Lan kept a straight face and said, "...a gentleman."
Akivili was very open to correction and immediately changed his wording, "A gentleman like our dear friend… really is quite rare."
His tone was full of emotion.
"Honestly, I truly didn't expect someone in such a high position like our dear friend to stay single for so long… it's really surprising."
"He probably prefers a soulmate, right? He has extremely high standards for love, and..."
Akivili silently swallowed the words "unrealistic fantasies" and changed it to, "overly idealized expectations."
He concluded firmly, "The woman he falls in love with must be very special."
Lan nodded in deep agreement.
Akivili paused, then smiled at Hua and said, "Kids shouldn't listen to this."
Hua, "..."
'Then don't discuss these things in front of me, a child, in the first place!'
Akivili made a snap decision, covered Hua's ears with his hands, and whispered to Lan, "Although I don't know what type of woman our dear friend would like… I can roughly guess what their way of getting along would be like."
He let out a faint sigh.
"Probably the same way he treats the Xianzhou people and his subordinates, right? Extremely self-centered. He'd provide the best material conditions, and, following his own ideas, give the other person things they might not even need."
"Oh, maybe even if he wanted to break up, he'd think about letting the other person get more of the property, and would marry them first."
Lan was rendered completely silent by this.
Who on earth would marry someone they planned to separate from, just so the other person could get more property?
Akivili's guess… was really too strange.
Then Lan thought about it again. It was the Marshal, so never mind.
If it were anyone else, he would only think this person thought in a very abnormal way.
But once he considered that it was the Marshal, no, more accurately, someone whose behavior neither humans nor gods could predict, then it really did seem possible.
Lan nodded at Akivili once more, agreeing with him.
Seeing this, Akivili got even more enthusiastic.
He couldn't talk about his dear friend with the Nameless. Now that he had finally met a suitable person, how could he let the chance slip by, no, miss it?
Akivili shrugged.
"To be honest, I think that even if our dear friend did have a lover… it'd be no different from not having one at all."
"Humans get jealous, feel possessive because of love. Our dear friend wouldn't have those emotions."
"Even if his lover asked to break up with him…"
As Akivili spoke, he suddenly stopped.
Lan followed the Aeon's train of thought.
From the bottom of his heart, he agreed with Akivili's guess.
Expecting the Marshal to get jealous over love… would be easier than expecting him to stop targeting intelligent machines and the Swarm one day.
Lan paused, then added, "He wouldn't refuse. Even if he felt pain, even if he felt sad, he would still let his lover leave, and sincerely wish her happiness."
Akivili instinctively thought of the Path governed by Yaoshi, the Aeon of Abundance.
Selflessness, altruism, healing.
Aside from the last one, his dear friend embodied the first two.
With an Aeon who hunted abominations standing right beside him, Akivili didn't voice his thoughts.
He let go of the hands covering Hua's ears.
When he looked up again, his dear friend had returned. He had changed clothes, his hair half-dry, and was walking toward the two gods and one human.
Akivili complained, "Dear friend, the Xianzhou language… is really hard to learn. I accidentally say the wrong things and use the wrong words all the time."
Lan thought that if Akivili said "kept in the inner chambers" and "noble young lady" in front of the Marshal…
The expression on that person's face would surely be spectacular.
He should've known better than to correct Akivili's wording.
Zero didn't care.
Back when Marti had first come to the Xianzhou, he'd caused quite a few embarrassing incidents.
Zero proactively spoke up to comfort Akivili, "That's perfectly normal. Before, I had a subordinate from another star system who even praised me for 'a dying flash of brilliance' and 'your voice and appearance still remain.'"
At the time, Zero thought that ignorance was no crime and didn't mind.
He suggested to Marti that he learn more about basic Xianzhou knowledge.
Thinking about it now, those two phrases, if used today, wouldn't even count as a curse, they'd be a blessing.
If an assassin wished for him to die early next time, he'd return the favor and let the assassin die on the spot.
As long as no assassin was left alive, they wouldn't have to go to the Ten-Lords Commission for interrogation.
Zero was in a great mood.
It was decided.
He really was such a good person.
He received blessings, granted the assassins what they dreamed of, and even spared them physical suffering.
Wasn't that a virtuous deed?
As he was thinking this, Akivili asked in a puzzled tone, "What do those two phrases mean?"
Zero patiently explained them to him.
Akivili was deeply shaken.
"…Dear friend, you really have such a good temper."
Even when subordinates cursed him to die, he didn't get angry.
