房客(糙汉)何璐程曜坤

"General housework like cooking and cleaning and so on, swordsmanship. I completed a full attendants training and was serving as one for more than five years, so I'm capable of both taking care of the trouble and your schedule however busy it would be."

Zoemi never before considered becoming an attendant for anyone besides Miriette, but the moment he caught a glimpse of his old life he found himself advertising his abilities as if he never wanted anything else.

"...umm... I... okay... Not really the definition of the attendant that I am aware of but it's cool... Still, I meant talents as in the star power. You know? The laws that you can train. Maybe even their star levels if you are comfortable with sharing them..."

Zoemi's eagerness caused Alan to move away, slightly taken aback by the unexpected reaction, before he clarified what exactly he meant with his question.

"Oh... of course. I only have a talent for three laws. Law of Libra – which I haven't reached even the first star level yet. Law of Capricorn, which I'm at the sixth star level. And the law of Aries, which is at the supernova level."

The black-haired man straightened his back, but aside from the small gasp of realization, he didn't let it show how embarrassed he was and answered without holding back any information.

"Huh...?

Umm... are you sure about all of that...? I mean, you said that you didn't have an actual teacher... did you perchance find a star chart and confirmed any of it...? I mean, if you don't want to tell me, it's still okay – you did take us all down and all..."

Truth be told, Alan was not very good at hiding their disbelief, and no matter how he worded it out, it was still very obvious that he doesn't believe a single thing that the black-haired man said, and was even slightly upset at the idea that Zoemi would choose to lie instead of just shrugging the question off.

"Not really. But for sure Guide was upset with just those talents too – still, Libra is apparently good enough to cover for those weaknesses so there you have it."

Zoemi tilted his head before shaking it and adding after a bit of hesitation.

"...Guide as in, the god of stars, Guide...? Tsk. Fine, geez, I'm sorry for asking. Keep your secrets, I already know that you are stronger than me and it's enough for now anyway."

Well... it was more than certain that Alan does not like that answer – the young master of the Great Ram sect clicked his tongue and moved away from the black-haired man, visibly upset but trying to play it cool.

"For your information, I am fine with you knowing my strength."

The youth declared from the distance.

"I have talents in – in diminishing order - the laws of Aries, Leo, Virgo, Aquarius, Taurus, Capricorn, Cancer, and even Sagittarius. I concentrate the most on the law of Aries and Virgo so I'm confident with my stamina and endurance... although as you knocking me out cold so easily clearly proved, I need to work on the toughness a lot more."

Alan proceeds to reveal quite an impressive-sounding list before scoffing and turning away from Zoemi.

He did not reveal the exact star level, which coupled with his reaction to Zoemi's answer made the black-haired man think that maybe everyone back in the lumberjack's village was odd, for speaking openly about their star levels. Even Seth was not holding back in that regard.

"Say, wasn't plenty of people not capable of learning more than three laws?"

Zoemi asked curiously, looking not only at the young martial artist but the rest of their group too.

"That's true, but when someone like you claims that he's the same as an average citizen is a bit... you know... It's one thing to want to hide one's power, but there's a limit on..."

"Shut up, Bob."

One of the martial artists answered tilting his head from side to side but was immediately silenced by the annoyed Alan.

"How are we going to leave the forest – Because of some dangerous monsters there are a lot of paths that lead to nowhere and some rocks and really old trees can store star power which ends up confusing the travelers. You need a skilled guide to leave this place in a reasonable amount of time... is what I've been told, at least."

After over an hour of silence, Zoemi spoke up curiously wondering whether anyone else was worried about being lost in the sea of trees like he was for a little more than a year and a half.

"You've been told the truth, it is like this. Although by a skilled guide your informer meant someone with talent in the law of Sagittarius."

Alan glanced at him, initially still sulky because of his belief that Zoemi was taking him for a fool.

