Chapter 341 110 - Tournament arc (part 6)

Chapter 341 110 - Tournament arc (part 6)

"Be honest with me, Burushi, was I too extra? I kind of feel like I overdid it with the exit... I did not need to teleport at the end."
Zoemi was in the room in the Victureo mansion that was provided for the blond heroine – and he was talking to the blond while taking over her bed as she was brushing her hair while in her bathrobe after getting out of the bath.
"Nah. It worked out just fine, the nobles love theatrics like that – I think... More importantly – what is going on with the whole kidnapping? Everything is happening mostly as it played out in Reo's route – but I sure as hell did not start his route."
Burushi shrugged her shoulders looking at Zoemi's face in the mirror, without actually turning back towards him.
"Umm... yeah, about that... I think that I kind of started it...? You know, with the Banemor questline – although my best boy didn't get beaten up because I trashed his assholes of siblings instead."
The black-haired boy made an awkward expression and looked to the side while admitting to being at least a part of the problem.
"Aren't you the heart-stealer? You got Miri, the evil twin who got ALL the crazy, Reo, Victureo siblings, and m... maybe even a couple of others."
The blond heroine snickered and started to count on her fingers, flinching just a little bit by the end and hurriedly shrugging it off dismissively.
"Evil twin...?"
"Even though Miri was very clear about not bullying me, Teo is certainly going out of her way to be mean to me."
Zoemi furrowed his brows and asked, tilting his head and Burushi sighed and rolled her eyes while explaining.
"Yeah – well, it's not a game, so you know, not everyone will be nice to the character of the heroine."
The black-haired boy tried to reason things out and suggested, but that only gained him a tired glare from the blond-haired girl.
"I am not talking about being nice to me – I only ask to not openly threaten me and destroy my property. That should not be such an outrageous endeavor as she makes it to be, alright? She got some issues that my magic cannot heal, let me tell you that."
Burushi breathed out and put down the brush before facing Zoemi with a scowl, causing him to lean back and stare at her wide-eyed.
"...and even Miriette wasn't able to completely stop her...?"
"Nope."
The black-haired boy asked for confirmation and he received it immediately, without even a second of hesitation from the blond-haired girl.
"Hmm... well, I can try to talk to her the next time we meet, but..."
"...but I will not be holding my breath in anticipation for the result..."
He breathed out and assured with a rather complicated expression, and Burushi smirked and waved her hand dismissively.
"...but as for the immediate solution, have those two."
Still, as it turned out, she was not right about the reason for Zoemi making a worried face, because the next moment the black-haired boy extended his hand and two murky-black orbs appeared above his palms before slowly floating down and disappeared into the blond girl's shadow.
"You already have the bear, but it is strictly about physical and magical defense, those guys can teleport and can contact me if the things go really bad. There are some perverted traitor assassins gunning for me and apparently, they began messing with people around me to... tilt me, I guess...? Alright, that last part isn't confirmed, but we already talked about Tervos and Nilianna's situation, and those people are my main suspects."
Zoemi explained, awkwardly, but at least he tried to be transparent about the situation.
"In the game, it was not disclaimed who exactly was behind the kidnapping – quite a plot hole if you ask me, but that leaves a lot of space for assumptions anyway... About those orbs – are you going to teleport Teo into the sun when she tries to punch my head off?"
Burushi breathed out and asked with a mocking smile.
"No... not the sun... just... put into a time-out."
Zoemi sat up on the bed and looked away, dodging making eye contact.
'Wait... Seriously?! I was not expecting that! Aren't you going to be like – oh, she's my friend, she isn't like that, she had a difficult childhood, you just need to talk things out with her - and other crap like that?"
The blond heroine gasped in actual shock staring down at her shadow where two black dots were bouncing around within its borders.
"No, not really. I mean, I like her but it doesn't mean that she is some sort of a saint. Everyone has flaws."
Zoemi shrugged and faced the wide-eyed Burushi.
"...and what if I said that Miri was actually the one bullying me...?"
The blond girl asked, squinting her eyes, testing the ground out of pure curiosity.
"I would have to give you a lot more sentinels to keep you safe."
The black-haired boy shrugged his shoulders without batting an eye.
"...You would not doubt me...?"
The heroine asked while she herself sounded doubtful, funnily enough.
"You seem to believe I spent most of my current life around her and still somehow don't know how her personality works... It's the same situation, I like her, but I know she isn't a perfect being – isn't that how it's supposed to be for everyone though...?"
Zoemi raised his brow, looking at the shocked Burushi.
"Alright, but moving on to a different subject. I know about Reo's route – but what about Grazio? Is this tournament a part of it or a completely original thing?"
He asked, moving onto the edge of the bed and gesturing at the blond girl.
"Yes, but in the game, it wasn't even focused on the fighting itself – it was more on the interactions between Grazio and the heroine as she was healing him after each fight. Oh, because in the game the tournament didn't have the rule about Victureo's not being allowed to represent themselves. Grazio didn't end up winning, and his sister had to marry the winner, the rest of the route consisted of various situations where he was striving to get stronger, involving himself with studies and experiments that teacher Ikarveth was doing in the Academy's dungeon."
Burushi answered, leaning back in her seat and looking at the ceiling.
"...any details...?"
Zoemi furrowed his brows and leaned forward with a questioning look in his eyes.
"...it wasn't my favorite route so I played through it only for the completion sake, alright?"
The blond girl frowned and crossed her arms defensively, while looking away, pouting...
...and puffing out her already ample chest...
"Ah, sorry... So, we have the distorted tournament from the Grazio route and the kind of fitting kidnappings from Reo's route... Troublesome..."
Zoemi sighed and lowered his head.
"Speaking of troublesome things – what are you going to do about the people from the Auequas family? It looks like you will have to face one of them tomorrow..."
Burushi suddenly tensed up and asked.
"Are you talking about granny from hell?"
"Yah."
Zoemi asked and Burushi nodded her head vigorously.
"I am not going to let her win if that's what you are asking about."
He shrugged his shoulders with an indifferent expression.