房客(糙汉)何璐程曜坤

Deep in the heart of the woods, in a small lumberjack village, a little boy pushed open the door to the cozy little shed and walked inside, looking around attentively.

"AHA!"

He called out with accusation once he spotted a pile of blankets stuffed between spare axehandles and newly carved axe-hafts, and jumped right at the unsuspecting bundle.

"Wake up, sleepy head! You are going to miss the morning practice!"

*WHOOSH*

As the little boy declared, kneading the bundle with his knees and trying to unravel it with his hands, a large arm erupted from beneath, reaching out towards the child\'s head about to crush it in its monstrous grip oozing with threatening aura.

*tap*

"Gyaah...!"

But instead of doing that, the hand ended up affectionately tousling the boy\'s hair– but the speed at which it appeared and the sudden contact that the child did not expect caused the boy to let out a surprised yelp.

"Chris, sweetie, didn\'t I already tell you? I have no talent in the law of Taurus. Nothing at all. There\'s no need for me to join the meditation part, I can do it on my own later. Let me sleep in, I promise I join you during the physical exercise..."

The man with a soothingly deep voice that made others want to listen to him more murmured sleepily without untangling himself from the blankets while continuing to pat the little boy.

"...could you... could you come with me to the morning practice...?"

As the initial surprise passed and the words of the resting man reached him, the little boy\'s shoulders slumped down and he asked pleadingly while putting his lips and tugging on the blankets.

"...why...?"

The bundle moved around as the man beneath rolled around to catch a glimpse of the child\'s face through the blankets.

"...everyone else is coming to the morning practice with their dads... only I am always alone... mom is always busy and she doesn\'t practice the law of Taurus anyway and... and Max is always laughing at me...Wh-whoa...!"

*rustle*

Chris looked to the side with a pitiful expression but didn\'t stop tugging on the blankets – that suddenly moved and made him let out another surprised voice, this time slightly tamer because he could feel an arm firmly supporting him as he was picked up in the air.

"Alright. I don\'t know how useful I will be, but I can at least accompany you. Let\'s tell your mother and go to the village square."

"Really?! Hurray~!"

The man shook off the blankets and smiled at the young boy perched on his forearm, causing the child to cheer out in happiness.

The two left the shed and walked past a small log cabin with one of the windows wide open, revealing a small office where a pretty brown-haired woman with dark green eyes was sitting by the desk and writing in an accountant book.

"Mom! We\'re going to the morning practice!"

"...? Oh, dear..."

Chris cheered out, making the woman raise her head and look at him, before relations a bothered sigh and taking off her glasses.

"I am so, so sorry for the trouble my boy is causing you... I had no idea that he would actually ask you to go with him."

Chris\'s mother made a troubled expression and bowed her head apologetically to the man carrying her son on his forearm.

"It\'s no problem at all. I am free anyway and helping Chris train is the least I could do for you providing me a roof over my head. Mrs. Greenwood."

The man whose face was hidden from Chris\'s mother by the frame of the window she was looking through waved his free hand dismissively and smiled reassuringly at the dispirited boy.

"No, no. You have already done more than enough to deserve the gratitude of the entire village! And please, just call me Mary, don\'t make me feel older than I am."

Chris\'s mother shook her head and smiled, playfully tapping the rims of her glasses on her lips.

"I do not mean it in a bad way, honestly. Back from where I\'m from, we have very strict rules about the social hierarchy, and old habits die hard. For now, we\'re off."

"Aww... have fun."

The man sidestepped the flirty remark quite literally and continued walking, leaving the slightly disappointed woman to her work as he left with her son to the village\'s square.

-----

"Oh-ho? My sweet boy, it\'s quite surprising to see you up this early without the village being in danger. Was I not informed about the monster threat?"

An elderly white-haired grandma slouched by the weight of the years also happened to be walking in the same direction as the two, supporting herself on a sturdy wooden cane with iron lining on the handle, looked to the side and called out with an intrigued expression.

"Chris, say hello. Not at all, lady Bridget, the local animals already know to keep away, they are way smarter than the ones back in my homeland. By any chance, are you also showing up for the morning practice?"

The young man who bowed his head toward the elderly woman nudged the boy on his arm before shaking his head and looked beside the other log cabins towards the great forest where even the smallest tree was thicker than the old well down the road.

"Morning, grandma Bridget!"

"Hello sweetie, be good and remember to train diligently. I might drop by, but honestly, as long as they will not implement some stretching into the program, I will stay back and watch the youth\'s progress from the sidelines."