"It is difficult to master and one can't actually shoot out the concentrated star power until achieving eleventh star level, but in exchange, the early ones give the user a hue boos to a multitude of abilities incredibly useful for hunting... one of which is finding one's destination even while going through the places such as this and... hold on... you are just making fun of me, aren't you?"

But even so, he ended up filling the black-haired man in, until the youth stopped and frowned.

Alan's reaction was justifiable. Wanderer or not, there was hardly a person in the entire Heavenly Star nation, so the young man thought that he was wasting his energy on explaining obvious things while Zoemi was secretly laughing at him.

"Not at all, master Alan. I know as little as one could about the laws and star power... Law of Capricorn is for movement, Taurus for strength, Aries for toughness and endurance, Libra for equalizing two selected values, Aquarius for destroying mana, Gemini for creating a copy of oneself, Virgo for healing, Scorpius for killing yourself in a gruesome way, Pisces for disappearing from the arena after declaring that the Heavenly Star nation is planning an invasion. Oh, and sending messages too, apparently – law of Pisces, I mean. The rest is a mystery to me."

The black-haired man shook his head and gave the young martial artist an apologetic nod before listing his knowledge.

"...Zoemi, wrong place, wrong time..."

Not only the answer from the black-haired man seemed to calm down Alan, but the youth also ended up flinching and grabbing onto Zoemi's shirt and shaking his head with a worried expression.

"..."

Zoemi looked at Alan indifferently before glancing over at the rather grumpy group of twenty martial artists from the Great Ram's sect walking with them.

​ "Master Alan, you said that you do have a talent in the law of Sagittarius, does that mean that you are our guide?"

The black-haired man changed the subject without trying to dig deeper into the reason for Alan's anxiety.

"N-no... At the first star level that I am, figuring my way through the sea of trees is completely impossible."

The topic he ended up picking ended up not being one that Alan was fond of, as the young man made a grumpy expression while his cheeks became rosy from the blush of embarrassment.

"So it is a big deal after all. Who is it then?"

Zoemi nodded with a stoic expression and asked looking over all the martial artists.

"It's...ugh... Bob. He's at the ninth star level of the law of Sagittarius..."

Alan rolled his eyes and answered looking annoyed as ever.

"Thank you mister Bob, having someone skilled leading the way is surely reassuring."

"Oh...! I... well... You... you're welcome, mister Banemor."

The martial artist called Bob flinched and for a moment looked as if he was shocked to hear words of gratitude.

"Shut up, Bob."

Still, Bob was immediately put down by one of his colleagues shaking their heads in annoyance.

"Master Alan."

"...h-huh...? What is it...?"

The black-haired man leaned towards the young martial artist and spoke in a low voice so that others would not hear him, which just so happened to make Alan flustered.

"It is rude to say – ugh – when calling out someone's name. It's a trait of a puny side villain that gets kicked out of the story in the prologue. I barely know you and I already know that you are a bigger man than this."

When Zoemi switched to the attendant mode, he switched to the Attendant mode. Miriette was always too proud to even need correction, but it did not mean that the black-haired man wasn't taught how to make sure his master will always show their best side.

"I...I... w-what...?"

Alan went wide-eyed and gasped in confusion trying to wrap his head around the concept of his bodyguard teaching him manners.

"The words you used back in that village suggest that the Great Ram sect has its own deal of trouble involving honor. The best way to counter that is for you to act as proud and grand as possible, so no more ugh-ing at your allies."

Zoemi shook his head from side to side before smirking at the bewildered Alan.

"Hold on... It seems that you are not getting it. I already act with pride, the little thing with Bob is just an inside joke that everyone partakes in. Great Ram sect members are supposed to pride themselves in endurance, you can say that it's a part of the training. There's no need to be upset about it..."

"Puny. Side. Villain. Talk."

The young martial artist faced the other way and grumbled defensively, to which the black-haired man scoffed, shaking his head with a disappointed expression.