There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 66 - 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?"

"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..."

"Fuck—" Ashur cursed under his breath. As he said earlier, he didn’t like speaking in public. He glared at the grinning esper beside him, but the crimson eyes already shifted into him so there was no room to hide anymore.

"Mister Iddina?"

"Ugh—" Ashur chew the inside of his mouth, feeling weird that such a calm tone could sound so eerie inside his head. "It’s just..." he took a deep breath then, and soon found his voice back. "About taking guides inside the dungeon..."

Was it just his imagination? He felt like that crimson eyes were flashing for a second. "Hmm...yes, what about it?"

"Can we reconsider it?" Ashur took courage and started to speak his mind. "They are too fragile inside the dungeon, especially the one set in extreme environments."

At that time, Ashur could hear a quiet chuckle from somewhere on his side—either from Abel or the new guide. He glanced in that direction for a bit, but otherwise kept his steady gaze toward the Guildmaster. Yeah...the guides might find what he said offensive, but Ashur also didn’t think there was anything wrong with it.

A comment, however, came neither from the Guildmaster nor the two guides present in the room. "But we have dedicated espers to guard them, right?" it was someone from the second or third floor, probably from HR. Ashur never really bothered to remember the civilian worker’s faces.

"That’s not the problem. I’m not only talking about the physical aspect of it, but also their mental state," he responded with eyes still on the impassive Guildmaster, who watched the room with a subtle smile on his face. "What’s the point of having a guide tagging along when they can’t even do any guiding because they are too shaken?"

"Well, that’s true," surprisingly, the supporting voice came from the Chief Guide instead.

Feeling like he was on the right track, the I-can’t-speak-well Ashur pushed further. "Right? It’ll only endanger the team, so please evaluate this policy again," he shifted his gaze to the administrative executives across the conference table. "There’s rarely any guild that does that anyway,"

Sounds of murmurs could be heard all over the room then, whether it was between the gold badges around the table or the silvers whispering behind them.

Ashur exhaled slowly, leaning back in his seat. Rina nudged at him with a grin, and he almost wanted to smack the female esper back. He really didn’t like putting himself on the spot like that. Commanding raids was one thing, but public speaking wasn’t really his cup of tea. There was a reason why he never accepted any job offer that put him on the screen, unless it had something to do with dungeon diving.

Well, he said it already, so be it. Whether the boss would take his point into consideration was another matter.

"I see," the Guildmaster responded finally, nodding solemnly. "So we all agree that it’s indeed a concern, aren’t we?"

"...yes?"

Huh, what was this—the Guildmaster was agreeing so easily? Ashur tilted his head slightly in disbelief. After all, he knew that bringing guides inside the dungeon was Radia Mallarc’s policy.

"Yes," a smile bloomed beneath the crimson eyes. "Answering to that concern, our last agenda for today is about the establishment of a new guide division."

The conference room fell into silence then, as most of the occupants seemed to freeze at the Guildmaster’s words.

"...a new...guide div—don’t tell me..." Ashur snapped his head toward the black-uniformed guide, who looked completely unfazed.

Clap!

The Guildmaster clapped his hands to bring the attention back to him. They were also suddenly made aware of a few recording devices set at the back of the room, all pointed at the head of the table.

"You must have been wondering, why Guide Luzein here wearing a different colored uniform," Radia Mallarc smiled deeply at the camera in the back, voice no longer addressed toward the room only, but to the rest of the Trinity.

Every commlink connected to the Trinity channel, whether they were inside the compound or somewhere else, beeped with sudden notification. A live streaming of the conference room footage was on air then.

"Here, right now, I’m announcing the establishment of the new Strike Guide division,"

Another bout of silence, both inside and outside the room, commenced instantly. The one who woke up from the stupor first was the strike division sub-commander.

"Strike—what?!"

Without deterrence, the Guildmaster continued his exposition. "As Esper Iddina had stated before, guides often become a liability inside the dungeon. But their participation is also crucial for the smoothness of a raid," he paused for a bit, letting the point come across. "Especially in extreme environments where corrosion levels piled up quickly, or dungeons that needed weeks to clear," the crimson eyes shifted toward Ashur for a bit, who secretly flinched in surprise. "Thus, it was imperative to bring guides inside such dungeons."

Ashur bit his lips. Yes, he also knew that. He already talked about that with Rina earlier. That was why he didn’t instantly storm into the Guildmaster’s office and sounded his protest since long before.

"So our solution is clear," with weaved fingers under his chin, the Guildmaster was staring straight at the camera. "We’ll create guides that could withstand a dungeon harsh environment, and have the basic ability to at least protect themselves."

Flabbergasted faces were surfacing here and there. What kind of concept was that? On the other hand, if that kind of guide could be made...that would be the ideal environment that dungeon junkies like Ashur would dream of.

"This new division would be led and mentored by our dear Guide Luzein," the Guildmaster pointed toward the new guide, followed by a camera movement. "This black uniform, from now on, would be donned by the members of the Strike Guide division, which role would be to accompany espers inside the dungeons."

This time, it wasn’t silence, but murmurs that filled the conference room.

"Is...is that even possible?"

"I mean, having strong mental fortitude is one thing, but..."

"Is it realistic to expect guides defending themselves inside the dungeon?"

Such muttering could be heard easily, and the same thought must also appear in the mind of the other guild members that watched the stream through their commlink.

"Then, would you like to see it for yourself?" the Guildmaster tilted his head, smiling lightheartedly. A holographic screen filled the center of the conference room then, and a video started to play there.

"Huh? What is this?" Zein tilted his head and asked the esper beside him.

"A video recording," Bassena answer easily with a smirk.

"...of?"

"You."