The necromancer laughed and fidgetted, making herself more comfortable.

"Presence's spells are, in the end, mana based and therefore they count as magic damage – healers can heal it – little Burusiitti must have felt odd after the time was reversed, so she used the spell on herself and ended up recovering from it before the effects settled. Easy.

"

Aspakeony proudly puffed out her chest – which already was kind of pressing against the boy – which resulted in her chest ending up fully pressed against the boy's torso…

"!!!

"

…that made the black-haired boy become once again aware of the position the two of them were currently in…!

It was as far away as possible, and if anyone would walk in on them, they could not be blamed for misunderstanding what was going on…

…Zoemi's face turned bright red at the realization so he instantly stood up…!

"Kyaah…?!

"

…and unintentionally lifted Aspakeony with him…

The gray-haired necromancer had her arms around his neck and her legs locked around his waist which is why the result was what it was…

"Hehe… This is a bit awkward…

"

Aspakeony giggled nervously and looked down.

"Just when did I manage to cling to you like this?

"

She muttered to herself in embarrassment – although when it comes to embarrassment, she couldn't really beat Zoemi at the moment…

The black-haired attendant didn't know what to say so he only blushed and looked down…

And instantly he looked to the side.

Aspakeony's nightgown has shifted when they got up…

"…d-don't mind me…

"

The necromancer released one of her legs and slowly reached towards the floor with it, checking with her toes whether she can actually reach it, and after Zoemi leaned down so it was fine for her to get down, she took a step back.

"Pardon me for a moment…

"

The girl wavered and walked towards her drawer while straightening her nightgown, seemingly calm.

She then approached the closet and stepped inside the drawer…

…and proceeded to burrow herself in pillows and plush toys before…

*SLAM*

"!!!

"

She slammed the drawer shut, making Zoemi go wide-eyed.

"Aspy?!

"

The black-haired boy gasped in disbelief before walking over to the necromancer's hiding spot – and crouched by the large furniture.

"Aspy…?

"

He added in a hesitant voice, and even went knocked on the drawer…

"…

"

…inside of which Aspakeony was hiding her head in the pillows, so embarrassed that she felt like dying and stayed silent.

"Listen, I have another question… is since that Presence is manipulating time, is it the time attribute? The same type that Ehmi Gamemi Victureo uses…?

"

The black-haired boy asked.

"Wha…?!

"

*WHAM*

"Auugh…!

"

The gray-haired girl gaped in disbelief and tried to get up without paying attention to her surroundings which ended up in her slamming her head against the bottom of the closet while releasing a pitiful cry of pain.

"…

"

Zoemi closed his mouth and pulled the drawer open without encountering any resistance, and was faced with the teary-eyed necromancer massaging a painful-looking bump growing on her head in silence.

"Would you…?

"

"Don't you dare make fun of me! It's not my fault that necromancy doesn't have any physical augmentation spells – my original body isn't meant to be defensive!

"

He opened his mouth but got interrupted by the embarrassed cry of the gray-haired girl.

"I wasn't going to laugh at you, you know…?

"

The black-haired boy shook his head and reach out his hand towards the girl.

"…?

"

She flinched but didn't pull away and instead carefully observed the boy's movement.

"…!

"

Aspakeony flinched again once the surprisingly cold hand touched the bump on her head and almost instantly eased the numbing the splitting headache that the hit caused…

"Is it better now?

"

Zoemi took back his hand and asked with a gentle smile.

"…

"

Aspakeony furrowed her rows and touched the spot which was the epicenter of the pain…

"!!!

"

…just to find it completely normal, without any trace of damage…!

"What did you…?!

"

"I copied Burushi's healing magic.

"

This was Zoemi's turn to cut into the necromancer's sentence and the attendant kind of enjoyed the surprised expression that the gray-haired girl showed him.

"…this is getting ridiculous…

"

The necromancer scoffed, muttering to herself.

"Alright – so, back to my question – how does Presence manipulating time affect a time attribute wielder such as Ehmi?

