I felt myself bounce a tiny bit as I woke up, feeling groggy as I wondered where I was. Something heavy, but not too heavy, was resting on top of me.

"Thank you, Slime-san."

Eh? I wondered, too tired to summon my skill to speak out loud. I wasn't sure whose voice that was, but it was as if a gentle hand stroked me before letting go…

I felt… hollow… somehow. Like I had just lost something, though I wasn't sure what.

Then I realized I was being used as a pillow by a little girl with black hair. It was Chloe. Did she say something in her sleep? I thought, but that didn't make sense. That didn't sound like Chloe.

"W-wait… Shizu…?" I muttered, barely even able to control my voice with how out of it I was.

No. I was probably just dreaming. I immediately dismissed the painful idea.

It was a little awkward having Chloe resting her head on me like this, as I couldn't get away without waking her up.

"So, was that all real? Is Professor Rimuru really a slime?" I heard Kenya ask from outside.

I was barely able to see him outside the tent, speaking with Ramiris. It was at the very limit of my magic sense range at the moment.

They were both talking very quietly.

"Yup, all this is real. Your teacher is a slime, a really annoying slime."

"So what about my light spirit?" I heard Kenya ask, "Rimuru seemed really mad at him for a second…"

"Listen, kid," Ramiris said abnormally seriously. "I know that spirit tried to talk you into being a 'Hero,' but don't let it persuade you unless you're completely sure. Calling yourself a Hero sets fate in motion, and usually leads to your death."

"...woah," that was Ryota's voice. "You could really be a Hero, Ken?"

"And you three!" Ramiris said, "don't go calling him that unless he wants it! It works both ways."

"But why was Professor Rimuru mad?" Kenya asked again.

"He's got a history with that crybaby Leon, I think," Ramiris said. "You'll have to ask him about it." She paused for a moment, "oh, and the spirit indirectly called him an evil creature, so maybe that has something to do with it."

"But Teacher isn't evil!" Ryota exclaimed, "he's really nice!"

"Well, not all 'evilly-aligned' beings are actually evil, kiddo." Ramiris said, "your teacher's a monster, so to that spirit, he's evil."

"About that… we need to keep his secret at all costs." Gale said firmly, "or Professor Rimuru will get taken away from us, or worse."

"I agree. He's been protecting us and now we need to protect him!" Kenya added vigorously.

Alice was being uncharacteristically quiet.

"Do you think anyone else knows?" Ryota asked.

"No, I don't think so. If Professor Rimuru was comfortable telling people about this, he would've just told us too." Kenya said.

"We can't be sure though." Gale interjected.

"Do you think he would've told us? Ever?" Asked Alice, her tone flat.

"Dunno." Kenya answered with a shrug.

"Mmmh…" Chloe groaned and stirred.

Finally she's waking up… I was starting to get worried about her.

I was finally released from my prison as Chloe brought herself up into a sitting position. Rubbing her eyes a little first, Chloe stared at me intently for a few seconds.

I sat there stone-still and silent.

"Professor Rimuru… are you pretending to be asleep?"

How did she know?!

"No! No, I just didn't want to wake you up, so…"

She smiled at me and giggled a little at my response.

I was surprised by how well she was taking the revelation that I was a slime. From my perspective, she didn't seem to care one bit.

Thinking it was the right thing to do, I changed into human form again. Chloe didn't even flinch.

I motioned for her to follow me and we both left the tent to rejoin the others.

All eyes locked on me as soon as I did, making me feel slightly uncomfortable. It was awkward, facing them again like this after having my secret unceremoniously outed.

"We won't tell anyone!" Kenya immediately shouted. "We promise!"

Gale and Ryota nodded in agreement while Alice just averted her eyes, her arms crossed defiantly.

"Chloe? How about you? Do you promise to keep Professor Rimuru's secret a secret?" Gale asked patiently.

"Uh-huh!" Chloe affirmed before abruptly grabbing my hand for some reason. "Alice, you should promise too!"

Chloe's intense stare caused Alice to fidget in place even though she was trying her hardest not to look in our direction. "Fine. I promise."

