房客(糙汉)何璐程曜坤

He then took a deep breath and asked, getting back on track with their conversation.

"No. Not really. Apparently, Arisu wants to follow in his father's footsteps and is too busy with research BUT they got formally engaged."

Burushi leaned back into her seat and answered while crossing her legs.

"She took it way calmer than I expected... maybe Arisu just suits her tastes or something?"

"...hmm..."

She shrugged her shoulders and wondered while Zoemi let out a low voice that was neither approving nor disapproving, already having a few ideas about the true nature of said research...

"Speaking about weddings – since you are awake, your dad might finally get married!"

Burushi's face lighted up as she moved on to another subject.

"...excuse me...?"

The black-haired boy shook his head and asked, taken aback.

"Oh, you see, your dad got back together with teacher Perserios, but apparently the two of them agreed that they will wait to exchange their vows only after you wake up."

"Wha...?! Are... Are they stupid?! What if I never woke up?! I need to contact those idiots immediately!"

*WHAM*

"ZOEMI?!"

"ZOEMI!"

Zoemi became agitated within an instant after hearing the news he found outrageous and tried to get out of the bed without waiting for another second, thinking that the numbness in his limbs is nothing major – only to have his legs give out the moment he tried to move, making him fell face-first onto the floor which caused both Burushi and Benevirau to call out in panic.

"...ghhh... I... I'm fine..."

The black-haired boy groaned, trying to get up only to realize that his arms didn't hold enough power to help him lift himself off the ground.

"...but I would appreciate some help... Sorry for the blood."

He needed up muttering with a face red from both strain and embarrassment, as he felt a warm liquid build up and flow down his nostrils.

"What the hell were you thinking?! I did my best with keeping your muscles from regressing, but you were not using them for NINE MONTHS! Why would you even think about jumping out of the bed like that!"

Burushi scolded him with a pale face while Benevirau was helping him get up.

"And here I thought you weren't all that dense... Heal."

The blond-haired girl sighed and fixed the boy's bleeding nose with her most basic spell.

"...nothing happened..."

..or rather she attempted to, as Zoemi furrowed his brows when he didn't feel any difference in the amount of blood dripping down his chin.

"Eh...? But it's just a nosebleed!"

Burushi flinched and gasped – but indeed, the aliment the black-haired boy was suffering from wasn't healed at all.

"Major heal."

She then used a stronger spell, and this time zoemi felt a slight itching and...

...nothing else...

"Ummm..."

"Are you kidding me?! Major heal fixes sprains and injured tendons!"

Zoemi let out an awkward voice – the bleeding was slowing down a little bit, but it was difficult to say whether it was due to the spell the heroine used or was it just natural healing.

It certainly wasn't Zoemi's doing as he was unwilling to use his own mana in fear of reigniting the pain coming from his mana reservoir.

"..."

Burushi bit her lip in annoyance.

It wasn't like she was all that bothered about her spells not working – although it was a part of it – what bothered her the most was that she already knew that her spells might stir up Zoemi's mana and make him suffer.

"Super heal."

The blond girl breathed out, controlling her breathing, and used a stronger spell once again.

"Ah!"

"What happened?! Was that too much?!"

Zoemi gasped and Burushi flinched and gasped with a pale face.

"Oh, no, no – the bleeding stopped. Nothing hurts."

The black-haired boy hurriedly waved his hand dismissively and smiled – while his face was still covered in blood which honestly should be quite a gruesome look, but with Zoemi's devilish beauty, it made for quite the captivating image...

"...!"

So captivating in fact that Burushi froze in place staring at him with a half-open mouth only to get bright red from embarrassment and physically step away before she did or say something that could affect their current relationship.

"A-alright. So super heal is enough to work on you but not powerful enough to affect your mana reservoir. That is good to know for future reference."

Burushi started walking around the room, nodding to herself, really trying her best to play it off as if she wasn't bothered by the ridiculously good looks of the wounded boy.

"Allow me."

"Thank you, grandpa~!"

As she was doing that, Benevirau used his spell to rinse off the blood from Zoemi's face, making the boy smile at him gratefully.

"And about contacting your father – there's no reason for you to be using our spells or anything, I'll go get a wind magician or maybe a light magician who will..."

"Hold on!"

The dark-blue-haired butler patted the black-haired boy's shoulder and assured him – but that only made Zoemi straighten his back and gasp in realization.

"...a-alright...?"

Benevirau raised his brows and moved away in confusion waiting for the boy's next action.

|Hey little ones, you can hear me, can't you?|

Zoemi thought to himself – well, rather than doing just that, he instead addressed his thoughts towards the sentinels that were residing within his shadow.

"(We do!)"

"(Yes, we do, master!)"

"(How can we help you?)"

The answer to his call came out immediately as the defense sentinels he placed within his own shadow a while back called out to him sounding like overjoyed puppies.

|You can use the message spell, right? I can't really use my mana right now, so I would be very grateful if you would connect me with my father instead.|

Zoemi smiled outwardly, as the sentinels in his shadow didn't really seem to change like the ones residing in the puppets or the ones surveilling the Ghosts of Bellcephora.

"(Yes, we can!)"

"(Master's mana is always splashing around so we are strong now! We can help you whenever you like!)"

"(That's right – ah, I'm already using the spell, master!)"

"...?"

The sentinels all cheered out and complied with Zoemi's request.

There was a part that one of them said that made Zoemi raise his brow – the one about his mana splashing around, but in the end, that wasn't so surprising considering the state of his mana reservoir.

"(Master, you are connected!)"

|Thank you~!|

One of the sentinels informed Zoemi, and the boy responded with equal enthusiasm before breathing in and...

"|Father, we have to talk.|"

"[Wh-wha?! Who...?! ZOEMI?! YOU WOKE UP! THANK GOODNESS! How are you feeling?! Is everything alright?! Are you still in the Banemor territory? I will get there as soon as possible!"

The black-haired boy called out and audibly startled Mizoe who most definitely did not expect a message spell from with son, but his relieved shout made the black-haired boy feel warm inside.

"|Dad, relax, I'm fine – you don't have to worry like that. We can meet later, I am awake and not planning on disappearing. I am contacting you because we need to talk.|"

"[O-okay. I'm so glad to hear that you are alright now. What do you want to talk about? I'm all ears.]"

Zoemi assured Mizoe and took a deep breath while his father asked in slight confusion.

"WHY AREN'T YOU MARRIED TO MISS ROKIANA YET?! THE NEXT TIME WE TALK IT BETTER BE YOU GIVING ME AN INVITATION TO THE CEREMONY! I WILL NOT TALK TO YOU UNDER ANY OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES BEFORE YOU TWO WILL HAVE IT ALL ARRANGED!|"

"[Wh-wha...?!]"

|Thank you. You can stop the message spell's connection now.|

"(Alright~!)"

Satisfied with his outburst and making his father flabbergasted, Zoemi thought to his sentinels and one of them responded enthusiastically, ending his conversation with Mizoe without even properly saying goodbye.

"...Zoemi... what were you doing just now, you just went silent and started making faces... did... did my spell did messed with your mana reservoir after all...?"

The concerned Burushi asked, leaning forward and tilting her head to look up at the black-haired boy's face.

"Hmm? Oh, no. Don't worry - I was just messaging my dad and gave him a little push on the back."

"You did WHAT?! Zoemi! Weren't you in pain for over three hours because you were using spells?! What are you thinking?!"

...which of course earned him an earful from the blond girl...

"No, no - I didn't use the spell - my sentinels did it for me."

The boy shook his head and explained, all happy because he found a way to bypass his predicament, at last partially.