Chapter 34. Where The Journey Continue

"Zein, I feel like erecting a temple on your name," Han Shin clasped his hand as a section of the tree wall twisted to create an entrance—or rather, an exit.

Zein took his hand off the tree while muttering coldly. "No thanks," Han Shin had been all over him ever since Zein told them about the other shard and the probability of taking it.

Of course, he didn't tell them about the one-sided conversation with Setnath or that the vestige told him he was a fragment—whatever that means.

"Hmm, yeah, it'll be a hassle to take care of it," the healer nodded, and then slammed his hand into his palm. "What about naming a street after you? We'll get the right to manage the land once we're done with the reclamation, so—"

"Please don't."

"A building?"

"No need."

"Heung~"

Zein rolled his eyes and ignored the healer's whine, telling everyone to walk through the exit. As usual, Bassena went out first, and the esper lowered his face to whisper in Zein's ear before he passed the threshold.

"What about a statue?"

"Go," Zein tapped on Bassena's cheek once with the back of his hand and the esper chuckled before moving forward.

Once Bassena informed them that the coast was clear, the rest of the members came out one by one, and Zein looked at the shard above the lake with a forlorn gaze.

He was still confused about the whole conversation with the celestial being's vestige before. It didn't sit well with him—being called a fragment. But when he tried to connect with the vestige again, there was nothing. He still sensed the shard consciousness, but the vestige's presence felt faint, like it was falling asleep.

Zein wondered if he could feel something from the other shards, which was why he willingly told the researchers about the existence of another shard and urged the team to try and retrieved it.

When the rest of the team had crossed over the exit, Zein looked at the domain for the last time; the high green dome, the serene lake, the colorful flowers. He had no idea when he could see such scenery again, and tried to commit every detail into his poor memory as much as possible. With a last, hardened gaze, he stepped out.

The area outside the tree fortress was still under the seeping influence of the shard, so it wasn't that dark or suffocating yet. But after staying inside abundance purity for two days, even the slight miasma felt awful. Zein could see the frown on the other's faces—especially the researchers—as he 'told' the trees to close up the exit again.

"You looked like a wood attribute esper, Zein," Han Shin giggled. It especially felt true since Zein was built like an esper.

Indeed, Zein was using magic energy to channel his thought into the domain, so it would look like he was using some kind of skill. He looked at his hand, and felt the accumulated energy inside his vessel.

Suddenly, he had this thought that this unique trait of his was meant as a tool for survival. It was there to help him find his way to the fragment. It was there so he wouldn't easily get devoured by the world.

To live. To be alive.

"Mister Zen?" Sierra called out to him, and Zein closed his fist, lifting his head to be greeted by seven pairs of eyes.

Zein raised his hand and pointed northwest. "That way."

The next time he met the vestige again, he'd better manage to say something.

* * *

Their resuming journey felt like that first day. They were back inside the jungle, and Ron was busy opening the way for the non-combatants while Bassena getting rid of the wandering beasts like usual.

There was no river or chart to be followed, so they just went straight toward the general direction that Zein pointed at. Perhaps because they had been through this for more than a week now, even Zein had started to be more at ease.

He was tensed and vigilant at first. But he knew enough of Bassena's prowess now to trust that the esper wouldn't let anything get passed his children's patrol—unless they came through the ground, of course. But even then, Bassena had been training Sierra hard to deal with such occasions.

It was lax enough even for them to traverse the forest while chatting. It was the only way to ease the suffocating feeling of being surrounded by miasma again.

"But you're sure that we can take that shard, right?" Eugene asked Zein for the nth time. As much as he was overjoyed by the good news, he was also anxious that all this hope might get shattered again like before.

And for the nth time, Zein answered the researcher patiently like the trained caretaker that he was. "Yes, I'm pretty sure," he was reminded of the time he had to answer the same question that his younger brothers asked time and time again during their toddler stage. "The one that we encountered first is coincidentally the core of the fragment, so that's why it was instantly taking root there. But the scattered one wouldn't be able to do the same thing."

Eugene and Anise let out a sigh of relief, again. But soon their anxious eyes came back, and Zein knew it wouldn't stop until the shard was placed safely inside their dimensional storage.

"Do you know how many shards there were in the Deathzone?" Anise asked, fidgeting eagerly while staring at Zein. The female researcher had been showing even more interest in the guide ever since they talked beside the underground river.

There was curiosity written all over the woman's face every time she looked at Zein which made the guide think he would get kidnapped and dissected.