"Mmmhm. " Chloe kept her gaze on Alice, and from my magic sense's perspective, it looked like the gaze of an adult woman, who was scolding a child. After that though, it vanished and she glanced at me with a smile. "Since everyone agrees, we can be sure your secret is safe. We should probably stay for a few days though Professor… You don't look okay."

Chloe was acting strange. She sounded and was behaving more maturely, and I was starting to think that spirit had some weird effects. I guessed it was fine though, so long as she was safe.

"I'm just fine, but maybe we should rest here for a few days anyway before heading back, just to make sure you kids are stable."

I felt a small buzz of magicules around, though it was so faint that it was hard to detect, as Great Sage told me.

[[Notice: A new aura has been detected emanating from the individual, Chloe Aubert. Detection difficulty rated similarly to expected difficulty of an arch-spirit. Aura is thinly spread and hid well.]]

It was almost like Great Sage was concerned. Scared, even.

I'll ask about it later.

I had something more important to take care of at that moment.

"I need to apologize… for not telling any of you about myself. I'm sorry you had to find out that way." I addressed all five of them calmly.

"It was pretty… surprising," Gale admitted, scratching the side of his head awkwardly.

"I knew something weird was goin' on with you, I just didn't expect it to be that."

"It was weird for me too, when I first woke up as a slime after dying back in Japan."

"So your whole reincarnation story is true? You didn't lie about that?"

"Nope, it was 100% true. I was a human man in my previous life. I just couldn't tell you kids about me being a monster now. Despite that, though, I'm still human at heart."

"You should have just told us… from the start," Alice grumbled.

"Alice… you know he couldn't do that…" Ryota said.

"We weren't exactly inviting to Professor Rimuru at first and that would've been worse if we knew back then," Gale pointed out.

I couldn't just stand there and listen to them all talk about this, I needed to say something myself.

"I planned on telling you guys eventually, after things settled down. I thought it was wrong for me to reveal something like that before saving you, just in case you-" I cut myself off. Just in case you didn't want me around after learning what I was.

"...saving you was the most important thing and I didn't want to jeopardize achieving that." I continued, trying to keep my smile.

There was an uncomfortable moment of silence before anyone spoke again.

"I still can't fully believe it…" Gale disbelievingly said, expertly changing the subject. I wasn't sure if he did it on purpose or not, but I was still grateful for the easing of tension. "That we are going to be fine now. I know it's the truth, but it's just hard to believe…"

"Yeah, I'm still shocked that I might become a hero later… like the ones in books and stories," Kenya said with sparkles in his eyes.

"Don't heroes kill monsters, though?" Gale asked.

"Evil monsters. They slay evil monsters like demon lords and dragons," Kenya corrected him.

Ramiris gave me the biggest death-glare she could manage, clearly displeased with inadvertently being called 'evil'. At the exact same moment, I felt a slight pinch of pressure from inside my soul that I swear felt like Veldora, somehow, equally as unhappy as Ramiris.

"Hey, wait a sec, I don't think all dragons are evil, and I bet there are some not-so-evil demon lords out there too, you never know. It's not good to make assumptions like that about people," I made sure to say.

"I dunno about how someone becomes a demon lord, but I'm pretty sure you'd have to do some pretty bad stuff to become one," Kenya blurted.

"You could say that." Ramiris folded her arms and rolled her eyes. I was a little curious what she meant by that, but I had no plan to become a demon lord, so I didn't bother asking.

The kids didn't seem to have heard her say that, completely wrapped up in their discussion about what could make a demon lord. Ramiris seemed even angrier about being ignored than she did when they said that demon lords were all evil.

"Okay, okay, that's enough talk about demon lords." I held up my hand to stop them before Ramiris' head popped like an angry balloon. She was already bright red with frustration and I didn't need her losing her temper fully; I wasn't in the mood to deal with something like that. "I'm sure you all have a lot on your minds, so why don't you ask me and Ramiris any questions you have? I bet she could tell you more about your spirits and stuff."

"Yes! I can explain it all!" Ramiris pridefully tooted her own horn.

"Teacher, what kind of skills do you have? Don't monsters have lots of skills?" Ryota asked me curiously.

