Chapter 16: Chapter 15. Delicious Lure

"He really takes his sweet times, huh?" Han Shin peered toward the entrance of the lounge from behind a book.

Bassena had been gone for quite some time. With his speed, it should only take five minutes to reach the guide station. But now, almost half an hour later, the man was still absent, and the guide still not here, even as Balduz started to lay the cooked meal on the dinner table.

"Is he going on a date or something?" he mumbled in wonder. Bassena was a quick and efficient man, so much so that he could be annoying because he grew impatient very quickly if others lag behind. So it was weird that he took this much time just from picking up someone.

The fact that he went out on his own to escort someone was already weird in the first place.

"Sir Han, I've been meaning to ask this since earlier, but..." the pathfinder, Ron, came to sit on the chair not far from him. As Shin signaled for the man to continue, he asked with a pondering gaze. "Does Sir Vaski and our guide know each other before?"

Hmm...now, how should Han Shin proceed with this? Honestly, he didn't know too much. He just knew that Bassena had been looking for one particular guide ever since four years ago. But the only one who knew the details was their guildmaster, and Shin himself only found out because he overheard them talking about it.

From how Bassena had been acting unusually proactive, there was no mistaking it that the guide they hired today was the one Bassena had been looking for, but then the guide acted like he didn't know the esper, so now Han Shin was still in the middle of unraveling this exciting drama.

"Well, maybe? I don't know much. Why do you think so, Mister Ron?"

"Ah, just call me Ron, please," the pathfinder waved his hand. "It's just a feeling. Zen is really good with his poker face, unless he is very upset about something," he glance at the sharpshooter girl that had been feeling gloomy since the meeting earlier. "But I feel like his eyes changed when he looked at Sir Vaski."

Han Shin, obviously, wouldn't know, since his eyes weren't as keen as a scout-type esper. "Isn't that because Bas is someone famous?"

"Ah," Ron smiled awkwardly. "This might come out as insulting, but...Zen wouldn't know anything about that. He has no interest in the world outside the end-zone."

"Oh?" Han Shin raised his brow. To think there was someone who did not know about Bassena Vaski, whose face was plastered on billboards and screens all over Eastern Federation. "Hmm, then, it could be they met in that outpost thingy?"

Oh! Ron stroked his chin at that possibility. But what exactly happened during that short period that Zein looked like he was quite...annoyed? But there was also interest too. It was the gaze Zein would make if he saw a new kind of miasmic beast.

Wait...did he look at Bassena Vaski as if the esper was a beast?

Pfft—Ron had to cover his mouth to stifle his laugh. Well, that was very Zen-like.

"I don't really know what happened either," Han Shin muttered, but he looked at Ron with twinkling eyes. "But it's interesting, isn't it?"

Just as he said that, the bulky driver Balduz announced that he was done with all the food. Knowing that the borderland had limited logistics that consisted of preserved food, Mortix had packed up fresh ingredients to be cooked here, and Balduz, their unexpected chef, had turned it into a decent meal. Well, it was barely decent for their standard, but for Ron and any borderland dwellers, it was a sumptuous banquet.

A sumptuous banquet that even made Zein stunned when he finally arrived at the lounge.

The first thing that greeted him was the nice smell of food. The smell of something real. Real foods that weren't canned or preserved. Not cured meat but something plump, glistening with fat and honey. Not chewy salted fish but something that seemed to just be freshly caught in one of those lakes Zein had never seen. Green vegetables that acquired their color from growing under the real sun, not artificial solar lamps.

Things that they could only enjoy on the day of logistics drop. It was enough to make him rooted at the entrance, all the tension he gained from his conversation with Bassena earlier melted into nothingness. His shoulder relaxed almost instantly, and his long eyelashes fluttered in unmasked delight.

Bassena stared at this meek appearance in amusement and wonder, at the soft gaze Zein gave to the food. What should he call it? Hmm...adorable, yes, that was it.

Two strong hands perched on Zein's shoulder, and Bassena whispered from behind. "You won't be able to have the food if you just stand here," and Zein just let out a soft 'oh' sound. Of all things, the aloof guide's weakness seemed to be...food? Bassena was tempted to laugh, but he also didn't want to destroy the unexpected reaction.

Of course, someone like Bassena, who was always surrounded by wealth since his birth, and who dined in splendor every day, wouldn't understand the excitement that Zein felt right now. The excitement of someone who spent his childhood scraping food, guiding esper secretly in exchange for mere four pieces of bread and almost rotten meat so the little brothers at home could eat something.

Zein didn't even object to the hand slipping into his own, pulling him towards the table, and seated him in front of the glistening meat that seemed to be the main dish. Obviously, he didn't see the inquisitive look Han Shin and Ron gave him, or the nervous look from Sierra. He only snapped from his trance-like situation when the two researchers came out of their room to join them, and he came straight to the sight of amber eyes looking at him keenly from across the table.

