There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 650

Chapter 650: Side Story 2. Dance of Flame and Shadow - 9

The hierarchy in the Borderland Unit was easy; the strongest rule.

It was a rough place with equally rough personnel, so the Captain of each unit needed to be between the highest-ranking espers. Naturally, the four-star bunch from the military took upon the higher-up seat right away. After all, no five-star espers were working in such a dreary place, and even the four-star ones in a single Unit could be counted on one hand.

So, Captain Nolan Hertz remained as the Captain.

Perhaps because of that, Agni didn’t feel much difference between the outside world and the Borderland. Well, aside from the stuffy air and the barely edible food. The work environment? It wasn’t much different. If anything, Agni felt the place was slightly better than the military base.

Maybe because he was actually on the side of authority? It was only a pseudo-authority that could be used in the Borderland only, but it wasn’t so bad staying in one place instead of going around from mission to mission.

The missions themselves were hard when they had to enter the Deathzone, and like anyone else, he needed time to get used to the damnable place. But such missions did not come often, and their only mission was to watch the borderland and prevent any creatures from crossing the marsh.

Honestly, at first, everything felt fine. Despite the unfair situation they were in, Agni and his two unruly squadmates weren’t so influenced by the conditions. Surprisingly enough, Nolan also looked fine.

For him, a duty was a duty. He did not think that watching the Borderland had any less value than clearing dungeons on the high zones. Both still meant to keep people from harm, and that was well within Nolan Hertz’s principle.

The only thing that saddened him was the fact that he couldn’t see his family anymore. It didn’t show much at first, but it weighed on him more every day.

That being said, Nolan Hertz was Nolan Hertz. He did not show such burdens on the outside, because he knew some people here also missed their families just like him. He still led the Unit how he used to lead his unruly squad; with surprising kindness.

He wasn’t weak or a pushover by any means. He was firm, he was disciplined, and he was stubborn at times. But he also cared about the personnel’s well-being and always made sure things were fair. He knew all of their names and stories, trying to help those who had problems, and stopping fights with minimal casualty.

Perhaps because they had always been under people who treated them like disposable pawns, it didn’t take long for the personnel to respect Nolan Hertz as their leader. Not just a Captain in title, but a true leader.

The kind-hearted man changed Unit 04-2 into a more comfortable place. As comfy as one could find in such a dreary place.

But it was also the kindness that killed the man.

"It was one of those times when the Deathzone’s activity level was increasing- we have that every few years when the miasma level was high," Agni explained while making more coffee for them.

"Last year?"

"Yeah," Agni nodded. "You know how miasma will keep gathering if dungeons aren’t being cleared, right? Logically, we could prevent that if we diligently clean the dungeon in the Deathzone more often, but..." he chuckled bitterly. "How could we? The Deathzone is so vast, and we only had the map and resources for less than five percent of it."

And so, they would let the miasma gather, which caused more beasts and Deathzone-born creatures like the wraiths and the specters to surface and move toward the marsh. It was then the Unit’s responsibility to get rid of the surfacing creatures.

"We called it the horde," Agni said, bringing a whole pot to the table. "It’s reasonable to just face them in the march where we can have better light and air. Besides, those creatures got stronger inside a miasma-riddled place."

Ron read those in the manual, including his father’s scribbles calculating the timing of the horde, how much they would face, and how many resources they would need. It seemed like his father had prepared for it well, so...what exactly happened?

"Our preparation was perfect, and honestly, the execution was almost perfect," Agni cast his gaze to the grey sky outside the window. "But human...humans couldn’t be perfect."

Agni turned toward the young scout and continued with a question. "Do you know what is the highest cause of death in the Deathzone?"

"...the beasts?"

"Depression," Agni replied dryly, as if forcing himself toward numbness to repress it himself. "It’s easy to get your mind messed with in this place. Just staring at the grey landscape and the black jungle in front of us for months and years is enough.

"It led to suicide, a lot of it. Whether they did it here or by throwing themselves into the Deathzone," the berserker’s lips straightened into a stiff line.

Ron widened his eyes and stiffened. "Was my father--"

"What? No," Agni quickly shook his head. "He would never!"

"Oh..."

The young scout leaned back again and pressed his lips, feeling relief spread inside his chest. He wouldn’t know how he would feel if his father decided to leave this world while he was still there. He didn’t think he would forgive the man then.

"I did mention suicide, but..." Agni let out a sigh that Ron had grown used to. "In most cases, that depression leads to something else: carelessness." _{freewёbn૦νeɭ.com}