There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 353

Chapter 353: Chapter 345. Shifting Power

"Why don’t you just stay the night? It’s quite far to drive back to your apartment," Laurel looked at Zein with a small pout, the disappointment of not having the guide there longer was palpable in her face.

Bassena was about to open his mouth to respond positively, but Zein beat him to it. "I’m sorry, but we’ll take our leave for tonight."

The esper raised his brow; not because of Zein’s rejection, but because the guide was holding his hand while saying it. Laurel looked at their intertwined hands and sighed. But instead of a pout, there was a smile on her lips.

"Fine, I get it," she glanced at Bassena and smirked. "Lucky boy."

"Huh?"

Ignoring the confused magician, Laurel scoffed and shifted her gaze to Zein again. "We’ll be leaving tomorrow, so I don’t think we’ll meet again, but..." she reached out and caressed the fair cheek softly, tucking a stray hair behind the guide’s ear. "If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to contact me or my husband, alright?"

Zein widened his eyes slightly, feeling surprised at the casual offer. And as if realizing his hesitation, she added with a soft laugh. "Radia’s friend is also my son, don’t you know that?"

Zein couldn’t help but chuckle, remembering how her husband said she was ’collecting’ them; sons. "Thank you," he said, glancing at the real son who was shrugging nonchalantly about their shared mother’s antics.

"Well then, be careful on your way tomorrow," Bassena said while shaking Calix’s hand.

Laurel tiptoed and hugged Zein briefly. "Please don’t give up on my son. I know he’s intolerable sometimes, but he truly cares about his friends."

"I know," Zein smiled and replied without hesitation.

He wouldn’t pretend there were times when he wasn’t sure about Radia’s character or whether or not he could trust the man. But over time, he came to understand the summoner more, and Radia had helped him numerous times that he came to see the man as a brother he could rely on beyond practicality.

Laurel smiled brightly, warmly, and patted the guide’s upper arms. "Thank you."

Another pat came his way, on his shoulder this time; firm and just as warm. "I wish you both luck in your mission," Calix said. For some reason, Zein thought luck was really seeping into his being just from that.

How weird. But nice.

They ended the goodbye shortly and walked to Bassena’s car with a wave from Han Shin, who decided to stay the night and gossipped with Laurel. Undoubtedly, the new couple would be one of the topics.

"What is it? Why do you insist on going home?" Bassena asked while putting on his seatbelt.

His answer, however, did not come in words, but in a kiss that he was totally not prepared for. The kiss was sweet and soft and accompanied by the weight of the guide on his lap, as well as an affectionate caress on the side of his head.

When the kiss ended, Bassena just stared blankly at the guide. "I just want to be alone with you tonight," Zein said with a smile, before diving for another kiss. Shorter this time, as if only for a taste. "Enjoying some indulgence."

He shifted back to his chair after, putting on his seatbelt with a smile on his face still. What happened to Joon and Radia made him feel grateful about his relationship with Bassena; how he finally stopped dragging things for so long, how they were still together facing the trouble in their lives.

And watching Laurel and Calix while having the warm, welcoming dinner made him envision the kind of future that he wanted to paint with the esper next to him, together. _{ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm}

So, while it was nice and fun tonight, he also couldn’t help but want to go home quickly so he could be alone with his esper, his lover, his man.

Turning his head, he chuckled at the way Bassena looked at him blankly, blinking dumbly. He patted the handsome cheek and caressed the esper’s nape. "Let’s go home. I’ll indulge you, tonight."

* * *

Mari, the ex-esper staff of Celestia, was typing on her tablet to make a note of the shareholder meeting that was happening in a luxurious meeting room of a hotel near Celestia’s building.

The task of recording the proceedings of the meeting did not hinder her from giving an update to her friends through a group chat, however.

As usual, the people who came to the shareholder meetings mostly were not part of the guild, and if she had to be nitpicky, they didn’t even have a part in the dungeon industry.

One of the major shareholders was a scion in the showbiz industry and mainly used the espers for models and actors. Mari knew that this person would immediately move his capital to Trinity if Radia Mallarc put his guild in the public market. Unfortunately for him, and fortunately for Celestia, Mortix Group had enough money to operate Trinity without outside investors.

Of course, some shareholders actually had something to do with the espers and dungeons industry, from those dabbles in equipment and dungeon processing materials, to the ones owning shares in the government-owned Mana Stones power plant. Unfortunately, their capital still fell short of some financial companies and hedge funds, so the power still fell to people who didn’t even know how the field worked.

Until this emergency shareholder meeting, that was.

It was a short notice that those residing outside of Rexon either only sent their proxy or attended it through video conference. But perhaps because it was their first shareholder meeting in Celestia, the representative from Iron Shield, the new major shareholder, was present despite having to travel from another zone.