"...what?" Zein asked the smiling face in front of him.

"Are you going to eat with your mask on?"

"Ah, oh..." it was pretty unusual for Zein to be out of it that even Ron couldn't help but observed him with interest. He'd known Zein for three years since the guide moved to this Unit, and it was his first time seeing Zein in a daze.

Slowly, with a clicking sound, Zein took off his mask and secure it with the hook on the side of his pants. When he lifted his face, the table was frozen.

As in, people were stopping what they were doing and just stared at him.

Ron was enjoying the reaction. It was the same when Zein opened his mask for the first time in the Unit's dining hall. It was like when a celebrity came strolling around, and everything just suddenly revolved around that person, and people just couldn't help but stare.

It was different than when a famous esper like Bassena appeared, because people would stare in a mix of awe and jealousy. But when a celebrity appeared, people just stared to appreciate the beauty.

And Zein was like that.

His deep blue eyes which looked like a pair of sapphires framed with long eyelashes were already enchanting enough that even if he was ugly, he would still be considered decent. But when the rest of his features were as pretty? The fair and unblemished skin despite living in the rough climate of the borderland, the delicate yet defined jaws, the nicely shaped lips...

It was dangerous.

Dangerous enough that Zein had to arm himself with self-defense art and wore a mask even indoors. Because being a guide that could make his guiding enjoyable, paired with head-turning beauty that defied people's preferences, was a curse rather than a blessing.

But at least in this room, Zein shouldn't have to worry about being assaulted.

It didn't mean they wouldn't stare though. Be it the healer Han Shin who whistled, the sharpshooter who blushed, the driver-tank-chef that almost dropped the tray in his hand, or the two scientists that looked like they were in a trance, even the stoic Naomi that blinked her eyes repeatedly...it was a plethora of faces that Ron knew well, since he witnessed them often enough whenever Zein took his mask off.

What he found interesting was Bassena's reaction. He stared, definitely, with his hand propping his chin, and amber eyes gazing deep. But he wasn't surprised, or shocked, or in a trance. It was like he already knew what Zein looked like from the start, a smile played on his face.

'So they did meet before,' Ron thought. Or at least, Bassena had seen Zein's face before, which in itself was a question. Zein had never taken off his mask except during meals or showers. The man even slept with a mask on. So what kind of situation led Zein to take his mask off in front of Bassena?

Ron had no time to ponder over this though, since Bassena coughed loudly and everyone snapped from their trance.

"Whoa..." the ever-energetic Han Shin commented without hesitation. "Hey, hey, you should come to Trinity, Mister Guide, we liked collecting good-looking members."

"Collecting..." Zein blinked slowly.

"Why are you trying to take our guide away, Sir Han? We already sort on people as it is," Ron made a sulking expression as he sat beside Zein.

"Aww...come on! I'll send you some guides in exchange, hmm? Hmm?" the healer wiggled his brow teasingly. "Bas must be itching too. You want to take Mister Guide, don't you?"

Han Shin made a laughter that sounded like a giggle mixed with a teasing sneer. But Bassena just stared at Zein with a deep smile. "I do."

"Hey, hey, let's not joke about this, yeah?" Ron laughed awkwardly, feeling like the two 5-stars might really trying to recruit Zein. It wasn't that he didn't want Zein to find a job in a better place, but a good guide in the borderland was really hard to find.

"Who said I'm joking?" Bassena tilted his head, smiling even deeper, making Ron sweat for real.

"Oh, come one..."

"Hey, hey, can I take a picture of you? Even if you're not joining Trinity, can you be a model for my fiance's brand? Can you? Can you?" Han Shin flashed his commlink.

"Umm...Chief, you'll make Mister Zen uncomfortable..." now the sharpshooter Sierra chimed in, determined to fix his image in front of his savior guide.

"That's right, that's right!" Ron laughed nervously after gaining an ally. "Let's not talk about this anymore—"

"Eeeh~"

Zein, who was the center of this conversation, was just looking at the debating people with a slight frown. Being fought upon was already a common recurrence for Zein, so he didn't care for it much. But not now.

Now he was sitting in front of delicious food that beckoned at him. Yet these people kept talking instead of savoring the dish.

"Can I eat?" he asked just that. Short and curt and impatient. And the debate stopped.

Bassena clapped his hand, smiling as if he'd been waiting for Zein to say that. "Alright, I didn't go all the way down to pick him up just to let him starve, come on Shin, stop arguing,"

"Why are you acting decent all of a sudden?"

Ignoring Han Shin's remark, Bassena glanced at the scientists, who were the quietest. "Let's introduce ourselves to Mister Guide here, hmm?"

