Why am I here?
Why…
Why are there so much blood all around?
Kenya?
Gale?
Ryota?
Alice?
Chloe?
Why are you guys not moving?
Why are so much blood flowing?
Why is there a dragon… moving towards me?
…
I suddenly woke up from the dream.
In the dream, I was sitting in a vast grassland in the middle of the night, terrified. The ground around me was having the weird burnt smell, which came from the blazing weed around me. I am quite certain about that since the terrifying flame coming out of the dragon's mouth appeared before me.
The dragon itself looked like a red version of Veldora, without his mightly brilliant navy hue. Its scales were scarlet. It was looking straight at me. I thought it was trying to kill me.
All the kids were lying around me, their eyes are closed. They may be unconscious. They may be dead.
It's a long time since the last time I had nightmare. No matter how I try not to think about the dream, the pain in my chest won't go away.
Life is so good in this world that I rarely have nightmares. Besides those ones about Shizu.
…
"Rimuru-sensei, why are you gasping so hard?"
Chloe is putting her small hand on my cheeks.
"I did?"
Now I realize how much I am gasping.
"What happened to you, Rimuru-sensei?"
Alice seems to be very concerned about me.
"Maybe just a naughty dream? Hehe."
Kenya laughed while saying something unacceptable.
"Kenya, it seems that I forgot to tell you to watch your mouth. If you make those jokes again, I'm confiscating your sword."
I tried to educate Kenya, the same way as I do everyday. Why does Kenya has to be so annoying? He has his own cute side though.
"As if you can take it! It's mine now, hehe!" Kenya seems happy somehow and swing his sword around.
"Are you okay, sensei?" It's Gale's turn to worry about me.
"I'm really okay, hehe. I just had a bad dream, that's all". I just grinned and ackwardly tried to cover it. It's not like I can tell them about the dream content. I don't want the kids to worry about something meaningless. It was just a dream, after all. A dream that I'll forget soon. Next month, I will not even remember why I am so nervous today.
"I think that sensei is just stressed out. Maybe taking a walk in the night will help?" Ryota told me this.
"That sounds good, I guess…" That is just a right choice for me. Take a walk, huh… Normally I don't feel that bad after dreams, but this one is strange. It just keep bugging me like a mosquito which won't just go away. Now I have a mild headache.
"This is unexpectedly good!" I stretched my arms as I walked through the park. It was a nice one with lots of cute tall grasses and flowers.
"See? See?" Ryota grinned.
"Sensei's mood became better." Now Chloe is glad too.
This is a nice night, the moon is full and the breezes are soothing.
As I try to enjoy it…
Suddenly I have a cold feeling running down my back.
What?
I quickly turned around, but I saw nothing yet. Then suddenly I hear a sinister, dark and muffled voice that I had to try hard to figure it out.
"Rimuru. It seems like you're having a good time."
It's not the students' voice.
Something metallic showed up. I can only see its unclear shadow swiftly zipped before my eyes.
It was faster than light. I jumped back to evade it when it barely touched my skin.
As I look at it, it's some steel claws that are pointing out from a… monster. It looks like a shadow. There are some small glowing lights which looks like eyes in his burning head, but the color of the whole body is black-violet.
I never saw this kind of monster. In this world, at least. There are something that looks like it in a game that I have played. I can't remember clearly though, it's likely Nocturne in Lol? I don't know.
I quickly looked around and it's fortunate that everyone's safe.
However, I wasn't able to stand there for long.
Another claw headed to my direction.
It's so fast.
But I could evade it too. I quickly dodged to the left, the shadow is behind me now. It's one of the fastest attacks I have ever faced.
"You have really lost your touch, Rimuru. You were able to evade those attacks from Ifrit so easily." That mysterious voice again.
I open my eyes wide in surprise. Besides some friends, I can't think of anyone else knowing about my battle with Ifrit.
"Sensei, blood…"
Chloe pointed at my neck.
I guess I got a scratch from that claw. I can feel the warm heat that the tiny blood droplet leaves when it flows down my skin.
As I try to evade the super quick strikes, I recall that fight with Ifrit.
"How the hell does you know about the battle with Ifrit?"
But he is right.
My reflexes were much better back then. I'm so used to the peaceful days. I didn't meet any strong opponent for months.
"I know everything about you, Rimuru."
He is attacking swiftly, faster and faster.
