|What is this supposed to be? Miriette had been abducted and saved her? Why didn't I stop her from getting abducted in the first place?|
Zoemi thought and his voice resounded through the murky darkness, but this ti the original personality didn't bother to answer.
|Ah, sorry for that. You know as much as I do, don't you?|
|Exactly.|
The boy realized and this ti he got a response – it sure sounded as if the artificial soul was sighing and rolling its eyes at him.
|Still, don't you find it strange – even if Bellcephora wants us to follow this specific path, isn't it already too late? That other Zoemi just ntioned Ehmi and Grazio to that other Miriette – and since they both are very clearly in the dormitory in the Aspakeony Academy, then unless Ehmi beca a teacher there, it is already too late for this tiline.|
Zoemi pointed out, trying to motion at the screen-like rectangle in front of him, but he could not even see his own movent.
|It looks that way – see? The two we see now are younger than you and your Miriette are now... But this is not the end. Let's watch it all play out, and maybe then we will see sothing that Bellcephora wants you to copy.|
The original personality said after a mont of consideration, and his and Zoemi's attention focused back on the events playing out on the screen...
~~~~~~~~
*********
~~~~~~~~
"EH?!"
"HUH?!"
Sobody knocked - or rather slamd, at the door making the two lovebirds jump out of the bed at once.
"You in there? Open up!"
Zoemi was so shocked hearing the voice of the visitor that he missed the shocked expression that Miriette's face has twisted into.
It was also the dark-haired girl who ca to her senses first and managed to act convincingly enough for the black-haired boy to not get suspicious.
"Wh- who is that?"
She asked and looked at Zoemi for answers.
"I'll check right away, my lady."
The boy was unsure how she should act...
He motioned at Miriette to stay put and approached the door - then unlocked and opened them in one swift motion.
"Fina... lly...?"
None other than the real headmaster, the chocolate-skinned necromancer Aspakeony, basically jumped in but as soon as she saw Zoemi she backed away.
She squinted her eyes and quickly glance over his shoulder at Miriette.
"..."
...who was looking away with a stubborn expression, trying to ignore the glare...
"Aspie, what are you doing here in person...?"
Zoemi tried to hide the necromancer from Miriette's sight with his body which granted him only the scornful look from the necromancer.
And while speaking about looks - at least the gray-haired girl was wearing sothing decent...!
Zoemi found at least a good point in the whole situation.
Indeed, it seed that Aspakeony abandoned her usual nightgown and panties combo and was actually wearing the academy's female uniform.
The necromancer herself started frowning even more but seed to have given up on sothing because she just sighed and shook her head.
"Nevermind. Listen, there is a problem, a big one. A huge fucking problem."
Aspakeony didn't mince her words for sure, she didn't care for how loud she was either.
"Calm down! Miriette could hear you!"
Zoemi clicked his tongue and while grabbing Aspakeony by the shoulders he started pushing her out of Miriette's room.
"Zoemi? Who is this? She can co in if it's sothing important."
"...!"
Zoemi flinched and had to chew down a curse word that wanted to spring out from his mouth.
Now, of all the tis, Miriette was feeling considerate enough to invite a complete stranger to her room!
"Oh, you don't have to mind her, my lady. She is... the... headmaster's niece...! She just transferred here because of family circumstances and I... I was asked by the headmaster Kross to show her around! That's why I wanted to leave early.
Zoemi was purposefully fidgeting bashfully making his stuttering voice sound more guilty than unsure.
Aspakeony tilted her head and glanced at him with disbelief, she put one hand on her waist and shook her head.
Honestly, it was clear to anyone other than that particular Zoemi that Aspakeony didn't co to that room to talk with him at all, but he was adamant about making her leave!
"Well, she looks like she has sothing to say. Zoemi, don't be rude, let her in and we all can talk."
Miriette shrugged her shoulders and casually invited the necromancer in.
"But...!"
Zoemi gritted his teeth.
Now of all tis, Miriette was in a hospitable mood! The black-haired boy was at a loss about how unpredictable she could be...
"Zoemi, if she is the headmaster's niece, it would be very inappropriate to chase her away. High nobles have rules, you rember, right?"
In a few words, Miriette delivered the answer he was searching for.