"I don't know," Zein had been trying to sense them, but his perception only caught one after getting strengthened by the core. He would probably need a higher proficiency rate to be able to expand his perception wider. "I think there's at least three more, but I couldn't be sure."

The last time he interacted with the shard—the moment right before they resumed their journey—he had a vague vision of the moment the fragment got split and scattered. He couldn't see the exact number of split parts, but it was for sure more than three. Probably five, but no more than ten.

The Deathzone was a big area, and there was a probability that some got plunged into the sea. There was even an off chance that the small shard couldn't fight the miasma and either get swallowed by a high-ranking beast, or integrate into Specter.

"You really can't feel the other shards?"

These researchers sure were pushy. Zein sighed inwardly and answered curtly. "No."

"Hey, it's already a miracle that Zein could sense that much," Han Shin snapped his fingers to shut the two researchers that seemed about to say another thing. "Let's not smother him, okay?"

The researchers pursed their lips and trudged on listlessly. It couldn't be helped that they got a lot of questions, since Zein's case was the first they had encountered, and their truth-seeker spirit compelled them to prioritize knowledge.

But Bassena had warned the healer that Zein might clam up if they become too pushy and annoyed the man. So he shut the researchers when he saw Zein's brow twitching.

Swiftly, Han Shin tried to divert the topic into something more mundane, things about their daily life and trends and even television shows. Zein, obviously, couldn't join in the conversation. But it gave him an insight into what kind of life they had in the safer zone, so he listened somewhat to their chatter while making sure they still walked in the right direction.

At some point, the topic shifted to a hit dating simulation game that became the trend nowadays—since it was created by one of Mortix's subsidiaries—and it led to Han Shin questioning everyone about their preferences.

His first victim was the quiet tanker that had been walking silently and vigilantly behind them. "So what's your type man, I'll ask Marian to introduce you to someone," Han Shin grinned while glancing back.

After more than a week, Zein knew enough that the bulky, scary-looking tanker was actually a softhearted, timid bear. Just by being questioned about the type of person he liked already got Balduz red and flustered. "Uhh...well, I guess as long as she's nice—"

"Boring. What about you Sierra?" Han Shin cruelly cut the poor man.

The next victim, the sharpshooter in front of them, replied in surprise. "Eh—huh? Me?"

"Since I don't see another Sierra here..." Han Shin shrugged.

Sierra tilted her head, clutching her gun tightly, eyes shut in pondering. "Oh, well, I like the cool type, probably..." just like Balduz, there was a blush creeping on her face. "The one who looked cold but actually kindhearted?"

"Ooh..." Han Shin nodded and clapped once. "like Zein?"

"Huh?" a sudden cold, sharp, eerie voice could be heard from the front, as a pair of piercing amber eyes blazed within the darkness.

Sierra almost shrieked when she replied hastily. "N-no! Damian! Like Damian!" she blurted out the name of a character from the game they were talking about earlier.

Bassena narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but soon turned his face to the front again. Sierra huffed a sigh of relief and whispered frantically to Han Shin in a hiss. "Chief, please! Do you want me to get tortured?!"

Han Shin, on his part, just shrugged with a smirk. Since the name had come up already, he turned his head to the man walking beside him, a big grin plastered on his face. "What about you Zein? Do you have a type?"

The healer thought Zein would dodge the question or ignore him, since the guide didn't seem like someone who partook in that kind of conversation. There was also the case with Zein that—almost—never done sexual guiding, and it made Han Shin see the guide as this prude, sexually reserved guy.

Also, he only asked to tease Bassena.

But Zein answered him in a casual, barely unchanged tone. "In what sense? Fucking? Dating?"

It took a while for Han Shin to come back from his shock, as he tilted his head and asked. "There's a difference?"

Han Shin was someone who got engaged in his teenage days, so he had no concept of fuck buddy and never done a one night stand. For him, physical relationship was still, inherently, a relationship. Sexual guiding was a different story since it was considered a job and must be conducted professionally.

Zein shrugged, and the healer tilted his head again at the others. "Well, some people have different preferences for each, I guess?" Sierra offered a reply.

Han Shin nodded and stared at the guide again. "So, is it different for you, Zein?"

"Hmm, not really. When it comes down to it, both are the same," the casual way the guide said it made Han Shin wonder if his perception of Zein's sexual life was wrong all this time.

"Oh~so what's your type then?" the healer pressed on, with a voice that intentionally made to be louder, although he was well aware that there was no way Bassena couldn't hear them with his heightened sense and hearing.