Then if he knew that Akivili had misspoken and called him a noble young lady, he probably wouldn't be angry either.
Hua's feelings were extremely complicated.
Her guardian's subordinates obeyed him unquestioningly, looking as though they'd lost all sense of self and followed orders without condition…
And besides those subordinates, there were also those two Aeons.
Whether it was the "Reignbow Arbiter" worshiped by the Xianzhou Alliance, or the "Trailblazing" Aeon who laid star rails, neither of them was normal.
Being able to bring in these two abnormal Aeons… wasn't it only natural that her guardian had mental problems?
What normal person could maintain their sense of self after being praised nonstop for thousands of years? Who could maintain such close relationships with Aeons?
For the first time, she felt a trace of sympathy for her guardian.
Lan was briefly confused.
Who was Akivili talking about? Saying the Marshal had a good temper?
Back when he hadn't ascended to become an Aeon and had stayed by the Marshal's side, the man hadn't been this mild-tempered at all.
Zero chatted with Akivili for a bit more, then, out of the corner of his eye, noticed Lan and Hua. He raised a hand and pointed in a direction, telling the god and the human to move farther away from his estate to continue lessons.
If Lan kept tearing houses down, he'd really have to stay in Yaoqing forever to pay off the debt.
Before the god and the human left, Akivili pulled out a communication device from who-knows-where and proactively asked for Lan's contact information.
Lan froze for a moment, then, at Hua's prompting, took out his jade communicator.
His movements were clumsy as he opened a social app.
Akivili enthusiastically leaned over and discussed the jade communicator functions Lan wasn't good at with Hua.
This overly familiar Aeon, without anyone noticing, took Lan's jade communicator, tapped the screen a few times, and then handed it back.
Lan glanced at it. It was a group chat.
One historical message caught his attention.
[I heard there are some small conflicts between me and Nous, so I'll take this chance to clarify]
Lan, "..."
'This kind of vague, easily misunderstood wording…'
At a glance, you could tell it was the Marshal's handiwork.
Lan closed the jade communicator with a complicated expression.
He gently patted Hua's back and left the place with her.
Soon, only Zero and Akivili remained in the courtyard.
In a hesitant tone, Zero asked Akivili, "Do you want tea, alcohol, or a meal?"
Zero didn't think he was good at socializing. Fortunately, in the entire star sea, aside from subordinates, there weren't many people qualified to meet with him.
When the Xianzhou conducted diplomacy with other forces, the Sky-Faring Commission handled it.
When dealing with subordinates, it wasn't Zero's job to worry.
As a result, he rarely had opportunities to interact with outsiders.
Thankfully, Akivili was easy to talk to.
He quickly made his choice.
"You can drink alcohol anywhere, and food is the same everywhere…"
"Since we're in the Xianzhou, of course we should drink tea..."
They returned together to Zero's residence, passed through the courtyard and corridors, and arrived at the tea room.
Akivili looked at the various tea tools on the table and couldn't help letting out a "wow."
Zero found it amusing.
"Haven't you seen these many times before?"
Akivili eagerly sat down.
"Well, yeah, but it's just that you really feel amazing to me. There are so many tools for brewing tea, and you actually remember all of them."
Zero sat down a moment later.
He casually picked up a tea cloth used to wipe water and tea stains and folded it.
After folding it, he placed it on the table.
He asked, "Want to learn?"
Akivili smiled and shook his head.
"No, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to learn it."
Akivili put his hands together in a pleading gesture.
"Please, Marshal, just pour me a small cup when you're brewing tea..."
His appearance and demeanor didn't look like an Aeon at all, but rather like a young boy.
Zero smiled. His hands kept moving, and before long, the tea was ready.
He picked up the fairness cup and poured tea into the tasting cup by Akivili's hand.
Akivili pulled out his communicator, deliberately avoiding Zero behind the table, and took a photo of just the tasting cup.
He put the device away and chuckled.
"The Marshal personally making tea for me, if I told the Galaxy Rangers about this… hehe."
Zero was extremely helpless.
"So that was your plan?"
Akivili pretended to be solemn and sighed.
"There's no helping it. The train is so poor these days we can't even lift the pot lid, even Pom-Pom is so anxious he's started shedding fur…"
Zero frowned, pulled out his jade communicator, and made a motion to transfer credits.
Seeing this, Akivili's mouth twitched.
His dear friend was good in every way, except that he loved transferring credits at the drop of a hat.
The Xianzhou Alliance and the Galaxy Rangers had already helped them many times…
If he took his dear friend's credits again, forget whether Pom-Pom would go berserk and headbutt Akivili, even Akivili himself would be too ashamed not to headbutt Pom-Pom.
