Chapter 315 102 - Banemor territory - part 3 - Taken by surprise (part 1)

Chapter 315 102 - Banemor territory - part 3 - Taken by surprise (part 1)　　Even though the magicless bandits were fooled and didn't notice a difference, there was no opportunity to check whether that would be the case for a mage.

Although the ability to sense mana of different attributes was rare, the crimson-haired man had already shown not just one but two spells that had suggested him not being just an average mage content with the basic spells.

"...!"

Suddenly, all the bandits tensed up as someone showed up in the foresty spot they picked for an ambush – and Zoemi froze in pace too, halfway through a pushup as the drop of sweat dripped from his chin after he already lost count of the exact number of reps he already performed.

"...tsk..."

But as it turned out, the travelers who showed up were just a family of three, all villagers by the looks of it – a skinny man, a plump woman, and a putting little girl - all both magicless and poor so not worth attacking, as even if they had their life's savings, no matter how much it would be it would no recuperate the loss the bandits would suffer if the merchant had realized that something was wrong and change their route.

Of course, everyone in the merchant's group was tipped off about what would happen, s they would march into a trap even if the bandits moved out of their hiding spots and rolled out a red carpet for them, but that knowledge wasn't available for the bandit leader and two of his most trusted men.

So they let the villager family pass unbothered and continued the waiting game.

Zoemi changed the exercise from pushups to planks.

The minutes passed but the road remained empty.

Zoemi was getting worried while regretting that he didn't send out a sentinel to the merchant transporting the artifact too so he could at least expect what was going on.

The bandits were oddly at peace – in Zoemi's opinion, at least.

Although, thanks to the access to the memories of twelve of them, most of their activities were actually laying in wait just like they were doing now.

It was nothing more and nothing less than another job and only Zoemi who was vicariously experiencing it for the first time found it anxiety-inducing.

At one point he even made one of the standard sentinels leave its position and fly above the trees to check whether the merchants were at least approaching already, but the trees blocked most of the road so that brought no result.

"..."

The black-haired boy breathed out in disappointment while the seconds turned into minutes at an excruciatingly slow rate, both because of the wait and the strain on his body caused by his choice of exercise, when suddenly...!

*knock* *knock*

"...huh...?!"

Someone arrived, but not in the foresty area where the bandits laid in an ambush, but in front of his room.

Well, it was time for breakfast but Zoemi had told Benevirau that he will most likely not have either the morning or the mid-day meal and to not bother him about it.

That could only mean that something happened - something that the dark-blue-haired butler deemed so important that he decided it was okay to have Zoemi's attention.

"..."

Since Benevirau made an impression on the black-haired boy suggesting that he was a very responsible and dutiful person, Zoemi didn't get angry or annoyed and simply stood up, wiping the sweat off his face – only to realize that his shirt itself was already drenched from the physical activity.

|I'll see what it is about and go take a quick bath... it should be fine, the merchant is clearly taking his time...|

Zoemi thought to himself looking at the white shirt that turned half-transparent and was tightly sticking to his body.

*knock* *knock*

The shy knocking repeated, and judging by the sound alone, the person on the other side of the door was getting hesitant, maybe even reconsidering showing up in front of the room.

"I'm coming!"

"!!!"

Zoemi called out to stop them since he thought that the least he could do is hear out what was it about – but it sounded like his words caused the person outside to panic.

*click*

Still, that didn't deter Zoemi from unlocking the door and opening it while doing his best to control the rate of his breathing increased by the hours of exercise.

"!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Hmm...? Oh? Ririe...?"

Fully expecting to see the dark-blue-haired butler, Zoemi was surprised to find himself in need of looking down at the small-framed brown-haired girl.

...who was using her hands to cover her crimson-red face, but was still staring at the black-haired boy's torso through the spaces in between her fingers...

"What's the matter...?"

*thump*

Zoemi tilted his head, asking with concern but at that moment the girl's knees gave out and she plopped on her butt while continuing to speechlessly stare between Zoemi's face, and his wet-shirt-clad torso.

"Ririe?! Are you okay?!"

The worried black-haired boy gasped in concern and reached out his hand to help the girl back up, but as it turned out, her legs have completely turned into jello, rendering the attempts useless.

"Pardon me."

Since it didn't feel right to just leave her in the hallway, Zoemi apologized in advance and picked her up, moving her from the hallway's floor to his bed so that she would be able to lay down and rest.

|Oh dear – I saw her doing her best recently, but could it be that she ended up pushing herself past her limits? Was that it? Did she come here to ask for a day off or a sick leave?|

Zoemi thought to himself, helping the girl lay down.

The merchant was nowhere to be seen and the bandits were still patiently waiting, so actually, the black-haired boy had some time to spare.

"Rire, don't worry about a thing and just rest her. I'm going to take a quick bath and be right back."

Zoemi spoke in a reassuring voice while patting the girl's shoulder - he also used that moment to cast a copy of the check-up spell to make sure that her life wasn't in danger or anything, but thankfully beside the increased heart rate there didn't seem to be anything wrong with her.

Expecting her to suffer from overwork, Zoemi decided it would be best to not heal her up as she would most likely get back to work immediately, while it was far better for her to have a natural rest.

"Yesh...! I mean, yes...! I... I'll be in your care if you think that I'm good enough...!"

"...? Yeah, of course..."

The magicless girl wanted to answer so fast that she ended up biting her tongue and causing Zoemi to raise his brow in confusion.

|I'm only going to have a bath and carry her back to her room, why would she not be good enough for that?|

The black-haired boy thought to himself in concern while leaving the girl and going to the bathroom.

He even considered leaving a sentinel with her just in case the check-up spell didn't activate properly and the girl would collapse and require his help, but he stopped himself, as that would be dangerously close to peeping or straight-up stalking - which both were a definite no-go in his books.

"Don't push yourself too hard."

"N-no...! It's not like that! I-I am incredibly happy but, it's so soon...! I did imagine and hoped that you would be interested in me like that but I never actually thought that...!"

Zoemi added while closing the door, missing part of the girl's words...