Chapter 441 144 - Perserios territory - part 1- Settling in (part 1)

Chapter 441 144 - Perserios territory - part 1- Settling in (part 1)　　Devios Elef Perserios was sitting behind a desk where he was reading the reports regarding the latest skirmish with one of the tribes.

The barbarians were supposed to be just... well... barbaric.

They weren't supposed to have a centralized government, they were supposed to be just an unorganized bunch of loosely related tribes which rarely ever made alliances with each other as their hatred towards the Bellcephora kingdom was matched only by their animosity towards everyone from outside their own tribe.

"...why is there a pattern here...?"

The young blue-haired boy muttered to himself while rummaging through the old reports that his father originally dismissed after a short read.

"Are we really supposed to dismiss the absence of children in every other tribe...? Or maybe I am just overthinking it all and the ones making the report just didn't bother counting the abandoned toys like they did weapons and food supplies... haa... I swear, all the previous heirs are worthy of our respect because we wouldn't be here without them, but why did none of them realize that there is no feasible way for that many people to survive off of pillage alone! Where are their crops, are they really gathering roots out in the freezing rocky wasteland? Where are their herds? There is little to no wildlife! Did they already hunt them down? If so, why are their forces only getting stronger? If they are starving and attacking us because of hunger, why are they burning the rations and crops instead of taking them...?! Ugh...! My head hurts."

Devios went on a lengthy monologue before throwing the report back on the desk and leaning into his chair.

He then took out his fake eye, pointed his finger at it, and made it nice and chilly before putting it back in his empty eye socket.

"Ahhh... that hit the spot... maybe I am overthinking it... I will make sure to instruct everyone to write things down properly. It's probably something simple like our troops taking the abandoned toys and giving them out to the kids in settlements on our side while I am imagining some sort of grander scheme."

Devios breathed out in bliss as his headache subsided after just a few seconds and then he stood up and nodded to himself rejuvenated.

After all, it wasn't even noon yet and he couldn't allow himself to just call sick for the rest of the day.

Not when his sister went on a well-deserved vacation together with her husband.

Although Rokiana wasn't the most powerful mage in the Perserios territory, her ingenuity and battle sense made her one of the triumph cards on the battlefield.

Devios felt the huge pressure on his back because of that, but not because he didn't want to show himself as inferior.

No.

The thing was because he knew his older sister well enough, he realized that if by any chance the troops under the Perserios family banner would lose any significant skirmish with the barbarians, Rokiana would take the blame upon herself and never leave their territory ever again.

It was an outcome that Devios could never allow happening.

Originally Rokiana was the only heir to their family, she was forced to waste all the chances at love and even romance that she ever encounter because of being taken to the battlefield by their grandfather and then father.

And when she was fully ready to inherit everything, he, Devios, was born and it was decided that he will inherit the territory.

Then, to make things worse, because of that, all of the families that sent marriage offers to Rokiana took them back as the Perserios territory was no longer included in the marriage deal.

Rokiana had never blamed Devios or their father and grandfather for such turn of events, but her younger brother couldn't just let it be like that.

It was simply not fair.

That's why he wanted to show her that although she is greatly appreciated, she doesn't have to chain herself down to the territory and the battlefield at the border.

"I wonder if the messenger had reached the royal family about Zoemi yet...?"

Devios muttered to himself looking out of the window at the cloudy sky.

In Perserios territory, clouds were a good sign.

The worst that could happen was hail or a snowstorm.

The problems started when the sky was clear and nothing blanketed the ground from the horrible frost that could destroy every crop if it lasted for more than a day.

*tremble*

"...huh...?"

Suddenly, a slight movement underneath the boy's feet pulled his attention.

At first, Devios wasn't sure what exactly was wrong, but then he realized that the dark dots that always stayed within the boundaries of his shadow began moving erratically just like overly excited children happy about a sudden visit of their favorite family member.

"...that didn't happen before..."

The young heir to the Perserios family muttered to himself, raising his brow at the unusual performance of the dots that he otherwise got used to seeing already.

After all, they were gifts from Zoemi after the tournament ended, they were supposed to work as emergency mana reservoirs, but Devios managed to never rely on them in the end.

"What, are you excited because it's only a matter of time until Zoemi will arrive here? You have to be more patient, I didn't get a response from the royal castle yet. It's nothing certain."

The blue-haired boy smiled and spoke to the dots, even though they were supposed to not be conscious or anything so talking to them was pointless.

But then...

*WHOOM*

"!!!"

The darker dots in Devios's shadow all spilled into a large puddle of murky-black spheres of darkness, making the boy almost fall down in shock as he certainly did not expect anything like that to happen.

"...puah...! I thought I was a goner! I will never get used to that..."

"You know that you don't have to hold your breath, right?"

The next moment a tall black-haired boy holding a crystal cane and a blond girl with a disproportionally large chest emerged from the puddle of darkness as if it was some sort of tunnel while they were having a light conversation.

"You didn't forget anything?"

"Of course not! See?"

The black-haired boy asked and the blond girl scoffed and pointed at the baggage that floated up from the darkness right after them.

"Z-Zoemi?!"

Devios stood right up and gasped, staring at the pair that showed up as if it was nothing.

"Yo. Short time no see. Did anyone tell you that you work extremely fast?"

At the younger boy's call, Zoemi turned around and nodded his head at him with a slightly annoyed smirk.

"Same could be said about you! I expected you to show up next month at the earliest!"

"...and not within two weeks...? Ah, no matter. I am here regarding the obligation."

Devios breathed out moving his hand and waving it in Zoemi's general direction, making the black-haired boy rise his brow in surprise before shrugging his shoulders.

"That's exactly what I needed right now! Please, have a seat - before anything else I would like to ask you a few things about the spells that you can use just to be sure how to use your help in the most efficient way."

Devios nodded his head vigorously and grabbed an empty chair from under the wall and presented it to Zoemi.

"AH...! Wait, no - would, would you want to eat something first? Please, pardon my lack of hospitality, I truly was not prepared to see you in our territory that fast...!"

The younger boy flinched and shook his head before lowering it a bit with a worried expression.

"..."

"I am full, don't worry, and have this talk. It does sound kind of important."

The black-haired boy glanced over at the blond-haired heroine, but she only waved her hand dismissively and pointed him at the chair.

"As she said. Let's have this talk, but just so we are clear - what do you want to know exactly, and while we are at it, what sort of services are required. Although I took part in the duels, full-on battles are completely foreign to me aside from the literature, so pardon my lack of knowledge in that regard."

Zoemi sat down comfortably and motioned at Devios to also take a seat, but instead, the blue-haired younger boy hurried to the desk and took out a fresh sheet of paper, a bottle of ink, and a quil before leaning against the desk ready to write down everything.

"I see... then, it would be better to not include you in larger battles since without proper understanding of the battlefield it will only increase the casualties on our side..."

Devios said out loud while writing it down and looking at Zoemi to confirm whether it was fine.

"Exactly - now, a question, please."

The black-haired boy smiled with satisfaction and nodded, content with being treated seriously and understood properly.

Fighting alone even against a large group was one thing - but fighting in a group against another group was something completely different - especially when considering the devastating power of magic.