Grazio asked through his teeth as Zoemi was holding him firmly in a submission hold.

”Oh, you know…”

”~!”

Zoemi was having so much fun teasing Ehmi’s little brother that he actually didn’t notice that they have an audience by that point – and a very enthusiastic one at that.

”The punishment for you would be something like…”

*squeeze*

”?!?!?!?!???!?!?!?!???!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!”

——-

”Kyaaah~! Look Burushi, look…!”

”…”

——-

The black-haired boy grinned and his hand touched Grazio’s buttocks causing the red-haired youth to flinch and jolt back from the sheer shock of the unexpected action – while one of the two people watching them let out an excited gasp.

”Let’s just say that I would take something from you…”

Zoemi giggled maliciously – ad ven the flabergasted Ludier’s shadow could not be entirely sure whether his host was serious or not…

”GHAAAARGHH!”

That was the final straw.

Grazio roared, his body glowing red from both enchantments and embarrassment, and swung himself and Zoemi, beginning to roll on the ground in an attempt to shake the black-haired boy off…

”Tsk, tsk, tsk…! Grazio, you can do better.”

…to no avail…

His attempt only made Zoemi hum and strengthen his grip.

”Let go of me! That really isn’t funny, Zoemi! Come on!”

Grazio gasped, very close to actually breaking – not physically but rather into tears – subconsciously dropping the titles and whatnots.

”Grazio… You are a member of the important Victureo family – ad as such you are in danger of getting attacked. If an assassin would get you like this, do you think he will become soft-hearted at the sound of your cute pleading voice…?”

Zoemi asked sweetly which made the grappled boy tremble…

”You think that my voice is cute? I…! I mean…! An assassin wouldn’t fondle my ass!”

The red-haired boy gasped and blushed before realizing how he sounded and hurriedly coming up with another response.

He even tried to make himself sound angry.

”Hmm, well, yeah – you got a point there. But I don’t dare to point a killing spell at my friend’s precious little brother… This kind of threat must suffice for a replacement…”

The black-haired boy chuckled and his fingers tapped on the Grazio’s buttcheek in a steady rhythm.

——

”…Ehmi, why did you drag me out here? Am I supposed to be happy that your brother has more chance to get Zoemi’s interest than me…? For your information, I am still more interested in Surou, but out of spite I am definitely going to tell on both of you to Miriette and we will see who will be laughing then.”

The blond-haired heroine murmured in annoyance to the crimson-haired girl looking away from the two boys entangled in rather dubious-looking activity.

”Burushi! No! Of course not!”

Ehmi gasped in shock, visibly confused about the blond girl’s outburst.

”I mean – two boys acting like that does get me to feel a certain way – but I really got you here just in case that one of them will get hurt! Please don’t get angry!”

The crimson girl whispered in a worried voice, grabbing the heroine’s hand to stop her from leaving the hiding spot between the ornamental shrubs shaped like various mythical creatures.

”…so you’re a yaoi fangirl…? That’s a character development I did not expect from someone like you…”

Burushi glanced back at the crimson-haired girl and raised her brow before letting out a defeated breath and crouching back next to her.

”…Burushi…? What’s yaoi…?”

”Shush.”

Ehmi asked but the blond heroine scoffed at her and turned back towards the training ground while pouting.

——

”KYAAAAAAHH!”

”Oh-ho~!”

Grazio let out a high-pitched scream and his body became engulfed in flames sending Zoemi rolling back on the grass out of the borders of the training grounds with a happy gasp.

”Hmhm~!”

The black-haired boy quickly stood up and shook the dirt and stray weeds off his clothes, which didn’t even get charred as even his enchantments sucked in both the heat and the explosive power of the unleashed spell.

The use of a fire spell by the red-haired boy was exactly what Zoemi was waiting for – not to make Grazio harm himself of course, but rather to achieve the goal of the training session they were having.

Yes – as much as it just looked like Zoemi bullying the red-haired capture target, there was an actual beneficial reason.

”Ths kind of things should not be done with just anyone!”

Teary-eyed Grazio declared in an embarrassed voice, standing at a safe distance from Zoemi, all spikey, angry, and so much on guard that he didn’t even notice the layer of blazing flames covering his body like armor.

Or rather – his brand new armor spell.

”Congratulations, Grazio~! It needs a bit of polishing, but to my knowledge, you are the first non-transcendent fire magician who managed to use flame armor… though judging by the temperature of the flames – a weaker version… let’s say… Fire armor. Simple, but to the point, don’t you think?”

Zoemi smiled cheerfully and applauded the red-haired boy while pointing out to him the spell he subconsciously unleashed and was keeping active.

”Huh…?”

Grazio flinched and slowly looked at his hands, while still on guard against Zoemi’s sudden retaliation – but the moment he laid his eyes on the crackling flames that protected him instead of causing harm, all of his cautiousness flew right out of the window as he straightened his back.

”I-I did it…?! I did it! Ha!”

The ecstatic red-haired boy threw his arms up in joy and laughed.

”How is it? Concentrate on the flow of your mana and the spell itself. Is the armor draining your mana as we speak or did it take a certain amount of your mana and is working just on that?”

Zoemi watched the red-haired boy closely and asked, already connected to him via his shadow.

”Wait a moment…”

Grazio furrowed his brows and concentrated.

”I think it just used mana to activate… it doesn’t take any mana to uphold it as it is, at least…”

He answered after a few seconds.

”Test it with your own spells, remember to start with weak ones just in case.”

”A-alright!”

Zoemi encouraged Grazio and the red-haired boy hurriedly nodded and reached out his hand.

”Fireball…!”

*BOOM*

Grazio conjured a basic offensive fire spell, adjusting it to the lowest temperature, and made it explode right in front of him…

”Nothing! The flame armor took no mana and I didn’t feel anything! Fireball!”

Grazio exclaimed happily and without wasting any time he used a standard version of the spell, the one that he would actually use to attack an opponent in a duel.

*BOOOOM*

The fireball flashed for a moment and then exploded raising a cloud of dust.

”It’s incredible! I felt nothing and the armor took less mana than the fireball itself! Ah, could it be? Dragon breath!”

Very excited Grazio started talking even before the dust settled and cast yet another spell that engulfed him in a cone of fire.

”Whoa…! That’s an interesting one! No, hold up…! Grazio?! Are you okay?!”

A cone of fire engulfed the red-haired boy completely, surprisingly enough severing Zoemi’s shadow connect, and causing the black-haired boy to call out in a worried voice.

Messing with Grazio during training was one thing, but allowing him to self-immolate was on a completely different level…!

”Ahahahahaha! Zoemi! This is amazing! This armor does take my mana to withstand the attack, but the amount it uses is laughably small! And look! This armor doesn’t have a helmet, but it does protect my head too! I-I think I’m invincible now…!”

Grazio’s overjoyed voice came out of the cone of fire before the flames subsided, revealing the extremely happy youth.

The red-haired capture target puffed out his chest clad in a flaming armor, beaming with pride, and looked at the black-haired boy as if waiting for him to gush over his spell too.