房客(糙汉)何璐程曜坤

"Young lord...!"

"...!"

Although Ludier wasn't paying attention at the moment, Mizoe certainly was – the boy immediately noticed the child's movement and tried to catch him, but Zoemi anticipated that and dived head-first under his arms and rolled into the shipwreck.

"Benevi! What the hell?! It might be dangerous, think about the whole thing crumbling down!"

Ludier reacted – with a delay, but still – and rushed after the cheeky runaway.

The only time that Zoemi was in that particular shipwreck was in the previous timeline and he was actually dead or as close to death has it was possible, so even when he got himself under the deck, he still had no idea where exactly he should go.

Not to mention that he definitely didn't have night vision in this timeline.

The black-haired child realized that his daring plan to get to the star chart before Ludier or Mizoe would catch him was destined to fail from the very start...

~...here...~

"?!"

Or was it...? A slight pressure brushed against his mind as if someone was trying to connect with him via the message spell and a word beckoning him to follow tickled his ear.

"Guide."

Zoemi whispered and turned towards the direction the vice seemed to be coming from.

​ "Where did he...?! Hey! Are kids always so unpredictable?!"

Ludier stopped a few steps in and groaned feeling increasingly uneasy, turning back and questioning the young Mizoe.

"I... I don't know, my lord...!"

The light-blue-haired boy flinched and shook his head apologetically.

"Gah! Is he a shadow magician? Can he see in the dark? He isn't just running around blind, is he?!"

*click*

Ludier didn't actually want an answer and scoffed, loudly complaining before snapping his fingers and instantly creating a few ice mirrors that worked together reflecting the light from the outside and lighting up the previously pitch-black inside of the buried shipwreck.

"It definitely seems like he knew where he is going..."

Ludier squinted his eyes, glaring at the tiny footprints on the mushy and dusty floorboards.

"Stay here and call me if anyone shows up, no matter whether they would look dangerous or not, understand?"

"Yes, my lord!"

The pale-blue-haired man pointed his finger at Mizoe and the light-blue-haired boy straightened his back and responded without hesitation.

With that, Ludier nodded and followed Zoemi's footsteps, creating more mirrors as he went.

"Keeper of the stars, Guide, away from their home, this lost child seeks your help."

"WHAT?!"

The ice magician ended up being too late to do anything, but also fast enough to hear Zoemi say the words that would activate the star chart from another room that was yet to be illuminated by the ice mirrors.

And even without the mirrors, the room ended up brightening – Ludier arrived at the door and had to squint his eyes because of the light that a large star chart embedded into the wall gave off.

Zoemi was touching the base of the artifact from the Heavenly Star nation with one and, raising his head and gazing upon it with disbelief.

Because instead of only three constellations lighting up - that being Aries, Capricorn, and Libra – all twelve constellations with all their stars began burning with an intense glow.

"Benevi! Get away from there!"

Ludier called out and tried to rush inside to take the child away but...

*bump*

"HUH?!"

An unknown invisible force blocked his way, making him bounce off and let out a shocked voice.

"That's... what in the world...?"

Zoemi gulped down his saliva unable to take his eyes off the fully lit-up star chart.

*haaaaa*

Suddenly the aura in the room changed, the heavy damp stench of dust and mushy wood was replaced by the smell of ozone and an inexplicable feeling filled the child's heart.

Before he could take his hand away and back off from the star chart, his view was obstructed by a white one-piece dress...

"...?!"

His eyes widened as a platinum-haired girl materialized between him and the wall out of a thin air!

A single heartbeat later Zoemi managed to take a step back and look up at her face but...

The girl wasn't the presence, the murdered second princess – it was the physical form of the keeper of the stars, Guide.

A faceless god descended and revealed itself to the black-haired child!

"BENEVI! GET AWAY FROM THAT THING! IMPALER!"

Meanwhile, Ludier roared so loud that he hurt his own throat and went straight to his most powerful spell.

*RUMBLE* *SMASH*

"?!?!?"

The forming of the gigantic ice stake destroyed the shipwreck and uncovered its remains to the outside world to the pure shock of Mizoe who was not expecting anything like that to happen but remained clear-headed enough to run towards the horses and hold them down.