It was all his fault!
|If only I said that she was just so low-born student! Where have I even pulled that 'headmaster's niece' from?!|
Zoemi wanted to punch himself and thought – which was loud and clear to Zoemi and the original personality watching everything from the outside.
"That's right, sir Zoemi, if you will continue keeping waiting at the door I doubt my uncle will take kindly to such offense."
Aspakeony wasn't taking kindly to Zoemi's gas and started tapping her fingers on her arms.
"Just co in already!"
Now even Miriette was frowning at the black-haired attendant.
But even so, Zoemi didn't want to get Miriette pulled into so dangerous business.
Aspakeony was not just in a bad mood, she was seriously worried about sothing.
She kept on tilting her head and glancing at Miriette behind Zoemi which he misread as her being worried over getting eavesdropped on.
"Oh, but nothing like that is necessary, isn't that right? We are already running late, we will just go. I'll introduce you two properly so other ti!"
Zoemi lost his head for a mont and left the room dropping only so vague statent.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
Aspakeony was still able to contain her rage sohow and didn't just punch Zoemi in the face, settling on pushing, or rather, attempting to push him away.
Zoemi glanced at the hand pressing on his chest and raised his brow.
"That's what you should tell ! What happened to your whole existence being a secret?!"
He asked cautiously lowering his voice and casting the area of effect muffle spell.
"...?"
Aspakeony furrowed her brows and made a confused expression.
"Why did you co in person...? Wait..."
Zoemi was asking but Aspakeony only pointed at her ears and shook her head.
|Crap! Did I make the range too small? This spell beca so annoying to use after my attribute changed to shadow...|
Zoemi clicked his tongue, recalled the original spell, and cast the new one with adjustnts.
"I'm asking why you ca in person?"
Although the ss-up with the spell wasn't exactly a good thing, the breaking of pace that it caused certainly did help Zoemi partially regain his composure.
"It's too dangerous for to just stay alone in my office."
Aspakeony shrugged her shoulders and pointed with her thumb at three people behind her.
Zoemi didn't even acknowledge their existence before, after all, they were just Aspakeony's corpse puppets that had no will of their own anymore.
There was the light magician pale-skinned woman, a burly brown-haired man with copper skin, and a youthful-looking woman with curly blue hair.
"What does this an? Weren't you holing up in there because it was safe?"
Zoemi didn't want to waste ti on sothing that could not have anything in common with Miriette so he didn't even try to think of a reason for the necromancer's sudden love for strolling around the campus.
"As of now, it has officially beco too dangerous."
Aspakeony waved her hand decisively.
"First of all, tell , do you know the spell that allows darkness magicians to gain all the mana from soone they killed?"
She asked with a serious expression.
Zoemi flinched.
"I don't..."
"Listen, kid, I'm serious. I must know the truth, I'm not the only one who is in danger, that girl of yours is the sa."
Aspakeony interrupted him and pointed at the door to Miriette's room.
"So? Do you know of such a spell?"
She asked in a stern voice.
"..."
Zoemi's eyes stopped reflecting light making him look like a person dead for a long ti.
"If it's you, we can work sothing out, I'm willing to even begrudgingly make a deal with you. But if it's soone else then we need to do sothing fast. The thing I need to know before making the decision is - can you use such a spell or not?"
Aspakeony stopped pushing her open palm against Zoemi's chest and instead bumped against it with her fist.
Zoemi looked away, he stared at Miriette's door, sighed, and faced Aspakeony again.
"I don't know why you are asking this... But, in fact, I do know about a spell-like that..."
He started.
"Ah...!"
Aspakeony gasped and backed away, the blue-haired woman and the brown-haired man stepped in front of her acting like bodyguards.
"...the thing is, I never managed to recreate it because I only know so bits and pieces of its structure from ingesting and converting mana from the mber of the Ghosts of Bellcephora. You rember, don't you? That ti when you orchestrated the fake abduction."
Zoemi didn't even flinch and continued the explanation.
"O-oh, I see, so that's how it is..."
The corpse puppets stepped away and Aspakeony showed herself with an ashad expression.
Then finally sothing clicked in Zoemi's mind and he lost all his cool.
"The event! Soone was assassinated! That's why you are so cautious about ! Sobody was killed, right?! Their heart was pierced by a corrosive spell of questionable origin!"
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