On one hand, this should have been a simple, merchant-like transaction.
Damian offered a reward in return for saving some of his men. Short, simple, easy-to-understand task that he gave to Zenith.
On the other hand, Zenith was afraid of establishing a precedent that could end up becoming annoying very quickly.
In other words, she didn't want to develop a reputation as some sort of problem fixer. The respect would be nice, sure, but in truth, the only goal Zenith had was to keep Asuka safe and to get stronger, for no other real reason than to make keeping Asuka safe easier.
That was all.
If fixing someone's problem would help with that latter objective of hers, then she had no problem with doing it. But, only under that condition.
She didn't want to fool anyone into thinking she actually cared about them, or "doing what's right".
If she did, those poor souls would be incredibly disappointed.
