Reincarnated as the Villainess's attendant

|Little one. Is Burushi safe?|

Zoemi and Miriette casually walked out of the briefing room, locking the door behind them, and the black-haired boy thought to the little sentinel guarding the blond heroine.

"(She is fine. The rude people escorted her back to the room and are keeping watch outside the door. They didn't harm her though, so I didn't fight back.)"

The sentinel responded, sounding slightly grumpy about the whole situation - or rather, slightly grumpy that one of its orders was to protect and never attack first.

|Good. Tell her that we are back and get her right after we get Devios. Also, you can knock out everyone who isn't me, Miriette, or Devios, straight away if they get into the room. Just in case.|

The black-haired boy nodded and instructed the little sentinel, changing some of the commands it was originally given.

"(Really?!)"

The sentinel gasped in amazement, and Zoemi began to wonder whether it liked violence a little bit too much...

|Try to not kill anyone, though.|

"(Thank you, master~!)"

Zoemi added, just in case, and the little sentinel cheered out enthusiastically without actually confirming that it will hold back...

"Burushi is safe in her room. As for Devios, he is in his room."

"Alright. We have a lot to talk about with him... do you reckon he is hexed too?"

The black-haired boy said to the helmet-wearing girl and she responded with a quick nod as she activated her enchantments to keep up the pace with him.

"He shouldn't be. First of all, he seemed like a strong-willed kid, not to mention that the spells I gave him are protective too besides being just emergency mana banks."

The boy confirmed as the two of them walked through empty hallways.

----

*click*

Not long after they arrived at the door, and Zoemi opened them without knocking or announcing their presence in any other way.

"Wha...?! Ah! You are back. Well then. See? I told you that those two are..."

Devios flinched when the door suddenly opened but relaxed immediately after seeing who was actually coming in, and he even leaned back toward the two knight's behind him.

"..."

"Stand down, soldier. Those two aren't enemies."

Despite Devios being calm, the two knights not only unsheathed their weapons, but while one of them stepped forward and got the blue-haired boy's attention, the second one moved right behind him.

The knight who moved behind Devios had a slightly different weapon than their colleague.

The one confronting Zoemi and Miriette wielded a standard short spear, easy to use and handier than a sword in an enclosed space like the office room.

The one behind the heir to the Perserios family had a long knife that actually matched a short sword in the length of its blade.

But the weapon would be weird or controversial at all, if not for the fact that there were dimly glowing runes carvers alongside its cutting edge.

"Bastards!"

Seeing what was happening, Zoemi reacted in a way that he was trained for as an attendant.

Take down the potential assassin with any means necessary.

So with that in mind, the black-haired boy stepped in front of Miriette, blocking her from the potential harm in form of the knight coming towards them with the short spear, and...

*STAB*

"Ugh...!"

While Zoemi was about to cast a spell a water spear appeared between Devios and the knight, impaling the latter one and making him stumble back with a groan of pain.

"...?!"

Hearing his comrade instead of the young heir of the Perserios family, the knight with the short spear hesitated and glanced back at what happened.

|Freeze him.|

"(On it!)"

Zoemi asked and the second sentinel jumped into action without hesitation.

*WHOOSH*

The next moment, the knight with the short spear was encased in a thick layer of ice.

"Judging by this, the previous assassination attempt, and the fact that my cousin became a lot more bossy and overwhelmingly annoying, I assume that we have a problem."

Devios looked behind, at the knight trying to take the water spear out of his abdomen and failing miserably, before snapping his finger and causing the water to spread around and create a translucent cacoon trapping the supposed bodyguard.

"Yeah, the problem might be one of the words to call it. Apparently the Perserios territory and a small part of the mountain region where the barbarians have their forces have been cursed and no one and nothing can move past it. No people, no spells."

Zoemi check up on Miriette behind him and after she nodded and grabbed his hand reassuringly, the black-haired boy approached Devios and declared.

"..."

The younger boy's eyes widened, but he didn't question Zoemi's words or said anything out loud at all.

Instead, he started rummaging through the desk and pulled out a rectangular slab of green magic crystal with runes carved all over it.

"Big sister."

Devios said and waited...

"Brother-in-law."

...apparently, the first option didn't work so after a few seconds he called out another command...

"Using that chance I need to suggest that everything that we know about the barbarians - especially about the hexes and curses and their users - might be wrong."

Seeing the younger boy put down the communication crystal, Zoemi began to talk in a grim voice.

"I see... first thing first. What exactly happened in the first outpost? Did you recapture it? Are there any survivors? What bout the barbarians who attacked it? And finally, the melting magician. What is their deal?"

Devios nodded but also had his own questions that also required answers.

"The first outpost is a crumbling ruin, thanks to the acid magician creating an ambush. There are only six survivors - and they are all barbarians that were lucky enough to get in the building at the right time. Well, seven or eight, if you count the acid magician."

Miriette answered straight away, sounding a little bit tense which meant the situation was indeed not a laughing matter.

"According to them, the barbarians want to massacre your family forces and put all the blame on me."

"...considering that we are cut off from the outside world that is very problematic..."

Zoemi added, which caused Devios to sigh and rub his forehead as if had a headache.