"Uh, yeah. I have some skills."

"Professor Rimuru's skill makes him bouncy, right? He's a slime so he's super bouncy! That's why every time we hit him while sparring our attacks just bounced right off!" Kenya said, sounding a little annoyed.

"I wouldn't call that a skill… but you're kinda right, I suppose."

"Can't slimes grow back if they get hurt and only a little piece of them is left?" Gale asked.

"I think so, but I don't ever want to test that…"

[Ultraspeed Regeneration] is a thing, after all…

[[Notice: As long as a sufficient amount of energy is available and enough time has passed, the individual Rimuru Tempest could regenerate from a single, undamaged cell through the skill [Ultraspeed Regeneration].]]

The sage's explanation made perfect sense, but that doesn't mean I didn't find the idea deeply unsettling.

"How do you make yourself look like that?" Kenya suddenly asked, "Why do you look human?"

"Oh, um," I paused, not prepared for the question even though it made sense. I definitely can't tell them I ate Shizu or anything… let's just stick with the basics. "It's one of my skills," I explained. "I can mimic things I've seen before."

A small lie, but it was better for these kids not to know about Shizu's passing yet.

"Ooh! Turn into me! Turn into me!" My answer immediately excited Kenya, who ran up to me. "I wanna see!"

"No Ken, that's creepy!" Alice said, "One of you is bad enough!"

"Heeeeeey! That's mean!"

Thanks for the save, Alice.

"Is that why you look like Ms. Shizu?" Gale asked curiously.

"Uh, actually, yeah!" I forced a smile, nodding. "When she asked me to help you guys, she knew I couldn't go into a human city as a slime, so she let me use her form."

"But you used to be a guy in your last life, right?" Ryota looked up at me with big eyes, "you've seen a lot of guys since, so why don't you become one of them?"

"Well, I don't have their permission, Ryota," I laughed. "Wouldn't it be weird to go shopping and run into yourself one day?"

"It's not perfect though," Gale added. "Your hair kinda looks like your slime form… and I don't think I've met anyone with yellow eyes."

"True." I agreed with him.

"And you're way smaller than Ms. Shizu was!"

Ouch. Okay, thanks, I guess.

"Well, still." I rubbed the back of my head awkwardly. "I've gotten used to Shizu's form. She was one of the first humans I met in this world, so… I guess I just like it? It's nice to have arms and legs again, not to mention tastebuds."

"You can't taste things as a slime, Teacher?" Chloe piped up.

"Nope," I sighed. "Sadly. But that's why I'm super grateful to Shizu for letting me use her appearance," I said while curling my hands into fists. "I'm gonna do everything I can to thank her for it, including helping you guys."

There was a moment of silence, the kids looking at me with new respect.

"Um…" Chloe said, "can you tell us how you met Ms .Shizu?"

"Oh, sure." I nodded, settling down on the labyrinth floor. Then I remembered where we were–the fairy who helped save the kids had been unusually quiet, apparently interested in our conversation.

"Hey," I turned to her, "thanks, Ramiris, for looking after them while I was out."

"Well, of course!" She preened, "but if you really wanna thank me, keep talking! I'm invested now!"

Why does it feel like she's treating my life's story like something out of a movie? I wondered. She's been here alone for a long time, I guess. Probably doesn't get much entertainment.

"Okay," I nodded. "Well, a few months after I was born, I ran across Shizu and some adventurers in Jura."

"Wait, a few months?" Kenya interrupted, "just how old are you!?"

"Uh…" I had no idea how to answer. Great Sage, how old am I again?

[[Answer: you are nine months, ten days, thirteen hours, six minutes and forty-five seconds old.]]

Um, I didn't need that level of detail, but thanks a lot.

"Like nine months, about?" I said, "a little more than that, I think."

"Teacher is just a baby…" Chloe mumbled in awe.

"Hey, no!" I waved frantically, "past life, remember? I'm 37–well, 38 I guess now! If you count both lives!"

"Wait, what!?" Ramiris suddenly exclaimed, "and you're already that strong!?"

"Uh, yeah…?" I shrank away from her flitting into my face, "is it really that weird?"

