There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 477 - 470. Contribution

(han shin and the guides)

The first thing Dheera did when she woke up was wipe her cheeks off the leftover tears she shed in her sleep. Strangely enough, her lips were also stretched into a smile. She got up and turned off the alarm of her commlink so as to not wake up Carra who was still sleeping on the other bed in their tent. Carefully, she put on her coat and tiptoed out of her tent.

Surprisingly, she saw Brisk and Dean already up, crouching in front of a firepit with a mug in each of their hands. Han Shin, who was also there, gestured at her to come over and gave her a warm mug of hot chocolate when she arrived.

"Zein’s order," the healer said with a smirk while pointing at an empty folded chair around the firepit. "Seems like you also had a nightmare."

"I don’t feel bad anymore, though. It’s like...I finally let it all out," Dheera grinned sheepishly and warmed her hands with the heat from the mug, feeling so much better after inhaling the sweet scent. After taking a seat, she looked around the stadium’s field, which was now filled with tents and dining tables. "Where’s Captain? I don’t see him anywhere..."

"He’s been missing since dinner time," Dean said, and then added after two seconds. "Sir Vaski too."

It didn’t take a lot of brain power to put two and two together. "Ooh..." she made a scandalous sound and giggled before sipping on her hot chocolate and sighing in satisfaction. "But...it’s rare for you to let them be, Chief Han."

"Hey--I only told them not to do it in front of me. I don’t care if they do it somewhere I can’t see," Han Shin shrugged, glancing in the direction of the shard’s original location. "Well...I can tolerate it in this place since it seems like an important point for them..."

"Huh, huh? What is this? Sounds juicy!"

The guides leaned closer toward the healer--even Leehan, who suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Oh, you’re up?" Dheera slapped her colleague in greeting.

"I’m already up long before," Leehan said, and then added in a quieter, heavier voice. "I can’t sleep."

"Nightmares?"

"Yeah..."

"Well...you’re the one it tried to kill after all..."

Leehan sighed; the memory of that eerie hand-shaped miasma coming down at him still came every time he closed his eyes. Among all of the guides there--saved for Zein--he was the one closer to death’s door yesterday.

"Phew...we have to get used to it, though. This is just the start, right?" Dheera puffed her cheeks to encourage herself.

"Said the one who cried yesterday," Brisk grinned and laughed when Dheera kicked his chair in retaliation.

Han Shin watched the guides with a smile, recalling what Zein asked him yesterday. The guide had expected them to have nightmares--which truly happened--and asked him to watch over the guide’s psyche for a while, and to give them some mental healing if necessary. But seeing how they were already joking around and teasing each other about what happened yesterday made it clear that he didn’t need to do that.

The one that had it the hardest was Leehan, however, who had to take the attack yesterday. Han Shin shifted toward the guide and handed a mug of hot chocolate like the rest of them. "Are you alright now?"

Leehan stared at the steaming mug in his hands in contemplation. "I’m better...I think? Captain said I shouldn’t hold it in and pretend to be alright, so I’ve been talking to Sister K about it."

"That’s right," Han Shin nodded, leaning back on his folded chair while sipping on his own hot chocolate. "False bravado will only lead to an accident later. Zein doesn’t like people who pretend to be fearless. He prefers you to be afraid and then try to overcome it."

The guides nodded; it had been one thing that Zein warned them during their training. They weren’t doing this to look great, or to look cooler and better than everyone else. The Deathzone was a hellish place where there would be no place for conceit and foolishness would most likely lead to death.

"Haa...I still can’t believe we survived that," Dean let out a long sigh as he recalled the battle that took place for a few hours, but felt like lasted for a few years.

"Well, I have to admit it was intense yesterday," Han Shin nodded. "We were surrounded and attacked by all sides. We can’t even manage to protect you guys properly."

The healer looked at them in guilt, but Leehan shook his head. "But Captain said it was no one’s fault," he said. "At that point, everyone was busy enough to notice anything."

"Yeah, even Captain didn’t realize it," Dheera nodded her head firmly. She remembered seeing the shock on Zein’s face yesterday, and the same guilt that was in Han Shin’s eyes.

In fact, she could see the guilt in everyone’s eyes--especially the defenders--when they knew what happened. The espers had been treating them especially well afterward, even allowing them to have dinner first.