Akivili racked his brain to change the subject.
"Ah, dear friend, what I mean is, when can you join us?"
"You accepted the Nameless badge before, but you've still been staying in the Xianzhou… I'm an Aeon too, you know, don't I need to save face?"
Zero fell into thought.
He stayed in the Xianzhou because he hadn't found a suitable successor.
Not long ago, for Hua's sake, Zero had deliberately changed a certain Xianzhou law.
If a Xianzhou person under the age of twenty displayed outstanding talent, they could make an exception and enter the Cloud Knights and the Six Commissions.
In a few more years, he would lower the age to fifteen.
By then, when he made Hua work, it wouldn't count as child labor.
For the first time, Zero gave Akivili a definite timeline.
"Wait until Hua turns eighteen."
Akivili exclaimed happily, "Great! Dear friend, we can finally 'Trailblaze' together."
After speaking, he remembered the purpose of this visit.
To take a look at his dear friend's successor, and to answer his questions.
Akivili blinked and sincerely voiced his thoughts.
"Actually, I think you just need to treat that child the same way you treat the Xianzhou people and your subordinates."
Zero paused, his hand holding the tasting cup stopping mid-motion.
He asked, "…Wouldn't that be spoiling her too much?"
Akivili thought, so you do know you're spoiling the Xianzhou people and your subordinates.
He knew that persuasion wouldn't work; his dear friend had to realize the issue himself.
Akivili asked, "Then are you going to scold her? Suppress her?"
He deliberately ignored the clearly stunned expression on his dear friend's face and continued, "Or are you going to make her experience hardship? You're not the type of parent who belittles children..."
Akivili took a sip of tea and went on, "In my view, this kind of suppressive education doesn't have much benefit. It makes them become insecure and rebellious, and easily leads to conflict with parents."
"Is that child really the type who would get carried away just from being praised?"
Zero slowly shook his head.
Akivili gently advised, "Dear friend, she's just a child. It's only because her age is relatively young that you feel she's special."
"She's not some difficult problem troubling you. Relax, just do what you've always done."
He shifted the topic and said, "Dear friend, I believe you'll love that child the same way you love the Xianzhou people."
Akivili looked at Zero with eyes full of trust and said with feeling, "The way you love the Xianzhou people is the highest form of love. It's not endless patrol credits, nor countless planets…"
He paused almost imperceptibly, then said, "What you give isn't bottomless indulgence or doting, but an incomparable gift, the courage to head into the star sea, the ability to be independent. That is the highest realm of love."
When Zero heard the words "independent," he froze for a moment.
He looked at Akivili and let out a deep sigh.
Zero had to admit that Akivili's words… made him completely aware of the problem.
He shouldn't keep spoiling them.
Zero nodded. "You're right."
Seeing that his words had worked, Akivili let out a sigh of relief.
The method he'd used wasn't particularly clever, but it was enough for a dear friend who listened to advice.
Akivili couldn't help adding, "By the way, before you came back, Lan and I were talking about you."
Zero asked, "About what?"
Akivili answered without hesitation, "What you'd be like when you're in love."
Zero felt helpless inside.
Two Aeons with nothing better to do… why were they even talking about this?
Akivili spoke rapidly, laying out his and Lan's deductions. After finishing, he stared at Zero, clearly determined to get an answer.
Zero thought back for a moment and replied, "Probably… just like how you said I treat the Xianzhou people and my subordinates."
"I wouldn't solve all her problems for her. I'd do my best to support her and encourage her, so that even if one day she left me, she could still live easily and happily."
Akivili felt that something was off, but when he thought about the fact that the one saying this was his dear friend… it somehow seemed fine.
Taking advantage of the moment, he continued persuading him, "Now that you've adopted that child… don't you plan to find her a mother?"
Zero, "…Given my situation, there's no need to drag someone else into it."
Akivili didn't understand. He frowned deeply and was about to ask more when the ringtone of his communicator interrupted his thoughts.
He looked down, and his expression immediately turned troubled. He said he needed to return to the train.
Zero nodded and watched Akivili leave.
As he cleaned up the tea set on the table, he recalled the fable written on that piece of paper.
[Compared to those kind, pure, altruistic traits, the elder wanted Him to truly become an existence beyond cats and dogs]
If he didn't consider the fable, didn't consider the other content on the page, and only looked at this one sentence…
Then Zandar's goal was very simple.
He wanted his student to go from human to god.