房客(糙汉)何璐程曜坤

|I don't know.|

Zoemi held himself back from snorting out loud, but he certainly didn't do the same within his mouth where he laughed, getting a straight-laced answer from the original personality.

"We do."

The black-haired boy answered out loud with a faint smile.

"We know that the Ghosts are planning something because they tried to kill one of their own – a member that managed to escape and is currently under the protection of the Banemor family."

He revealed, deciding to drop the pretense and just tell the truth.

"Now I am quite content that you didn't ask me for helping out during the potential fight."

Valto breathed out in relief and waved his hand.

"I am quite curious as to what exactly are you intending to use the requested item – but before we get them, I have one piece of advice as a knowledgable keeper of the archives..."

"Yes?"

The blue-haired man nodded to himself before straightening his back and looking at Zoemi's face – to which the black-haired boy responded with a nod on his own.

"Be careful about the member of the Ghosts you are hosting in your territory – the only one that is known to not get along with the rest is a dark-skinned bastard daughter of the Espine family, who at least back then went with the name Elsby. Although the only records I am basing that statement off is the journal of the caretaker of the second princess, who stated that Elsby was the only decent one amongst the group each time she wrote about the Ghosts."

Valto warned him, but honestly, that warning only made the black-haired boy feel better.

"Well then, teacher. You will be very pleased to learn that Elsby is exactly the person I was talking about~"

Zoemi hummed and began pushing the wheelchair again towards their destination, without even pretending that he doesn't know where exactly they have to go.

"Say, would it be okay to arrange a meeting between her and me? There are many unexplained details about the time period that I would love her to clear up. Being able to talk with someone who lived through that particular time period would be overwhelmingly interesting!"

Valto perked up with excitement when the love for research and all things scholarly took over his judgment, making Zoemi have a hard time holding back a smile.

"You haven't changed much, teacher."

"Was there even a need for me to do that?"

The black-haired boy chuckled and the blue-haired man shrugged his shoulders dismissively in response.

"That said if you want to talk with someone with a lot of knowledge about the past, why not talk with grandpa Benevirau – he is around a thousand years old, wouldn't that make him an even better conversation partner?"

Zoemi realized and pointed out, a few steps before the crystal box containing the cut-off arm of Kirisu would enter their view.

"You mean if I wanted to have a conversation about the Banemor territory – don't get me wrong. I don't doubt lord Benevirau's knowledge, the problem is that he said himself that he left the territory less than ten times during his entire life – and most of those times were when he was searching for the young lady Learen... who turned out to be your late mother..."

Valto sighed and spoke in a disappointed tone, before flinching as his voice shook becoming more awkward once he reminded who exactly he was talking to.

"Oh, that's right... grandpa did say something alongside those lines too, my bad."

Zoemi didn't feel like continuing the subject anymore so he nodded and hastened his peace.

The two of them went silent until they got to the right spot.

A large portrait of a young girl holding up a black plush bear to hide her face was overlooking the very same toy sitting on top of the crystal box sealing off the cut-off arm of the vice commander of the Ghosts of Bellcpehora.

"Calling this plushie the princess's protector started as a joke because apparently, she started shielding herself from the others with it right after she received it from her father. None of the sources available here reveal the exact origin of that bear, but it is highly implied that it was an artifact created by one of the sages living in those times. Unfortunately, sages that didn't fall prey to the Ghosts' murderous spree could not tell me who exactly made it. But back then that toy definitely didn't have the deadly properties that it showcases right now. In the records it is stated that at least a dozen of people died, having their life literally sucked out of them just by briefly coming in contact with it."

Valto took a deep breath and went straight into showcasing the bear, only briefly mentioning the portrait as it wasn't the reason that Zoemi came there.

"Yes... I think I get the gist of it."

The black-haired boy nodded, taking a step towards the crystal box, with no signs of being interested in the stuffed bear on top of it.

For the moment, at least.

"Little ones, if you may."

