Chapter 110
"Seconds please!"
Zero didn't know if he should look amused or disgusted by Leon's dining manners . The werecat hybrid ate with gusto but lacked the elegance Rima had . He ate more with his hands than with the spoon and shovelled way too much food into his mouth, causing bits of it to fall on the table . Zero toyed with the idea of texting Freya and have Leon go through the dining etiquette class he experienced . It might do Leon some good to behave more civilised so that he wouldn't be receiving looks of disgust from Jacqueline and Rima . Zoe smacked him across the head when Leon laughed out loud and caused everything in his mouth to go in all directions . The lady was scary when she was angry and Zero kept in mind never to anger her .
That aside, Zoe was a really great cook . Her food had a different kind of warmth that Zero couldn't get enough of . It could've been the spice or the unique method of cooking but it was definitely something irreplaceable to him . Of all the fine delicacies he'd tasted before, Zoe's food was the best . Rima told him that it was the taste of home and nobody's food could ever compare to Zoe's . Zero agreed readily and Zoe blushed under their praises . The village's foster mother was a really shy person and Zero found her to be very precious . He loved Zoe and all her shyness even though he'd only known her for a day .
Roovan had made himself scarce and flew away as soon as he dropped Zero off at Zoe's place . Hua Tuo stopped by briefly for a quick bite before excused himself hurriedly, telling Zero to meet him at the farms before dinner . Zero was equally excited to know that he'd be meeting Lovina and Cleo for dinner tonight . The ladies wanted to get to know Zero more and Hua Tuo simply couldn't refuse them after they requested to interview Zero about his theory of using healing magic in a revolutionary way . For all they knew, it might be a ground-breaking discovery that would accentuate the prominence of healers . What better way than to promote the effectiveness of it with one of the best magicians and healers in existence?
After letting out a long and loud belch, Leon grinned widely and announced that he was done . Rima's face was scrunched up in disgust at Leon's rudeness while Jacqueline rolled her eyes, accustomed to the boy's lack of manners . The children were told to wash up by a stern Zoe and they left obediently . Only Zero stayed back to help clear the dishes, much to Zoe's surprise . The woman tried to refuse the help but Zero's stubbornness and cuteness won her over . In the end, she let the brunet bring the dishes to the basin and help her wash it while the kids played in the living room .
The task was completed in record time with two people doing the dishes, they fell into a wordless routine with Zoe washing the utensils and Zero drying them . Rima watched them silently while Jacqueline and Leon wrestled on the floor with the werecat hybrid losing . The spirit propagator blinked at the strange sight but didn't comment on it . They waited for Zero to finish the chores with Zoe before dragging him outside near the huge open area beside the warrior quarters .
Zoe bid them goodbye with kisses on their foreheads and Zero received one too . He blushed a little at the intimate contact, unused to anyone showering him with such affections . It made him all tingly and warm inside but didn't have time to think about it as Leon dragging him away by the hand, too excited to wait . The brunet managed to wave goodbye to the silent woman before they completely disappeared from sight .
On the way there, Zero decided to as Rima the question that had always been on his mind .
"Why doesn't Zoe speak? Is she always this shy?"
The spirit propagator gave him a weird look before shaking her head . "Zoe is shy but that's not why she doesn't speak . She can't speak . "
"Can't speak?"
Jacqueline stopped squabbling with Leon for a moment and turned to Zero . "They say she's mute . Zoe's a little special after all . She can't leave this village either . "
"But why?" Zero was confused .
"Well, they say that Zoe is part of this village so she can't leave? Grandma Moppo says that Zoe has been in the village even before she was born . However, she only showed herself when Rima came to the village . She's been taking care of children ever since . Even Clowis and Amaraline were taken care of by Zoe so nobody really knows how old she is . "
Rima smiled gently . "Zoe's a great mom even though she's not actually alive . "
Zero froze . Not alive? Was Zoe also a zombie? Wait, something's not adding up . Zoe probably came before Soon so she couldn't possibly be a zombie .
"What exactly is Zoe? Is she a spirit?"
Rima frowned . "Something close . She's actually what humans call a ghost? However, she is not a ghost formed by the soul of someone with strong attachments to the world of the living . She's what we call a household ghost, born from the feelings of love and family in a village . Grandma Moppo's previous family and village must have been a loving bunch . They call her a Zashikiwarashi . "
Zero hasn't heard of that before so he was slightly lost . Thankfully, Mii was able to give him some background information about household ghosts .
Race: Zashikiwarashi (Household Ghost)
Traits: Usually very shy, full of love for the household occupants, loves children, normally doesn't like to be seen . Can be very protective when the household occupants are endangered or if the house is on fire . When the household is neglected or abandoned, the Zashikiwarashi becomes negative and will feed on the life energy of any living creatures that enter its territory . Cannot leave the household they are protecting . Has the power to materialise and move things in their territory if there are occupants in the house .
"That doesn't explain how Zoe cannot talk . . . " Zero mumbled .
Leon heard that and shrugged . "Lovina and Hua Tuo tried many things to give Zoe back her voice . According to Grandma Moppo, Zoe has a beautiful voice and she heard it many years ago when she was still a young child . Zoe's voice sounded like wind chimes but for some reason after materialising, she lost the ability to speak . We don't know how Zoe lost her voice, she won't tell us . "
Rima sighed and Zero looked troubled . Hua Tuo was right . Every villager here has a painful or troubled past . He was very curious about what happened to the lovely lady's voice and would help get it back if he could . But for now, he would have to pretend to know nothing about it . It wasn't good to pry into somebody else's business if they weren't comfortable with sharing it .
