"…t are you doing, Zo…?! Eh…?! EEEHHH…?!

"

Miriette and Zoemi appeared right in front of the gate to the Aspakeony Academy and the dark-aired girl continued her shocked gasp – until she realized where they were and her jaw dropped.

"We don't have time to waste – those people… they were definitely dangerous.

"

The murky shadow dropped to the ground and the black-haired boy declared with an extremely tense and cautious expression, grabbing Miriette's hand and pulling her onto the Academy's ground.

|…should I tell her that those were most likely Ghosts of Bellcephora…? No, better not – she'll either think that I'm crazy or will get more scared than necessary…|

Zoemi thought to himself while glancing back at the girl's face already pale and full of worry.

"Wh-what…? But… Alright – even if they were, what were you thinking attacking that guy?! And what with the spell that you used?! I thought that you can't pull me into your shadow because I have too much mana!

"

Miriette didn't try to break free or stop him from taking her wherever he was going – because he moved past the dormitory building and went straight for the Academy building.

"…

"

"…?!

"

The black-haired attendant glared back at his master with lifeless jet-black eyes, making her close her mouth – but that wasn't enough to make her avert her eyes.

"That wasn't shadow jump. We teleported, the two spells work on completely different principles.

"

Zoemi ended up answering before turning back to the building… and flinching…!

|…it's… too quiet…|

He thought to himself in realization – although it was supposed to be a free day for all the first-year students, one would expect at least a SINGLE person to be outside…

Similarly – the thing that brought Zoemi's attention, was the quiet surrounding the area.

The second- and third-year students were supposed to be partaking in the mandatory duels in the back of both buildings – that alone should produce a lot of noise with the spells being deployed left and right.

…not to mention all of the cheering from the audience watching each and every competitor – after all, even though the result of a duel had no repercussion since they were only supposed to teach the students of the basic rules which real duels in their future would follow, the title of the undefeated duelist of the year was something that did work wonders on the excitement and motivation levels of both the audience and the competitors…

But the sounds reaching both the black-haired boy and the dark-haired girl were only the sounds of nature – the flow of the water in the fountain, the soft breeze brushing against the lawn and the decorative bushes, the chirping of birds…

|What the hell happened…?!|

"My lady… use your enchantments, please.

"

Zoemi tensed up even more and asked Miriette before hastening his peace and bursting into the building.

|…|

The black-haired boy also ended up activating his shadow enchantments and used his augmented hearing to listen in on the situation.

Were the Ghosts of Bellcephora involved in whatever happened to the academy…

"…

"

Worried he focused on his ears while walking straight towards the section where the staff's facilities were including the teachers' offices – namely, the headmaster's office.

"…?

"

And to his great surprise and even greater relief, the things he heard crossed out his biggest worry – the involvement of the Ghosts of Bellcephora – although most of the sounds were really muffled since they were coming from the other dormitory building – it seemed like all the students were holed up in their respective rooms while some of the teachers patrolled the corridors.

"…are you sure it's him…?

"

"…do you know any other ice magician that would try to storm the Academy and announced their presence by launching a pillar of ice right into the arena in the middle of the student's dueling…?!|

"…why lord Vereq had to disappear at such an unfortunate moment do you think that it has something to do with that new teacher…?

"

"…

"

The sounds from the other buildings were muffled – but the same couldt be said about the voices of the teachers gathered on the faculty office – Zoemi had little to no trouble with listening in on their conversation – although he didn't particularly like anything that he learned from it…

|…the murderer announced his presence… but… why…? And why is Aspy not doing anything about it…? Or maybe she is? Didi, she sent her puppets after the murderer…? No… now that I think about it, Miriette said that she asked the headmaster to provide bodyguards, but I never saw any corpse with her shadow attached… something bad must have happened…!|

Many thoughts filled Zoemi's mind, still, first and foremost, he had to assure Miriette's safety, everything else came later – although he did experience a chilling fear when he figured out that the gray-haired girl might have been in danger…

He was almost sure now that the necromancer would not be in her office and therefore he would not be able to tell her about the Ghosts being so close, but even without her around there was something that she could do to help…

…well, not she exactly – her office that had a powerful seal around it which the gray-haired girl seemed to be absolutely confident in…

"Zoemi…

"

Miriette opened her mouth and asked in a timid voice, making the black-haired boy hurriedly look her way – but since she didn't appear to be in any discomfort, keeping up with him no problem because of her enchantments, he didn't stop or even slow down for a moment.

"My lady – I will explain everything when I will be sure that you aren't in danger – for now, please, trust me.

"

"…okay, I believe in you…

"

He declared squeezing her hand reassuringly without looking back, already fully switched back into his attendant mode, and the dark-haired girl sighed but ended up nodding in agreement.

"…it would be perfect if Teo was with us too, the more protection the better… unless…

"

Zoemi muttered to himself, listening in for the short brown-haired girl but since she might have been back in her own room which was far away, he ended up giving up on that idea – while also coming up with another.

"My lady – I know that I made you give your word that you will never use that spell – but is it possible for you to conjure an Air Emperor in order to serve as an additional bodyguard…?

"

"??!?!?!!

"

The black-haired boy gulped down his saliva and turned around – stopping right in front of the door to the headmaster's office, shocking the dark-haired girl with his sudden question.

"A-air Emperor…?! Bodyguard…?!

"

The wide-eyed Miriette flinched and started looking around nervously.

"Please, my lady, try to stay calm – I might be severely overestimating the level of danger, but I prefer to be safe than sorry – you are the most important person in my life and I will do anything for you – I know that I said before that the cons outweigh the pros when it comes to that spell, but now I am sure that I can deal with the aftermath. Please – if you are okay with it, cast it immediately.

"

The black-haired boy declared and bowed down towards the shocked girl, sounding both impatient and apologetic.

"…!

"

Seeing that Miriette took a step back – Zoemi had clearly misunderstood the reason for her panic.

She wasn't particularly worried about the supposedly dangerous situation – she was freaking out because she thought that Zoemi figured out that she had conjured not one but three Air Emperors and was going to get angry at her for it – only after a few seconds did she understood that the black-haired boy had actually asked her about using that spell…!

|…Ah…! Wait…! I can tell him that I already created them, and maybe he will not be angry about it…! That sounds good, yes, I can make it work like that…!|

Miriette realized and perked up clenching her hands with excitement that overshadowed her worries.

"…Zoemi – what if I told you that I already conjured three Air Emperors because I foresaw the situation like this…?

"

The dark-haired girl breathed out and asked, doing her best to sound calm and collected although she was worried that the boy in front of her will starts hating her for breaking her own promise…

"You did?! Three of them?! That's perfect!

"

"!!!

"

Well, if she wanted him to not be angry – she made the correct choice – as soon as she revealed the news, Zoemi straightened his back and approached her, grabbing her shoulders and exclaimed in joy while looking into her eyes, making the girl blush and forgot how to breathe for a second or two.

"My lady – sorry for being so forward, but I will ask for something outrageous…

"

"I'll do it…!

"

The black-haired attendant regained his composure and stepped back, lowering his head while trying to propose something – but was interrupted by Miriette agreeing instantly without even hearing him out properly.

"…thank you for trusting me…

"

Zoemi raised his head and smiled at the dark-haired girl.

"Bring all three of the air emperor here, please – if the headmaster is in there, please forget what I just said – but if the office is empty, I will have to ask for your further cooperation.

"

The black-haired boy declared before turning to the door and grabbing the door handle.

*click*

This time it didn't even take a second – Zoemi focused on the death attribute mana and both the door and the seal unlocked, allowing him and Miriette access to the tightly secured room.

…empty room….