Reincarnated as the Villainess's attendant

Chapter 497 162 - Perserios territory - part 5 - Countering the plan that was thirty years in the making (part 29)

　　"Zoemi, did it not work? Or is the pain from using magic getting worse? Why are you making a face like that...?"

　　The black-haired boy's eyes widened and his face became pale like a ghost's, causing the dark-haired girl to ask him in a worried voice.

　　"...it worked, the curse that blocked off the Perserios territory is gone. I can sense my sentinels in the outside world..."

　　Zoemi uttered, sounding as if he had something stuck in his throat.

　　"That's a good thing, right...?"

　　The two girls exchanged worried looks and Burushi ended up asking cautiously.

　　"It... is... but, my sentinels... there is barely a handful left..."

　　The black-haired boy gulped down his saliva and answered without looking back at the blond-haired girl.

　　"Wh... a what left...? Didn't you have thousands of them?!"

　　Burushi was aware of the estimated amount of sentinels that the black-haired boy had created, so she was the one to react in shock while Miriette stayed silent, only raising her brows in mild confusion.

　　"(MASTER! YOU ARE BACK! WE HAVE A HUGE PROBLEM!)"

　　Suddenly, Zoemi flinched as his mind was blasted with a sonorous cry of one of the remaining sentinels in clear despair.

　　"You...! Aren't you the one who sided with the Ghosts of Bellcephora?!"

　　The black-haired boy shook his head which literally started hurting because of the sudden connection, stepped away from the concerned dark-haired girl, and asked his sentinel back out loud.

　　"(I am! Master! We have a huge problem! We thought that the queen was trying to make her first son be the king instead of either Horeo or Surou, but the truth is that Kiorterell was secretly pulling the strings on that all along! Not even other Ghosts knew about anything!)"

　　The sentinel didn't even stop speaking for a second and just absentmindedly confirmed the accusation because it wanted to get to the most important part.

　　"H-huh...? What? No! The queen is controlled by the Barbariacca nation! Because of them, we got trapped in the Prserios territory and all!"

　　Zoemi almost stumbled back in shock before he shook his head and denied his sentinel's words.

　　"(That's the thing, master! Kiroterell has been messing around with the other nations for centuries – and found out about the plans that the nation you talked about wanted to take over Bellcephora kingdom. He thought it was a fun idea and started aiding them – but then William killed Evorietto and Carcassuss- the leader of the Ghosts of Bellcephora ordered everyone back and forbid all contact with the outside world for some time – that's when the nation that you talked about became bolder and with some lucky accidents aligning, they decided to push through with things! Kiorterell was furious!)"

　　The sentinel revealed in an exasperated voice, trying to convey as much as he could in case Zoemi would want to shut off their connection.

　　"(Things weren't supposed to go that way, but just because the queen got Vanterl's support, the Barbariacca nation foolishly thought that you will not be a problem since your lack of experience would weigh down the strength you may possess! But then again, it turned out that the plan was altered because of Arisu, and Kiroterell wasn't that angry any more because things began to look even more interesting! Arisu was using the Barbariacca nation to take the crown for himself. Master! Arisu can use mana conversion just as you did! His version isn't the weak one that you had at the beginning, but it's also not the one that let you take mana directly from your opponents. It looks like he can take a portion of mana from beings that he kills! Master – Arisu, together with Vanterl and Ehmi has been hunting down all the sentinels that weren't attached to important people! They even got the corpse puppets! Master... Although the Thitreen managed to take down Vanterl with his dying breath, Arisu and Ehmi continued the hunt and Arisu is now at the level of a sage!)"

　　"..."

　　*thump*

　　Because of the information dumped so suddenly right at him, the black-haired boy's knees gave up underneath him and he ended up slumping on the ground like a sad puppet with its strings cut off.

　　"ZOEMI?!"

　　"Private visit!"

　　Miriette and Burushi were by his side almost immediately, and the blond girl used her spell just in case despite knowing that it messes with the boy's mana.

　　After all, suddenly collapsing might have been connected with the boy's heart giving up just as she feared could happen.

　　"...he got so many of you...?"

　　"Burushi, what's wrong with him?!"

　　Zoemi asked, ignoring the world around him, fully focused on his sentinels.

　　"He is under extreme stress, his body isn't shutting down on him. Yet. But it sure doesn't look good. Whoever he is talking with should take that into consideration..."

　　The blond-haired girl breathed out and looked at the dark-haired girl with a serious expression.

