Chapter 313 - 305. Unexpected Guest
I don’t need them anymore.
Bassena glanced at his guide’s bare face as he drove. It was such a simple sentence, but what it entailed was far from simple.
What was the mask for Zein? It wasn’t just a tool to keep miasma away from his respiratory system. It was also a tool to keep other filth away from him. It was a tool of survival. It was his dagger and his shield.
The mask was the icon of his security.
It contributed to the serenity of his mind, and had little to do with his physical security. Otherwise, he would have shed his mask the moment he stepped into the relatively safer green-zone, not to mention in Bassena’s presence.
But back then, aside from the time he was eating or drinking, Zein rarely retracted his mask, even inside the safe guild building with Bassena beside him. Only after he got closer and more comfortable with other guild members did he start to ease up a little bit. Even then, he would only be comfortable enough to retract his mask in front of Han Shin or Radia.
Others wouldn’t understand, but for Bassena, seeing Zein open his mask more and more was like seeing a man on his healing journey. It meant seeing Zein trust people more and more; it meant seeing Zein lowering his wall more and more; it meant seeing Zein letting himself more and more free.
And to hear the guide say he didn’t need that mask anymore, despite being fresh out of an awful experience, despite knowing there were people still targeting him out there...
Bassena bit his lips because he didn’t want to cry again. But he couldn’t help the welling emotions of seeing Zein coming out of a horrible experience even stronger than before; seeing Zein healing instead of succumbing to dark thoughts.
He was so happy about this positive result that he forgot what kind of effect Zein’s bare face had on people. It was a passive charm trait which effects included mesmerization, petrification, and to some extent, temporary stupidity--as is; whoever they were, they would just stop and stare at that face like an avid fan meeting their celebrity idol.
Which was what happened in the guild lobby.