After putting his hand on the rune-covered surface of the transparent box, Zoemi smirked at the cut-off arm and looked over his shoulder, calling out to his two corpse puppet sentinels.

"Of course, dad~!"

"...hmph..."

Oemir cheered out and jumped forwards first, once again leaving Ettemi slightly grumpy.

"If you allow me – opening this device isn't..."

Seeing the two by the box, Valto reached out his hand, in order to provide the necessary help, but...

*click* *hshaaaa*

"...huh...?!"

The corpse puppet sentinel barely touched the crystal box and its front panel twitched and slid open with the soft sound of something being hermetically sealed for a long time.

Seal or not, those two sentinels have already proven themselves to be quite apt with dealing with any sort of inconvenience.

"Uweeegh...~ It's warm...!"

Oemir reached out and grabbed the arm, taking it out of the box, and immediately their face twisted in a disgusted grimace as he expected the severed limb to feel quite different.

"Of course it is. It is still partially connected with Kirisu, after all – it would either become mummified or just turn to dust if it wasn't. But that's exactly why we can use it to set up something very nasty."

Zoemi smirked and nodded at his corpse puppet sentinel.

"Go ahead, take it to Roiso and Mirienne, we already discussed what needs to be done with it. Make sure to watch over it just in case, I'm counting on you."

"Of course, I will~!"

*WHOOOM*

He added, making Oemir puff out their chest with pride and disappear into the shadow gate they conjured to form the surrounding shadows.

"..."

Valto stared at the spot where the corpse puppet sentinel disappeared, getting Zoemi's attention.

"Is something wrong? Should we not have done that?"

The black-haired boy asked in hesitation, seeing his teacher's reaction.

"Huh...? Oh.. no. Not at all. It's just that this place was supposed to block off every type of transportation spells. That's why Kirisu could never show up here and grab her arm back... At least that's what everyone thought was the reason."

Valto flinched and waved his hand dismissively, although his voice still betrayed how shaken was he about the discovery.

"Mister teacher, do not worry. We are just really strong. We need to be because we are the ones responsible for keeping dad's mana in check."

Ettemi trotted over and crouched by Valto's wheelchair, putting their hands on one of the armrests and resting their chin on them, innocently looking up at the blue-haired man.

"You keep his mana in check...? How so?"

Valto asked, raising his brow before looking questioningly at his former student.

"Well... you see our problems are a bit more different than you think, teacher."

Zoemi tilted his head and leaned slightly to the side, turning away from the black plush bear on top of the empty crystal box.

"You have a problem because your mana constantly changes between the water and ice attribute and cannot settle properly. In my case, I am being poisoned by mana. The more mana I use the worse I feel. Not only that – ever since a certain fight during a tournament organized by the Victureo family, but it also seems that my mana reservoir is broken and my mana regenerates constantly without a maximum level – when that happens, my body responds the same way as when I am using spells. It is very much not pleasant and requires constant attention. That is why..."

"That is why you want that toy..."

The black-haired boy cleared things up a bit further but got interrupted by Valto, as the blue-haired man realized exactly what Zoemi was about to say.

"You don't need it as a weapon against the Ghosts... you want to see whether it will get rid of your mana...! So you already know that the ones who died touching it first get their mana stolen before their lives were taken, is that it? That's your reasoning?!"

Valto gasped tensing up and looking at his former student in disbelief.

"It is worth a try. We already tried draining dad's mana using our spells, but it always just regenerates back. Dad is looking for something permanent."

"...?!"

Ettemi pointed out, making Valto flinch, as the blue-haired man actually forgot for a moment that they were crouching by his wheelchair.

"What?! Why?! Wouldn't it be normal to rather find a way to fix your mana reservoir? I can understand the longing for a life without pain, but the alternative is to never use magic again! Are you seriously okay with that outcome?!"

Valto let out a shocked voice, looking between the black-haired boy and his corpse puppet sentinel.