　　"Has anyone thought about contacting Horeo or Benevirau?! Or Aspakeony!? Or ganging up on the white-haired bastard?! ANYTHING?!"

　　Zoemi was supposed to calm down just a little bit, but his question still came out as feverish and panicked.

　　The two girls exchanged worried looks but at the moment there was very little that either of them could do.

　　"(We didn't want to get other people mixed into this – especially the ones you care about, master, so we tried to deal with things on our own... that didn't end well because Arisu certainly wasn't going to face us alone and with him constantly hiding behind Ehmi and Vanterl's back until he became strong enough to go alone, there was literally nothing that we could do.)"

　　"ARE YOU ALL BRAINDEAD OR SOMETHING?! YOU ARE IMPORTANT TO ME TOO! WHAT'S WRONG WITH ASKING FOR HELP?!)"

　　The sentinel tried to explain but only got shouted at when his master heard its explanation.

　　"(...master... I... I...)"

　　The sentinel sounded as if it suddenly became emotional at the declaration that despite the aggressive tone carried the weight of their master's care and concern for every single murky-black sphere.

　　"I didn't create any of you to be some disposable pawns! Why did all of you inherit my worst trait of always putting others before yourselves?!"

　　The black-haired boy stopped shouting, and his voice broke down as his eyes filled with tears.

　　"...I always wanted a big family, and now so many of my children are..."

　　"(...)"

　　He began rubbing the corners of his eyes, not wanting to let the tears flow as he voiced his true feelings about the sentinels he created, leaving the one he communicated with completely speechless.

　　"Stay safe and return IMMEDIATELY if you ever get yourself in danger. Do you understand? I forbid you from dying. And that goes for all of you!"

　　Zoemi took a few deep breaths to compose himself and said, first to the sentinel attached to Elsby from the Ghosts of Bellcephora but also shared that thought with every other surviving sentinel.

　　"Alright, so you didn't ask for help – did you at least keep everyone updated...? You did, right?"

　　"(...well... Elsby knows what is going on...)"

　　The black-haired boy asked, but it turned out that being considerate for the people he cared about was limited to just keeping them away from information, and not keeping them in the loop.

　　"Little ones, we are teleporting away – grab Benevirau and Horeo and teleport us all to the headmaster's office in the Aspakeony Academy."

　　After actually calming down, the black-haired boy asked, straightening his back.

　　"Would that be okay with you?"

　　Zoemi asked, looking at Miriette and Burushi.

　　"I trust you."

　　"...why the headmaster's office though...?"

　　Miriette smirked and nodded her head, relieved because the black-haired boy returned to his usual self, while Burushi also didn't seem to mind but wanted to clear out something that bothered her.

　　"Simple, Aspakeony's office has the best protective shield I know about, making it the perfect place to discuss things."

　　Zoemi shrugged his shoulders and revealed without any setup, doing his best to play things cool and not as if he was almost bawling his eyes a moment earlier.

　　"...Hmm... well, if that is what you think that we should do..."

　　The blond-haired girl wasn't fully convinced about the idea, but she wasn't going to fight the black-haired boy on the matter.

　　"If you can bear with my selfishness a bit more, I promise that I will just take you to meet Surou. No holding back or preventing anything. I swear."

　　"...Surou...? Ah! That's right! You got him out of the monastery, didn't you?!"

　　Then a rather interesting thing happened – when Zoemi used a bargaining chip that he thought would be a surefire way to rest the case of Burushi's doubts, the healing magician's reacted as if she completely forgot about the second prince and blushed heavily from embarrassment after giving Zoemi a quick peek.

　　"A-anyway – I'm fine with you taking us back to the Aspakeony Academy."

　　Burushi also hurriedly glanced over at the slightly grim-faced Miriette before she nodded her head vigorously, encouraging Zoemi's previous decision.

　　"Little ones – ask if Metavicero wants to come too, but leave Xeonith and the corpse puppet sentinels together with the Far-South Tusk Tribe for protection. You know, just in case."

　　"(No problem, pa... master~!)"

　　Satisfied with the outcome, the black-haired boy called out to one of his sentinels and the murky-black sphere responded enthusiastically – although it sounded as if it wanted to call Zoemi in a different way than usual, but it got embarrassed and changed its mind.

　　The next moment, a flash o murky light swallowed their group, leaving the area they were hiding in empty.

　　…

　　"Hmph. The seal on the office is indeed too strong for any magician or sage to break – but you have left me a perfect tool to break through in case it would be required~"