"

Zoemi asked, feeling concerned about the short, platinum-haired girl.

"I met a few people with time attribute and they were immune to Presence's spells and could reverse its effects… as long as she wields the time attribute she should be the same…

"

Apsakeony nodded her head but she wasn't looking at Zoemi and her concerned expression made it rather clear that she was worried about something.

"Zoemi, since you use her first name, I expect you to be on friendly terms with her – do you mind telling her that I wish to see her too?

"

She asked grabbing one of the pillows and hugging it tightly.

"Of course, I was going to meet her after all.

"

The black-haired boy nodded, furrowing his brows…

…there certainly was something off about Aspakeony's behavior.

"You was?! Zoemi – if she has the time attribute, you cannot try to use her spells at any cost!

"

"!!!

"

The necromancer suddenly stood up grabbing onto the boy's uniform, making him flinch in surprise.

"Huh? Why?

"

"Because for the time attribute variant magicians the aftereffects of their spells are way more dangerous than even those of the darkness magicians!

"

Aspakeony declared, clenching her fists.

"Okay…?

"

Zoemi tilted his head and stared at her helplessly.

"No! It's not okay! Listen – if a darkness magician is careful they will not die from their own spells – but it's different for time magicians! Their spells are extremely mana-hungry, a single spell consumes at least half the amount of mana that an average light magician has at their disposal – and if they don't have enough, the spell compensates it with the caster physical age!

"

She gasped with actual panic in her voice.

"Huh?! What do you mean by compensating with the physical age of the caster?!

"

Zoemi leaned back, asking in disbelief.

"No – you tell me first how Ehmi looks now!

"

Aspakeony shook her head and demanded.

"A short platinum-haired girl, very petite…

"

The black-haired boy raised his hand a little, showing Ehmi's height but then closed his mouth the moment he saw Aspakeony's shocked expression.

"At the beginning of the schoolyear little Victureo was six-foot-tall long-haired beauty…

"

"…!

"

Zoemi's eyes widened at the news while the gray-haired necromancer let go of his clothes and slumped back into her drawer.

"The more she uses her magic the younger she gets.

"

The girl added.

"Little Victureo was born with such extreme amount of mana that no measuring device could give us even the rough estimation, but even that wasn't enough…

"

Apakeony grabbed one of her plushies and hugged it with a pitiful expression.

She really cared about her students…

"But that's horrible! Why is she using her magic then?

"

The shocked black-haired boy asked.

"Probably because she wants to… Nothing can really stop her from doing whatever she wants anyway… She is as stubborn as she is strong – although she pays the price for that…

"

Aspakeony explained with a concerned expression burrowing her face into the plush toy's back.

"…

"

Zoemi looked to the side, deep in thoughts…

|…why does this scene look familiar…?|

He thought to himself watching the crestfallen gray-haired girl.

"Aspy… I have to go meet up with Ehmi and Burushi, but after that… would you want to have a meal with me…?

"

The black-haired boy asked – food always seem to lift Miriette's mood so it was the first thing that came to his mind…

"A meal, with you…?

"

The gray-haired girl asked and lowered her head in embarrassment, hugging the plush toy much harder than a moment earlier.

"…n-no… I don't think that she would like that…

"

Aspakeony slowly shook her head from side to side and refused while rubbing her feet together, without looking up at Zoemi's face.

"It doesn't have to be today – I have to go now, but keep that in mind, alright?

"

"Sure…

"

The black-haired boy smiled and stood up, going towards the door – and smiled when the gray-haired girl answered him in a timid voice.

"See you.

"

"Bye-bye.

"

They exchanged farewells and the boy left, leaving the necromancer in her office…

"…

"

Aspakeony sighed with a heavy heart.

"I was wondering why she never showed her face even though she informed me that she will descend… What a troublesome child… what if she will hurt my student…?

"

The gray-haired necromancer laid back into her drawer and stared at the ceiling….