Then, the gigantic ice stake rammed into the invisible barrier, but it shattered into sparkling mist without achieving its purpose.

~...I was waiting for you...~

The barrier around the room with the star chart persisted regardless of the ice magician's actions and the faceless god spoke in Zoemi's mind, reaching out and hugging the child, taking Zoemi by surprise.

~...my champion... the one destined to master all twelve laws... the next Heavenly Star Warrior...~

"!!!"

Guide's voice was filled with tame but genuine joy, and they lowered their head towards Zoemi's face until their foreheads touched.

~...grow up strong, my champion, because there will be a time when I will require your help... a demon lord is gathering his strength... the world will be peaceful for the time being, but you mustn't take it for granted... I believe in you...~

Guide nuzzled their forehead against Zoemi's in a very affectionate manner before letting go of him and moving away at arms' reach.

~...train, gather allies, and prepare... my champion...~

The faceless god tilted their head and despite having no mouth or eyes that would indicate it, Zoemi could swear that the being in front of him was smiling.

"I... I will... I promise...!"

In this timeline Guide seemed a lot more god-like and grand than in the previous one – so much, in fact, that Zoemi felt shy and intimidated at the same time and could only bow his head while sneaking bashful glances at the splendor of their existence.

~...thank you...~

*haaaaa*

As if the mere words of the black-haired child were everything that the Guide needed, the faceless god nodded and disappeared, dissipating into the thin air as suddenly as they appeared.

"BENEVI! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?! WHAT DID THAT CREATURE DO TO YOU?!"

Together with Guide, the barrier around the room disappeared and the panicked Ludier was able to approach Zoemi – and he did so while shouting, extremely worried.

|Creature...? Ludier sure has some guts speaking like that about a god...!|

Zoemi furrowed his brows, glaring at the pale-blue-haired man who grabbed his shoulders and shook him trying to get a response.

"Uncle, don't shout. I asked for Guide's help and that's what I received."

The black-haired child pouted and scoffed while continuing to glare at Ludier, deeply upset.

"G-Guide...? Like, the star keeper in the... SO THAT WHOLE STAR CHART WAS SUPPOSED TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT?! For fuck's sake! Why didn't Nera warn me then?! I thought I will have a heart attack when that thing grabbed you!"

The ice magician straightened his back and raised his voice one more time before cursing and angry and shaking his head in annoyance while massaging his chest as if he really felt that something was wrong with his heart.

"My lord...! Is the young lord alright?! Also.. what was that ice spell that you used! Because it was our doing, wasn't it?!"

The young Mizoe ran up to them and asked in a worried voice, but after making sure that Zomei was indeed alright, he immediately turned to Ludier and asked him with sparkling eyes.

"...guh..! Nothing. It didn't work anyway. Forget you saw it."

Ludier flinched and waved his hand dismissively while furrowing his brows in annoyance.

"Benevi, if you ran off like that again, I will seriously beat your ass."

The pale-blue-haired man grabbed the black-haired child by the scruff of his clothes and declared while lifting him up effortlessly.

"...I understand..."

Zoemi was about to scoff in Ludier's face but ended up turning away his glare and nodding – as he did, he saw the star chart crumble away into a pile of useless pieces of mushy wood and mold.

All in all, Zoemi definitely didn't account for how the ice magician must have felt, so the reaction and the threat he received were understandable.

"Hmph. Alright. Let's get away from here. Even if we weren't followed before, we would definitely get a lot of attention if we just stay here... the star chart is gone anyway, so there's no reason to dwell in this place anyway."

Ludier breathed out and nodded before glancing at the pile of wood and turning around, carrying Zoemi back towards the nervous horses that were still waiting for them in the same spot only because of Mizoe's timely reaction at the time of the shipwreck's destruction.

As they got on their mounts, Zoemi immediately closed his eyes and began meditating, just as he learned in the previous timeline. He now had access to all twelve laws, but still picked the law of Aries as his first without a shred of hesitation.

The endurance that it provided was simply too good as a base to just dismiss it in favor of literally anything else.

"Just look at him, he went straight to sleep as if nothing happened! That kid, seriously...!"

Ludier glared at the child and shook his head in disbelief while Mizoe merely shrugged his shoulders with a troubled expression.