darleon wheezed, taking a deep breath and expelled it heavily. Siyu stroked the old man’s back and ordered Varion’s fidgeting secretary. "Get him some water, hurry!"

"Y-yes, Ma’am!"

"I’m...I’m sorry, Sir," while the secretary scurried away to fetch a glass of water from the adjacent pantry, Siyu tried to appease the old man. "I promise I will do anything to find out what happened to the Guildmaster—"

"Forget it!" Darleon dismissed her harshly, lifting his head to glare at everyone in the room. "You lot are useless!"

"Sir..."

"How can I trust you when you took a whole day before checking up on him?" Darleon slammed his palm against the armrest, prompting the others to tuck their head down in shame.

"T-that’s..." the secretary who just came back with the glass of water flinched, hands trembling so much that the water was spilling all over.

"I can’t trust you!" Darleon swept his angry gaze to the rest of the room, before announcing. "I’m going to form my own investigation team."

Siyu and Linze, the vice-guildmaster, widened their eyes and reflexively stood up at this announcement. If it was given by a normal father, they could just dismiss it. But this was the former guildmaster of Celestia, who was still a member of the advisory council. So it was akin to hearing the old man wanted to form an audit.

Siyu, as the old man’s disciple and the Head of Internal Security, swiftly appealed. "Sir, I can—"

"I told you I can’t trust you," Darleon cut her sharply. That being said, from the way he stared at the vice-guildmaster, he might as well said it to the entire building. "Show me a result first instead of empty promises!"

"...I understand," Siyu stepped back and lowered her head, almost like a schoolgirl being scolded by the headmaster, hair covering her face pitifully.

"Tsk—" Darleon clicked his tongue and once again swept his gaze across the room. "Looking at all of your faces only hurt my poor heart," he gritted his teeth and stood up. "I’m leaving."

Before anyone could say anything, the old man already walked past the seating area. It took a few seconds for Siyu to get out of her daze and scamper to approach her teacher. "I’ll walk you outside, Sir."

"Sir, pardon me, but..." before Darleon or Siyu managed to touch the door, Linze called out to the old man, trying to sound as polite as possible. "What should we do with the guild’s management?"

Darleon frowned at the eagerness behind that question. "If the Guildmaster is absent, then the vice-Guildmaster needs to step up temporarily," he replied coldly, stating the rule he set himself when he was the guildmaster. "Meanwhile, keep it from leaking to the press, and if anyone asks, just say he’s in secluded training; tell them he wants to take a Tower’s trial again."

"Yes, Sir."

"But, if nothing came up in a week—no, six days, then...we have no choice but to call for an emergency shareholder meeting."

"Ah..."

Darleon looked at the vice-guildmaster with narrowed eyes. "Are you disappointed?"

"Of course not, Sir," the man smiled amiably, bending his waist slightly like a gentleman. "It’s in the rule, so of course it’s only right."