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nIt was already theorized that mana has its own will, and truth be told, Zoemi’s case could be used as an argument supporting that claim.

nThe thing was, once mana that got unleashed during the first prince Horeo awakening came in contact with Zoemi and sensed the boy’s affinity, it ended up CREATING a mana reservoir inside of him just so it could settle in.

nIt was a very painful experience that the black-haired boy clearly remembered as his insides getting forcefully spread apart to create a space for a brand new organ.

nThis wasn’t completely accurate – but also it wasn’t something that anyone else besides him went through, so he didn’t really have anyone to compare his experience with.

nEven so, since that, let’s call it – spiritual organ – wasn’t an actual living tissue, the pain that it caused was very distinct, so to say.

nThe boy’s body was healthy – he knew that, but regardless of that knowledge the pain that he felt was real for his brain – the best comparison would be a phantom pain after losing a limb, but in this case, it would be for the organ he gained…

nThere was nothing wrong with the boy’s body, but the pain he felt in his mind was real enough to fold him like a paperclip.

n…and that exact pain that no known healing spell could affect kept assaulting Zoemi’s abdomen at the moment…

nEven so, the black-haired boy kept using the healing spells on himself and they all not only kept on proving themselves useless but straight up worsened the pain.

nThe healing spells could affect only what was physical, they could not and did not influence how the brain of a person worked.

n”…what you are saying, is that that technique… those whole laws of whatever, did that to me…?”

nZoemi muttered, trying to calm his breath – even though he stopped trying to do other spells the pain did not go away, and instead, the black-haired boy could feel some unknown force tearing him apart from the inside

n”(That is correct, master. If there is another explanation, the only person who knows about it is the white-haired man that did that to you – but he disappeared after killing Evorietto.)”

nAnother one of his sentinels responded in a worried voice.

nZoemi wanted to say that if they all really didn’t turn on him, they weren’t doing a good job, mostly ignoring his wishes, but held himself back. In the end, it was his own fault for creating them with a partial conscience – he was aware that them developing it further was only a matter of time, but didn’t think about the consequences then – and now he had to face them.

n”(Master- it’s me again. Evorietto actually trapped the white-haired for a moment, but then got erased by the law of Aquarius. The Ghosts could not understand what exactly happened and panicked. That’s all.)”

n”…didn’t you say that you would not contact me again..?”

nSurprisingly, the sentinel who was keeping an eye on the Ghosts of Bellcephora chimed in and explained – cutting itself off right after saying whatever it wanted, so it did not hear Zoemi’s angry comment.

n”…khhh…”

nZoemi scoffed in pain at the guts his own summon-type spells gained.

n”(Master, we are all glad that you are back with us again, but we don’t have time to chat.)”

n”(Yes, she’s right – We’ll be late for the next…)”

n”(Shush! Master, we’ll see you around.)”

nThe sentinels with the physical bodies all decided to use the chance that their master was distracted, and cut off their connections too.

nZoemi would very much prefer for them to stay and explain exactly what they meant, but doing so by force wasn’t an option since even attempting to use a spell would cause his mana to move around and that would in turn make the pain he felt even worse.

nNot to mention, that something else got his attention in a timely manner…

n*click*

n”…and then he just woke up like it was nothing – see for yourself, uncle… ZOEMI?”

nUnknowingly tagging in with the leaving sentinels, Burushi opened the door while talking to the dark-blue-haired Benevirau following her – but then shouted in a panic once she saw Zoemi curled up on the edge of the bed and rushed towards him.

n”Zoemi, what happened?! Private visit!”

nThe blond-haired girl was by his side the next moment and asked, already using the strongest version of her spell in order to find out the problem.

n”GHHHHHHRRRRGHHH…!”

n”…?!”

nBut shockingly, the moment she did that, Zoemi’s mana got stirred up by her mana entering his body, adding to the boy’s suffering, and causing Burushi to take back her hands in shock as the boy whizz through his teeth and rolled on his side.

n”…no… no spells, please… I already tried healing myself and… this is where it got me…”

nZoemi breathed out and shook his head keeping his eyes closed.

n”…I reckon… you don’t know how to heal… a broken mana reservoir… do you…?”

nThe black-haired boy peeked at the heroine and forced himself to smile although it only came out as a pained grimace.

n”Broken… mana reservoir…?! What in the world are you talking about?! Mana reservoir is not an actual physical thing you know? How would you even break it?!”

n”I… see… So that’s a no.”

nBurushi’s utterly confused face was enough for an answer, and Zoemi didn’t even really need to hear her response as he nodded, trying to withstand the agony.

n”…Zoemi…? Is that why your mana has been so unstable this whole time…?”

n”…!”

nThe young-looking misty-gray-eyed butler stepped into the room – although he could not see exactly what was happening stepped in and asked in a horrified voice, causing the blond heroine to flinch.

n”So… so it seems…”

nZoemi groaned and fell on his side while clenching his stomach.

nHe didn’t get knocked out – although that would be actually welcomed in this situation – he merely lost his strength as the numbness in his limbs has overpowered his will.

n”…”

nBenevirau closed his mouth while making a miserable expression.

nHe was literally seeing by sensing mana – of course, that he of all people knew that there was something wrong with Zoemi’s mana, but he always thought that it was due to the boy’s injury, or the unknown energy that Burushi kept bringing in whenever talking about the difficulties with healing the black-haired boy.

nBecause of that, despite Burushi’s opinion on the subject, he immediately believed Zoemi’s words.

nIt just… made sense.

n”Geez… we will talk about the mana reservoirs later, alright? First of all… even though your results come completely fine… should I use the painkiller spell…?”

nThe blond heroine sighed and shook her head dismissively before making a worried expression and asking the suffering boy.

n”N-no… Even the spell that merely checked my health… made it so much worse… How about we will not try anything that actually changes something…?”

nBut to her surprise, the boy rejected the idea immediately.

n”Young ma… Zoemi… can I do something to help…?”

nBenevirau took a step forward and asked in a powerless voice, deeply concerned about the boy’s health.

n”…ice… I would appreciate an ice pack… please…”

nZoemi groaned, stuffing his face into the mattress so that the other two would not see that he was in so much pain that tears started running down his face.

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