"Um, yeah!" She kicked me in the forehead, "it normally takes decades, or centuries, for fully grown monsters to get as strong as you! Especially for a slime of all things!" She kept beating up on my face, punching my eyes, which would have hurt if I wasn't a slime with [Pain Nullification].

"Wait–" Ramiris suddenly stopped, "who named you!?"

"Erm, well…" I glanced at the kids, not wanting to reveal to them I'd been named by a legendary apocalyptic dragon. "He's a bit of a jerk, apparently, and has absolutely no impulse control. Real immature guy."

"Guess that explains you," Ramiris jabbed at me, "monsters take on aspects of their namer, after all."

Huh. Filing that away for later… I didn't like the idea of me picking up Veldora's personality traits, but it probably didn't affect me since I don't remember changing at all after getting Named. Maybe because I was human at one point?

While I was talking I felt a sudden shiver run down my spine, which was strange since I didn't have one of those and had [Cancel Temperature] on top of that. It almost felt like something had prodded me from the inside.

"Well, that's nice of you to say," I pouted, turning back to the kids.

"Woah," Alice was staring at me.

"What?" I asked, looking at her.

"We all thought you were an old man!" Kenya blurted out.

"Hurtful," I whined, "but anyway. Back to the story." I couldn't let this conversation go any further, clearly. "So I found Shizu and some adventurers who were with her. Before that, actually, I tried to go to a human town but they chased me off for some reason."

"Not surprised, with your kind of power," Ramiris muttered. "I bet you were flaunting your aura all over the place."

"Hey, I didn't go in guns blazing or anything!" I protested.

"What's a gun?" The fairy tilted her head, "is it food?"

"Nevermind." I pinched the bridge of my nose. "So, humans had already attacked me when I tried to say hi to them, so I didn't approach Shizu's group right away."

"But you did eventually, right?" Ryota asked.

I nodded. "When I was tailing them Shizu could tell I was there, and she'd give me these really scary looks!"

The kids nodded sagely, and I wondered where they'd acquired such an experience.

"Eventually Shizu approached me," I said. "She gave me a rule, not to come too close for around a week, and if I followed it I'd get to meet them! So I did, and that's how I met Eren, Kaval, and Gido–those adventurers you met in the cafe. They were with Shizu."

"Ooh, so we can ask them about her, right?" Alice said excitedly, "I bet they know where she is right now!"

"E-erm… yes," I nodded, making a mental note to warn the trio not to give away Shizu's fate.

"We traveled together for a while," I said, "but eventually we had to part ways. I'd learned about you guys from her so I decided to help while she's away. That's why I came to Englesia in the first place."

"So do you know where she is?" Gale asked, "or when she's coming back?"

I just shook my head. There wasn't anything more I could bear to say about that.

"I think Teacher is tired," Chloe said, grabbing onto my arm. "He needs to sleep."

"No, no, I'm fine." I reassured her, "I just had a nap, right?"

"Um, no," Ramiris suddenly flew up to poke me in the nose, "you're still half-dead, idiot. You need a good few days of rest, and definitely some food, at least."

"Uhm…" Great Sage, what's my status? Can I perform the spell to bring us back to Englesia?

[[Answer: execution of the spell is possible at current levels of magicules, but further rest is required afterward to avoid permanent damage.]]

"I'll be okay to take us back," I reassured her. "I'll be in rough shape after, but then I can sleep as long as I want."

"You really are a stubborn slime," Ramiris crossed her arms. "If you die I'm going to bring you back and kill you again with my 48 special moves!"

"I won't die!" I laughed. "Promise."

"Well, you're still staying here!" Ramiris insisted, "you're in no shape to travel and look after kids. You can't leave this place without my permission, y'know."

"About that," I grinned wickedly at her, "I got a new skill from your 'cute little spirits.' I have [Spatial Motion] now, so I can just leave. It should be more efficient than teleporting anyway."

"Hnnng!" Ramiris was angry for some reason, all red in the face while she started kicking me again. "You're telling me you ate my spirits and then used them for a skill!?" Then she grumbled under her breath. "That wouldn't work anyway, you idiot." but I ignored her. I thought she was just trying to stop me from using it to escape.

