房客(糙汉)何璐程曜坤

"Good morning!"

"Good morning...?"

The door opened and Mizoe and Zoemi were greeted by two identical brown-haired girls wearing matching dresses, each of them could be four or five years old.

|...mana reservoir big enough to allow a person to cast magic is a sign of nobility...|

The black-haired child gulped down his saliva in realization.

Back in the previous timeline, he believed that the twins being able to use magic was the cause of the enormous strain and mental trauma that awakened their hidden potential, but the reality was far more cruel to the common folks than that.

"Leveo, Teofee! I told you so many times to not open the door without asking the guest to introduce themselves! What's the matter...? Oh? I don't believe you are our subjects."

The girls might have opened the door, but their mother – a short brown-haired earth magician with a sharp glare - followed right after them, scolding the two before looking up at Mizoe and furrowing her brows.

"...?"

For some reason, Zoemi felt as if her glare became even sharper when she noticed that Mizoe was a water magician.

Perhaps she had something against that particular attribute...?

"Good morning, madam. My name is Mizoe Auequas, I have a letter from lord Ludier Galamroze to his friend who is supposed to be the ruler of this territory."

The light-blue-haired boy straightened his back and reached both of his hands towards the woman, offering her the envelope even before confirming her identity.

"...and what is your relation to either Ludier or Modari...?"

The brown-haired woman glanced at the envelope but did not take it and instead focused back on Mizoe's face, carefully studying his expression as the two girls hiding behind her were peeking at the black-haired child and the light-blue-haired boy curiously.

"Lord Galamroze helped me out after my family disinherited me and threw me out, he said that his friend became a ruler of the newly established territory and that we could try starting a new life here."

"..."

Mizoe said with a melancholic smile while patting Zoemi's head... Meanwhile, the black-haired child had to pinch himself to not show how shocked he was. Only a few minutes earlier when he introduced the idea of hiding his identity, Mizoe acted shocked and flabbergasted, but now the light-blue-haired boy was showing a professional actor class performance!

"You were thrown out, wh...? Ah..."

The woman frowned with suspicion but then her eyes darted toward the black-haired child innocently clinging to the boy's leg and let out a gasp of understanding.

"It wasn't the only option, but I couldn't abandon my son."

Mizoe nodded and confirmed the woman's guess without raising his head.

"As for the Modari person you mentioned, I, unfortunately, don't know them... but I expect that it's the name of lord Galamroze's friend? Lord Galamroze had urgent matters to attend to and ended up not mentioning his friend's name, only giving me the letter before leaving."

The light-blue-haired boy added, bowing his head even more and acting all apologetically, and pushing the envelope closer toward the brown-haired woman.

"Pardon me for interrogating you like this at the door, sir Mizoe, come on in."

The woman's expression became gentler and she stepped to the side, taking the letter off Mizoe's hands and motioning at him to enter the house.

"I don't want to be a bother...!"

*guuuuuu*

The light-blue-haired boy shook his head and was about to step back, but just then a loud grumble came out of Zoemi's stomach getting everyone's attention.

"...sorry..."

The black-haired child lowered his head and apologized while blushing as he stared at his own feet.

"My husband is out on a little errand of his and left me in charge – and I want to hear more about your story. We can discuss it as well as your accommodation and potential job in the village during a meal. I was already preparing breakfast anyway. Be my guests."

The earth magician announced waving her hand in a domineering manner, dismissing Mizoe's prudent hesitation.

"My name is Eothar Tallaran, by the way. Wife of Modari Tallaran, the ruler of this territory – but that one you already figured out."

She added after walking further in and glancing at Mizoe over her shoulder.

"Follow me to the kitchen. Girls, play with the... what's the boy's name?"

Eothar beckoned at Mizoe and motioned at her daughters before stopping in realization and asking while looking at the black-haired child.

"Zoemi Auequas."

Zoemi decided that acting shy would be the best course of action, so he played along accordingly and muttered after taking a quick glance at Eothar's face with just the right amount of hesitation and cautiousness.

"Play with young Zoemi for a bit."

The woman nodded and led the young Mizoe away, leaving the black-haired child with two brown-haired girls.

