Chapter 38. Where Something’s Changed

"Hey, Anise," Han Shin pulled on the researcher's sleeve. He lowered his voice to a whisper as his eyes squinted at the view a few meters in front of them. "Something's happened isn't it?"

"Something...like what, Sir?"

"I don't know. I mean, look at them..." he twisted his lips, fingers stroking his chin like an avid observer. "They're getting chummier every day,"

Anise followed Han Shin's gaze, although she already knew what the healer talked about. The object of their conversation, once again, seemed to be in their own world. Even inside the camp, they tended to sit a little further away from the others, and then absorbed in conversation that involved no one but themselves.

Even while they were still walking along the ruin, they'd converse with each other, a lot. And touchy. So touchy that Han Shin could no longer just ignore it.

"But, Sir, I thought we all already knew that Sir Vaski is pursuing Mister Zen?" Anise tilted her head. Honestly, she didn't think she was a very good partner for this kind of conversation, since she had no interest in the romantic or sexual aspects of a human relationship.

But she still at least understood that Bassena Vaski was openly insinuating his interest in the beautiful guide, and had been persistent in making his advances.

"I know that," Han Shin scoffed. "He's so forward it was starting to look pathetic before."

"Before?"

Han Shin crossed his arms and twisted his lips. "It's one thing for Bas to chase Zein and flirt his way, but..." he narrowed his eyes as Bassena unwrapped something that looked like candy and wiggled it in front of their guide.

If it was a week ago, Zein would either ignore the esper or just snatch the candy with a deadpan expression, and Han Shin would have a field day teasing Bassena about it. But now—now Han Shin witnessed Zein roll his eyes but opened his mouth without hesitation, and Bassena put the candy in the guide's mouth with a soft smile that made Han Shin have goosebumps.

It was worse than a horror movie.

"Our guide seems to be too accommodating after we enter this ruin..." he mumbled in suspicion.

The two of them had vanished together for a while, only to come back later; a bit disheveled and suspicious. Although, he supposed it was because Zein was just dropping into another hole. The group proceed to descend into the ruin through the tower ruin, and they managed to navigate the underground cityscape that felt like a labyrinth.

Since Han Shin inherently never needed to fight, he had a lot of time and leeway to make observations. Like how Bassena was in a totally good mood throughout. He was so affable, so full of little smiles, and even thanked Balduz for the drink and little snack they consumed during the exploration.

He was practically beaming, looking like the Bassena Vaski in those advertisements that fooled and charmed poor civilians and disillusioned people into thinking that he was some kind of prince charming. Only, this time, it was genuine. It was even more so when they reached a certain point where the labyrinth's perplexity was no longer manageable and the beast started using illusion to confuse them, and they had to finally rely on Zein's instinct and had him walking in the front, with Bassena. The man was practically wearing his smile all the time.

"What do you mean 'our' guide, Sir Han?" Han Shin almost jumped out when the scout sneakily whispered from behind. "Zen is still the Unit's guide."

"Ah, geez, don't surprise me like that!" Han Shin patted his chest, shooting his nerves. "And he's our guide as long as the contract said so," he added with a pout.

He was about to sulk, but when he looked at Ron, it suddenly occurred to him that the scout was the one who spent the most time with Zein and thus, would probably know him the most. So he swallowed his annoyance and pulled Ron closer, so the three of them seemed to huddle together in some conspirational talk.

"Anyway, Ron, what do you think about them?" he whispered, again, like some kind of gossip girl.

Ron almost couldn't hold his laugh, glancing at the young man who was more than a decade younger than him, before focusing his eyes on their topic of conversation. "What kind of thought do you want me to divulge?"

"Hmm..." Han Shin rubbed his chin again in contemplation. "Bas being clingy and flirty is weird enough," he knew that Bassena was in the business of making himself look cool and charming for the general public, but none of it involved being flirty and clingy, because that wasn't cool nor charming at all. "But I guess it's because he's the one who gets interested and does the courting."

"Understandable," Ron smirked. He also knew that behind the cool and charming act, Bassena Vaski was ruthless and borderline arrogant. The fact that his skill owned up to that arrogance made people hate him more. And he responded to that hatred by putting them down even more. And the circle continued.

And within that repertoire of reputation, none of it would describe Bassena Vaski as a clingy lover who spoke gentle words and smiled like a love-stricken gentleman.

But then again, he did try to win Zein's over. Ron had thought it was a ruse to get Zein to come to Trinity at first, and that was why he was so adamant about reminding Zein of the borderline's contract.

But after a week of observation, he could tell that Bassena was quite genuine. And it was clear that the two had some kind of history before—and he thought he might know what it was.

Han Shin looked at the scout, and leaned closer while glancing at the esper-guide pair at the edge of the camp. "Right, I can understand Bas at least. But what about Zein? Was he always that accommodating to people who flirt with him?"

Ron suddenly burst out laughing. "Zen? Accommodating?" he grinned while shaking his head. "Sir Han, do you know why Zen always wears his mask?"

"Huh? Isn't it because the air is harsh for non-esper?" Han Shin tilted his head.

"That's one of the reasons," Ron nodded, "but he also wears them inside the building, even while he's sleeping. Even during this expedition, at the start, he always wore his mask, right? Even inside the artificial safe zone."

"Oh, right!" Han Shin clapped his hand. "But I thought he was just being wary since the device was still experimental. So there's some kind of special reason?"

Ron smiled, but his eyes looked rather cold, like there was a hidden fury brewing beneath his regular calmness. "It's because he's pretty."

"...huh?"

"He's so pretty that there's always people who harbored malicious thoughts toward him. Espers bothered him enough just by getting his guiding, and with a face like that, he's just become a sure target for sexual harassment and assault."

