There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 438 - 431. Explosion of Colors

"The air feels different," Zein stretched out his arms and back as he came out of the plane.

It wasn’t just the air; the temperature too, felt significantly higher. The scent carried by the wind was very different from the Northern Alliance’s cold air.

"So I guess even clean air could taste different," Zein muttered.

"Because the air flows through different things than the other place," Bassena smiled, raising his hand for Zein to take. "The climate, the temperature, the level of pollution...that too, would differ."

"Hmm..." Zein took the offered hand and raised his head, wincing at the scorching sun. "I wonder if the red-zone felt different too..."

He didn’t think so, though. Red-zones always smell of the same thing; a light decaying scent and a slightly burnt sensation. Whatever was different in the air would be overshadowed by the thin fog of miasma, that would gradually get heavier and heavier toward the borderland.

"Does Southern Kingdom have a Deathzone?" Zein asked as they walked toward the car waiting below the stairs.

"In the border they shared with the Western Republic," Bassena replied. "But why are we talking about Deathzones on this vacation?" he frowned and pursed his lips. "This is supposed to be a calm week to get us away from thinking about it. We’ll be there for years anyway."

"Fine," Zein rolled his eyes and patted the esper’s cheek, entering the car which door had been politely opened by the customs officer checking on them earlier. "Thank you."

The car rolled by, and Zein glanced at Bassena who was busy texting on his commlink, probably confirming their hotel reservation or something. He observed the nonchalant face and only after convincing himself that the esper was okay did he start to calmly look outside the window.

Zein thought he would be greeted by the scenery of empty fields flanking the road, but the moment the car exited the airport gate, he was greeted by an explosion of color. Various colors in any shade and level of brightness flashed before his eyes.

Perhaps because it was a district purely meant for tourism, the airport was located right in the middle of the city rather than on the outskirts. It was surrounded by a parking lot filled with colorful cars with the word ’taxi’ on them, waiting for tourists to use their service. Aside from the variant of colors, the cars were also in different kinds, unlike the taxis in Eastern Federation which all came in standardized kind.

Going further out, Zein could see shops and kiosks lining up the streets with local wares and souvenirs attracting last-minute shoppers. The front of the neatly lined shops was decorated with each shop’s iconic mascot or creative signage that was meant to attract as many shoppers as possible. Staff were pouring into the street and calling out for more shoppers, sometimes dressed in mascots.

It was, for some reason, felt both orderly and chaotic at the same time.

Even with the noise-canceling feature of the car, Zein could easily imagine the noises happening out there. He could see a plethora of expressions; happy ones, tired ones, arguing ones...

It seemed very lively, with a vibe that made Zein think of a yellow-zone rather than a green one.

"Because this is the only place with the calm seaside and beautiful beaches, they can’t make it exclusive or there would be many outrages from the public," Bassena explained when Zein told him. "So the entry permit to this place is rather loose--most of them use a tourist visa anyway."

"Just like us?"

"Just like us," Bassena smiled, tilting his head to look at Zein’s eyes. "It’s very fitting too since most of the tourists come from Northern Alliance."

Zein nodded. Understandable; since the Northern Alliance was colder than any other nation. The Temple of Frejya gave off a nice summer respite, but Zein felt the chill temperature during his volunteering sessions as if they were still in the middle of winter.

"Anyway, what are we going to do next? You are very secretive about it."

Bassena smiled cheekily. Unlike their other dates, Bassena told Zein that he would be the one to arrange everything. All Zein needed to do was bring himself to enjoy all the things that Bassena had prepared.

"Well, for now, we’ll go to the seaside resort," the esper said. "We’ll have dinner at a restaurant by the cliff, and you can eat as much seafood as you like tonight. Or anytime, really."

Zein instantly perked up just from the mention of seafood. While he had eaten some in the Federation, he had heard that there was more variety if he ate right near the source. Radia had told him that the taste of seafood could vary greatly from the level of its freshness, so he was rather excited to find out how tasty the food here could be.

"We can go around the city to sightsee too if you want," Bassena said with a smile as he recalled the look of amusement and curiosity in those blue eyes earlier. "But we’ll leave the resort on the third day."

Zein was taken aback. They would leave? Even though they still have half their vacation time left? Bassena chuckled at the guide’s inquisitive stare which was mixed with annoyance.

