Reincarnated as the Villainess's attendant

Chapter 479 157 - Perserios territory - part 4 - Countering the plan that was thirty years in the making (part 11)

　　The dark-haired girl smirked and turned around.

　　What she faced was the acid magician working with the Barbariacca nation and the lower half of an armored man.

　　...whose upper half was being swallowed by the air emperor with one-their of her face melted off by the passive defense of the girl in a well-fitting hazmat suit and a broken gas mask who herself was in a state of absolute shock, only able to stare up at the bloodied corpse disappearing within the monster's mouth.

　　"Did they taste like someone important?

　　Miriette asked her summon spell casually.

　　"Not really, he was pretty average – and this definitely wasn't the same person who helped her out before."

　　The air emperor hissed in an indifferent way as her head regenerated without leaving any sight of ever getting damaged.

　　"What? Did my air emperor got you tongue too or something?"

　　"...!"

　　Miriette snickered, taking a step threatening step towards the acid magician, causing her to almost trip over and fall...

　　"Fuckers, who do you think you are?!"

　　Just to adjust her position a moment later and growl in annoyance, reaching out her hand towards the group.

　　*SMACK*

　　"GU-HUAGH...!"

　　But as that happened, the air emperor twisted around and snapped her tail at the acid magician and sent her flying – while doing so she didn't even touch the enemy with her body made out of wind mana but rather moved so fast that the air pressure alone has done the job for her.

　　*kshhhhh*

　　After that Mirienne – or Roiso, whoever was in control – crashed against the ground and all the air was forced out of her lungs by the force of the impact, together with a large amount of acid that she spat out all around herself.

　　"!!!"

　　Almost everyone else was left speechless at the unexpected scene. Almost.

　　"Hmph. I knew I should have got you to help us deal with that annoing girl."

　　Miriette scoffed, straightening her back and puffing out her chest triumphantly.

　　"I see... before, your wind blade was melted because it contained active mana, but if her barrier affected just normal air, that sizzling sound would follow her everywhere."

　　Zoemi, standing by the dark-haired girl's side, nodded in understanding and pointed out in realization.

　　"Exactly. I was so keen on knocking her out by changing the oxygen levels that I didn't even think about a more hands-on approach. Which is clearly working."

　　Miriette confirmed in a satisfied voice.

　　"Oh, just so you know, Eltrena, this isn't someone from the Perserios family, but a mage that is working with the Barbariacca nation."

　　She turned around and nodded at the flabbergasted woman staring speechlessly at the air emperor that just bisected someone wearing a full armor set and then swallowed them.

　　Although in this particular case the biggest problem was that the group that came flying down on that very same monster didn't act as if it was anything special or worrisome.

　　"Alright, it's all well and good, but what are you going to do with that enemy magician? If you don't want to kill her then how would you go about detaining her?"

　　Burushi crossed her arms under her chest as if she was cold and stepped towards Miriette, asking her timidly while scuttling over towards her and Zoemi.

　　"Well, true that. I don't really see a point of ending the life of someone who called herself a failed experiment and an ingredient, and would much rather question her about what it is all about. I really want to know whether experiments on the Bellcephora kingdom's magicians are a common practice in the Barbariacca nation or if it's something new, started just because of this whole operation."

　　The dark-haired girl tilted her head before nodding with a slightly concerned expression while looking between the blond-haired girl and the one unconscious by the very edge of the village.

　　"Let's try this then. Any free little ones there?"

　　Zoemi furrowed his brows and asked out loud, getting the attention of all the others.

　　"(Hello~! How can I be of service, master~?)"

　　That was why they were able to witness a cheerful murky-black sphere emerging from the boy's shadow and dancing in the air happily.

　　"Go above that girl and keep her down with wind pressure alone, she has a barrier that melts active mana around her, so mind your distance or you will get in trouble."

　　"(Ooohhh~! A troublesome opponent, I see. Consider it done, master~!)"

　　Zoemi pointed at the momentarily unconscious acid magician and the cheerful sentinel bounced up and down in the air before floating its way above the girl and...

　　*WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH*

　　"!!!"

