There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 423

Chapter 423: Chapter 416. Bare Minimum

"Ah, right; have Mago contacted you?"

It took Zein a while to collect himself from his new gift before he realized the Goddess was asking him something. "Huh? Ah, yes...the priests visited me."

"And?"

Zein patted his knees and stood up, feeling slightly wobbly. He shook his head to regain his balance before replying. "I gave them some demands as a condition for me to forgive their Saintess."

To Zein’s surprise, the Goddess laughed. "Good, you do that," she nodded. "She shouldn’t let Her children go around irresponsibly in the world--at least, I won’t let Her children disrespect mine."

"Am I yours, now?"

The Goddess just smiled cheekily and turned around with hands stretched behind her back.

"Anyway, I’ll talk to Mago about telling those children of Hers to agree to your demands."

Zein raised his brow as he followed her back to the garden. "Do you even know what my demands are?"

"I don’t need to," she glanced back with a smile. "I know you enough."

Zein had no idea if that statement was supposed to be reassuring or alarming, considering that they had only ’met’ two times thus far. Sure, it was almost on a spiritual level, but...

Oh, whatever. He just got a ’little’ gift, after all.

At the edge of the inner garden, she suddenly paused and turned around. "I don’t know if I can come down again before you return," she said, reaching out to brush Zein’s hair from his sweaty forehead. "Good luck, my child. You’re doing something good, so there’s no need to be doubtful or hesitate."

Zein didn’t say anything, just blinked and looked at her with a clear, firm gaze in those brilliant blue eyes. She smiled and nodded, before turning around and continuing walking. The moment She stepped out of the inner garden, Zein immediately knew it wasn’t Her any more.

* * *

"Here you go, it’s getting bigger."

Zein received the black marble from the Saintess. It was only as big as the marble children usually play with--as big as a grape, at most. But now, it has expanded--not too much, just as big as a plum, but it was still weird that it became bigger.

"It’s probably going to get bigger and bigger with time," the Saintess added.

Zein already knew that the inner garden had a different flow of time than the rest, which was why not even the Saintess could go there without the Goddess’s permission. By the time he came out of the garden, a whole day had passed by, even though it only felt like half an hour long at most. Most likely, time passed the most when he was in front of the altar receiving the gift.

During that one day, the black marble had grown in size. As he cleaned himself in the suite provided for him--the same room where he stayed the last time--Zein wondered how much time had passed inside. A month? A year? It couldn’t be more, like? He frowned as he felt an uncomfortable twist in his stomach.

It felt weirder because, for him, it only felt like an hour since he saw Bassena enter this marble. The sheer thought of the time discrepancy between them right now was unsettling.

And how much he would need to wait until Bassena came out?

They had planned to stay in the Temple until Bassena came out of the marble, so Zein needed to look for something to do while he was waiting for the esper--a distraction. The first thing he did was ask for link access.

It was the presence of the Temple.

When he arrived at the post, he asked the management there a few questions--for his future school’s sake. He found out that this kind of post was spread all over the Alliance, and, not only functioned as a free clinic, the posts also became a hub for the Templar’s rescue squads.

Since the post was where the transportation from and to the Temple happened, they would send the rescued guides from the post. The newly awakened guides could also go to the Temple from here, free of charge. In the end, the post wasn’t just an outpost in a yellow-zone outskirt, but a main hub between the Temple and the outside world.

A presence. It gave a sense that the Temple was present in many parts of the Alliance. Like small streetlights that prevented thieves from passing through the area, the existence of these posts alone suppressed the number of crimes against guides.

Additionally, it served as a watching eye for other establishments that the Temple had, especially the orphanage, like the one where Elena lived before her awakening. It ensured the orphanage ran as it was intended, instead of becoming another source of crimes.

Zein had to swallow his sigh repeatedly while he was listening to the energetic manager and made his own conclusion while training his long-distance guiding. Not because this new way of guiding was less effective than before--it felt weird at the start, and the speed of absorption made him feel like he was sixteen--but because it made him realize how messed up the condition in the Federation was.

He saw what could have been, and lamented at why it couldn’t be the case. His deep disappointment overshadowed the fact that he found out he could guide more than two espers at once now.

If the betrayal didn’t happen, and House Ishtera was still in the area, Zein would probably stayed in the Northern Alliance. He wouldn’t be so bitter about the state of the guides, because although it still wasn’t perfect--there was still unfortunate discrimination and under-appreciation--it was still way better than the situation in the Federation.

But then again, he might end up thinking like those people in the Temple; that there was nothing wrong with the status quo. He wouldn’t have the desire to fight for it, because he wouldn’t know what happened to other guides in other parts of the world.

In the end, it seemed like everything did happen for a reason.

He was only there because the Goddess told him to, but the journey ended up providing more insight than he expected. Now, at least, he had a clear view of what he should strive for; the bare minimum he needed to achieve. A few small steps now, but he hoped that someday, the Federation could look like the Alliance in its guide scheme.

Now, if only he could see his esper soon.