"I even know that you love these children a lot."
I feel shivers as I hear those words. Is that a flag? Where are them right now? I have to protect them.
I didn't even have the chance. Shadow is already there, his claws pointing at Chloe's neck.
"Sensei…"
I can only hear Chloe mutter some words.
"Chloe!"
I screamed hopelessly.
Shadow is too strong. I couldn't even see him moving to Chloe.
"These useless kids are just dragging you down, Rimuru. Look at how pathetic you are."
Shadow just keeps muttering with his ghostly creepy voice.
"You can't even protect them. You got weak after playing with them too much. You're not as sharp as before, when you battled daily without rest."
I don't know what to do.
"What do you want?"
I can't just attack Shadow. I can't trust him that he won't do anything to Chloe. I'm not swift enough to push him away before he harms her.
All I can do is gather information.
"Great Sage, how long do I have to wait?"
"Answer: About 15 seconds."
Who the f*** is this guy anyway? I can't think about any reason why this monster wanna mess with me. It's not like I fancy going around making monsters hate me. If anything, I'm quite popular among monsters as the Kingdom of Monsters' King.
Shadow shows a creepy smile.
"I want Chloe dead."
He said it.
The thing that I feared the most.
At that moment, Chloe gave me a wink.
Somehow I understood what she meant right away.
I jumped forward.
A large blob of water appeared and exploded.
It pushed Shadow back. There is currently a small distance between Shadow and Chloe.
I drew my sword and thrusted Shadow in one decisive move.
Chloe just ran to a tree.
It all happened in a fraction of a second.
"Flare Circle!"
My flame-generating magic circle appeared and engulfed Shadow within its merciless fire.
I was preparing for this skill while I was talking with Shadow!
This skill can seal Shadow in a boundary, and burns all matter within! Perfect for both controlling him and destroy him!
"Woah!"
"Rimuru-sensei sugoii!"
…
"Don't praise me…"
I stopped the circle from burning.
This thing is just burning my mana…
I get the feeling that it's not effective at all. Shadow was just dancing around in the fire, it doesn't look like the fire even makes him a bit irritated.
"That kinda hurts!" Shadow looked very healthy as he appeared after the fire went down.
"It does hurt, huh… I thought it just didn't work…" I have to admit that.
"Well, it's perfect to warm up in such a cold night."
Even I had to laugh at his joke.
While the circle encapsulated Shadow, I made a thick barrier around the students.
I guess they're safe for now. But my Mana is depleting.
…
I don't know what to do.
And I'm not able to kill him either. He's too good at escaping. Strong skills won't hit him, and quick skills won't work. Not that he's bad at attacking.
I have fought a lot of opponents, but this is truly difficult, to be honest. I feel like I'm trying to catch a ghost, but I can't even touch it. This guy may be stronger than Milim.
What should I do, Great Sage?
"Answer. Running away to somewhere safe seems to be the best option right now."
…
I don't want to run away.
I know that it's dangerous, but I don't feel like running away.
I thought Shadow had some problem so he just stands still, but suddenly he jumps at me.
I could evade that attack by jumping.
"Nice, nice. You're faster than before. You're returning to that level when you fought Ifrit."
"… Are you a shadow of me or something? Did you follow me everywhere?"
"No. I'm just a meaningless ghost. Who really likes Rimuru."
That really makes me shiver. Don't flirt with me with that manly tone! I like girls, okay?
"Sorry, but don't say such words with your creepy voice. It makes me feel really pissed off."
"Hahaha. You asked me first."
We just exchange some strange words while parrying.
I don't know what Shadow is thinking at all. I don't even know anything. Does Shadow has a brain?
And I don't know what to do.
Shadow is a real threat. And I don't think I'll get anything useful by asking his intentions.
There is one thing that I know though.
"What do you want?"
Shadow just let out a strange laughter again.
"I want Chloe dead."
"If you really did, you would have done that a long time ago, don't you."
I know this. This guy is not targeting Chloe. I'm not sure what his goals are, but he's just messing around with us for whatever reason.
"Don't push your luck, Rimuru. You want her dead?"
I stab Shadow with a really ferocious fire attack.
"Well, that does hurt a little." Shadow just say this playfully.
I don't know why, but we kept parrying like that for several hours.
Shadow never threatened Chloe in that time.
After some deadly blows…
We were too exhausted.