"Hello."

Zoemi breathed out in relief and turned towards the twins, raising his hand in a greeting.

"Where are you from?"

"..."

One of the girls trotted toward him almost immediately and asked, grabbing his hand and pulling him into the house with no hesitation at all while the other one stayed behind, wary of the new child.

"Auequas territory."

Zoemi answered, grabbing the door and closing it as he and the first girl walked over to the doorstep.

"The man with hair like daddy is your daddy, right? Where is your mommy?"

The girl holding his hand asked with innocent curiosity.

"My mother is no longer alive."

The black-haired child answered, lowering his head this time actually upset.

Although it was not confirmed from the unbiased source, the bits and pieces of information that they got their hands on during the travel all pointed to the Banemor family being wiped off and their territory being split between the Espine family and the royal family of Bellcephora.

There was a time when his parents and him lived together in the same world, same continent, same country, and same house.

This new timeline was the best chance to meet them face in the face and learn about them first-hand.

But this chance was taken away from him...

...this was not something that Zoemi who spent almost two years in the land of martial artists in the previous timeline would just forgive and forget – even if the people responsible were Miriette's parents.

"Sorry... Our daddy often leaves home to see the other woman he got a child with, and mommy often says she will kill him."

"...huh...?"

The girl holding his hand made a sad expression before suddenly changing the subject completely, making a mental leap so large that she completely lost the black-haired boy who could only let out a bewildered voice.

"Mhmm. That's right. Mommy looked like she didn't like you and your daddy, right it was because she thought that you were daddy's children too."

The girl nodded her head vigorously and added.

That certainly was very informative and all, but what in the world was she thinking revealing something like that to a person she literally met a few minutes earlier?!

"Leveo... mommy will scold you, again."

The other twin, the one who kept away from Zoemi and her sister, mumbled grumpily while fidgeting in unease.

"Only if you or Zoemi will tell her that I told him!"

The girl by Zoemi's side responded with a naughty smile and giggled.

|Their names...|

That interaction reminded the black-haired boy about the thing that bothered him from the moment he heard the girls' names being called out by their mothers.

Leveo and Teofee – Veo and Teo, probably.

It could be that their names were basically the ones that Zoemi knew them under in the previous timeline because of a coincidence... still, it was possible for something quite different.

Leveo could be Teo and Teofee could be Veo – without the ability to see the unique shadows at his disposal, Zoemi had no way of telling them apart with the same certainty as before.

Truth be told, the black-haired boy expected Leveo to be Teo. Honestly. With the possibility of the memories from the previous timeline awakening in the incarnations of the people, he certainly expects Teo to be the one to cling to him, or at least be more fond of him than her sister.

"Don't mind her. Teofee is scared of the darkness and shadow magicians. You have black hair and eyes so she is afraid."

"No, I'm not!"

Leveo assured Zoemi in a conspicuous voice to which Teofee blushed and stomped her foot all flustered.

Although, she did glance at Zoemi with worried eyes as if expecting that the black-haired boy would try to attack her at any moment.

...while doing that, she ended up raising her hand and grabbing one of her ears, with which she picked Zoemi's attention.

|...if it was just the echo of the terrible experience in their childhood, both of them should be afraid of the dark, but if it's about the way that Teo died...|

The black-haired boy bit his lips, focusing his gaze on the uneasy Teofee.

How could he stir up her memories without triggering her trauma...?

|...why am I thinking so deeply about it? They are both four at this moment, they won't look for a deeper meaning in my words anyway!|

Zoemi ended up realizing and scolded himself for being overly cautious in a situation where there were basically no stakes.

"Teofee will not get anyone in trouble, she is a good girl."

Zoemi ended up declaring with a confident smile and reached out his hand as if he wanted to pat the girl's head.

"...!"

Just by the Teofee's reaction, he picked the correct approach – the brown-haired girl's eyes widened at the words he spoke and she immediately focused her gaze on the boy's hand, as if it was already a well-established habit, she lowered her head to provide the most head-pattable angle and even leaned forward.

"...it is you..."

Zoemi breathed out and patted the girl's head with a warm smile.