"Huh... that guy looks simr to Seth... I wonder if he was a member of the Raging Bull sect...?"


    The ck-haired man began moving from one end of the painting to the other, stopping andmenting to himself upon seeing somewhat familiar faces.


    "..."


    Around the middle of the painting, he stopped, staring at the image of a strict-looking man in his twenties who definitely tried a little bit too hard with making a good pose for the painting.


    But the pose itself wasn''t something that picked Zoemi''s attention the most.


    "...he is simr to George... n did say that most of the bodies weren''t recovered and George''s father was supposed to be a castaway washed up on the shores of the Tencelion''s territory..."


    Zoemi bit his lips and reached his hand towards the image, but stopped himself from actually touching the painting.


    "And apparently George showed up here, but with ck hair and ck eyes... not something that a dead person should be able to do in the slightest...."


    He breathed out taking a step back and ring into the painted man''s eyes.


    "So troublesome..."


    Zoemi shook his head and began inspecting the rest of the painting until...


    "...?"


    A familiar devilish smirk that looked so familiar as if he was put in front of the mirror immediately got Zoemi''s attention, and the ck-haired man stopped right in his track.


    But it obviously wasn''t a mirror – the devilish smile belonged to by far the youngest person included in the painting.


    His honey-blond hair and bright blue eyes were enhanced by the devilish smile that carried the promise of the boy bing a heart-stealer in the future.


    "I''m done. Have you found the portrait of mister Nathan? He was supposed to be the youngest member of the expedition... force..."


    Zoemi was standingpletely motionless, staring at the boy''s image for so long that n done with the memorial service approached him from the side and called out – ncing over at what captured the ck-haired man''s attention and stopping in ce.


    "...? ?!?"


    n furrowed his brows and began looking between the figure of the honey-blond boy and the ck-haired man in front of him, getting increasingly confused.


    "I know there are some wild coincidences in the world or it just could be my imagination but... aren''t the two of you, like, really, REALLY simr...?"


    The young man took a step back and pointed between Zoemi and the image of the honey-blond boy.


    "...do you want to hear something even weirder...? ording to myte grandfather, I look extremely simr to myte father who was an orphan turned traveling merchant at a young age... The only differences between me and him were supposed to be the colors of our hair and eyes. I inherited mine from myte mother, while my father..."


    Zoemi gulped down his saliva and made eye contact with the shocked n.


    "...my father was supposed to have honey-blond hair and bright blue eyes..."


    "But...! There is a limit to coincidences...!"


    The ck-haired man finished his sentence not taking his eyes off n who gasped and look between him and the boy in the painting.


    "You are trying to say that mister Nathan managed to survive in the line of death and ended up in thend of mana? But...! Mana is poison!"


    "...and you said that he was the beloved child of Aries..."


    n shook his head and pointed out, to which Zoemi did have an answer.


    "Hold on! Even if that''s the case, what about the thing with martial artist''s body bing increasingly hotter until bursting into mes after using the star power for too long?!"


    The young man pointed out, giving a very reasonable argument.


    "If the martial artist is surrounded by mana, the process of the body protecting itself from it will prevent thebustion or even the slightest increase in temperature. Mana is not just poison, it is something opposing and hampering the star power directly – heating up is getting stronger, and abundance of mana prevents it."


    "!!!"


    "..."


    The pair were approached by the white-haired man with obsidian-ck eyes who gave n an exnation for the question bothering him without being asked directly, and his presence rmed the young man while Zoemi merely red at him in silence.


    "I''ve overheard your conversation, and it seemed that my suspicion was correct. Young magician, you are Nathan Ramis''s son, are you not?"


    William, the Heavenly Star Warrior dered, motioning with his chin at Zoemi.


    "There is a chance for that to be true. It would honestly exin a lot, everyone whom I would rust for the confirmation of that is dead, and making at least one of them talk would take some time."


    "..."


    The ck-haired man tilted his head and nodded while shrugging, showing his own cluelessness on the subject.


    "Although Nathan Ramis and Neramis as my father was called ording to myte grandfather does match the way people of thend of mana mispronounce the names of the marital artist."


    Zoemi added with a sigh.


    One thing he did not expect to learn in thend blessed by the stars was the identity of his father whom he thought to be just amoner-born traveling merchant who happened to be childhood friends with the daughter of a high noble family...


    "Despite my inquiries about you, I was not informed that you would be amongst the members of the exchange program in the Heavenly Star Academy, magician. You should already know that your kind is almost as much in trouble here as marital artists stranded in thend of mana. If you perchance nning to start something, remember that not only you will not be able to disy the full extent of your abilities, but also that mine arepletely unrestricted without the limiter of the astral projection."


    "His kind...? Wait, you don''t know that Zoemi can''t use ma-mnph...?"


    William squinted his eyes ring inquisitively at Zoemi while voicing his suspicions about him, and his information seemed to be outdated and straight-up wrong.


    n wanted to clear up the misunderstanding, but his lips were sealed by Zoemi''s hand as the ck-haired man got behind him and wrapped himself around him as if he meant to never let go - which instantly caused n''s face to turn bright red and his eyes could not focus on any point in particr as the closeness of the ck-haired manpletely overwhelmed his remaining senses.


    "...and you even dare to take a hostage in front of me...?"


    William''s eyes narrowed even more and he hissed, sounding more pissed off than when he was proiming the hostility of the Heavenly Star Nation back during the tournament in the kingdom of Bellcephora...


    "n, activate your defensivews."


    "Mpfghh...?"


    Zoemi whispered hurriedly, causing n to let out a muffled sound of confusion and surprise.


    "If you know what''s good for you, step away from that martial artist. I am not against talking with you, as long as you don''t intend on causing trouble in thisnd."


    William''s tone became slightly softer since he consciously tried to ease the situation while negotiating the release of whom he thought of as a hostage.


    "What are you..?!"


    But the next moment the ck-haired man curled up together with the young martial artist, causing the white-haired man to raise his voice in shock when...


    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*


    ...a major explosion swallowed up the center of the necropolis, and the following shockwave destroyed the rest of the spot.