Zein didn't even take a break to ponder about it, answering immediately; "The cute one."

The silence that pervaded the expedition team was both heavy and comical. Even Ron, who was busy charting while opening the path, turned his head back for a second, just to press his lips tightly. He happened to know that it was the truth—at least, he knew that Zein sometimes slept with the Unit's youngest guide, Yath, who was undoubtedly a cute one. But pointing such fact would probably invoke the wrath of certain esper, so he just chanted inwardly. 'Don't react. Don't react. Don't—"

*Pfft*

Of course, the dam would be broken eventually. "Ahahahahaha—cough!" Han Shin started laughing, filling the area with his voice until he stumbled on a tree root and coughed. But his laughter didn't cease even after that. "Ahahahahaha—huff oh god..."

The healer leaned into Zein and clutched the guide's shoulder, wheezing.

"Why are you laughing?" Zein looked at the healer weirdly. "Don't be so loud in a place like this."

"Huh? Yeah, sorry, but...pfft—just...ahahahaha!"

Han Shin continued to cackle and slapped his stomach. A cute one! He looked to the front, at the broad shoulder that suddenly looked pitiful. His link beeped then, and he opened it with glee to a single message.

[you're dead]

Again, Han Shin let out a hearty laughter. "Ahahahahaha~"

[that's not cute, Bas] he typed back, grinning widely. Oh, it was so much fun. He'd have a field day teasing Bassena with this in the foreseeable future.

* * *

Thanks to Han Shin's laughter, a lot of beasts attacked them to the point that even some slipped between Bassena's children of darkness. Even though it didn't result in any casualties due to the swift protection of the tanker and Sierra taking out the rest, the healer was getting reprimanded heavily by Zein. Han Shin had to sit on the ground while Zein berated him when the other was getting rid of the corpses.

Leaving Han Shin like a drenched puppy getting scolded, Zein walked to the front. The signal from the shard was getting stronger, but the nearer they got, the harder it was to pinpoint the exact location.

Zein knew it was there, on the northwest, upon the small hill. It was supposed to be in a ruin. But the ruin encompassed a whole district, so where exactly should they head to? From which side?

"Is that your only type?"

Zein, who was in the middle of pinpointing the shortest possible route, paused his pondering and turned his face to the coming esper. "Huh?"

Bassena stood beside him, looking down at the dreary forest ground, the amber eyes dimmed and slightly narrowed like he was holding back on something. His hands were buried inside the coat pockets, undoubtedly curled into fists. The esper chewed on his inside cheek, looking as sulky as that one time during their first camp—when he questioned Zein's sudden cold attitude.

When Zein just looked at him dumbfoundedly, Bassena added in a quiet, almost whisper-like mutter. "The...cute one."

Oh, look at that. Zein smirked behind his mask, and answered casually. "Yes."

Bassena frowned, lips pressed tight and dipped downward. It was clear that he was sullen and displeased. The esper turned his head to face Zein—who was trying not to laugh behind his mask. "You're not saying that just to mess with me, aren't you?"

"You sure are full of confidence," Zein scoffed. This esper really thought he would go out of his way to declare a type that was as far as possible from Bassena Vaski's image.

But why would Zein do something as bothersome as that? He had rejected the esper plenty from the start. And still, Zein decided to relent and gave away his lips. The guide never rejected people in such a roundabout way.

Bassena just didn't know, that Zein had his own filter about what he constituted as 'cute'.

"I don't feel that confident right now…" Bassena turned his head away, every word uttered in a quiet, disgruntled tone.

"Why?" Zein tilted his head, feeling his own lips stretched into a smile. "You're plenty cute."

He wasn't, at first. But along the way, Zein did find Bassena to be rather adorable. But so was Han Shin, in a way. Zein was just weak to men that were younger than him, generally. The way they acted around Zein seemed cute in the guide's eyes.

It was just that Zein never had any thought of doing more than hand-to-hand guiding with Han Shin. So the healer felt more like a younger brother kind of guy to him.

In that sense, Bassena was a tad bit more special, even after Zein told himself to not indulge the esper's attachment. Zein even went as far as telling the man that he was, indeed, still inside the spectrum of Zein's preference.

There was a long silence between them when Bassena seemed to freeze like a statue, before Zein tapped on his cheek lightly. "That way," he said, pointing to the path on the left. Wordlessly, Bassena walked forward in a daze, following Zein's fingers.

If Han Shin could see how red Bassena's face was right now, he surely would take tons of pictures just to tease the man about it.