房客(糙汉)何璐程曜坤

A black-haired boy was laying on his back in the middle of a spotlessly clean room. The empty area was as big as two large classrooms put together and the last rays of the setting sun were filling it with an orange hue.

The boy was perfectly still, motionless, with his eyes closed and his hands joined together on top of the solar plexus which made him look almost like a corpse.

The whole scene had an odd sense of tranquility and fulfillment about it, even with the sounds of servants and students coming from the outside through the open windows disturbing the silence.

"Sir Zoemi, I just come to check in if you managed to prepare ourselves a place to... oh..."

To get rid of the stale air and smell of dust that lingered in the room even after cleaning it the black-haired boy propped the door open with a small piece of wood and thanks to that the gold-haired corpse puppet that showed up again popped her head inside and started talking without knocking.

"That\'s some good work.... but why are you on the floor looking deceased?"

Her eyes widened and a soft smile appeared on her pale face as she turned to the resting boy.

"While cleaning I thought it would be a good idea to push my law of Pisces a bit harder so I shared senses with all of them..."

Zoemi revealed with a heavy sight without opening his eyes.

"Ah, I see, sounds tough. From what I know, lady Aspakeony can only assume direct control over a single puppet while the rest of us are working off the memories of our bodies and Aspakeony\'s will.

The gold-haired corpse puppet let out a soft gasp and nodded with understanding while entering the room and crouching next to the black-haired boy.

"Well... what I meant was although my body is fine, my brain is now thinking that I have done twelve different tasks all at once and is screaming for rest. But what you say is really interesting. I knew about necromancers but never thought about how exactly corpse puppets work."

Zoemi opened his eyes and turned his head towards the gold-haired puppet who was resting her face against her knees.

"Well. The best description would be an imprint of the soul... a shadow of a real thing. Even while acting on our own without lady Aspakeony\'s direct command we only make decisions based on the memories we had when our bodies were alive. The major difference between a corpse puppet and an actual human is that we do not change or grow from experiences. No matter what we will go through under our lady\'s command, our mindsets will be the same as the mindsets the original owners of our bodies had right before their death."

The puppet revealed while reaching out her hand and lightly poking Zoemi\'s side.

"Hah. Now it makes sense why she apparently gets the consent of the original owners before taking the bodies under her control."

The black-haired boy glanced at the puppet\'s hand and then looked up at her knee-obstructed face before making an unenthusiastically approving expression.

"Say... memories and decision-making process aside. Do you all have your own emotions too or is that all..."

*rustle*

Zoemi suddenly perked up and asked vigorously but got surprised enough to close his mouth when the gold-haired corpse puppet laid down next to him.

Not turned towards him as if trying to be intimate, but simply next positioned herself right next to him while also laying on her back.

She even put her hands together imitating him imitating a corpse.

"...are you getting nostalgic or something...?"

Zoemi raised his brow before putting his head back down and looking towards the ceiling.

"...nostalgic for what...? The memories of the life that ended and wasn\'t truly mine?"

The gold-haired corpse puppet closed her eyes and asked while a soft smile lingered on her lips.

"Nah~ I was talking about you, the corpse, being nostalgic about the time when you were peacefully laying down while surrounded by the mourning members of the original owner of your body\'s family. You know, right before the headmistress showed up to enlist you."

Zoemi snickered and raised one hand just to wave it dismissively and get back in the rest-in-peace position.

"Hmmm...."

"...I apologize..."

The gold-haired corpse puppet let out a pondering noise and turned her head to face the black-haired boy who didn\'t even withstand a second of her gaze and apologized immediately.

"Hmm? Oh, no. I don\'t mind jokes like that. The original me was like that too. I was only thinking that you do have a point, the existence that I am already started the moment the original one passed away. The thing is, there was no crying family or anything. I mentioned it before but she was around when this place was a military facility during the last war. She died protecting it... died kind of pathetically might I add, but since she had this urge of being useful she asked lady Aspakeony to turn her into a corpse puppet."