"What? No." I batted her away, giving her an incredulous look. "It's not like I was trying to get skills from them. It just sorta happened." It's a nice little bonus, like finding long-lost money in your couch when you clean your apartment.

"That doesn't make any sense!" She shouted, "skills are a manifestation of will, you have to want them!"

"Well, it's useful, so I guess I wanted it." I shrugged.

"Rrrrrgh– whatever!" She shouts, turning away with her arms folded. "Just leave then, since you're so special!"

"Well, okay. Pack up, kids," I said, standing up to dust myself off.

"W-w-wait!" Ramiris was shouting again for some reason, "you haven't finished your end of the bargain!"

"What?" I tilted my head, completely baffled about why she was yelling at me.

"My precious golem!" She pointed to a corner, where an army of small fairies was trying to lift the massive pieces to little success. "You broke it, you fix it!"

"You didn't have a problem with me leaving last time." I protested.

"Yeah, but now you owe me!" Ramiris said, "I let your kids contract with spirits, so now you need to clean up your mess!"

"Fine," I rolled my eyes. "Sure, I'll help." It didn't look too hard–I could just slot the pieces back together like a figurine.

With the kids watching, I walked over to the jumble of parts and started arranging them on the floor, figuring out which ones seemed to go where before I actually attached them.

Kenya ran over and started grabbing one, saying, "let me help!"

I looked over at him, a large piece in each hand above my head, while he struggled to barely drag an arm piece across the floor.

"Here, let me help with that," I said, gently shooing Kenya away. I kicked the part across the floor, and it rolled neatly into place.

"Hey!" Ramiris squawked, "careful with that! I can't fix those if you break them!"

I ignored her, just going about with my work as Kenya, panting, rejoined the others.

"Teacher is strong," Gale murmured, while Chloe looked on with stars in her eyes.

"Y-yeah," Kenya huffed, "no kidding!"

With all the pieces laid out, I set to work, and after a few minutes, the massive golem was sitting slumped against the wall, good as new.

"So," I turned to Ramiris, "do you want me to put spirits in it, too, or…?"

"Absolutely not!" She shouted, "I don't trust you not to eat them again!"

"...I guess I would have to eat them and spit them out, to do it properly," I pondered, putting a hand on my chin.

"Then I was right!" She buzzed around the metal husk, examining every inch. "This looks good enough," she nodded, her voice coming down for what felt like the first time today.

"Um, great," I waved, "we'll be going then…"

The strange pixie was already absorbed in her project, giving orders to the fairies that hovered around her. She didn't send so much as a glance at me.

"Alright then." I nodded, gathering the kids close to me. Activating [Spatial Motion], I took us out of the labyrinth, reappearing in my dorm room.

"Phew!" I sighed, immediately dropping human form so I could use my nice, comfy blob shape to rest on the floor. "I feel like I could sleep for a week."

"You're not going to sleep on the floor, are you?"

"Probably?"

Gale sighed, "Would you let one of us sleep on the floor?"

"No."

Gale nodded and grabbed me up without any more hesitation and set me on my bed.

"You're very squishy, Teacher…"

"Huh. You're right." Alice poked me with a finger.

Then Ryota and Kenya joined in on the poking.

"Can we stop with that, please?"

"S-sorry…" Ryota drooped.

"We couldn't tell it was bothering you since you don't have a face right now," Alice replied, taking no responsibility. "Can't you fix that?"

"Are you asking me to take human form again?"

Alice nodded.

"I'll just turn into a slime again as soon as I drift off, so I don't see the point in that."

"What about all those times you fell asleep in class with your eyes open?"

"What? I never did that! I haven't slept at all in months, actually. I don't normally need sleep since I'm a slime."

"That's weird."

"What were you doin' every night then? Lazing around?"

"No, I was actually researching greater spirits, along with a lot of other things, trying to find a way to control the magicules in your souls. That's what led me to take you to Ramiris."

"Oh… sorry, I didn't know…"

Chloe suddenly interjected.

