There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 448 - 441. Pearls

Zein’s plan to never leave their room was thwarted when the ship arrived in its mid-destination; the Tower of Varna.

In the first place, locking themselves up in the room for five days was just not feasible. No matter how much stamina they had, their bodies still needed to reproduce...stuff. And so, the Tower of Varna seemed to be a good enough distraction after all the cuddling and frolicking in bed.

That being said, they only watched the Island, the Tower far away, and the throng of the cruise ship’s passengers coming down from the dock while enjoying the sea breeze.

"You’re not going down?" Bassena asked, shaking his head as his hair was getting played by the wind and the strands were poking his eyes.

"What’s the point if we can’t go to the Tower?" Zein shrugged, wincing at the sunglasses he had never worn before.

"We can go there if we teleport a few times, but then..."

"It’s not like we can go inside," Zein finished the esper’s words. "And we don’t have permits."

Bassena snapped his fingers in agreement. Even though the Island of Varna looked like a tourist spot with an accessible beach, no one could get through the gate past the beach. Those who wanted to get through needed a permit from the government or the association, whether it was for a trial or scouting.

Well, Tower was Tower. There was nothing too different other than the architecture which bore the patron deity’s symbol. If Zein put mana in his eyes and tried hard to enhance his vision, he would be able to see the Tower a little bit clearer.

"Hmm...I guess, the beacon acts like a lighthouse?"

"Yep," Bassena, like a good tour guide, explained. "Even if it’s dark or stormy, the beacon of the Tower will never get hindered. We could even see it slightly from the hotel room, couldn’t we?"

"Ah, so that came from the Tower?"

Bassena, who was getting annoyed with his hair, tugged on Zein’s sleeve. "Should we get in? Most of the passengers are down there, so there won’t be a lot of people inside."

Zein chuckled at the wincing esper who regretted not taking a hat before coming out and following the man inside. He understood though; here, people didn’t easily recognize them. Not many cared about the espers or guides from another country since it had nothing to do with them. Especially people in the high-zone, who didn’t have much interaction with dungeon or espers in the first place.

So they could just walk around without disguise, even when they were in the observatory and the restaurant on their second day in Urda. Truly felt like a vacation, losing all the tension they would acquire the next week as they marched into the darkness.

And something Zein learned now that he was part of the high-dweller was that when people went on vacation, there was a souvenir to be expected.

They didn’t need to buy one, since they would directly go to the Borderland after their vacation, so there wouldn’t be any time to share the souvenirs. Still, it was fun just looking at them.

There were a lot of things Zein had never seen before since it was a completely different region. Different kinds of local snacks that they ended up buying a stash for a bit of indulgence inside the Deathzone, and clothes in local fabrics and designs they bought for funsies--since they couldn’t wear them inside the Deathzone.

Bassena liked to see it being worn by Zein, though; it was baggy and flowy and easy to take off.

Their leisure, nonchalant exploration of the ship’s stores ended with Zein staring interestedly at a jewelry store. It wasn’t the jewelry per se, but the material that he hadn’t seen before.

"What’s that?" Zein asked while pointing at the piece in the display window. It was a bracelet that was made of little balls, like beads, but with a vastly different shine on them.

"Pearls," Bassena replied. "They came from the oyster we ate for breakfast--you know, the one you said was too fishy for your taste."

"They are alright when fried," Zein shrugged, before walking toward the store’s door. "Wait...was the black pearl came from something like that oyster too? Even though it’s a dagger.’

"Yep--a gigantic one. Like...as big as the dining table. Why it’s a dagger and not like...a magic crystal or something is beyond me. I kind of feel those deities like playing with the trial takers."

"Huh..."

"But that ended up becoming very useful, so..." Bassena shrugged and smiled at the holder of the dagger while opening the store door for him. "After you, Sir."

The clerk perked up when the couple came inside, because the jewelry store rarely got visited before the last day. Well, no stores but the ones selling daily necessities, actually. And people rarely bought jewelry on the cruise ship anyway, since the price was rather higher than the ones on the mainland.

"Are you going to buy one?" Bassena asked curiously.