　　Created an air current so strong that it caused even the people far away to stumble back from the force.

　　Far from just being detained, the acid magician must have been pinned down to the ground with no chance of getting up. All while the howling of the wind was even drowning out the sizzling of the acid dripping out of her still broken gasmask.

　　"...talk about underwhelming, when I have heard about an acid magician with a multiple personalities disorder, this is not how I expected things to end up like..."

　　Burushi said out loud, cautiously approaching the trapped and still unconscious hazmat suit-wearing girl.

　　"...what the hell...?"

　　As she got as close to the powerful wind current as she could, the blond girl gasped in disbelief and leaned even closer in despite her own hair smacking around restlessly.

　　"Don't tell me she's dead – I finally got an idea how we could detain her for a longer period of time, - I do not wish for my time to get wasted like this."

　　"...!"

　　Miriette scoffed and rolled her eyes in annoyance, which gained her a lot of shocked and scared looks from the people of the Far-South Tusk Tribe who got a first glimpse at the dark-haired girl's real personality.

　　"No. I mean, it's too far for me to say for sure but she seems to be breathing steadily despite the pressure. What I meant was... I know her."

　　Burushi shook her head, making her hair flutter even more, and pointed at the captured acid magician.

　　"You knew a person wearing some kinky version of a hazmat suit and you didn't immediately connect them with acid or at least poison magic...?"

　　"I do not mean the stupid suit! Look at her face – see the spot where that gasmask-like part is broken and shows some skin? There's a very easily recognizable birthmark there. One of my patients in the past when I wasn't fucked over by the Hontreu family had a birthmark just like that. But she was an average wind magician who was of really fragile health and her family literally got into debt to cover her medication. Of course, before they got in contact with me."

　　The healing magician cut off the black-haired boy's cheeky remark and explained it properly.

　　"You didn't know her name?"

　　"I am a professional and I have standards, although now that she is here – I did find it a bit strange that you were impersonating her for some reason, Miri."

　　Miriette asked, raising her brow to which Burushi shrugged her shoulders before turning back to the pined-down girl.

　　"She came only for a short visit, she actually had some serious illness that would require at least a few months' worths of appointments, but she never showed up for even the second one... you say that she became a failed experiment? Can I cast a check-up on her? Gh...! P-please...?"

　　Letting her professional curiosity take over, the blond-haired girl asked, trying to brave the tempest but the wind pressure pushed her back despite her honest efforts.

　　"..."

　　"..."

　　Zoemi and Miriette looked at each other before turning back to Burushi.

　　"You know, I might be okay with that if it was only Mirienne and you would promise me to be careful, but with Roiso inside her head too, I would advise you to keep away from her."

　　Miriette made a sour expression and let out a long sigh, looking at Burushi with tired eyes.

　　"Actually, I wouldn't be okay with Mirienne alone either – we have no evidence that back in the first outpost it was Roiso who killed everyone, it really might have been all on Mirienne. No. No way. Too risky. Please get away before she will wake up and you will get hurt."

　　Zoemi shrugged and shook his head with a rather strong opinion on the subject.

　　"But Mirienne that I know was such a Miriette fangirl! She almost fainted from the excitement when I said that I know her personally!"

　　Burushi took – or rather was forced to take – a few steps back and complained to the other two.

　　"Well, she decided to take part in the experiments that were supposed to change her attribute from wind to darkness, so there you have it. She couldn't be that much of a fan."

　　The black-haired boy pointed out, causing Burushi to close her mouth and look to the side.

　　After all, in normal circumstances, the magicians took a lot of pride in their attributes and would always think of the strong individuals sharing their attributes as their idols.

　　"But what if she was hexed? Or forced into taking part in some questionable research project as a way to make up for the debt her parents ended up with because of her treatment... and then she also got hexed afterward?"

　　The blond girl clenched her fists and asked in a very stubborn way.

　　"Yes, if that very convenient and situational explanation would turn out to be true, then it would be okay for you to do as many check-ups, private visits, and whatever else you would wish for. But as your friends, we would like it better if you stayed alive and not try to put yourself in a very dangerous situation."