Han Shin and Anise blinked in surprise. Both of them were a member of respected society in the safest settlement zone. There was an era where guides were treated dishonorably, like tools, but it had been long since laws were erected to protect their rights. In the minds of those two, such barbaric action was unthinkable. Of course, even places like green-zones had their share of mud, but these two sheltered citizens wouldn't know a thing about it.

"There's...a case like that?"

Ron's smile deepened. "Cases. Zen actually moved to our Unit because he beat an esper that tried to assault him in another Unit—well, it's in his files so you probably read about it already?"

Han Shin shook his head. Zein became their guide without much scrutiny since Bassena vouched for him, and Naomi was probably the only one who read his files.

"Hmm," Ron scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Well, that happened, and even if the Captain tried to prevent it, things like that still happened sometimes. And...since he was from the red-zone..."

Ron paused, and Han Shin gulped, but still whispered carefully. "...it might be even worse?"

The scout just gave him a wry smile. "Well, my point is, there's a lot of people who flirt with him, and sometimes even take it too far. It's in Zein's principle not to respond to their advances. That's why he does nothing more than hand-to-hand guiding."

"...oh!" Han Shin exclaimed, and so was Anise, and the three of them looked toward the suspiciously close pair who were now playing catch with grapes and their mouths.

Ron had been watching Zein's stoic face unravel bit by bit in the span of ten days, the deadpan gaze turned more alive each day. It wasn't much, just a slight change, but for someone who'd been watching over Zein for three years, he could easily see the difference.

After all, he never thought that he'd be able to see Zein being handfeed off something, or see the man fall asleep defenselessly beside someone else. Ron definitely never thought Zein would tap on someone's cheek that many times. No one here knew but him—probably not even Zein himself—that it was Zein's gesture of affection for someone. Zein usually did it to the other guides, those cute younger ones that latched onto him for protection, acting like sweet little brothers.

But he usually only did it once to someone, when he 'acknowledge' them—tolerated them to some extent.

How many times had he done it to Bassena?

"So...it's not hopeless, huh?" Han Shin muttered. His tone made it seem impossible to decipher whether he was glad or annoyed.

"Well, at the very least, he's not rejecting Sir Vaski outright," Ron shrugged. "Although, it does seem like they're getting closer after we found the lake."

Han Shin exclaimed energetically. "Right? And then after we arrive at the ruin too. It's like...hmm..."

"Like a barrier is gone?" Anise offered.

"Yes! That! Like Bas no longer restraining himself, and Zein no longer dodging as much as before,"

Ron looked at Zein keenly—if something changed, it was probably came from the guide. Because no matter how pushy Bassena was, Zein wouldn't move if he had no will for it. He might even pull away even more if the esper coerced him into something.

If something like that happened, Ron was ready to fight against Bassena, even if there was no way for him to win. He had resolved to use his pathfinding skill to run away from them if the worse happened, taking Zein away.

But looking at the subtle smile on Zein's face as he listened to the esper's talk, and the way their fingers intertwined while guiding, it seemed like he had nothing to worry about.

* * *

"This is getting weirder," Bassena muttered as he slayed the last beast that ambushed them on the way. "They felt familiar even though I never saw them before."

"Me too," Ron wiped the blood off his dagger, staring at the beast's corpse in front of him.

The ones that attacked them inside the ruin were beasts that they had never seen before; at least, they weren't included in the database made so far. Even after scanning them with the commlink, they found no similar variants available.

No—that wasn't exactly right either.

It was more like there were two or more species' characteristics meshed into one. Worms with hard carapaces, scorpions with wings, ants with tails...

"Are they something like chimera?" Sierra asked as she kicked one of the corpses away to make way for the non-combatant.

They were in a place like a cityscape before, but Zein's signal brought them into a place that felt like a huge ancient research facility, with labyrinth-like corridors and countless rooms where beasts kept pouring from. Since they were in narrow spaces, Bassena couldn't send out his kids like usual, and they had to stay even more vigilant. The way forward was truly dependent on Zein's direction, and he was now under the direct protection of Bassena, while Sierra and Balduz took care of the rearguard.

It was around this facility that the beasts attacking them consisted of those weird-looking ones. What made them weird wasn't because they were truly bizarre in appearance, but because they felt familiar, like the beasts they had encountered thus far, but also with extra features that made them completely unknown to the database.

Hearing Sierra's question, the researchers dashed toward the corpses with intrigue, leaving Balduz's shield and making the tanker follow them with a sigh. The civilians, who were still shivering in fear before, were now looking excitedly at the corpses, taking pictures and everything.

"Chimera..." Zein stared down, looking at the sturdy carapace of the worm in front of his feet. "I don't think they are..."

Obviously, Zein had never seen a chimera before. He just read about them; how a few decades ago, a group of researchers had attempted to tame miasmic beasts. But the research was a failure, and thus, they tried another thing, which was to combine the beasts they had captured into another species. The research was deemed a failure and an abomination that had no contribution to the betterment of humanity, and a law banning such practice was made.

He had imagined those chimeras to look like different beasts sewn together, and felt that it would look awkward and strange. But these beasts, on the other hand, felt too natural. It was as if the extra features on their body was a part of them from the very start.

"Hmm, yes, these aren't chimera," said Eugene, glasses glowing like a scanning screen. "All of their body, nerves, bones, everything aligned naturally as a part of them."

"So it's either something could fuse different types of beasts together so smoothly, like magic, or it's something happening from the moment of their birth," Anise added.

Han Shin narrowed his eyes as he scanned every beast strewn around them. "You mean, something like cross-breeding?"

The researchers nodded, and Bassena sighed, pulling Zein back from the pile of corpses. "The question is, whether these creatures cross-breed among themselves or..."

"...or there's a breeder."