Chapter 269 - 262. A Second Chance
Under the third basement level of the guild building, there was a place that only executives knew and had access to. This was the detaining floor.
It wasn’t truly filled with cells like jail. It didn’t even have an eerie atmosphere. The lighting was nice and bright, and each room was furnished well. It was more like a hotel room where the occupant couldn’t get out. The one who guarded this place wasn’t the active espers in charge of raiding dungeons, but part of the intelligence department that was almost as mysterious as the shadow guards.
Before having his promised lunch with the other guides, Zein went down to this place. Two rooms were occupied, but he only visited one. When the guard opened the door to the room, Nora was reading a book on the desk. It took the other guide a while to digest the fact that Zein was there, and when he did, he stood up so fast that the stuff on the desk was clattering to the floor.
"Hey," Zein greeted him casually, looking around the room.
It looked quite nice, with a bed, a neat desk, and a sitting area. There was also a comfortable bathroom and a simple pantry. They also got regular meals from the restaurant up there. Well, it wasn’t as if they were treated as a criminal.
"Zein..." Nora was standing frozen in front of his desk, watching Zein take a seat on the couch. He looked at the blue eyes for a second, and in the next, he lowered his head. "I’m...I’m sorry."
"It’s fine, I heard it enough from your voice message already," Zein said simply, leaning back on the couch and continuing to observe the other guide.
"Still...I want to say it to you directly," Nora said quietly.
The man looked nervous, just the way his voice sounded in the message. He also looked like he couldn’t sleep well; the dark circles apparent beneath his eyes.
"Haa..." Zein didn’t hide his sigh. "You’re an idiot."
Nora blinked his eyes in surprise. He knew Zein enough to tell that Zein actually didn’t get mad at his action. Zein would act cold if he was angry or annoyed, instead of giving him this look. He knew this look; he had seen it before in Araka, when Zein heard about his younger brothers getting into trouble because of a brawl.