There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 65 - 64. Black Uniform

"Ashur!" a loud voice reverberated in Trinity’s parking lot, prompting the man with tanned skin to stop and looked back. A gorgeous woman just stepped out of her car, looking like she just came out of a commercial.

There was a saying in the sentinel community that Trinity’s secret recruitment condition was to be good-looking. At least, the executives and the people who always came in front of the screen did look like celebrities, and a lot of them actually were celebrities. The easiest example of this was their vice-guildmaster, Bassena Vaski himself.

People who didn’t like Trinity used this particular trait to call them ’agency’ as in entertainment company rather than a guild. The finance department didn’t care—one of the guild’s biggest revenue indeed came from the commercial works.

One of those celebrities was the pretty esper, who walked elegantly toward the man she just called, long legs swaying mystically like a peacock. "They said the Guildmaster is preparing something?"

"I don’t know," the man called Ashur shrugged. "You know I don’t really care about things like that, Rina."

She clicked her tongue and sighed at the man coming nonchalantly with a tracksuit to an executive meeting. "But what if it’ll influence the dungeon raiding?" she baited, knowing what the impassive man only cared about.

"Well, that will change things," the bored eyes suddenly flashed for a second. "But since we know nothing for now, I’ll just postpone my interest for a later time,"

"Ugh—you’re no fun!" she huffed and crossed her arms, and for a while, they said nothing inside the elevator bringing them straight to the twelfth floor. "How’s your raid by the way?"

"It’s suck—I don’t want to bring those guides with my team anymore—they’re useless," the expressionless face made an annoyed frown. "What’s the point of bringing guides to dungeons if they end up failing to guide because their mental state is shaken?"

She hid her smirk as she listened to his rambling. It was always fascinating how this fellow 5-star would only perk up at the mention of dungeons and raiding. She was sure that Ashur wouldn’t mind it if he had to live in one of the dungeons.

Haa...what a waste of a cute guy.

"Give them some slack. People with normal constitutions would find it hard to enter an undead dungeon," she let out a chuckle.

"That’s what I’m saying!" Ashur continued to grumble. "Why would we bring people with such constitutions inside?"

"Because there are dungeons that fastened the corrosion level like that undead one," she interjected with a smile. "Also, I don’t think all guides are like that. People like Abel have a strong mentality too."

"But he rarely goes out anymore after being made Chief, isn’t he?" with a huff, Ashur put his hands inside his pocket, clicking his tongue.

"Wee~ll, why don’t you just raise it during the meeting today?" she smiled as the elevator door opened and they stepped into the carpeted lobby.

She heard a quiet mumbling about how he wasn’t a good talker and laughed out loud throughout the hallway.

* * *

Trinity had an executive meeting every first Monday of the month. Despite the name, it wasn’t just attended by the golden badges, but those in managerial positions. And because the busy Guildmaster always attended this meeting, no one dared to skip it, even the one who disliked administrative stuff like the 5-star weapon meister Ashur.

It was also the only time they were sure that they could meet the Guildmaster, so members with concerns and matters to talk about with Radia Mallarc would not miss the chance.

When Ashur and Rina arrived at the conference room, the place was already filled with the other members, who immediately stood up to greet the two 5-stars. Even though there were no arrangements before, the order of arrival had never changed, and those on top always came last.

"Hmm? I don’t see Abel," Rina looked around the room, unable to spot the Chief Guide.

With the arrangement of their seat, the bearer of the golden badge was the one who sat around the main conference table. Abel Hertz was usually seated beside her, and would already arrive before since the guide was very punctual. But the seat was empty and the man was nowhere to be seen.

"He’s probably with the new guide, Mam," one of the silver badges from HR stepped up and told her quietly, prompting the two 5-stars to turn their head with raised brows.

"We have a new guide?" Rina asked in surprise. "No one told me about this."

"But why would Hertz accompany him?" Ashur tilted his head.

"The new guide is an A-class, Sir. And the Guildmaster made him an executive,"

"What?" Rina exclaimed, then glancing around. Was that why the atmosphere was rather different today? freёnovelkiss.com

There was this vibe as if something big was going to happen, like some kind of announcement. She and Ashur wouldn’t aware of it since they had been inside the dungeon for the past week, but some people seemed to know it already, at least.

She pursed her lips in annoyance. She knew she was out of reach until yesterday, but couldn’t the vice-guildmaster at least told her about it? Wasn’t she the strike division’s sub-commander?

"It’s either a big secret or something totally insignificant," Ashur just muttered quietly after seeing Rina’s sour face.

"Still—"

She couldn’t finish her words as the conference room’s door opened and the slightly bustling room quieted down instantly. The butler-like assistant of the Guildmaster came inside and everyone immediately went to their supposed place in an orderly manner.