Grandma Bridget smiled at the young boy before looking back at the man carrying him and patting her old back, bent like a shrimp.

"Off you go, don\'t be late because of me."

"Bye-bye!"

"Call me if you need something, my lady."

The elderly woman shooed them away and both the little boy and the polite man left with a few words of farewell.

"My, my. There is something about this charming lad, no wonder Mary started dressing up so nicely~"

Grandma Bridget cackled to herself watching the wide back of the leaving black-haired man.

"Still, labeling monsters of the Ancient Sea of Trees as local animals... he really is something else."

She breathed out, subconsciously reaching up and stroking the brown fur of the six-legged bear beast lining her cardigan.

"..."

Chris climbed back on the man\'s shoulder and looked back at the old woman they passed.

"Oh? Something picked your attention?"

The black-haired man asked, showing his teeth in a rather villainous-looking smile.

"Zoemi, aren\'t you afraid of the monsters from the forest?"

The little boy returned to his place ad looked up at the face of the devilishly handsome black-haired young man with obsidian-like eyes.

"Hmm... you know I was lost in there for a year and a half right? They tried to hunt and eat me many times, it was rough. I can\'t see in the dark anymore, after all."

Zoemi furrowed his brows and tilted his head, trying to not make his experience sound too scary for the child while also not portraying it as a lighthearted stroll to not make the boy get some dangerous ideas about venturing out there on his own.

"H-how did you manage to get away from them? Is your law of Capricorn really good?"

Chris asked in a tense voice, clenching his fists at Zoemi\'s clothes.

"Nope. Apparently, I\'m at something called supernova level with the law of Aries though. Those funny-looking six-legged bears, winged tigers, and horned wolves tried to bite and scratch me but met with a nasty surprise~"

Zoemi hummed reminiscing the part of his life that he left behind a few weeks earlier after encountering the lumberjacks\' village – the first human settlement he found on the unknown continent that the faceless god of stars, Guide, sent him to for recovery.

...although recovery was a big word while the only thing that happened was Zoemi suddenly finding himself laying at the edge of a cliff with a vast ocean on one side and the ridiculously massive wilderness on the other...

"Aren\'t you making that up, Zoemi...? Mom said that there is no supernova level."

Chris tilted his head and made an expression as if he thought the black-haired man was making fun of him.

"Well, if your mom says so. Anyway. I am strong enough to help out with protecting your village from monsters. Of course, I will be leaving with the next passing merchant caravan."

"You\'re leaving?!"

The black-haired man smiled softly and shrugged his shoulders changing the subject without trying to argue with a small child, but the subject he picked made Chris jump up and gasp in disbelief.

"Yes. I already overstayed my welcome here, monsters were already instructed to stay away, and I need to be in place with a more reliable information flow. I want to get back home as soon as a chance for that appears."

Zoemi\'s expression turned serious and he nodded, not hiding a thing from the child who lowered his head dispirited.

"Wh-what about the king of the forest? Isn\'t it a dragon? What if it will attack?"

Chris gasped in a worried voice - although the boy was clearly more worried about Zoemi leaving then about some monster attacking.

"Pffft...! Sweetie, this part of the forest doesn\'t have a dragon as the top monster. The one in charge is actually very reasonable and doeasn\'t mind humans, as long as they will keep a respectful distance. I took care of the talks already."

The black-haired man snorted, unable to stop himself and explained with an amused smile. He looked as if he was reminded of some fond memory...

"You did, whoa...! Ah... waut, but then... then..."

The little boy gasped in amazement only to flinch as he realized that although cool, the explanation rendered his argument useless...

"Do you have to leave the village, though? You don\'t need to kill monsters... Can\'t you stay here with me and my mom...?"

Chris asked pitifully, glancing up at Zoemi\'s face.

"No. The place I belong isn\'t here and I have someone that I want to return to. Oh, look, they are almost starting."

Zoemi shook his head and refused without even batting an eye, but he did provide some explanation to the child – before looking up, noticing the gathering in the village square, and hastening his peace.

The group of people has gathered in the small village square as always, taking over it completely.

They were already lined up in order of arrival, while a sleepy-looking young man with heavy eyelids was looking over them from a small wooden podium.

"Alright everyone, come up to me. We are continuing the meditation training, I will be using the law of Taurus and sharing my spiritual energy with you so your talent in that law can be stirred up. After receiving a hit, return to your spot and concentrate on the changes within your bodies."

The unenthusiastic-looking man ina martial artist outfit declared, opening his heavy eyelids just a bit more while looking over the crowd.