"Cool. Then here. Go."

The yellow-haired young man nodded with an indifferent expression before putting a small box into his friend's hands and giving him a push toward the door.

Noex nodded to Zoemi before leaving and did not look back at the others, probably too worried about their reactions.

"Just so you know I will not forgive anyone who will try to bully Noex for anything that Xeonith did or for being who he is now. Oh, and I am one of dad's spells, a sentinel whose body was artificially created by my mother, the healer magician, Burushitto. It's me dad, Terez. The small sentinel who you put in charge of keeping mom, that is Burushitto, safe."

Terez declared without ever changing his expression until the last moment when he smiled cheerfully at the black-haired man, exposing his shark-like teeth.

"I'm so glad to see you alive...!"

Without a moment of hesitation, Zoemi stood up from his seat and locked the yellow-haired young man into an affectionate embrace.

"Yes, I am~! Same to you! We all were so worried when the connection to you got completely cut off!"

Terez returned the hug and rested his chin on Zoemi's shoulder.

"Although mom Miriette will be angry at me for hugging you before her, so we should better stop~"

The yellow-haired artificial human giggled while somehow keeping the straight face and pulling away from the man who created his core.

"Ah...! The healer Burushi...! So that's why you were vouched for by her highness Patishi!"

"...did I show up at a bad moment...?

Devios's gaps of realization messed with the touching atmosphere between parent and child – just in time too, because the door opened again and this time someone was coming in – the one-armed headmaster of the Heavenly Star Academy, Bevan, in person.

"Quite opposite, really. I just offhandedly learned that my little sister became a queen, so my mood improved by a few magnitudes. Come in, good man, speak about what bothers you."

Zoemi laughed sitting back in his seat but now instead of his normal position, he made himself look like the book example of the spoiled young nobleman.

"..."

The sight of the black-haired man leaning back with his legs crossed on the edge of the table, speaking to him in a magnanimous voice while combing back his curly hair rendered Bevan speechless for a good few seconds.

The principal of the Heavenly Star Academy was already informed of the identity of the black-haired man – and Bevan would have to be extremely dense or plain stupid to not realize that Zoemi was the person who cost him a limb.

But, the image he had in his head and the actual person right in front of him certainly did not match, even in the slightest.

"Since our guest seems like he needs a moment for himself, I got a question that you in particular should be capable of answering."

Because the silence was already prolonging itself awkwardly, Zoemi shrugged his shoulders without any visible disturbance and waved his hand toward the blue-haired Devios.

"Ask away, I will do my best to aid you in whatever problems you might be going through."

Devios straightened his back and declared, suddenly very official.

And not without reason – after everything that Zoemi revealed to their group, whatever was bothering the black-haired man must have been heavily involved in the safety of the entire world.

"My father and mother. How are they?"

"...huh...?"

Zoemi leaned forward and asked, putting his elbows on the table and hiding his mouth behind his hands asked in an extremely serious voice, causing Devios to go wide-eyed and gasp.

"How are my parents? Are they well? Did... my family expand some more...?"

Zoemi expanded on the question that he wanted to be answered, staring intensely at the younger man who was technically his uncle.

"They became happy parents of two – their first child, a lovely girl, Rozea Erall Perserios, is already over one year old and the second child, a boy, Vanira Terro Perserios will turn two months old in a few days. My sister and brother-in-law can't wait for you to return and met them. Oh, and my sister took over the position of the head of the Perserios family for a moment, with Mizoe as her right hand. You probably already know but your father has an amazing sense as a leader., surprisingly, he might be even better suited for the role than Rokiana."

Devios shook off the initial surprise and revealed, even smiling a little bit over the surprising normality of the otherwise completely not ordinary black-haired man.

"Two already?! Oh my gosh, and they are both so young! I never had a sibling that young before?! How should I even act around small children? No, wait, in the first place, will they even still be small when I'll finally be able to safely return home?"

Zoemi gasped, all aflutter from imagining how his siblings would react to him.

"Oh, and there is this whole thing with getting rid of Cherro before that scum will completely merge with the planet and return the monsters to their most original state... This brings us back to our dear guest. You, seem to be the headmaster, are you not?"

The black-haired man managed to talk himself back into the most pressing subject and revealed that his denseness might once again have been only just an act after all.

"Indeed, that's me. I was informed that..."

"Stop."

Bevan nodded, quite satisfied with the situation turning into more of what he originally expected it to be like, but just then Zoemi frowned and shut him up with a gesture.

"...is something the matter...?"

The one-armed principal of the Heavenly Star Academy flinched and gulped down his saliva – all in all, no matter how calm he could act in the presence of the person who cost him an arm, the retired martial artist was a human after all.

"Could you say - law of Sagittarius - for me? Without activating the law, of course."

Zoemi's face turned grim and he lowered his head just a bit to scowl at the tense man.

"... the law of Sagittarius..."

Bevan already realized what the black-haired man became so wary of, but ended up complying with the request, doing his best to not act overly anxious.

"You are lucky I was thinking of Alan's safety back then. If I used a yellow star, you would be a puff of steam chased away by the wind."

"!!!"

Zoemi scoffed, motioning his chin at the armless side of the retired marital artist, causing Becan to tense up and bit his lips but remaining completely silent otherwise.

"You all bothered to check for the survivors or just left after collapsing that tomb?"

Zoemi added, not bothered by the confused and curious looks that others were giving him, only focusing on the principal of the Heavenly Star Academy.

"I expect that you want to know the fate of Heavenly Archer sect young genius, the beloved child of Sagittarius, Aaron..."

"I expect you to not bother my friends and fellow aristocrats with some useless trivia that could harm them in the long run."

Bevan tried to gain an upper hand with the conversation, but it immediately became obvious that he stepped on a landmine after a literal gust of bloodlust unleashed by Zoemi blew past him and caused him to shiver and lower his gaze.

"Well? What about that kid?"

Still, even though he threatened Bevan so directly, Zoemi still wanted to hear the answer – just without the fluff and useless bickering – which honestly was the most Miriette-like he ever acted and it was completely subconscious too.

"I had to leave the spot to get treatment, but I have been told that his body was not found. Unfortunately, it looks like his corpse was simply not retrieved as of yet."

Bevan answered, this time without trying to play any games, and grabbed the wounded side with his arm.

"What about Rhodes and Chloe?"

"Their deaths have been confirmed as far as I know."

The black-haired man nodded and asked and got the information he wanted without any delay.

"...I don't like where this is going... But anyway!"

Zoemi muttered in annoyance before straightening his back and smiling devilishly, dispelling the threatening aura around himself and gazing upon Bevan with a seemingly favorable expression.

"You are supposed to have a way of getting me to get in contact with the Heavenly Star Warrior. I require his cooperation."

The black-haired man revealed his reason for arriving at the Heavenly Star Academy and extended his hand to the facility's principal.