"Let me tuck you in, Sensei!" She happily moved me to my pillow and pulled the blanket over half of me. Then, she kissed the top of me.

"C-Chloe…?"

But she just smiled.

She's just getting bolder and bolder…

"Haha, Chloe, you just kissed a slime~!" Alice teased.

"You kissed a slime too, remember?"

"Hey! I didn't know he was one at the time! Plus, I didn't kiss him when he looked like a blob!"

Rude.

"This blob has feelings…" I reminded her.

"Just go to sleep already!" Alice shouted, her face still flushed.

"One last thing. Just let Yuuki know we're back, and that I need a few days to rest, please. I'm sure he'll find someone to substitute for me again."

"I'll make sure to tell him for you, teacher." The ever-reliable Gale answered. With that reassurance, I activated my [Sleep Mode] and went unconscious.

"Mister Yuuki! Mister Yuuki!" Kenya shouted excitedly, barging into Yuuki's Chariman's office while we all followed him. "Guess what!"

"What is it, Ken?" Yuuki smiled, putting down his pen and rolling his chair back from behind his desk. "I see you're back from your trip with Rimuru."

"Yeah!" Kenya burst out, "It was awesome! We went to this huuuuuuge underground place with lots of spirits, and we all prayed and now we're not gonna die!"

"Oh, wow!" Yuuki raised an eyebrow questioningly, but then quickly hid it with a smile. "That's great!" He smiled, "Where is Rimuru? I'd like to ask him what he did."

"Oh, he's sleeping," Gale answered. "He asked us to let you know he'll be out for a few days."

"Really? Well, I guess you five will just have to give his report then, eh?" He teased with a wink.

"Um, yeah," I interjected. I liked Mister Yuuki a lot, but I wasn't sure if Professor Rimuru would like him to know everything. "He teleported us to a place with a big door,"

"Yeah!" Alice interrupted me, and I huffed in frustration. "There was this fairy lady who told us all to pray, and then we all got spirits!"

"P-Professor Rimuru teleported us back," I said. "He was really tired though."

"Y-yeah. Um, hey Mister Yuuki," Ryota shyly said, "how did you meet Professor Rimuru?"

"Oh!" Kenya caught on immediately. I frowned at them both, but they didn't notice. "Yeah, Professor Rimuru is super strong! Where'd you find someone like him?"

"Was he a mage, Professor? He used a pretty big spell," Alice asked.

Mister Yuuki looked at all of us for a minute, silent. Then he laughed. "Heh," he said, "alright. Yes, I know he's a slime."

"Really?" Gale said, surprised. "How long did you know?"

"Since I met 'im," Yuuki answered. "He managed to prove to me that he was from Japan, so I let him take a job here."

"Professor Rimuru is so cool!" Kenya grinned, "he even got Mister Yuuki to like him!"

"Haha, well, he's a pretty likable guy, isn't he?" Yuuki smiled. "So he took you to get spirits, eh? What was that like?"

"Awesome!" Kenya burst out, "First there was this biiiiig winding ramp, and then–"

I shoved my way to the front, interrupting Kenya before he said something that would make Professor Rimuru mad. "Professor Rimuru told us all to pray and close our eyes," I said. "Then we got spirits, and after he rested a little we went home."

"Wow," Yuuki smiled kindly. "So that means you guys are all right then, huh? Is there a spirit in you right now?"

"U-um," I wasn't sure how to answer that. "Y-yes," I finally said.

"That's wonderful!" Yuuki grinned happily, "I'll have to call him in to help any other kids like you." He reached out and ruffled my hair, saying, "You've gotten clever since Professor Rimuru's been teaching you, Chloe."

"Thanks," I said. "Well, we're gonna go now!" Abruptly I grabbed Kenya and Alice's hands, "We have to tell Professor Tiss! Bye Mister Yuuki!"

"See you around, kids," Mister Yuuki waved.

Out in the hallway, I slowed down, turning towards the dorms.

"Uh, Chlo?" Kenya said, "Professor Tiss's room is that way." He pointed with his free hand.

"Yeah, I know," I answered, "I just want to talk about something first."

