There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 736: Side Story 4. Endless Journey - 19

After spending another day to do a thorough check-up on the baby, the Ishteras left the hospital. Their destination, however, wasn’t the house on the cliff--it was the Guardian Tree.

A symbol of Lucre and the Far East district, the Guardian Tree was a place of reverence as well as a sightseeing location. While people could not go past certain borders--which used to be the wall of the dome in the past--the area around it had been fashioned into a hiking area surrounded by natural parks.

With a museum built to memorize Operation Fallen Star as a center, a town was established around it, accommodating visitors who wanted to see the Tree and the wonder of nature surrounding it, including the dome waterfall falling between the Tree’s many roots.

If they were lucky, they could even see one of the Guardians strolling around or sitting on the ledge of the roots. On a certain bright day in June, however, the tourists could see a lot of them on the roots--standing and watching the forbidden pathway. There were five of them around the ledge, but some people with binoculars said there were seven more around the base of the trunk.

Twelve of the Thirteen Guardians were out; there was only one instance this had happened in the past: during the day of liberation.

Naturally, as the news spread, more visitors were flocking to places where they could see the roots and the forbidden path unperturbed, wondering if something was about to happen. Their answer came with two cars driving toward the edge of the border.

A thing about the border: it wasn’t that people couldn’t pass through due to guards patrolling around. People just couldn’t pass through physically. There was a repulsing barrier rejecting them, and the only way up was through the smooth, slippery roots.

A lot of people had tried to go to the Tree, but no one had succeeded in breaching the barrier, much less climbing the roots. That was why, no guards had ever been needed around the border.

They were wondering who these people were, who came in high-end cars with last-tech security systems and tinted windows. The ’forbidden path’ as people called it, was not suitable for cars, after all. As expected of a high-quality vehicle, however, the cars drove through the path without any problem.

The visitors rushed to the forbidden path following the cars, feeling curious about it. Naturally, some also pointed their commlink to record just in case it was something worth posting on link.

And then, they saw the famous Bassena Vaski--no, Bassena Ishtera--come out of the car, holding the door open for a pair of twin boys and finally, of Luzein Ishtera holding a baby.

That wasn’t just something ’worth’ to be posted--it was a whole scoop.

The moment Luzein Ishtera stepped out of the car, the Guardians moved. The five waiting on the ledge--twin girls, a little boy, and two young-looking androgynous people jumped down and walked to the border. With ease, the Ishteras walked past the barrier while the Guardians welcomed them.

As the footage of this was circulating, Zein and his family followed their escorts to the waterfall. The Guardians waved their hands and several roots shifted, intertwining to create a stairway for them to climb. The twin girls held Kar’s and Asa’s hands while the youngest clutched Zein’s sleeve as usual, with Bassena following close behind in case Zein tripped or slipped.

"Welcome," Cliff, as always, became the Guardians’ spokesperson. The blue eyes turned to the blinking baby, whose eyes were squinting at the barrage of new visuals. "Are you very surprised?"

The baby squirmed and turned her face to hide in his father’s arms, prompting Cliff and the observing Guardians to chuckle.

"Little Sister is sensitive," Cliff smiled, hiding his twitching fingers behind his back. He was tempted to hold the baby, but he didn’t want to incur Big Brother’s displeasure. "But that’s understandable. Let’s go inside."

"Wait here," Zein told the twins, who were looking around in amazement.

"Can we swim, Dada?" Asa asked with sparkling eyes, and Kar perked up at the idea. freēwēbnovel.com

Zein glanced at Bassena, who only shrugged in response. He always had several sets of the twins and Zein’s clothes--probably for the baby also. One of his storage rings--which used to be Zein’s when the guide could still use mana--was full of emergency stuff for his little family.

"It’s fine; the others will keep them safe," Cliff told Zein. "It might take a while, so just lounging around will be boring for them."

"Well, in that case," Zein said and glanced at Bassena. "It’s on you, Baba."

"Yaaay!" Asa immediately ran to follow the twin guardians, before Bassena snatched him.

"Change your clothes first, Asa."

"Oh!"

Leaving his giggling sons behind, Zein entered the Tree while chuckling. A door had appeared at the base of the trunk, allowing him to enter with his daughter. While the Guardians were following him so they could take a look at little Lucy, only Cliff followed him inside the Tree.

The first thing he saw was a spiral staircase. He looked up and failed to see the end of it, but he wasn’t worried--it wasn’t his first time here. Without hesitation, he stepped into the staircase with Cliff, and stopped. Three seconds later, the staircase moved like a spiral escalator, allowing them to go up without dropping a single sweat.

