(Do you want me to call majin as magic-born like in the LN or let it stay that way?)

If she were asked for easiest way to bait her master into doing things on a whim, then Ciel would say that food was the answer. The sentient AI sighed internally as she observed him going into one of the other towers circling the Last Tower. Her master caught the smell of stew from inside the blue roofed tower like a canine to the scent of meat. She wondered that if her master hadn't been reborn as a slime, he probably would've been reborn as a dog-like monster.

It had been five days since the festival. The reason her master was here in the first place was that the human child had requested to meet his other child allies here. The child had asked to meet them in front of the Last Tower everyday since the day after he was adopted. Ciel still wasn't sure on what to make of the individual named Jack and his adoption. While this was hardly the most questionable thing her master had ever done, this was perhaps one of the things he almost never did. While her master considered his allies and subordinates as family, he almost never went out of his way to tie them into his family tree. The only instance of it happening was the time when her master was named by his now sworn brother Veldora Tempest. Not even Zegion, who arguably could be considered as a pseudo-offspring due to her master giving him his own essence, had been put in the Tempest family line.

Ciel had observed her master much more closely these last few days. If it were a month ago, her master would've simply let the child go on his own. But, after adopting said child, her master had become much more watchful over him and almost never let him out of his sight whenever the child was without anyone that her master knew. It felt similar to the time they had started their war against Rudra's Empire. If it weren't for the reassurance and plea of his subordinates, then he would've gone to shield his soldiers and stand against the empire by himself. The amount of worry he felt when the child was left alone was parallel to the earlier event.

Her master had only amounted this much worry over his other students when they were on the risk of facing danger. While the AI couldn't figure out exactly why he felt this way, she was able to make a guess. Her best one was that it might possibly be an awakening of his maternal (or paternal; whichever was the case) instincts that had led him to feel this way. Ciel thought it was only a matter of time until he revealed his surname to the child. But, she wasn't sure what would come after that. Would the child also mantle the name of Tempest or not?

{Insufficient data. More must be collected to simulate the outcome.}

"Hmm? What was that?" questioned Rimuru as he reached the kitchen floor of the Blue Tower.

{It's nothing. I was simply pondering.}

The demon lord just nodded and said inwardly, "Okay. Just don't overwork yourself." He knew the severity of his Manas' "ponderings." He had no doubt that even a quantum supercomputer would fry itself just by trying to process even a fraction of her most basic thoughts.

{I doubt that will ever happen, master.}

Rimuru shrugged his shoulders. He had to agree with her. His companion wasn't one to ever tire herself out from working too much. He even doubted she was capable of that in the first place.

The kitchen had smooth stone as its flooring; the same was the case with the walls. He could see kitchen utensils neatly hung on one side, with many others sprawled around the room. The wide open windows shone across the entire place, illuminating it clearly. Near one of the stoves was a cooking pot, and in front of it was a girl in her late teens with long hair colored like the leaves of autumn. The heated pot wafted out a delicious smell from inside, confirming to the gluttonous king that this was what led him here. The girl looked to be taste testing the stew while she continued stirring and adding more ingredients into it. Her body moved a little according to her rhythmic singing.

"...and then the demon of chaos devoured the god of creation~" though her voice soothed his senses, the lyrics were a tad too dark for the cheery tune.

Rimuru kept listening, intrigued by the meaning of the song; the girl's back was turned against him, so she still hadn't noticed him. After a few more lines, he realized the song was actually about him defeating "god" a.k.a the bastard, Yuuki. It really wasn't something to be sung in front of humans in pucblic, and after a quick sensing, he was able to determine her race. Rimuru thought over what he'd learned about these half-demons recently. They were similar to the magic-born, magical creatures in humanoid form, yet they were still mortal; able to die of old age. They had great potential for magic, as most demons had. Yet, they appeared human enough to be able to fit in among other humans. One thing he found out from Ciel was their line of evolution allowed them to evolve into magic-born and then into full-fledged demons. Of course, the opposite was possible if they chose to keep their humanity. They would lose their demonic nature and become fully human. Though, they would have to start over if they wanted to use any magic.

Suddenly, a voice could be heard from behind the door, headed from the upward stairs. "Selene! Where in Diablo's name are you!?"

The girl jumped and quickly replied, "S-Sorry, master! I'm almost done cooking! I'll come over right after this!"

"I don't care what you're up to! Come here, now!"

"Eep! R-Right away!" the girl exclaimed as she hurriedly turned the stove off and put a lid on the pot.

She ran, not even noticing him as she bolted through the door and upwards the stairs, stumbling halfway. What a waste of food, Rimuru thought. Even if she completed it later, it wouldn't taste as good. There was no other choice. Ever the lover of food, Rimuru went to finish her cooking. After eons of continued existence, it was not unreasonable for him to have spent a little bit of his time cooking, so the demon lord was confident in finishing her work.

Felicia Viengrey wasn't feeling very well. If one looked closely, they would be able to see the bags under her eyes neatly covered with light make up. Though, she wasn't able to hide her paling complexion. She looked at the sky and squinted her eyes. Was the sun getting hotter? A sudden urge came, causing her to put her fist up against her mouth, trying to cough as quietly as she could.