We stopped and gathered in a circle, I quickly checked to make sure no one else was in the hall.

"What's up, Chloe?" Gale asked.

"I don't think we should tell anyone else about the spirits," I said. "Let's just say we're saved and that Professor Rimuru helped us, okay?"

"But why?" Alice asked, "It's pretty cool, isn't it? I bet lots of people would like to know in case they meet anyone else like us!"

"That's why," I said. "You remember how we were all summoned?"

That brought the jubilant mood down quickly. I almost felt a little guilty, but I had to make my friends understand. I had a lot of new information from myself, and I was still sorting things out, but this was important.

"Those mean people brought us here to use us," I said softly. "But they couldn't. Now that we have these spirits, they might try to use us again."

A sobering quiet fell over my friends, eyes dropping to the floor as they all processed.

"Chloe is right," Gale said at last. "Mister Yuuki and Professor Rimuru are fine, but we should keep this a secret until we're able to live on our own."

Kenya blew a frustrated raspberry. "Fine," he whined. "And just when I was so excited about it."

"W-well, I wouldn't want to lose you guys," Ryota said. "We need to stick together."

"Yeah," Alice said softly, a determined look in her eye. "Let's keep this between us," she said, "but when we're all grownups, we're going to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else again!" She pumped a fist in the air.

"Yeah!" Kenya agreed enthusiastically. "When I'm a Hero, no one will be able to mess with us again!"

"Then let's make that a promise. For Miss Shizu, for Professor Rimuru, and for Class S," Gale said solemnly, putting his hand out.

We all put our hands with his, and together we raised them and shouted, "For Class S!"

I woke up with a start, like a jolt of lightning had run through my body.

I was filled with fear and anxiety, but I couldn't pinpoint the reason why. I'd been dreaming about something, but I didn't know what. The faded images from it that I managed to grasp slipping through my metaphorical fingers before I could actually think about them.

Why was I so worried? I had just solved most of my problems by saving my kids, but right now I was overwhelmed with a sense of dread.

Did something happen to the-?

"Ah... so sleeping beauty has finally awoken from her slumber. And she didn't even need a kiss from the prince." Yuuki said, pointing to himself.

"Stop calling me a 'her', you jerk! And I want nothing to do with your lips so keep them away from me!"

The sickening sensation was replaced by surprise and irritation.

"What are you doing in my room anyway?"

"Just checkin' on ya. You've been out for more than 4 days now, and as your employer, I needed to see how you were doing." he explained with his usual casualness, "I was only in here for a couple of minutes, I promise."

"Uh-huh… and you just so happened to be here in the moment I woke up? You expect me to believe that?"

"Hey, coincidences happen. You may be fun to dress up in human form, but I get nothing from a monster that resembles something you'd find on a dinner plate."

"I don't know what you've been eating to make that comparison, but I think you need to find a new personal chef ASAP."

We sat there in silence for a bit.

"I'm guessing you want me to brief you on what happened, right?" I sighed.

"Oh, no, no, there's no need for that. Your students said enough to satisfy me already."

Crap. I never told the kids to keep quiet.

"Wait, what did they tell you?"

"Everything. How you had them contract with spirits and how there was some fairy lady."

Yuuki stood up and walked over, picking me up off the bed and holding me up to his head. "Also, you can teleport!?" His fingers dug into me a bit harder. "Since when could you do that? You're just swimming with secrets, aren't you, Rimuru?" Judging by Yuuki's grin, he was enjoying getting to rub this in my face.

"Put me down, Yuuki," I grumbled. "I've told you everything you need to know." Despite what I said, I slipped out of his fingers with my slime flexibility and landed on the floor in human form.

"Aww, there's that pretty face!" Yuuki teased, smiling. "I missed it!" He ruffled my hair.

"Get out of my room!" I shoved him forcibly out the door, since this guy clearly didn't know when to quit.

As I slammed the door in his face, Yuuki chortled, "I did it! I finally got to pat you!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." I snarked, "go tell the Vice Chairman all about your unrivaled victory, I have things to do."

I could see Yuuki walking away, still laughing, with [Magic Sense] so I figured he'd had his fun.