"Ah, that's right, we haven't met yet right, Mister Guide?" the middle-aged civilian man with a trace of surgery on his eyes took the signal and started to engage with Zein. "You can call me Eugene, I'll be in your care."

And then the other scientist, a woman who seemed to be the man's assistant followed through, her curly hair bouncing with her bowed head. "I'm Anise," she said with a soft and flat tone.

"You won't be in my care," obviously, since Zein's duty was to the espers, not the civilians. "You can call me Zein or Zen, up to you."

And then the rest introduced themselves too, although it was only their names and classes. "So aside from the healer, there's only three combat-type?" Zein asked as they started eating, finally. "Don't you think it's rather insufficient?"

He didn't say it to mock Bassena, but from genuine concern. Even if there's a Saint-class esper there, Deathzone was way more treacherous than dungeons. It was essentially a field of multiple dungeon breaks that had been left alone since the dawn of time. The danger that was lurking there existed in every direction.

Surprisingly, Han Shin made a face as if he was agreed with Zein. "There's nothing we can do about that..." even if Bassena was one of the most powerful espers, his skills were mostly attack-oriented.

"Ah, it's because of my skill," Sierra joined in from the corner with a squeaky voice. It seemed like Zein's single displeasure had turned her calm countenance into a nervous wrack. She'd been on edge and careful around Zein.

Zein looked at her, now with a calm gaze that made her sigh in relief. "Skill?"

"The whole team was formed around Sierra's teleportation skills," Han Shin explained while Zein devoured the meat Balduz had sliced for him. "It's mass teleportation with a limited number of targets."

It was the only reason why Trinity, who was known for having only good-looking, high-star members, would bring a 3-star sharpshooter to an important excursion like this. 3-star esper and C-class guide were the bottom limit at Trinity, and Sierra was only able to join last year, yet she already came to a mission with two 5-stars involved. It wasn't because of her talent or anything, but because of this skill.

"There's research that we must conduct, and it was Eugene and Anise who designed this research, so both of them have to be there. I'm Trinity's chief researcher, so I'm here more as that rather than as a healer." Han Shin continued. "We understand that bringing civilians is dangerous, so we make the plan by including someone who can do mass teleport as insurance."

Zein glanced at Bassena, remembering their tense conversation earlier. The esper had been quiet and just observing him along the dinner, and he smiled and shrugged when Zein looked at him. Suddenly, Zein felt his hand tingle for a little bit—where it gripped tightly to a sturdy arm, and when it was being held.

'How absurd' he bit the inside of his cheek and clenched his fist to get rid of the tingle.

Sierra was explaining following Han Shin. "But I can only teleport ten people at once, so the team must be limited to that."

"We calculated that two or three guides might be needed since Sir Han Shin will be present, and we need someone to guard the researchers. So with that, and the pathfinder, we only have one slot for a fighter." Naomi explained this time.

"So that's why you come with the best..." Ron nodded his head beside Zein. He too, hadn't understood why this dangerous mission would only be carried by these meager numbers.

The one who responded this time was Balduz, who seemed to be reacting to the word the best. "Of course!"

"I see..." Zein calculated the number of people at the table, and then tilted his head. "But since the slot ended up being vacant, couldn't you fill it with another esper?"

Since the guide ended up being only him, there were two slots available on the emergency mass teleportation. Which meant it could be filled with other espers, probably defensive types to have extra protection while Bassena rampaged free. It wasn't a lot, but the borderland also hosted a few formidable espers like Captain Agni.

"Well..." Han Shin tapped the table with a complicated gaze, and so were the two researchers.

It was enough for Zein to understand. "Ah..." there was only one possible reason for them to be reluctant of taking outside forces more than necessary. "Is this research...a secret?"

"Ahh~it's nice talking to smart people~" Han Shin clapped his hand in delight. It was annoying to have them spill that kind of thing out, so having the other party realize it themselves was always a nice feeling.

"I'm not smart, it's just common sense."

Han Shin laughed at that. "Eyy, don't belittle yourself,"

"Well, smart or not, you have a lot of experience, so that's probably why," said Ron.

At that, Sierra suddenly chimed in. "Ah, I've been meaning to ask!" and then she lowered her voice even more, smiling bashfully, looking cautiously at Zein to gauge his mood. "Umm...If you don't mind...?"

At this point, her cautious attitude was more annoying than her reminder of that event, which made Zein sigh. "What?"

After checking that Zein wasn't upset—perhaps with the help of three servings he'd been having—Sierra asked carefully. "How long have you been a guide, Mister Zen?"

She had been feeling this since he observed Zein during the red-zone dungeon break incident, but the guide was highly proficient. She only thought his guiding was 'good' before, since she never really received good guiding. But even after joining Trinity, and receiving guiding from the guild's excellent, highly-paid guides, she hadn't encountered a guide whose guiding was as good as Zein.

"Hmm...about seventeen years?"

*cough*

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