We just fell on the grass.
I can hear the kids cheering for me.
"You did it, Rimuru-sensei!"
"Sensei sugoii!"
"You defeated the monster!"
I can just laugh. More like the monster used me as his toy.
"You have got nice kids, Rimuru. Did you give birth to them?" Shadow said something.
"No! No way! I'm not that old!" I thought about marrying someone and have kids, but I don't know why I'm forever alone. If I had kids, maybe they'd grow up to be weird ones.
"Haha. What's the reason to be so flustered? I would be happy if I have such children."
I can see the kids jumping back after they hear these words. Hahaha... I'd do the same if I was one of them...
"Huh… so Shadow, you have a gentle side too?"
The winds are blowing nicely on the grassland, and the moon is shining mysteriously. I don't know why I can talk with my archenemy this casually, but I did.
"So that I can kill them. Hohoho."
"…"
"Can you just kill that shadow, sensei… it's too scary…" Chloe is muttering this with a teardrop near her eyes.
"Well, please forgive Sensei. He did his best." I am referring to myself here, of course. Despite all my efforts, I just feel that I was being toyed all along. I'm just happy that everyone's safe.
"Huh, so you admit that you are a boy, Rimuru?"
"I don't like admitting anything to a shadow, but well, I'm genderless." Sometimes I wish I am a boy and I can go around flirting with girls. It's a pity that I don't have any flirtatous ability at all.
"I would like you to be a girl though. I want to die under a girl's sword."
Shadow just suddenly became serious when he said that. It gave me the chills.
"Does that mean you're happy dying under Chloe's sword? I'm happy to give her the sword so that she can grant your dream."
"Ahahaha. No, I don't want a kid."
This time Shadow laughed really hard and loud, I bet it can be heard a mile away.
"I'm not a kid!" Chloe screamed.
"You're not even scared to talk back to me, Chloe?"
"Well, Rimuru-sensei did say that I need more experience in combat. I think that you helped me, maybe? But I still prefer that you go away from this place."
"Hahaha. Well, if you said so." Shadow stood up, if that word could be used for a shadow. "See you later, Lord of Tempest."
Shadow turned into a crow and fly away.
"What? So you can transform too?" I shouted.
"Those kids are that cute, but don't do anything weird to them, won't ya?" I think that Shadow replied to me, but it sounded a little more birdy.
Shadow really flied away.
What a weird monster.
"I think Shadow is not a bad guy." Chloe just walked to the place next to me.
"Who knows, just be on guard."
It was a long day.
I just fell down on the grass and slept.
It's not like I can catch a cold with this slimy body.
I will think about Shadow tomorrow. I bet I can gather some information about him in Ulgrasia. There are a lot of books there, after all.
I don't know why, but we are on the way to Tempest.
The carriage is shaking a little bit but it's generally comfortable.
Shadow showed up again several times after that day, we just parry a lot and get exhausted, it was like that every single time. I began to feel the effectiveness of this kind of "training", somehow I'm much sharper and faster than before, and it's kind of fun.
I couldn't get any much-needed information from Ulgrasia. Practically no one knows about Shadow. This guy is a complete mystery.
After a week, we decided on something.
"Sensei! Let's visit Tempest!" Chloe shouted.
"Yes! I bet Tempest is a great country!" Ryota was agreeing.
Visit Tempest, huh?
I think this has actually been on my mind for a long time. I want to show these kids the country that I built.
And that dream hasn't escaped my mind yet.
Somehow, I think that this place is not safe.
It's not about Shadow. There is just something that keep bugging me without end. A strange gut feeling.
So that's how we packed our stuff and put it on my magic-built carriage.
"Let's go! To Tempest!"
I shouted.
Suddenly I heard an unpleasant noise.
Not again.
Some smoke began to surround us.
It's a fire.
I instantly knew that something disastrous happened.
This is just like the dream.
I used my hand to force the door of the carriage to be opened.
Fire is all around, and there is a mighty beast blocking our path.
It has a lot of scales and a big pair of wings. Its eyes were ferocious and were glowing red.
It's a dragon.
The dragon let out a huge roar, and breathed out a stream of fire to us.
It was the strongest fire I've ever seen. I immediately tried to make a barrier to protect everyone.
The barrier was barely able to block the fire.
But it's no good. The fire is becoming hotter and hotter.
It's melting my barrier. I don't know how much longer I can endure this.
