房客(糙汉)何璐程曜坤

...although it certainly wasn't all that bad either...

"Ugh... I hate when the other teachers are just coming here to complain – young Rokiana and Kross can think for themselves but most of the teachers run to me at the first sight of trouble."

Aspakeony snuggled up to already troubled Zoemi and whispered into his ear in annoyance as she was making her corpse puppet have the conversation with one of the teachers that the necromancer was complaining about.

"Aspi... why have you pulled me over here with you? I could have just stayed in your office and if the teacher asked why I am there, your puppet could say that it was giving me some guidance or something...!"

In response, the black-haired boy fidgetted and tried his best not to touch anything inappropriate while whispering bashfully.

"...oh... I could have done that, couldn't I..."

"...?!"

The awkward realization sounded so real that Zoemi had no reason to doubt her – or any possible ulterior motives – but that was more of a fault of the Aspakeony's acting skill and not his denseness.

...at least this time...

"Not important – they are just about done anyway – just enjoy the cuddling session, maybe it will remind you of something~"

"...?"

To Zoemi's great surprise, Aspakeony went and hugged him even tighter, basically taking away his ability to speak without rubbing against her.

...at the same time, her words did resonate with him for whatever reason...

Locked in a warm embrace, surrounded by the calm darkness – not the perfect one from his nightmares, the black-haired boy suddenly experiences the odd feeling...

...was he... ever locked in this very drawer before...?

An odd thought like that crossed his mind, but he shook it off and instead closed his eyes trying to calm his mind... and not only his mind... so he focused and let his mind dive into the world of the dancing shadows...

...of course, the one closest to him was the shadow of Aspakeony herself – and the boy didn't even have to try and reach out for it as the half-slug half-young girl dark shape was already basically stuck to him...

...the only thing he had to do was lean into it – and leech off some of the bountiful magic surrounding it – maybe even copy the spell itself...

-----

"Pu-huaaah...! I never had guests in my drawer – it sure isn't fit for more than one person!"

A few minutes later, Aspakeony drenched in sweat, with the basically fully transparent nightgown sticking close to her body burst out of the closet's drawer and took a deep breath of the comparatively cold and refreshing ait filling the office after the other teacher had finally left.

"...that was an... interesting experience..."

Zoemi – similarly sweaty and with his clothes – which he had a lot more on than hen gray0haired necromancer – sticking to his body also got out and straightened his back, taking off his vest to cool himself a little bit faster.

"..."

He also stretched and swiped his wet hair back with a tired expression – causing Aspakeony to stop right in her track and just look at him in admiration forgetting what she was about to do – which was already funny enough considering their situation.

:...whew... I really should be going now... oh...! U-umm...!"

The black-haired boy breathed out and looked at the gray-haired girl and his eyes instantly slipped down from her face and his face turned bright red.

"Go...? No! Not yet! Tell me about the spells you can use!"

The necromancer clearly didn't want to let him go just yet...

-------

"You figured out so many uses!?"

Aspakeony exclaimed in surprise and Zoemi felt a bit pleased by her behavior.

"Not just by myself - the first prince and lady Espine helped me a lot too. All three of us talked a lot and tried to find a way of making our spells as strong and efficient as possible."

The black-haired boy spoke up to clear out the possible misunderstanding.

"For example?"

The gray-haired girl asked curiously, leaning on the desk and blinking at him with big sparkly eyes.

"Come again...?"

Zoemi tilted his head at looked away slightly abashed.

"What are the uses of spells that you came up with for little Miriette and little Horeo?"

The necromancer asked a more precise question.

"Oh, I cannot tell you, sorry, Aspi."

The black-haired attendant shook his head and put his arms forming a cross to show off how much he refuses to answer.

"Oh, come on! Just a hint, please? I am not asking you to reveal their triumph cards or anything – just a little hint~!"

Aspakeony showed a lot of goodwill by not actually pressuring him and instead of asking while cutely peeking at him from above the desk - so he decided to let her in on a tiny bit.

It certainly wasn't because she looked cute when she was asking him!

Nope!

Not at all!

"I will just say that there was a lot of talking about the accumulative spells."

Zoemi explained while lightly shrugging his shoulders.

"Like the wind blade?"

The necromancer perked up and asked curiously, carefully observing the boy

"Exactly – although we were more interested in the ones that could stay active for a prolonged time and even get stronger the longer they stay active."

"Is that so...? Sounds like something straight up from the ancient wars... still, that couldn't really work out for you all, right? The amount of mana required to construct such a complicated spell far exceeds the mana capacity of an average light magician..."

Aspakeony fell deep into thoughts and Zoemi observed her with a mischievous smirk.

|She doesn't seem o realize how strong Horeo and Miriette really are~|

The black-haired attendant thought to himself with satisfaction – but then he glanced at the clock in the corner of the room and...

"Oh, shi...! Aspi, I really have to go now, okay? I promise you I will come and talk with you more tomorrow, alright? But now I really am late for that thing I was talking about before you kidnapped me here!"

He gasped in panic and hurried towards the door.

"Wha...? Oh, yes, alright – I wouldn't mind if the next time you would come to me by yourself, you know."

"...!"

The necromancer straightened her back and leaned back in her armchair – making the black-haired boy blush once more before he left...

"S-sure! Whatever! Bye-bye, everyone."

Zoemi's face became deeply red from the blush and he waved his hand to Aspakeony, before turning his head and calling out towards the drawer, not really paying attention to his own action...

"...! S-see you....!"

The necromancer waved her hand slightly stunned before she stood up from the armchair and walked over back to the opened drawer and looked at all the pillows and plushies she kept there for comfort.

"...he actually remembers it...? No... could it be that it is in his subconsciousness...?"

The gray-haired girl furrowed her brows and muttered to herself before looking away from her drawer and observing the door closing after the leaving black-haired attendant.