|That was never the plan that master intended... you should have never beco a magician in the first place. It happened because of an accident that should not have occurred. That accident caused to manifest too, which is what I am afraid to think made master try to make things work. If I didn't wake up you would have died because of the exposure to far too much light mana too. But alas, now you yourself have gained too much mana and your body cannot fight back its poison anymore. You are different from the people that master fostered. Your resistance has a limit. That is why you experience such pain.|
The shadow revealed, without the change in his voice.
|Bullshit! My mana reservoir was broken by William during the semi-final duel of the tournant, and that is why I am in pain! You are just trying to confuse to take over my body or sothing!|
Zoemi shook his head and thought and his angry thoughts resounded through the world of motionless shadow.
|I wish only for my master's dream to be fulfilled. If she will be able to smile, happy and safe, I will be content with getting erased at any point.|
|...!|
The shadow responded, leaving Zoemi speechless.
|The attack you received from that man didn't break anything. It stirred up the power that you should have awakened to instead of magic. It awakens... this.|
The massive shadow continued speaking in Zoemi's voice and raised its paw, then, a single jagged shadow claw grew from it, pointing up into the endless void.
|Save my master with magic if you wish to, but do not kill yourself in the process. This is not what she wants. Your death will make her sad.|
|...?|
While the shadow was talking, the taken aback Zoemi looked up...
...straight at the dim dots of light trying to shine through the veil of shadow and...
--------
"!!!"
Zoemi woke up with a start...
"AAAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH...!"
And imdiately regretted moving so suddenly as his abdon felt as if it getting torn apart by horses pulling his body in two opposite directions.
"Oh dear, oh dear. More ice. Sweetie, would you be so kind?"
Soone gently grabbed the black-haired boy's shoulders and slowly helped him get back in a position that was easier on his stomach while talking to soone else in the sa room.
That person sounded like a kind elderly lady, which would make Zoemi confused if he could focus on anything else besides his suffering.
"Of course, mother... Here, is that enough?"
The voice that responded to the woman sounded familiar – but it certainly wasn't a good kind of familiar...
"It sure is plenty. Thank you, sweetie, go check up on how your father and uncle are doing with inspecting the new abilities of the servants."
"At once. Don't overexert yourself, mother."
It sounded like the woman nodded and responded in a gentle voice, making the other person speak up in an official tone before changing it to a more gentle and caring one.
"Now, now. You are such a worrywart, sweetie. Your old mom is feeling better than ever. Now go."
The woman giggled warmly and softly shooed the other person away.
The door closed behind the other person but Zoemi was still unable to open his eyes because of the pulsating pain.
Still, the ice that the elderly woman wrapped into a towel and placed on his stomach certainly did ease up so of it.
"...how much ti was I unconscious...?"
The black-haired boy managed to whizz through his teeth, fighting the nausea that had assaulted him.
"Just a few hours, young lord. That is most likely the reason you are still in so much pain. Miss Burushi used her spell on you and said that you actually managed to spend all of your mana. She was quite shocked by it too. You must be really strong."
The woman answered without any hesitation or surprise and began patting the boy's head.
"...apparently it's a bad thing though...GHH...!"
Zoemi snickered through the pain, but the contraction of his abdominal muscles sohow made it worse, even though his mana reservoir wasn't an actual physical organ.
"Oh, don't be so harsh on yourself, young lord. We are all alive thanks to you."
"...pardon...?"
The woman responded gently, but the words she said were so surprising that Zoemi actually opened his eyes and looked around in search of her.
"...huh...?"
And indeed there she was.
Just as her voice would suggest, it was a kind-looking elderly lady with brown hair.
Zoemi had seen her before.
Twice.
One ti was at his father's wedding where he montarily mistook her for lady Auequas, his father's actual mother.
And the other ti was a few hours ago, amongst the other corpses in the pile – she was one of the gagged ones...!
"Wha...?! How...? Why...!? Wait...! Are you one of my sentinels? I didn't want any of you to use necromancy on the corpses! That was not the plan at all – didn't others tell you?!"
Zoemi gasped, struggling to say everything that he wanted without stirring up the pain in his abdon.
"Oh, sweetie. That is not the case at all~. Check for yourself. Do you have a connection with – or any other resurrected person as you do with normal sentinels?"
The woman giggled and asked.
"Of course I...! I... don't...?"
Zoemi scoffed angrily and concentrated – but then his face widened in shock when he realized that he couldn't locate the woman while he could do that easily with every other sentinel trapped together with him within the Perserios territory.
And the amount of the sentinels present has increased by a single one from what he rembered before using the spell and losing his consciousness, and his resident sentinels were outside his shadow for so reason, but that was beside the point...
"See? We also don't understand what exactly happened, but one thing is certain – although it's just the people that you have found in the backyard and the infirmary - officers and servants, including us, the Perserios family mbers – we are finally free from the hexes of the Barbariacca nation."
The woman's smile beca a bit wider as she pointed out.
"Mrs... the what nation now...?"
Zoemi furrowed his brows, thinking that he surely overheard.
"Barbariacca nation. The whole thing about re barbarians was a part of the hex... the younger generations surely don't rember it but that's why old bones like are here to help clear things out."
The elderly woman said proudly, tapping her chest to show off that she is trustworthy.
"If that is true, then they sure didn't show off originality in picking the nas..."
The black-haired boy sighed with a sour expression, half-convinced that he was actually having a lucid dream caused by the pain or sothing in a similar manner...
"I would say it's the opposite. I an. You are not under the hex young lord, but you didn't even know about the existence of the Barbariacca nation. They are quite brilliant - figuring out a way to use their magic in such a way."
The woman pointed out and Zoemi closed his mouth and looked down, furrowing his brows.
"You see, the problem with normal hexes is like this. if the target doesn't have strong enough will to oppose it and fell victim to the spell, their wits are lowered. Or should I say, they plumt? To the point of a genius strategist suddenly ordering the army to march forward, straight at the enemy and overwhelm them with numbers, completely disregarding the casualties on their side.... and without an actual nurical advantage."
"...that makes a lot of sense, actually... But also, you said normal hex. What about not normal ones...?"
She explained, making Zoemi's eyes widen before he asked curiously.
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