There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 132 - 128. Seven Ether

Chapter 132: Chapter 128. Seven Ether

"Isn’t it weird?" Zein frowned as they get out of the car. "You buy something from me to give it...to me..."

Zein had argued that Bassena should have just told him to reserve a portion of the aetherite for him, and only paid for the artisan and enchanter service. But the esper just laughed at that and argued back.

"Then it wouldn’t be a present," Bassena said. "Especially with what happened this week, I want to give you some protection."

"Then I should pay for it myself,"

Bassena turned to look at the guide, giving the man an exasperated smile. "I told you I want to gift you a present. Can you just let a man do his courting?"

Zein...had no argument for that.

So he just begrudgingly followed the courting man into what appeared to be an ordinary house. It was quite an ordinary residence, with a simple lawn and minimalistic exterior, despite being spacious. The spacious aspect being the existence of a long building that seemed to be a workshop.

Bassena knocked on the door once and someone opened the door readily, a teenage boy of fifteen or sixteen that got Zein frozen for a bit. The boy told them to enter after greeting Bassena timidly, and Zein exhaled unconsciously, feeling relieved that the boy was very different from the twins.

Following Bassena further, they arrived at what seemed to be a living room. But one side of the wall had an open window and a counter that made it look like a store instead. A store with a very homey and cozy waiting room.

"Don’t you know people had been looking for you? What are you doing suddenly coming here?" a stern voice greeted them behind that counter-like window, and Zein could see an old man, older than old man Dan, standing with crossed arms.

Despite his age, however, the old man had a bulking physique and sturdy arms, with a face covered in a thick mustache and beard. At a glance, he seemed to be irritated, but there was no malice in his voice or his gaze. Actually, he looked like he was quite glad to see them--or rather, seeing Bassena.

"I’m seeking refuge here, of course," Bassena answered with a smirk. "Since people don’t dare come close to your workshop, old man."

The old man clicked his tongue and grunted a reply. "You’re just as cheeky as your mother."

"Thanks for the compliment," Bassena laughed in response, sounding genuinely happy rather than being sarcastic.

The old man scoffed and put something on the counter then, as Bassena and Zein arrived in front of him. It was a small velvet box with a piece of light blue gem, exquisitely carved in the shape of a water drop.

"Here, as you requested. It’s small and inconspicuous enough to be fashioned into any accessory," the old man told them. "Enchanted with a healing amplification, rejuvenation spell, and barrier formation."

"Is your daughter doing the enchantment?"

"Who else if not her?" the man replied harshly, but there was a trace of pride in his voice.

Bassena smiled as he tapped on the box and brushed the blue gem with his thumb. It was small, only about the size of a bean. He made it so--not because he couldn’t buy a bigger one, but because he knew Zein wouldn’t wear it otherwise, even if the man agreed to receive the gift.

"So? What do you want to make?" the old man asked. "Ring? Necklace? Earring? Bracelet?"

Bassena turned his head to look at Zein, who had been only listening quietly while looking around. "So?" the esper asked, and the old man shifted his gaze to the guide too.

Zein, who was still thinking that he might be able to reject the gift, finally answered after a few seconds of silence under the gaze of two waiting people. "...the last one."

"Bracelet it is," the old man nodded, and Bassena grinned in delight as Zein put his wrist on the counter to be measured as per the old man’s instruction.

Well, after looking at the pea-size gem, he thought it was okay. Bassena was right--Zein would refuse to wear it if it was any bigger. That being said, he also liked how the gem reminded him of a water drop.

He realized then that Bassena really ordered this gem for him. Watching the esper looking so pleased and happy at the notion of giving him something made Zein feel a bit weird.

A bit warm.

"Will it take long?" Bassena asked the old man after the measuring was finished.

"Nah, I already cast some chain, just need to assemble it," the man said while closing the box of the jewel again. He looked at Bassena with a mischievous smile and said with a grin. "You rich boy don’t mind using Mithril, right?"

Zein closed his eyes for a second to digest it. Using mithril--a metal only found in the dungeon with high magic coefficiency--that was usually only used for highest grade equipment, for an accessory? He remembered an esper from the Unit had equipment with a little bit of mithril mixed in it and the person already treated the equipment like a family heirloom.