This barrier is quite durable, but when you place it under a dragon's fire, it feels like paper.
No good.
Why am I so weak?
Why did the dragon attack us?
I don't know anything.
I asked Great Sage, but she just said "No answer".
What to do?
As I felt desperate, the dragon suddenly roars painfully.
The fire is becoming cooler.
As the fire become weaker, so does the smoke. I can see what happened now.
The tail of the dragon was cut in half?
Was it cut in the first place? No… I don't remember that.
And there is something familiar near the tail.
It's Shadow.
"Muahahahah! Rimuru, you own me this time! Remember that I saved you!"
That creepy and irritating voice again.
"You'll have to pay me! By sleeping with me! I won't accept anything else!"
"What the hell? I'm thankful, but how can I sleep with a shadow? Not that I'll do it…"
My brain hurts a lot. I had to deal with a dragon. And now I have to deal with... Shadow sex? Is that a thing? What?
"Why don't you just sleep with him, Rimuru-sensei? He helped us a lot…" Chloe told me with an innocent voice.
Damn it, I don't have the time or courage to explain it to her…
The dragon seems unamused by Shadow's joke, it began to scream even more loudly and attacked Shadow with its fangs.
Shadow just teleported to evade every single attack. This guy is scary…
"Hey Rimuru."
"Huh?" I think Shadow is talking to me.
"See that little gem on its head?"
I try to look at the dragon's head. There is a shiny small gem, which shines in the most wondrous color I have every seen.
The dragon is still attacking Shadow, but it seems to be futile. Shadow is too fast. He teleports to evade Dragon's attacks before they even come close to him. Dragon is really powerful, but the speed is not its strength.
"Oh… is that a weakness?"
If it is, we may truly have a good chance to defeat the dragon. I still don't know about its abilities and full power though, so approaching the dragon seems to be very risky.
"I heard somewhere that you can fly."
Shadow really knows everything, doesn't he? I think he even knows where I hide my top-secret manga. Wait, this is not the time to think about those things.
"You want me to break it? I guess you can't do it since you can't fly?"
Shadow didn't respond. But I know what to do now.
I just have one chance. If I can't finish the dragon in one blow, it may destroy me after I get too close.
It's a surprise to me that Shadow doesn't know how to fly. I guess all mighty monsters have their own weaknesses.
The dragon used all its force to make a point-blank fire tornado to Shadow.
This is bad!
"Shadow!"
Shadow miraculously evaded it.
And he even dealt a super hurting thrust into the dragon's belly.
The dragon growled in pain. Its thunderous grunt shocked the whole forest, and made all the birds soaring to the sky.
This is it.
My only chance.
I control my wings to proudly get out.
I flew to the dragon's head and thrust my sword straight at the gem.
The gem was broken into countless small crystals.
The dragon growled again, but now it's not even able to make any sound.
It just collapsed on the ground, making lots of trees fall with it.
Phew.
That's it.
I hear loud cheers.
The kids ran to me.
"Rimuru-sensei! Are you okay?"
"You are super cool! Really awesome!"
"I'm not really that good. If there was no Shadow here, everyone would have been dead."
I was telling the truth. I don't like to admit this, but I'm really grateful to Shadow.
"But Rimuru is the one who defeated it."
"Yes, that's true. But we should be thankful to Shadow". Chloe told me this and walked to Shadow.
She wears the brightest smile.
"Thank you!"
Shadow looks at Chloe without saying anything.
Then he teleported to me.
"Rimuru, it's time to pay me."
Huh?
I suddenly feel cold.
My clothes… are all teared?
Everyone is looking at my naked body! Although there are no genitals, I can't say that I'm not embarrassed.
I ran away.
"Why are you evading me? You promised to sleep with me!"
"Who promised that! Bakaaaa!"
All the kids are laughing as they watch Shadow chase me under the dazzling sunset.
...
I don't know why, but I'm lying on the grasses in a super private place. I made a super strong barrier to prevent a certain group of kids from entering.
I have never felt this good in my life. Shadow's tentacles are all over me.
I never knew that he can make tentacles, and they're so slippery and warm. He said that he learned this technique somewhere and mastered it for 3 years just for today.
"Did you know about the dragon in the first place? You tried to train me for the day I'd have faced it?"
I told him the thoughts that was bugging me for so long.
Shadow just smiled.