Chapter 472 155 - Perserios territory - part 4 - Countering the plan that was thirty years in the making (part 4)
"Zoemi~!"
The black-haired boy and the brown-haired corpse puppet were greeted by the helmet-wearing girl the moment she and the blond-haired girl turned the corner and got themselves in the same hallway.
"~!"
Zoemi's face brightened with a smile as he lifted his arm and waved back as the two girls approached, followed by the corpse puppet sentinels. The latter seemed to be especially proud of themselves for completing the tasks given to them in such a short time.
Miriette nodded at the corpse puppet Xeontih, who truth be told did not bear too much resemblance to how Xeonith originally looked – besides brown hair and eyes, of course – and instead stopped two steps from Zoemi and reached out her hand just a bit.
The black-haired boy reached out to her himself and they held hands before the helmet-wearing girl took the last steps and leaned on his shoulder.
"I was worried, you know?'
Miriette spoke up dismissively, as if it wasn't anything important, making Zoemi snicker.
"I am not planning on taking another nine-months nap."
"You didn't plan on tanking the first one either."
He assured her, but then he got an unexpected comeback as Miriette sulked before intertwining their fingers as if trying to hold him back from going away.
"Hello, my lord. It's nice seeing you up so fast, but did you have a reason for calling us here?"
Burushi rolled her eyes and stepped to the side in order to be more visible and called out, to the black-haired boy.
"Because you wanted me to come here too, right? Your sentinels didn't just get me as collateral? I mean – they are cute but they do not care about being understood."
She added, looking back at the two corpse puppet sentinels who both perked up and waved their hands excitedly towards their master.
"I did want to get you both here. I'm sorry if you were doing something important."
Zoemi made an apologetic expression and lowered his head while answering, which seemed to improve Burushi's mood a bit.
"Well... nothing that cannot wait a couple of minutes, up to an hour at least... Alright. While on the subject of sentinels... what's with this one? Why does it look like it is afraid of me?"
"...!"
The blond-haired girl straightened her back and nodded, before motioning at the brown-haired corpse puppet with her chin, making him flinch and look away awkwardly.
"This one is a bit special. I definitely want to talk about him too, but I wanted to do so while discussing our plan of action from now on with Devios. But he's not here... do you have any idea where our young friend might be?"
Zoemi waved his hand dismissively and asked, pointing at the door behind his back with his thumb.
Miriette and Burushi glanced at each other in silence and then looked back at the black-haired boy. Just by that movement alone, Zoemi felt that something wasn't exactly right...
"Young lord Perserios isn't in his office because he is spending quality time with his father."
The blond-haired girl spoke first, and the helmet-wearing girl nodded to that vigorously.
"...pardon...? What does that suppose to mean...? The territory got attacked y the Barbariacca nation! This isn't the right time for the two supposed commanders to go and play catch, or whatever!"
Zoemi was so taken aback that he almost shook Miriette from his shoulder although he did not intend on that at all.
"I think the same, but... I can also kind of see their point... Lord Devios saw his father's dead body, you saw his reaction – but then he woke up and his father was back alive... Having them do some father-son activities for a day was an idea that the other members of the Perserios family agreed upon."
Burushi shrugged her shoulders before they slumped as she lowered her head and explained with a worried expression.
"..."
Zoemi closed his mouth and bit his lips.
"Devios is just fifteen. We can hold on for a day, can't we?"
Out of the six of them – three living humans and three corpse puppets, it was Miriette who spoke about age – which honestly made everyone else look between each other with a slightly awkward expression.
Having a sixteen years old point out that a fifteen years old could be childish was very spoiled-noble-lady-like and fit Miriette perfectly.
"I do not think that we can, actually. I know that I often tend to ignore the actual danger when it comes to me, but this is something completely different. Our enemy literally took control over the territory that we are in. Many lives have already been lost – a few of them might have recovered for whatever reason, but what in the world got the Perserios family thinking that it's okay to not do anything for a day against people WHO GOT MOST OF THEM KILLED?!"
The black-haired boy could not truly accept the soft plea and pointed out, going as far as to raise his voice while seeing one of the hex victims pass them by.
"The other ones are making plans, you know? It's just Devios and his father that are off for a day or so."
Still, Miriette would not be herself if she just gave up, even against Zoemi.
She would change her mind easier thanks to the boy's presence, but once she decided on something, that was it.
And this case was such a situation without a doubt.
"...fine... if you don't mind, since we will not be dragging Devios back to his office, I would like to invite you to my room for a little conversation – this guy right here being one of the topics I would like to discuss."
Zoemi looked at the helmet-wearing girl by his side and ended up agreeing to do things her way. After looking back at the door to the office for a bit, he looked over to Burushi, the sentinels, and the corpse puppet Xeonith, while also pointing at the latter one with his Miriette-free hand.
"I actually wanted to continue observing the people brought back with your spell. There s something about them that I can't really put my hand on it, and it bothers me a whole lot. So... if I can be excused until the time of the conversation with young lord Perserios would come..."
"Burushi. The people brought back are among the topics I want to talk about. And since you also think that there is something wrong with them, then we definitely should discuss it before you will continue the research."
The blond girl moved her head to the sides, clearly wanting to go leave the first chance she got, but then the black-haired boy sighed and gazed at her with a stern expression.
"You could also just tell me what spell did you use and what are its effects..."
Burushi furrowed her brows and raised her hand while shrugging her shoulders, still not really convinced.
"If I knew what exactly happened, and what effects does that spell that broke form under my control have done, I would not have a need to discuss it or try to figure anything out."
"...!"
Zoemi frowned and leaned forward, speaking loud enough only for Burushi and Miriette to hear him properly – and his words certainly had an effect on both girls.
Miriette flinched a bit and held the boy's hand a bit tighter, while Burushi straightened her back, wide-eyed and confused.
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