"For the remainder of the stay, we’ll be spending it on the sea," Bassena said.

Zein blinked and tilted his head in confusion, so Bassen pulled out a digital brochure and sent it hovering in front of the guide. The first thing Zein saw in that brochure was...of a ship. A big, luxurious ship surrounded by cerulean water.

Zein had to press his lips because he felt them started to tremble. He swallowed and repeated what Bassena said earlier. "...on the sea."

Bassena leaned down and smiled joyfully. "Do you like it?"

Instead of words, Zein answered it with a pull on the platinum hair and a hard kiss that got the driver rather flustered. From the look of it, the guide would probably jump Bassena right there and then if there was no one else.

Fortunately--or unfortunately--the kiss got forcibly stopped when the driver suddenly hit the brake. No--not because of the kiss, but because the road was being blocked by a few vehicles with the kind of plate numbers that couldn’t be ignored.

"What--"

"I...I’m sorry, Sirs--but the way is blocked..." the driver looked at the rearview nervously. Between those people outside and Bassena Vaski in the rear seat...he felt his head might fly away with a single wrong move.

"What is it?" Zein looked at the front curiously, where several black cars had pulled over around the car they were riding in.

Some of the passengers alighted and walked toward them, wearing what Zein presumed to be a uniform. Just from this fact and both the drivers and Bassena’s stiff reactions, Zein could already tell where were these people coming from.

"Tsk--" Bassena clicked his tongue when one of them, with a deep red coat and polished insignia that seemed to signify a higher rank, approached the car and knocked on the window of Bassena’s side.

"...Sir?" the driver asked, unsure of what to do.

"Fine."

Swiftly, the car window rolled down, and the person leaned down to look at the passengers and bowed politely. "Greetings, Your Highness. We would like to inform you that the palace has sent an invitation."

"Invitation, you say," Bassena scoffed. "You mean one where you will force on it if I refuse?"

The man only gave Bassena a smile and nothing more on his face. Zein could feel that his esper was getting upset by the turbulence of mana inside his core, so he patted Bassena’s thigh to calm the man down.

Bassena looked at the guide, and, in the end, just let out a disgruntled sigh. "Fine."

The uniformed man smiled a bit wider and opened the car door. At the same time, another person opened the door to Zein’s side.

"We will take it from here," the uniformed man told the driver, who could only nod silently.

It was only well after he was halfway toward the resort without any passengers that he realized; the Serpent Lord, Bassena Vaski, was...a member of the royal family?!

* * *

When Bassena said they should go to the sea, Zein honestly hesitated for a bit. Of course, he wanted to; his heart was beating in rare excitement just by the uttering of the word ’sea’. But he also knew the only sea available for leisure vacation in this continent was located in the Southern Kingdom, which had a tower situated on an island by the southern sea. So the beach of the kingdom’s mainland was a green-zone.

Which meant, they would have to go to the territory of Bassena’s maternal family.

But Bassena said the Cerulean Sea green-zone was not the Capital, so it was alright. He had already rejected their offer too, so they should just ignore him even if they found out he was visiting the beach if they weren’t so shameless.

Too bad. They were that shameless. They even called him ’His Highness’ even though Bassena already rejected to be a part of the royalty; to erase the legacy that his mother had thrown away.

Bassena, a powerful esper who could face a black gate’s boss by himself, could go and bombard the palace with his gigantic dark snake in a spark of anger if he wanted to.

And honestly? Zein wouldn’t stop him.

But they were about to embark on the most important mission of their life, so they couldn’t, unfortunately, make themselves liable for international conflict and got flagged for terrorism. If they made a huge fuss by refusing to go, there would be a fight--or rather, a one-sided beating. And it would end up with them having to take care of that instead of enjoying their vacation. Not to mention, it might jeopardize the reclamation project.

That was why, despite the churning of his guts, Bassena just gritted his teeth and followed the palace guards to a portal that would send them to the Capital.

"Did you cancel the reservation?" Zein asked curiously as they waited for the portal to activate.

"Why would I?" Bassena replied dryly. "We’ll see what the hell they want and get out right after. The seaside restaurant’s lobsters had my name stamped on them."

Zein snorted just as the portal swirled as a sign of activation. "Good. I’m looking forward to the seafood feast you promised me."