There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 66

Chapter 66: Chapter 65. A New Division

"Is he serious?" Rina pulled Abel closer to her, abandoning her elegant, gorgeous celebrity façade.

Abel smiled mischievously, undoubtedly enjoying the situation. While the meeting proceeded with the planned agenda like usual, it was clear that the others couldn’t fully commit to the meeting, including the two 5-stars beside him.

"Are you doubting our Guildmaster?"

"Ugh—that’s not..."

"Zein," Abel turned to his other side, calling the guide that was conversing with Bassena. "You haven’t met them yet, right? These two are the other 5-stars you’ll need to guide from now on."

Rina almost wanted to smack the Chief Guide’s head, but she conducted herself perfectly just like the actress that she was, smiling warmly at the new guide that turned to look at them.

It was the first time he met the deep blue eyes, and it instantly reminded her of a deep sea.

"I’m Zein," he said shortly, with that nice-sounding voice of his. Even while it wasn’t loud, and there was a background noise of the financial department making their report, that voice was as clear as spring water.

There was nothing more after that, and Abel, being the mediator, pointed at the two espers with his palm. "She is the sub-commander of the strike division under Sir Vaski,"

"Rina Solstice," she said with the smile she always used in front of the screen, waving her hand. She could see Bassena raise his brow behind the guide, smirking.

"And that one is the Hagalaz strike team leader, Ashur Iddina," Abel continued, and the esper just nodded silently.

Zein tilted his head, peering at the both of them wordlessly, and only spoke after a half minute had passed. "Him first," he said, as if deciding on a meal order, leaving the two espers flabbergasted.

"Iddina, he’ll guide you after this, so please stay here for today," Abel translated the short remark with twitching lips, like he was holding back laughter. "He doesn’t talk much, so you’ll get along well."

Ashur just blinked, still feeling flabbergasted at the whole arrangement.

"...is this why there’s no temple visit scheduled for me?" he asked finally, to which Abel shoot a finger gun at him.

"Bingo! The staff will make a proper schedule arrangement after this, so you can rest easy. Oh, where do you want to have it? Your office? The clinic? The executive lounge?"

Again, Ashur just blinked in confusion. "I’ll...decide later."

He was dumbfounded enough that he didn’t need to go to the temple although he was already in the orange level. And now, suddenly, there was a new guide that was making a decision like he was picking a snack in a store.

Were they saying that this...esper-looking guide had a capability comparable to a temple?

"Hey, but...would this be alright?" Rina whispered, quiet enough for only Abel and Ashur’s ears.

"What?" _{frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓}

"I mean...isn’t that quite unfair for the other A-class? Even if we decided to take care of the cleansing in the guild rather than the temple, shouldn’t the other A-classes share the glory?"

Abel raised his brow, and looked sharply at the female esper. "Glory?" he sounded quite annoyed, and Rina was quite taken aback to see this kind of reaction from the soft Abel.

"Do you know what kind of mental exhaustion a guide must go through every time we guide a 5-star?"

Rina pressed her lips. She did hear about the burden a guide carried when they absorbed corrosion, but...

"Unfair? If we can do it from the start, there’s no need for you to go to the temple, isn’t it?" even though Abel said it quietly, the annoyance was palpable inside his voice. "But I agree, this is unfair."

Rina and Ashur raised their brow before Abel continued. "It’s unfair for Zein who had to carry that enormous burden alone because the rest of us are too incompetent."

She quieted down after that, silently staring at the table and the bubbly water in front of her. It was her first time being chided by Abel, and turned out, getting scolded by someone who was usually kind and soft-hearted felt worse than being yelled at by the commander.

She glanced at that commander then, which coincidentally had been talking nonstop with the new guide. More accurately, Bassena was giving explanations for each subject that was being discussed during the meeting. Patiently, kindly, with warm amber eyes and a neverending smile.

"But...can he truly handle us all?" she whispered again, after quite some time had passed. "I was thinking that he might be the Commander’s exclusive guide and that’s why he wears a different uniform."

Abel’s answer was simple. "If the Guildmaster drew the contract, then he must be, right?"

There was no better verification of someone’s skill than Radia Mallarc’s signature on their contract. After all, the man only kept those that he deemed to be useful.

"What’s with the uniform then?" she almost hissed out of curiosity that already started to feel like an itch.

Abel sighed and flicked her lightly. "Just be patient,"

But how could she be patient and hold it while this boring meeting continued? She started to fidget not long after, and her mind drifted everywhere to draw every possible answer to that question. So she almost jumped at the Guildmaster’s voice.

"Strike division,"

"Yes?" Rina replied in reflex. Theoretically, Bassena Vaski was the Commander of the strike division, but the Guildmaster was looking at her, so she answered unconsciously.

"Is there any concern you’d like to raise?" the crimson eyes were staring straight at her.

Oh shit—was this because she had been acting too distracted the whole meeting? In a panic, she remembered the elevator talk. "I don’t have one, but Ashur might..."