With a sigh I started getting ready. I preferred to keep most things in my [Stomach], but I did keep all my clothes in my closet to keep up appearances for the janitors, not to mention my sleeping shoulder-bag that I wore in town to avoid pulling things out of thin air.

I wasn't sure what I was going to do today, Yuuki probably had a substitute so if I wasn't needed to teach right away I'd like to take a load off. Thinking this, I opened my closet to grab my bag and the adventuring cloak Eren bought for me.

For a full minute, I could only stare, arms still holding the doors open.

My closet was full; completely stuffed, and I reached out to pick up a note that had been pinned to the sleeve of one of many, many dresses.

I thought your wardrobe needed an update, so I got you these as a gift. Enjoy!

-Yuuki

P.S. - Don't think about wearing your adventurer gear around the school, it's not allowed. ;)

I clenched the note hard enough in my hand that it fell to pieces.

"Ugh. Whatever. I'll make do…"

"Alright, now that you guys don't have to worry about dying, school is going to be even more important!" I said in front of my class, who were all gathered for our morning lesson.

Just then, someone knocked on the door. Peeking outside with [Magic Sense], I saw Yuuki. Come to see the fruits of his labor, has he?

"Come in," I called, shuffled the papers on my desk.

"Hey guys!" Yuuki sauntered in, "Just doing a routine class inspection. What're you doing toda–where did you get that outfit!? I didn't give you that!"

It was a little satisfying to see the look on his face as his master plan fell apart, completely confused.

"Oh, this spiffy little thing?" I preened, tugging on the collar of my nice new button-up shirt. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Aww," Yuuki pouted. "You're no fun. How'd you even get your hands on that? I know you didn't leave the school and it's not like you can just borrow from another teacher!"

"If you give me all my clothes back, I'll tell you," I smirked. "And let me just say, all of my clothing. I'll know if you kept any to use as leverage for later."

"Tch." Yuuki didn't look happy about that, not answering as he left. "Have fun, kids. Be good for Professor Rimuru," he said as he left.

"Wait, so Mister Yuuki took your clothes?" Kenya raised a hand.

"Yeah, he thought it'd be funny to force me to wear an embarrassing outfit." I said, "But I outsmarted him! Now, back to being a bit more comfortable." In one motion I hopped on the desk and landed on top of it in slime form. Gesturing with a slime arm, I said, "From now on, your lessons will include combat training to better control the spirits you've been given, as well as learn the properties of magic. I'll be going harder on you now that you're all stronger, so keep that in mind."

After classes, I was reading in my dorm when someone banged on the door.

"About time," I said, opening it on Yuuki holding an armload of folded laundry. "Aw, you even cleaned them! How nice."

"So what's your secret?" He huffed, dropping the clothes on the bed.

"Ah-ah-ah~," I waved a finger. "I need to make sure everything's here first."

Jumping in the air, I landed on them in slime form, spreading out to absorb them. Then I bounced back into human form next to Yuuki. "Yeah, okay," I said after a quick inventory. "They're all there. I'm surprised."

"So?" Yuuki folded his arms, "how did you get that other outfit."

"Oh," I grinned mischievously, "I made it."

"I didn't know you could sew," Yuuki said bluntly.

"No, I made it," I said, "with magic. Just like the manga I've given you. Well, it's a bit more complicated than that, but that's the gist."

"What, so you can just make whatever you want?" Yuuki leaned into me, looking jealous, excited, and dumbfounded all at once.

"Yup!" I grinned, "and in exchange for you never touching my clothes again, I'll even make you a manga-branded T-shirt!"

"Hmm…" Yuuki squinted. "Fine, that and…" he leaned in to whisper to me.

"...ugh." I gave him a scathing glance. "I see why you hadn't asked for that before, but I'll accommodate you."

"I'm glad to see you're a man of culture, Rimuru," Yuuki grinned.

"Uh-huh. Sure."

One [Material Creation] later, Yuuki left with his new T-shirt, a new 'manga' volume tucked inside of it. No way that could be seen inside the school.

Here's hoping I paid him off enough to actually leave my stuff alone, I sighed, going back to my reading.