"Hmm...Elena told me she was making me a gift," Zein said. "She said she had sent it to Althrea, so Shin will bring it to the Borderland."

"Ah, the little Saintess?" Bassena shifted his gaze toward the clerk. "Do you ship it to Northern Alliance?"

The clerk eagerly nodded. "Of course, Sir! We can always airmail it every day for a fee. Although...it will need extra for overseas shipment. May I know where you want to send it to?" frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

"The Tempe of Frejya," Zain replied while looking at the items in the showcase. Ignoring the clerk’s dumbfounded face, he pointed into the display window. "I want to see your...uhh, pearls? Pearl collections. Something for a kid--ah, no...a teenager."

Elena still looked like a kid despite entering her teens already. But she was going to grow into a proper teenager, so it would be better to give her something befitting for her future.

"Something that’s not too...noisy," Zein said.

"Something that can be worn without getting scolded by her guardian," Bassena added with a chuckle.

"Ah--yes! Yes, of course, wait a minute, Sirs!"

While they were waiting for the clerk to assemble what Zein requested, they walked around the stores and Zein asked Bassena to choose another two pieces. It was easy for Bassena to guess that it was for his mother’s older sisters, so the esper chose two almost identical pearl necklaces--only had different colors.

Naturally, the clerk was very happy and, realizing that the client was an exceptionally wealthy one, he pushed the sale of a set of accessories for teenagers; a bracelet and a necklace.

Unlike the ones Bassena chose for the middle-aged guides, this one looked plainer at first. The bracelet only had five pearls, connected by thin chains made of white gold, and a small jewel attached to the lock. The necklace only had one pearl above a shell-shaped pendant.

"This is made of a shell found in an underwater dungeon--they are small and almost unbreakable, and had a very pretty shield spell attached to it," the clerk explained enthusiastically. She didn’t know exactly who Bassena and Zein were, but she was keen enough to realize they were sentinels.

And sentinels loved stuff with magic properties on them.

As she thought, the taller esper seemed to approve of the choice. "Not bad, even though I don’t think the girl needs more protection. But this is a high-grade sea pearl, so I guess that’s good enough since Northern Alliance also has no sea."

Well, no sea they could travel on, anyway. Their sea was in the north and practically frozen all the time. Definitely no pearls coming from that place. Lots of bears, though.

"If you say so," Zein, who didn’t think he had eyes for aesthetics, trusted the judgment of an artisan’s son.

The clerk was overjoyed to have a client who didn’t even haggle and bought things easily just like that. It was rare even in a luxurious ship like this.

But that was understandable if she knew they were about to head to a place where they wouldn’t have any place to spend their money for the next few years, despite salaries, royalties, and dividends that would keep on coming into their account.

"Hmm..." Zein tilted his head in contemplation while enjoying a weird ice cream with a sprinkle of sea salt on their way back to enjoy the sun at the desk after their shopping spree. "Reina was right."

"About what?"

"Shopping," Zein smiled, recalling the nice feeling he had earlier as he imagined his gift came to their hands. "It was fun."

"Only when you have money," Bassena smirked, finally bought a cap so his hair which had become longer wouldn’t get messed up by the wind again.

Zein chuckled. That in itself was proof that he had been faring well for the last year. Even with all the money he poured into building the orphanage, the school, and the foundation, he still had enough to buy luxurious gifts for people that mattered to him. He would have gotten Alma something if it wasn’t for how delicate those pearls were. Things like that on a berserker living in a red-zone were just...useless.

Well...he would get her a better gift with the eradication of the Deathzone.

"It’s kind of funny," Zein muttered.

"What? The ice cream?"

"This too," Zein chuckled. "But also thinking that in exactly a year, I’m going back to that place."

He had already imagined what the Captain would say, and rather than feeling nervous, he was actually feeling excited. It was only three years, but the members of Unit 04-2 felt almost like Scarlet Moon for him. Perhaps because most of them were decent people--although rather crazy--and not total assholes like Umbra.

"But this time, you’re going back to free them," Bassena said, glancing at the smiling guide. "Right?"

"Well..." there was another person that came to mind right then. "I need to pay Ron’s investment after all."