Rina stared in the direction of the door, watching keenly as another one of the Guildmaster’s assistants came inside. And with that, Radia Mallarc finally entered the room. Following the Guildmaster were the Chief Researcher and the Chief Guide.

She raised her brow at this unusual order, because usually, the one behind the Guildmaster was Bassena Vaski. She immediately saw the Saint-class esper, however, although he wasn’t alone. The Vice-guildmaster came with another man who instantly drew the others’ attention.

The man wore a filtering mask that obscured his lower face, but the blue eyes above it were deep and sharp. What caught everyone’s eyes, however, was the outfit he wore. It was definitely a guide uniform, in the same fashion that Abel Hertz was wearing. But while the latter had it in deep red to show his A-class, the blue-eyed man had his uniform in black, with deep red lining and buttons. A golden badge flashed on his collar, and it befitted the cold confidence that emanated from his gaze.

"That’s...a guide?"

Rina could hear murmurs from the others, even from Ashur’s eyes, although the esper didn’t say anything. Well, that was the first thing she thought too when he saw the man who bore a vibe like an esper. He was almost as tall as Ashur, even. Even standing beside the tall Serpent Lord, the new guide didn’t look dwarfed.

"A black uniform?" Rina tapped on her red lips, tilting her head in confusion. Would that have something to do with the big announcement that seemed to be this meeting’s main agenda? "How interesting..."

The empty seat beside her finally filled as Abel came and greeted her briefly. She wanted to ask about the new guy immediately, but had to hold back since the new guide was seated beside Abel. The man already had a strong impression from afar, but closer, he felt even sharper. And because she could look at the man’s figure more clearly, he could already sense a beauty behind that mask. Well...this was Trinity anyway.

"Like a thorny rose?" she muttered softly to herself with a chuckle, but suddenly felt a prickling gaze. When she looked up, the Serpent Lord was staring at her with piercing amber, making a sign at her eyes menacingly.

"Look who’s got a warning," Abel whispered from her side, giggling quietly.

Raising her brows, Rina looked at the new guide once more, and then at the Vice-guildmaster, before scoffing. "What, he’s got an exclusive-guide or something?"

Abel just gave her a subtle smile and shrugged, "Not quite..."

"Then what—"

"Sush, the Guildmaster is speaking,"

Rina pressed her lips then, telling herself to be patient. It was quite annoying to be one of the people who knew last about some new development. She glanced toward the guide, which nonchalant gaze was similar to Ashur, and then shifted her attention toward the Guildmaster at the head of the conference table.

"Thank you for attending this today and arriving punctually," the Guildmaster opened with a gentle smile. Of course they would be punctual though, who would want to get their point and pay deducted from tardiness? Radia Mallarc was strict like that. "There’s quite a number of agendas for today’s meeting, but I’ll begin by answering your curious mind. As you can see, our guild is graced by the presence of this year’s first A-class appearance—my gratitude to the PR teams for your diligent effort in suppressing the news until now."

Rina could see the head of the PR department nod weakly, dark circles seemed to reach their cheek. And then her attention switched toward the new guide. The Guildmaster had stretched out his hand toward the masked man, and it worked like a headlight. With a little nudge from the Chief Guide, the man stood up calmly, bowing his head for a little bit, just as a light greeting.

"Please welcome Guide Luzein as Trinity’s newest member," the Guildmaster said with a smile, and the new guide frowned.

"Just Zein," he said, voice low and ringing like a beautiful melody inside the conference room.

Well, of course he was an A-class—otherwise, that golden badge fastened on his collar would seem like a joke, she thought. But they also had several other A-class guides, and none of them had the golden badge, nor the black uniform.

’So what’s with the black uniform?’ her eyes narrowed in curiosity. What made this man different?

"Guide Luzein, however, will not operate in the same manner as the other guide," the Guilmaster spoke again, disregarding the guide’s protest over the usage of his full name. "He will be exclusively in charge of our 5-star espers from now on."

Rina coughed on her saliva, the same thing that was happening to the majority of people in the conference room. She turned toward Abel, who seemed to be enjoying the shock, and then at Ashur, whose bored eyes had been blown wide.

"So take heed, finance. Divert the fund we used for the temple visits to pay Guide Luzein’s incentives."

She—and everyone else surely—was waiting for an additional explanation about this matter, but the Guildmaster already shifting to another agenda, and it left her bewildered. Radia Mallarc didn’t even address the dumbfounded reaction toward this new guide’s role. And there was no explanation about the black uniform itself.

He didn’t even give the leeway for people to question the possibility of a single guide taking care of five 5-star espers, one of which was a Saint-class.

Rina turned to stare keenly at the new guide once again.

The guide in the black uniform.