There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 124

Chapter 124: Chapter 120. The Weight of Fate

Zein flinched slightly at Radia’s words, even after readying himself for the news.

Father.

It was a sensitive word for him. He had been denying that word all his life, first by refusing to acknowledge that terrible man as his father. Which, thankfully, wasn’t his real father.

But that didn’t mean he was glad for the alternative, knowing that his real father was someone who imprinted his mother and took her away from his friends, put her in danger whilst pregnant, and resulted in her ending up in the red-zone with a man who had filth for his heart.

He had no idea whether he would end up with a worse version of a man than Marshal Tadros.

Looking at the guide’s hard gaze, Radia smiled solemnly, and spoke in a calm tone. "As I said, it’s only a hint. I haven’t actually started to look for him yet."

"Then..."

Once again, Radia tapped on his tablet and showed Zein a picture. This time, it was a single photograph. It seemed to be taken by a group of people inside a restaurant, where they take a commemorative picture of themselves.

Zein was frowning at the seemingly unrelated picture and about to ask what kind of hint was possibly there when his eyes caught a space at the corner of the picture.

"That’s..."

Wordlessly, Radia zoomed in on that exact space, and even cleared up the vision so they could identify the person caught in the picture. There was no need to guess anymore with the striking blue eyes clearly shown there; it was Zein’s mother, Lucia.

Zein stared hard at the bright smile on her beautiful face. The blue eyes were staring at a space in front of her, which unfortunately was not caught in the shot. They looked brilliant and soft and filled with apparent affection. It made Zein’s stomach churn.

"This one dated twenty-nine years ago, so the timeline fit. It was probably before she conceived you," Radia explained, and then sent out another picture. "Unfortunately, the restaurant is no longer operating, and even after tracing the management, they already getting rid of the CCTV records. Instead, we traced the people in that photograph and get another picture."

The other image wasn’t so different from the first one, still with the same group taking a picture. But the angle was slightly different, and from there, Zein could see Lucia better, as well as a part of the person that was sitting across her.

And by a part, it was only a forearm. _{freewebnovel.cσ๓}

"We don’t know yet for sure if that person is your father," Radia said, observing the hardened gaze and furrowed brows of the guide. "But from the time period and your mother’s gesture, it’s highly likely."

Zein pressed his lips, just as the summoned secretary put a sweet chocolate drink in front of him, even though he never asked for it. Without questioning it, he took the cool glass and gulped it down, cooling his heated mind.

Again, Radia zoomed in on that corner, focusing on the sliver of the arm, and a visible tattoo on the wrist. He flicked another image forward so Zein could see it; the clearer image of the tattoo.

And his heart stopped beating for a second.

It was an interlaced ten-pointed star, and in the middle of it, was the same stigma carved on his nape.

Zein gripped his hand tight, which almost flew to cover the back of his neck. Thanks to the mask, that symbol of Setnath had been hidden from the others, covered by the choker-like device.

Seeing that symbol on someone who was probably his father felt...unsettling.

"This is a brand," Radia informed him, pulling out a concise report regarding the tattoo. "It belonged to an organization that was already experiencing a purge."

The blue eyes widened a little bit. "You mean...the reason she said they were in danger..."

"That, I couldn’t tell," Radia shook his head. "It’s quite an old force, and while it’s not exactly secretive, the members were known to be elusive. We still trying to uncover this organization since it’s not based in area-13, and I couldn’t tell for sure if they received a purging during this time or later on."

"Then...about this organization..."

Radia paused for a bit before answering, watching keenly as Zein seemed to struggle on keeping calm. His usually nonchalant face was filled with agitation, and the fair face turned paler as the blue eyes never left the image of the brand.

When Zein finally shifted his eyes from the screen to look at him, Radia answered carefully. "They are called The Templar of Arms Master," he said. "They were known to worship Setnath."

Haa...Zein burrowed his face in his palms. Truly, he had no idea if this man was better or worse.

A Setnath worshipper, imprinting a fragment of Setnath--or the carrier of it. Even if Lucia looked like she loved him with all her heart...was his intention truly love? Or would it be no more than an attempt to secure the seed of Setnath in their midst?

The old man pressed on his commlink and opened the messaging app, reading the reply from said daughter. "She said she can do it, your project. She will make a detailed proposal with her team and send you the document by the end of next week."

"That’s good."

"Should I give her your contact?"

"No, I’ll take a look at the proposal first, and only proceed after that," Zein tapped on the desk while pondering. "If things go well, I should meet them at least once instead," he turned to look at the old man and smirked. "What about it, old man? Wanna tag along?"

The old man grunted, more because he was embarrassed about the positive answer he wanted to give the guide. Instead, he just mumbled something like "Asked me nearer the time," or something like that, which prompted the guide to chuckle.

"But you’re serious about this, huh?" the old man asked suddenly, leaning back with crossed arms. "Building an orphanage for the red-zone children."

Zein just shrugged, wordlessly leaning into the desk while staring at the building’s entrance, waiting for the van.

It was a thought he had when he heard that the old man’s daughter worked as a social worker. He asked the old man to convey his plan to the daughter, and see if she could help him with it. The old man had told him that building something like that in the red-zone would be heavy; heavy on the cost and the maintenance.

But Zein had no concern about the cost. The money sitting in his new bank account, and the money that would fill it from the blue aetherite sale was heavier than that. It felt heavy to keep that kind of money, and Zein had no place or desire to spend it at all.

It was money he would gladly spend for the twins to have a better life, a better place to live, a better food. But now, it would just rot in his account, so he decided to spend it on other children. So they wouldn’t end up like Zein or the twins.

It was just an attempt to shed his guilt.

"Well, whatever your intention is, it’s still a good thing," the old man said, before going back to the book he read before Zein came down earlier.

Zein sure hope so. He smiled subtly and walked toward the entrance to meet a man with a courier uniform and gave him his letter. "Directly to the hand of either Esper Ronan Hillard or Captain Agni Khan," he instructed the courier, who nodded and bowed solemnly.

He watched until the van disappeared from his sight, pretty sure that the courier was one of Radia’s secret agents since there was no way a 4-star esper would end up as a delivery man. He spent a bit more time there, in front of the dorm, staring at the autumn sky and enjoying the warm sunlight while thinking about what to do next.

Hmm...should he watch the TV? Seemed like that show with Bassena as a guest was on today...