But the rich boy just shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. "Sure,"

Yeah, sure. Use mithril to cast a chain enough for circling an adult’s waist, no big deal.

It had been a while since Zein felt it; the cultural shock. Well, at least, the bracelet wouldn’t end up as a mere pretty accessory, but something akin to equipment. It was just an extra armor for emergency situations, Zein said to himself, so he could take the gift with a lighter heart.

The old man packed the box and the paper he used to write Zein’s measurement in, but he glanced at the guide before walking back to his workshop. "I have to say though, unlike your mother, you have a good taste in people," he said, smirking at Bassena.

The esper return the smirk with another one of his own. "Because I only inherited her good side," he said proudly, narcissistically, and yet somehow adorably. Perhaps because of the innocent feeling behind it, or Zein had developed a weird filter now.

That filter, apparently, did not apply to the old man. "Hah! Don’t delude yourself!" the man snapped back with a deep grunt. "Your temperament and impudence are all the same!" he said, to which Bassena responded with a hearty laugh.

Zein looked at the younger man, watching the twinkling ambers and light-hearted smile. It seemed like Bassena was particularly close with the old man, since he had never seen the esper being this carefree with anyone else, aside from Radia and Shin. It was quite fascinating, in a way, to watch Bassena’s interaction with people outside of the guild.

The old man shook his head at the sound of laughter, but Zein could see a smile behind the thick facial hair. "Just wait inside for now, Eiza will get you something to drink."

And with that, the old man retreated to a door at the back of the room, which Zein assumed was leading to his workshop. Immediately after, Bassena took the guide’s hand and led Zein further inside the house, to a spacious open space consisting of a living and dining room. The timid boy from the door was back, approaching Bassena to ask what they wanted to drink.

While Bassena talked with the boy, Zein walked toward the couch--or rather, the small cabinet beside it. There was something there that caught his attention.

An old portrait. There were seven people there, the old man was on it, although he was much younger. By the look of it, it seemed to be around twenty or thirty years ago. The bulky physique didn’t change much, and the facial hair was already there too, although much neater and thinner.

But what attracted Zein’s attention was someone else who was standing beside the old man. A beautiful woman with skin like golden honey, short platinum blonde hair, and eyes like a pair of blazing flames. From the sharp eyes to the sneering lips, everything about this woman, who looked tall even standing beside a younger version of the old man, reminded Zein of Bassena.

"What are you looking at?" the esper put his chin on Zein’s shoulder, following the guide’s line of sight. "Ah..." he reached out toward the small frame and lifted it, humming with a smile.

"Is that your mother?" Zein asked, although it was very apparent. The woman in the portrait basically looked like Bassena’s twin sister, since she looked like she was in her twenties.

Zein could hear Bassena’s soft laughter on his shoulder. "Yep," there was softness within the husky voice that made Zein want to pat the esper’s head. "This is the only place I can see her face."

Raising his brow, Zein turned his head slightly to look at the face perching on his shoulder. "Why?"

"After she died, they got rid of all her pictures so I can’t look at them," Bassena answered nonchalantly.

Zein thought Bassena would be more frustrated about it, but the esper just put the frame back on top of the cabinet, as if he didn’t care. "I don’t miss those pictures inside the mansion. She never looked happy in those, only stony faces and fake smiles. This is the only place where I could see her genuinely happy face."

Bassena smiled fondly at the picture inside the frame for the last time before taking a seat on the couch. "I think she’s about my age in that photograph."

No wonder they looked like twins, Zein thought as he took a seat beside the esper. Also, no wonder Bassena seemed to be close to the old man. "So you know the old man through your mother?"

"Well..." Bassena glanced at the portrait again and smiled. "She’s the founder of Seven Ether after all."

...huh.

At Zein’s blinking, surprised face, Bassena added. "She came to the Federation to be an artisan, and gathered six other people to form the company. I let Mortix take the company as a subsidiary after I became an adult and received her inheritance."

Zein narrowed his eyes as he tried to digest the information. "So you mean...you’re the owner of Seven Ether?"