房客(糙汉)何璐程曜坤

"I am grateful that you are worried about me, my lord. I will try my best to keep up."

"..."

The black-haired boy\'s lovely smile brightened his face just as the tsundere worrying about him brightened his day, to which Grazio flinched and hurriedly looked away only adding to the charm of his character type.

The physical exercises really did increase in intensity, being the length and tempo of the run and or the duration of physical exertion the trainees were exposed to.

It got to the point where people with a low amount of mana would start losing significantly to the more powerful magicians.

There was a certain limit to what a physical body of a commoner or weak magician could do, after all.

But then, there was Zoemi.

At first, he wanted to just hang out in the back, but he didn\'t want Grazio\'s head to get too big...

Grazio, being the only fire magician might wield the second weakest enchantments – being better than only the copied shadow enchantments – but in terms of the amount of mana, he could outlast every single person, instructors included, on the training grounds.

Knowing how the red-haired boy could start acting if the overconfidence would cloud his judgment, Zoemi ended up slowing down and holding at a wider margin between himself and the young noble, but he also would pass everyone who started dropping off like flies.

Before the instructor called for the morning run to the end, the two boys were the only ones still moving.

"My lord... I know it will sound sappy, but... seeing your back made me keep pushing myself... I wouldn\'t be able to make it if not for you, so... Thank you...!"

Zoemi who maxed out the basic star levels of the law of Capricorn the other day and didn\'t actually break a sweat from the little jog, sat down heavily making it seem as if he was out of breath, and beamed at the red-haired boy who was swaying on his feet because of the mana depletion.

"..."

His face was flushed bright pink but Grazio didn\'t say a thing and merely turned around as his glossy eyes glistened in the sun.

|Waah, cute~|

Zoemi awwed internally as the clearly disappointed instructor called everyone to prepare for the next exercise.

The next few days played out the same or at least a very similar scenario to the point that the black-haired boy started thinking that if not for the status of the red-haired boy, he would declare himself his best friend openly.

One thing led to the other, and surprisingly Zoemi was asked by Grazio to come to meet him at the training ground after sunset.

"Cat, you worry too much."

The black-haired boy chuckled and patted the side of the large brown wolf that didn\'t want to leave his side.

"Grazio did say that he wants to train his body without magic and it would be embarrassing for others to see, that\'s why he picked out such a late hour."

"Nn... Nnn..."

Zoemi added giving Cat the scratches but the armored wolf didn\'t sound too convinced with her whimpers.

"It\'s because wolves don\'t have the concept of tsundere. Call it a national tendency, but my people have a weak spot for people like Grazio."

"...nnn..."

Zoemi laughed and got only a quiet, confused whimper in response.

"It will be fine, I promise. Are you that worried because I said I will hold back on the laws for the evening? If it will make you feel better I will use the law of Sagittarius. I can finally use it to enhance my body with star power, nothing much yet but if it will ease your worries..."

"Graugh!"

The black-haired boy assured the wolf once more but when neither its ears nor tail haven\'t perked up he tilted his head and proposed another option which met with enthusiastic bark of agreement.

"Whew, I am lucky that Roiso can\'t understand you or you two would have me under constant survailance~"

Zoemi chuckled as the two of them turned the corner and entered the training ground by the Perserios castle, lit up with torches where Grazio waited.

Surprisingly enough, despite saying that he wants to keep things confidential, the red-haired boy wasn\'t alone.

He was accompanied by a few other participants in the knight training as well as two normal instructors and the head instructor too...!

"Zoemi! Sorry for that, sister Elsby caught me sneaking away and did not let me go without escort..."

Grazio walked up to Zoemi and the cautious armored wolf and lowered his head apologetically while explaining.

"My lord, if you don\'t mind then neither do I! Let\'s start with some basic stretches and light exercises."

"Let\'s!"

The black-haired boy assured him with a friendly smile and they walked towards the side of the area while Cat sat down and cautiously observed the adults who were supposedly there as Grazio\'s bodyguards.

"Although for magicians mana and magic are the most important, being physically strong simply can only be a disadvantage when underestimating an opponent while overestimating oneself. Therefore, with a proper understanding of one\'s limits, physical training can be only beneficial!"

Zoemi said enthusiastically while showing Grazio the motion he should be going to prepare his body for the workout.

"..."

While having his body turned, Zoemi didn\'t pay too much attention to Grazio\'s silence writing it off as the other boy merely focusing on keeping up a proper form.

"So annoying. Fireball."

"Yeah and... wait, what did you...?"

That\'s why when the red-haired boy finally spoke, at first Zoemi acted as if it was something about training and realized that something was wrong mid-sentence as he started to turn around.

*BOOOOM*

As he did, for a split second he saw the silhouette of Grazio that was instantly replaced by a bright outburst of fire coming straight from the young lord Victureo\'s palm at point-blank range.

"GHRAUG!" *rumble*

*thump*

While Zoemi\'s body was thrown into the air like a broken toy, The armored wolf went into a frenzy, casting the stone armor spell with a wild growl even before its master\'s body hit the ground.

"GET THE WOLF! IT\' WENT BERSERK, KILL IT!"

While Cat was rushing toward the unmoving body of her master the supposed bodyguards of Grazio sprung into action too, shouting some complete bullshit.