"We're here!" the werecat hybrid announced . Zero didn't even realise how fast they were travelling as Leon simply ran and dragged Zero behind like a kite . The brunet didn't even complain as he was half lifted into the air with the speed . Herein lies Zero's next concern . He heard that the game of tag consisted of chasing each other and tapping them to 'pass' the role of the tagger . Zero didn't know how it wouldn't be possible to catch Leon with his astonishing speed .
"Let's decide who the tagger will be," Jacqueline said . However, before she could continue, Zero raised his hand to interrupt her .
"Yes?"
"I have a question . How does the game work?"
Rima blinked . "Oh right . Sorry, we forgot to explain the rules . It's similar to normal tag but because we're not humans, there are some extra rules . "
Jacqueline grinned . "The rules exist because certain people couldn't accept being losers . "
That earned her a glare from Leon and his ears twitched . "It's not fair that you can hide underwater for the whole time while others run in circles to find you! Besides, I hate water! It's totally unfair . "
"Hey, nobody faulted you for climbing all the way up into the tree and jump off branches or use your super speed to get away . Tag is more than speed . It's about the brains as well . Too bad you don't have any of those . "
Rima had to break them apart before another fight could break out . She sighed tiredly .
"Alright, let me keep this simple so that everybody can understand the rules . Firstly, no hiding in the underground passages . Secondly, No going out of the play area . That means no going across the river or past the guardhouses . Thirdly, the use of magic is only restricted to helping yourself . For example, flying and camouflaging is allowed but trapping the tagger is not allowed . We don't want anyone getting hurt . Lastly, Each tagger will have up to half an hour to tag someone . If nobody is tagged, the tagger will be reselected . If you are tagged within twenty minutes, you will become the tagger and your twenty minutes starts from the time you were tagged . Any other questions?"
Zero was impressed by Rima's maturity and leadership . Jacqueline and Leon were attentive and didn't argue . The brunet admitted that he couldn't have handled the situation better . If not for Rima keeping them in line, the two would've cause Zoe a lot of trouble .
"No questions? Let's select the tagger . Who wants to go first?"
Jacqueline volunteered and Leon grinned . The quarter mermaid started counting and faced a tree . Leon took off immediately and Rima disappeared . Zero didn't know what to do and Jacqueline was counting down really quickly . With only twenty seconds left, Zero decided to dive into a nearby bush . He knew it was cheating to be hiding when he was supposed to run but Zero honestly didn't know what to do after being abandoned at the start of the game .
"Ready or not, here I come!" Jacqueline announced and took off in the direction that Leon disappeared to .
Zero heaved a sigh of relief when he was sure nobody was around . He decided that using Mii's map to locate everyone wasn't considered cheating . After all, that was magic used not directed to other players . Zero decided to leave his bush in search for a better spot .
The moment he left the bush and ran to the nearest tree apartment, he bumped into someone . Both parties collided hard and Zero fell to the ground . The other party also fell and Zero was horrified to find that he'd terribly injure another person due to his negligence . He didn't know where that person came from because he didn't reflect on Mii's map when he was running . But that didn't change the fact that a detached arm was lying by his feet .
"I'm so sorry! I can fix this . . . your arm . . . oh no, we need to stop the bleeding first!"
The man blinked as Zero fused over his torn arm . With his other arm, he lifted it and patted the panicking apprentice and smiled .
"It's ok, I got this . "
Calmly, he picked up the arm that fell off and stuck it back to where it should've been . There was no blood and Zero was confused . The man wasn't bleeding but that arm had definitely fallen out . What was going on?
The stranger chuckled at Zero's bewildered expression . "I'm guessing you haven't seen a zombie before?"
Zero blinked . The man had light grey skin, black eyes that lacked a certain sparkle and looked completely human on the outside even if he looked sickly . This was a zombie?
The zombie didn't take offence to Zero's scrutiny . In fact, he seemed amused .
"I'm on my way to see Soon and Manny . Would you like to come upstairs? I'm sure they would love to have a guest over . "
Zero smiled . He might be in the middle of a tag game but who said that accepting invitations for tea was against the rules? Zero could definitely manage to play tag and chat with new people . He'd been curious about the zombies ever since he heard about them . He just didn't think that he would be meeting them so soon .
"Is it really alright? I don't want to intrude on anything . . . "
The zombie smiled . "Don't worry about that, we'll be glad to talk to the famous young apprentice . I'm Peter by the way . "
"Zero here, it's a pleasure to meet you . Sorry about bumping into you earlier . "
Peter seemed amused . If that collision was a bump, he wouldn't dare to imagine what a real collision would've been like . Maybe he would've to reattach his head or something and that thought entertained him . He wondered what Zero would do if he ripped his head off right now only to make funny faces at the child . It was always fun to tease the young ones but he refrained himself from doing so . There was no point in traumatising the young aspiring doctor .
"Shall we head up?"
Zero nodded and followed close behind . He couldn't wait to meet the other zombie and their creator .