"But you managed to protect yourself," Han Shin smiled. "As expected of Zein’s prized disciples."

"Hehe..."

The guides giggled and smiled happily at the acknowledgment. Yeah...just as Ron said, they wouldn’t be able to be as great as Zein, but at least, they should be able to try to be worthy to stand by his side.

"Still, we’ll protect you better next time," Ron, who had been listening silently for the past few minutes, patted their shoulder.

"Ey, we know that much," Leehan laughed. "Yesterday was an unavoidable accident--Captain said so."

"You all are really becoming Zein’s followers, huh?" the scout smirked.

The guide shrugged. "What can I do? Even my parents are Captain’s fans."

Ron raised his brow. "Really?"

He could tell that Zein became somewhat famous from being the head of House Ishtera and the Saint-candidate. But he had no idea to what extent his former co-worker’s fame was.

"Since they used to be guides too," Leehan explained. "He’s like...their ideal model guide, I think?"

"Then, it’s not hard for you to receive permission from your parents to come here, huh?"

"Yep!"

Han Shin looked at the other guides. "What about you guys?"

Dheera raised her head from her mug. "Me? I don’t have parents."

"Oh..."

"Freedom!" Dheera raised her arms, along with her mug, and shouted.

"Pfft--"

"I have parents, but they don’t know I’m here, probably? Hahaha!" Brisk chimed in.

They turned to look at the chubby guide whose fat had turned into muscle now. "What?! Don’t tell me you ran away?!"

"Yep," Brisk nodded without hesitation. "Oh, but I ran away ever since I became an official guide, not recently."

Dheera, who just heard of this despite being his neighbor in the dorm for two years, asked in surprise. "What? Why?"

"Why? Because they don’t like the fact that I’m a guide?" Brisk replied nonchalantly. "They said if I’m going to awaken, it’d be better if I was an esper."

"But it’s not something you can choose?!"

"I know, right? They are so ridiculous!" Brisk laughed and shook his head at the memory. It was clear that he didn’t even care about it anymore, probably from getting too exasperated. "And it’s not like it came out of nowhere; my great-great-great-grandmother was a guide after all."

"That’s even more ridiculous!"

"I know! But thanks to that, I can run away without guilt!" Brisk raised his thumb.

"That’s good," Han Shin nodded. "There’s no need to feel guilty for that kind of parents."

He also knew what it felt like to have a parent who looked at him disdainfully because of something he couldn’t choose. ’That person’ was also like that. He looked at Han Shin with a scowl all the time before he awakened, but even once he did awaken, that person only said ’pathetic’ and never bothered to even look at him again, as if that person no longer acknowledged his existence.

At that point, it was best to think those parents also did not exist. He had his brother anyway.

"Of course, I only left after they paid for all the academy fees," Brisk added with a grin, making a circle with his fingers.

"Good job," Han Shin smacked the guide’s back with a laugh. "They should at least compensate for taking you out to this dangerous world."

"Right?"

Dheera raised her arms once again. "Freedom!"

"Yeah!"

Ron chuckled and turned to Dean, who was quiet most of the time. "What about you?"

"Me? I’m just telling them honestly," Dean shrugged, speaking with a bored tone. "They permit me easily since I have seven other siblings," he added with a lazy smirk. "They said it doesn’t matter if they lose one"

"Pfft--" Dheera wheezed. "I’m sorry, I shouldn’t laugh, but..."

"It’s fine; I know they were just joking," Dean laughed. Listening to the other’s story, he felt like he was the most normal, boring one--not that it was a competition or anything. "After all, they cried when I was about to go."

"Pfft--" ƒreewebɳovel.com

Dean grinned at the memory. "It’s fun for me too," he said, before shifting his gaze toward Han Shin. "So, why is this place an important point for Captain and Sir Vaski?"

"Heh--you still remember that? Gather around," the healer waved his hand and the guides, to Ron’s amusement, leaned forward, as if they were about to talk about some big scandals. "So here’s what happ--"

"Hmm, seems like you’re all fine already."

The group flinched and straightened their back when he heard the familiar low, melodious voice. "Captain!" they greeted the older guide with the mischievous grins of kids who had just been caught doing something bad.

"Is your honeymoon over?" Han Shin raised his brow.

"We have a lot of work today," Bassena shrugged.

"Duty calls after booty calls?"

*smack*