"You okay, Lish?" asked the tanned boy named Jack in front of her as he turned around and started walking backwards. They were currently on the streets of Rabianigh, somewhere between the entertainment area and the trading center.

Why was she currently in this terrible state? The reason was none other than the coming day of the enrollment. She was very worried that she would fail to join like her brother. She was afraid of disappointing her father. But above all, she needed to get in. She just had to. She wouldn't be able to reach her goal without joining.

There were several ways to get into the Arcanus Academy. The surest way was through the archmage's recommendation himself. The next was the recommendation from his closest aides. The more "common" ones required one to either have prior knowledge and experience with magic or have at least a skill. This was, of course, out of reach for most kids including her. Her to be method involved none of that. It was even considered the one with the lowest chance to succeed: an IQ test. While she was regarded well by her tutors, she doubted she was much smarter than the other people enrolling. The academy expected one to have some degree of intelligence in order to even try enrolling, after all. She neither had the talent nor experience for magic nor did she possess any skill. Felicia knew that besides her being born into a noble family, she was not all that special.

Felicia tried to answer with a smile, "I'm fine. No need to worry."

"You don't sound like you are, though?" he countered as he scratched his head.

The boy had a weird way of telling things, she thought. It's almost as if he didn't really rely on his eyes. A few days of observation led her to believe he had good hearing. She looked behind him to see a pole on his path. Before she could warn him, he already moved away. Really good hearing. No matter how loud it was, Jack was still able to hear her voice clearly. She didn't know if it were possible, but on all accounts the boy seemed to be able to "see" the noise.

"Don't mind me. Just something stuck in my throat, is all," denied Felicia as she shook her head.

She could easily tell the boy wasn't at all convinced from his heart and face, but he nodded anyway and said, "Okay, then. If you need anything, just let us know." He turned around and walked forward.

Jack seemed different after the festival. Before, she could feel something dark behind his warmth, but now his heart felt like the morning sun. He was wary of her at first, and was almost distrustful of her when she pointed out something bad was happening. Though, it began to dissolve after what happened later. It had completely vanished the next day. Right now, she could still feel him worrying about her.

"Where are we going again?" asked someone else in a bored tone. It was the Imperial Prince Thomas.

Opposite to Jack, the prince didn't seem to notice nor care at all. In fact, it seemed he cared very little about anything else. One of the exceptions to this was none other than the other boy. From what she'd seen, the prince liked to compete with the boy over anything that involved physical work. At first she thought he just didn't like him, but his heart told otherwise. The prince's heart glowed every time the boy accepted his challenge.

"There's this candy shop I just found out about! I met the owner at the festival when I played his game. One of the prizes I got from winning was a bag filled with delicious sweets! I wanted more, but couldn't find him until now," recounted the boy as he wiped the drool from his mouth.

Jack had asked them to hang out together every day since the festival. Having no reason to refuse, the other two accepted. It was honestly quite refreshing; it kept her mind out of her worries. While it was always Jack being the one to lead them to places, they didn't really know Rabianigh enough to recommend a spot. Besides, the boy led them to interesting places, at least from her perspective.

After a quarter of an hour of walking, they reached the place. Above the colorful wooden building was a sign written:

"Randy's Candies"

Before Jack could walk inside, however, from the entrance came out two familiar figures.

"Big brother!" exclaimed the girl twin as she waved at them excitedly. They were the twins they'd saved almost a week ago. Tailing them was a woman in her thirties with dark hair and eyes. She had her eyes wide open looking at the three.

"Isaac, Ella, are those the ones who helped you?" asked the lady. The boy who had the same hammer on his back confirmed.

She approached them and voiced her gratitude, "Thank you so much for saving them!"

A few minutes of chatting they found out that the woman was actually the twins' mother. She was named Victoria, but she insisted them to call her Vicky. She wanted to offer them something in return, but was quickly shot down by Jack.

As they kept conversing, Felicia felt her body getting hotter. The world was starting to spin and she began coughing. Not long after, she felt her knees bend, and then everything went black.

"Felicia!" shouted Jack as he grabbed onto her.

Vicky quickly approached their side and held a hand to her head. She said, "Not good. She's heating up."

She quickly carried her and told them, "Come with me, my place is nearby."

Ten minutes later found the group in Vicky's house with Felicia lying on a bed in one of the guest rooms.

"Damn, I've no more medicine," cursed the woman as she opened shelves and drawers.

She turned to them and said, "Hold on. I'll go to the apothecary real quick. You guys stay here."

"I'll go tell her dad!" Jack turned towards the other boy and said, "Can you stay here with her, Tom?"

The prince nodded.

"Voltaire, take care of the house! We have guests! I'll be back soon!" shouted Victoria as she and the boy went out.

Thomas waited at the entrance of the room, with the kids beside him playing around. Not long after, he saw someone come down from the second floor. Recognizing the man, he grinned. When the man came close, Thomas walked to him.

"You." He pointed to the man named Voltaire and said, "Fight me."

(Sorry for the long wait! Midterm has been harsh)