The gold-haired corpse puppet said lightheartedly looking back up to the ceiling and closing her eyes as if she found inner peace.

"Is that so...? Useful in general or specifically for the kingdom of Bellcephora? Now I\'m curious about what kind of outpost you were in such a hurry to return to before~"

The black-haired boy breathed out in relief and added quite intrigued.

"Nothing special, Together with four more puppets we help keep things together at one of the outposts on Thradoansa island nation. We are on the lookout for any uninvited ships from the Heavenly Star Nation. I should not be away for long, but the living I asked to fill out for me is quite capable."

The gold-haired puppet didn\'t try to slither her way out of answering the possibly troublesome question and simply reveal it to the surprised boy.

"Heee... It wasn\'t a secret, huh..."

Zoemi groaned, playfully acting as if he was sulking.

"What is your name? Calling you a corpse puppet or just by hey you is kind of messing with me."

The black-haired boy added and his mood seemed to improve by quite a lot.

"When the original owner of this body was alive her name was Moxeoni Korto Derizno. Since the noble status doesn\'t stay with the body after it is reanimated into a corpse puppet I react to simply Moxeoni."

Moxeoni said without opening her eyes and smiled while seemingly enjoying the rest.

"The family name is well known enough, but it kind even just your name sounds similar to the name of the young hair of the Derizno family, doesn\'t it?"

Zoemi pointed out curiously.

"Lady Aspakeony was made aware that indeed, the original owner of this body was an inspiration for the name of young lord Xeonith Zarble Derizno. Although the original wouldn\'t be too happy about it."

Moxeoni nodded in confirmation and opened her eyes although she didn\'t turn to Zoemi.

"Why is that?"

The boy asked, furrowing his brows in consternation.

"Because most of the feats that the Derizno family praises her to this day were all done by me – so after the original one was already dead."

"Ooohhhh...!"

Moxeoni explained and Zoemi gasped in understanding.

"Since I answered a few of your questions, I have one on my own."

"Yeah?"

The corpse puppet\'s face suddenly turned serious and she turned her head to look straight into Zoemi\'s eyes, making him gulp down his saliva in anticipation.

"Do you like sleeping on the floor? From the memories I have, a bed was always the desired luxury in those kinds of situations. Not to mention other furniture."

"..."

But far from being troublesome or inappropriate, the straight-laced question made the black-haired boy\'s expression turn grumpy.

"...I apologize...?"

Clearly parroting Zoemi\'s earlier reaction, Moxeoni asked for the boy\'s forgiveness although the uncertain tone in her voice was suggesting she isn\'t quite sure why she should be sorry while also being fairly certain that she should be sorry about something.

"Of course, I would like a bed! Do you have any idea how long have I been sleeping outside in the fuc...! Ekhem. Well, I don\'t have any furniture whatsoever because I was not provided with anything from the Academy and I haven\'t gone shopping yet. Or... were you suggesting that I should have used the rotten wood from the old crates to build some makeshift ones....?"

Zoemi raised his voice but manage to compose himself - he cleared his throat but that did not mask how surprised he was that Moxeoni of all people would ask him that.

"...but I was definitely going to tell you about the spare furniture we keep in the other storage room before I... ah... lady Aspakeony assumed direct control to speak with you right at that moment, didn\'t she... Sorry."

The corpse puppet sat upright and started mumbling to herself before raising her head in realization just to bow it apologetically toward the wide-eyed boy.

"In that case, I will show you to the right place."

The gold-haierd corpse puppet got up and stopped by the door, waiting for the blac-ahried boy to follow her.

"Okay."

Zoemi took a deep breath and stood up saying only a single word becasue anything else would just sound too sarcastic.

"Sir Zoemi, considering the size of your room and all, it would be okay for you to procure more furniture at your own discretion at a later date... If you want, you can also take two beds and put them together for greater comfort... there is no particular reason for me saying that."

After their return through the hallway that Moxoeni lead Zoemi previously, the corpse puppet said while opening a door next to the laundry room... and murmured the last part under her breath...