Broke Af

"So you are the guy that came first. Nice to meet you. If you don't know, my name is Aster Densworth, seventeen years old"

After we left Leonard's office, the first thing to come from Aster's mouth was a bit of a compliment and a lot more greeting.

Wanting to probe what's happening in this guy's head, I asked an inquisitive question right away.

"Why? Jealous of you being a second? Well, you're the first one to come out of your trial so I guess you aren't?"

Aster absentmindedly looked for a moment before letting out an innocent smile.

"I'm jealous? You are completely wrong. I just think we're going to be seeing each other from now on, and getting to know will benefit both of us right? Friends is what it is called, I supposed,"

Friends…

...this guy's a creep.

Clearly displaying that I was uncomfortable with his presence as he continued to shower me with an unbothered face, Yana moved in between us and added.

"Friends with the new guy! Cillian, you're getting friends for real!"

Ugh, that makes it even worse.

Aster seemed to have caught Yana's underlying words as he asked with a tilt of his head, appearing a bit curious.

"Cillian doesn't have that many friends?"

Yana chuckled.

"He had no friends. With his personality, the others tend to avoid him. His instance of looking down on others made everyone not want to converse with him, you know? Look, he's looking down on you right now!"

What looking down?

This is my normal face!

Aster's gaze even shifted at me to confirm and chuckled.

"You're right, he had that kind of face now. You're very naughty, Cillian."

Argh, I'm not looking down at you!

Thinking that clearing this misunderstanding would make them tease me more since the two were getting along with each other right away, I calmed down and continued walking.

"Anyway, what are you guys planning now?"

Aster asked as he looked back in forth between me and Yana.

Yana answered on my behalf.

"We're actually about to go home but I convinced my brother to roam around the Academy to get ahold of its premises. But you see, we got into a fight and now we're on the same boat. So we'll return home this time and prepare for the start of classes,"

I tapped Yana's head and retorted coldly.

"I told you, what happened to me is not your fault. Stop thinking that it is,"

Aster looked at Yana who was pouting before averting it to me.

Weirdly enough, his innocent smile became more pronounced as a look of understanding appeared on his face with a short nod to top it off.

And I had no idea or guesses as to what it was when I'm the kind of person who can pinpoint someone's thinking through their actions.

Yana shrugged her shoulders and looked at Aster.

"What about you? Are you also going home or staying at the Academy?"

Aster became stiff once his question returned back to him before an embarrassed smile attached his lips and retorted.

"I actually don't have any home…"

"?"

Yana and I made questionable faces as it was now our time to tilt our heads.

Aster continued.

"I'm an orphan that has been cut off, you see. Don't worry, it's not their fault. The budget has been dwindling lately and the older ones are ordered to do their own thing. However, they said that the Academy provides food if you are able to pass their test. It will be even better since I will be attaining the scholarship where I'll do nothing but learn here."

'So, he's also a commoner. I guess that's obvious,'

Aster looked at Yana before ending it to me as he nervously asked.

"So uhm… if it's not that much, can I come with you?"

Huh?

"I promise to do everything you asked me to do. The scholarship registration will start in the starting class you see, and in those two weeks, I'm absolutely free,"

This guy… he's aiming for something. I just knew it.

His innocent actions didn't align with his words as he seemed to be seeking something in his mind but just couldn't put it into sentences to tell it to us.

However, it seemed his body betrayed him.

Grumble—!

Yana looked at me while doing the same thing to her.

Once we realized it wasn't us who had a hungry stomach, our gazes shifted to the man at the edge who was avoiding our eyes.

However, a hungry man doesn't lie.

"Busted,"

I'm sure of it.

This guy is broke as fuck.

This dude didn't have any money hence he was planning on leeching over our food by trying to appease us that he could do anything as long as he was fed.

'Heh,'

Did I just acquire a slave?

Someone who'll do anything as long as he was fed kind-of-slave?

…

No, no.

That kind of thinking is just mad, considering that the man on my front is a kid who's very poor and in need of food.

I'm also a kid…but still, my mind is already an adult mind.

Using someone's hunger to do my bidding is just… too much?

Yana might even notice it and warn me not to 'abuse' Aster that way since that isn't just right.

If this were in the past, I would've already considered getting a collar and trapping magic to keep Aster solely to me.

He'll be like a dog… just a useful one.

Slurp—!

Watching him fill himself with the food I cooked while on our way back towards our home, I erased anything filled with malicious and dark intent on how to use Aster inside my head.

"How long have you been not eating, though?"

Yana asked in concerned as Aster kept devouring the food in front of him.

"A week,"

A week...

Man, I couldn't even imagine not eating a day whether it was in the past or present.

'For him to handle the hunger while still coming up on top, it seems I was lucky to get a tenacious slave—'

I had to shake my head to force out the negative thoughts that swirled inside my mind.

Sighing out loud since I had another mouth to feed on our journey, it was time to see the uses he could be while we traveled hence I interviewed Aster.

"Are you good at hunting?"

Aster replied very fast with confidence.

"I'm an expert on it,"

I nodded.

"Can you cook?"

Aster firmly shook his head.

"I'm terrible on it,"

I guess I'm the one who does it.

"Cleaning?"

Aster nodded, however, something different came to his mind.

"If it's body cleaning, I'm good at it,"

Yana tilted her head to the side.

"Body cleaning? That sounds—"

Covering both of her ears, I immediately announced.

"That's enough interviews. You're hired,"

Just what the hell was he thinking when he mentioned 'that' kind of cleaning with Yana here!

I already knew Aster wasn't as innocent as he appeared to be outside.

Someone who went first on his trial and beat up another second year isn't going to be normal in the first place.

But to appear innocent amidst that personality was an impressive feat on its own.

There's a problem though.

Every movement this guy did was all done consciously.

'Ah, this guy's clueless as hell…'

Discovering a quirk like that from him, our travel towards home continued.