There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 559

Chapter 559: Chapter 553. The Shy One

Slowly, Zein moved closer to the shard, who was flinching for a bit. But it didn’t run away, and Zein successfully held it, caressing the clear surface gently.

"Good job," he praised the shy child. "You’re very good at hiding."

Gradually, the caressed shard shed off its wariness and came closer to Zein, getting out of the water it used to hide before. The translucent body got more opaque, just like the other shards, and it hesitatingly hovered in front of the guide’s chest.

With a smile, Zein held the shard and gave it a firm hug. "It’s okay, you’re safe now. We’ll make sure to protect you. I’ll bring you to the others, so...you’ll come with me won’t you?"

The shard, which was hesitant before, pressed itself to Zein and trembled slightly, as if it had been waiting for a long time for a safe place. The familiar warmth of its origin, which had gradually been forgotten after hundreds of years, was coming back.

"Good child," Zein patted the clever shard. "For now, can you ease the barrier? My friends would like to come here."

Moving up, the shard peeked at the espers behind Zein’s shoulder, cautiously checking them out. The Han brothers waved their hands to the shy child, and the energy field shielding the lake finally subsided.

"Thank you," Zein patted the shard and gave the espers an okay sign.

The four espers approached the lake then, and the shard lowered itself, as if trying to hide behind Zein’s arms. It flinched when the espers entered the cavern, shifting away while pulling Zein. Chuckling, he humored the overly cautious shard by moving toward a jutting rock.

"Reminds me of the one we found in the mountain," Cohen muttered.

"Nah, this is different," Han Shin waved his hand. "That one is more ruthless, kinda like--get out of here, leave me alone!--type?" he laughed, tilting his body to peek at the flinching shard and grinned. "This one is more timid."

"Maybe because it’s a deeper location," Zein patted the shard to calm it down. "This one is a very careful one."

"And it survives because of that," Han Joon smiled. He erased his trace and walked closer, testing his stealth against the shard.

"Oh?" Zein raised his brow when the shard did not flinch away. He thought it was because Han Joon’s stealth worked, but the shard turned and shifted to Zein’s other shoulder where Han Joon was coming from. It stayed there and tilted itself a bit, as if curious. "Doesn’t seem like it’s cautious toward you."

"Really?" Han Joon was surprised too and canceled his skill. The shard did not react, which meant it wasn’t surprised. "Hmm...not because of the stealth then..."

Curiously, Han Joon reached out his hand, and the shard, despite flinching a bit, stayed still and let the man touch it.

"Oh?"

"What? I want to try too!" Han Shin waddled closer, but the shard immediately dove inside Zein’s coat, hiding. "Eeeh~?"

Han Joon chuckled and patted his saddened little brother while musing. "I think...it’s the deity’s stigma."

"Ah," Zein nodded. Those with the deity’s stigma had a stronger trace of Celestial Being, which would be familiar to the shard. After all, they too were the trace of a Celestial Being.

"Well, in that case," Han Shin shrugged before looking around the cavern, which floor was filled with thigh-deep water. "But where are we going to camp?"

* * *

"Ooh...this is my first time using this one!" Han Shin exclaimed as a big tent unrevealed in front of him, perching on top of eight pillars above the small lake.

They were contemplating a place to set up their new camp where dry ground was not visible, when Jock came inside after finishing mapping out the surrounding area. The man who had gone through various missions by House Mallarc took out a tent specialized for uneven terrain; one with eight rods that could grip into any surface. The rods latch into the lake’s floor and the tent safely perched above the water.

"Oh, this is interesting," Ashur whistled, entering the cavern just as the tent finished installing.

"It’s designed like a barrack, so there’s only one," Jock said. "It couldn’t be helped, but we have to sleep together tonight."

They looked at Eleanor, the only lady in the group. She merely shrugged and said cooly. "It’s not a problem."

Ashur, however, raised his hand and said that he had the same tent, but only for one person. Despite saying it wasn’t a problem, Eleanor nodded gratefully.

"Our squad always went to strange places, so I have all kinds of tents," Ashur said. "I have one for trees too."

"Ooh! We should use that sometimes!" Han Shin remarked excitedly.