"Is she not bored up there?" Zein asked curiously.

"Last time I checked, she still had four hundred and seventy-three books left to read and ninety-four movies left to watch," Cliff replied nonchalantly. "I don’t think she’ll get out anytime soon."

Zein chuckled. The ’core’, who maintained the Tree, could not leave the place too much. At most, she could only spend a few hours each week out of the Tree--which she used to visit Zein, mostly. She did not complain, but she did ask for entertainment when she visited Zein for the fourth time. Bassena sent trucks filled with books and bookshelves, games, as well as a home theatre set and movies to the Tree in response.

Afterward, she left the Tree even less, enjoying her time inside. Cliff would drag her out from time to time, probably twice a year. But well...as long as she was happy.

It didn’t take long to reach the top of the stairs, and Zein stepped into a dome-like huge library with bookshelves filling the wall. A multimedia corner was set on the side, and beneath the canopy of the leavy roof, a young woman was lying down on a chaise lounge while reading a light novel.

"Shaula?" Cliff called out as they approached the couch.

The young woman looked up from her book and stared at them in a daze. It took her a few seconds to realize that there were other creatures entering her library. "Ah," she exclaimed and rose from the couch, clearing her throat. "So, Big Brother is here."

It was weird for Zein at first, to be called ’Big Brother’ by the Guardians who were supposed to exist for centuries already. But they said it was more because Zein was a complete ’fragment’ unlike them, so he was the ’big’ brother.

"I’m not a fragment anymore though," Zein looked down at his squirming daughter. "I think?"

After all, he no longer had his stigma.

"Doesn’t matter," Shaula shrugged as she walked to the center of the library. There, the vessel of the united fragment was hovering in the air, suspended by a cradle made of wood. "How is she?"

"Fussy," Zein replied with a concerned voice. "She wasn’t crying--or rather, she did not cry except the first time--but she kept squirming as if she was uncomfortable. She drank her milk well, however, and nothing was wrong with her body, however. Nothing the doctors could find, at least."

And that was why they decided to visit the Guardian Tree.

"Of course," Shaula scoffed. She raised her hand and adjusted the fragment’s position to be on their level. "The problem lies beyond her physical body after all."

"She was born with a complete mana core," Cliff elaborated. "But she did not have a way to let the mana out of her body. She didn’t know how to, so she must have been feeling itchy all over--poor girl..."

"That’s why, we need to ’awaken’ her--as you humans called it," Shaula flicked the crystal toward Zein, until the cradle stopped in front of him.

Zein looked at the crystal thoughtfully before shifting his gaze to Shaula. "Would there be significant side effects to her life?"

Shaula smiled deeply. How interesting; she knew how much Zein resented Setnath in the past, and she was sure the guide knew it was Setnath’s soul inside his daughter’s body. Setnath is his daughter. But look at how much he loved this daughter of his--Shaula had to suppress her laugh.

"I guess...it will be hard for her to interact with regular people until she manages to control her mana and keep it circulating inside her system," Shaula stroked her chin. "Regular people who have no mana might feel like they are getting pricked by invisible needles."

"I see..." Zein frowned. Indeed, most civilians had an aversion to mana.

He was fine with mana since he had experience with it before, but civilians like the nannies and other children would find it hard. Fortunately, the twins had no aversion to mana--probably because they were his and Bassena’s children. In fact, Kar was infatuated with mana. At least, she would still have her brothers.

"Don’t worry; your partner should be able to teach her when she becomes aware of her own mana--it’s just like teaching your children how to read and write stuff. I’m sure she’ll be able to learn quickly, and...as long as her family accompanies her, she shouldn’t feel isolated."

Zein exhaled slowly. Yeah; the nannies might not be able to take care of her, but she could. It should be alright.

"We’ll send Mesa to help take care of her--she’ll like it," Cliff added with a smile.

"Ah, thank you," Zein nodded. He was confident, but he would still need someone in case he had to guide Bassena or got sick.

"There’s no need for that--it’s our role to take care of our Root," Cliff said with a soft smile as he observed the squirming baby. "Now, let’s not delay. She looks uncomfortable."

"Yeah," Zein stroked her daughter’s tiny hand and brought it to touch the crystal’s surface. He leaned down and kissed her forehead as a white glow flew from the crystal to Lucy’s core, whispering his prayer.

Whatever happens, I’ll make sure you grow up to be happy and healthy.

When the white glow finally dimmed, Zein smiled warmly at the loud, welcomed cry reverberating through the Tree.