Ahaha… so, we may have gotten a little carried away with this chapter. It… escalates. Enjoy~!
-Watcher (and Mu)
We were in the shopping district for hours, Eren dragging me around all the buildings so she could make me wear everything in sight. A bunch of it was super girly too, and as much as I tried to resist, I couldn't really say no to Eren when she was this happy.
The two guys had clearly been through this before, waiting patiently and chatting with themselves while Eren tortured me by using me as a dress-up doll. Really guys… I thought, glaring at them, no help here? At all?
Kaval definitely picked up on my gaze, but he just averted his eyes and started whistling awkwardly.
Hey! I fumed inwardly, look me in the eye when you're abandoning me!
After a while Eren rushed off to ask the shop owner something, my useless escorts trailing behind. I was about to follow when a large crash caught my attention.
Looking out the window, I saw the crash was from a cymbal–a man wearing bright colors and carrying all sorts of instruments was marching through the street, shouting loudly.
"Come one, come all!" He shouted, "witness the greatest performing magician in the land! Starting now at Barnaby Square!"
I didn't know who "Barnaby" was, but with [Magic Sense] I could see the show getting started not far from here. A magician, huh? Watching magicians in my old world was fun but in a world with real magic? There was no way I could miss this!
I'll just take a peek, I thought. I'll be back before they even notice I'm gone.
Anything to get out of the dress-up hell I was in.
Slipping out of the shop, I made my way toward the square where the magician was apparently performing. A lot of people had already gathered in front of a wooden stage with a big curtain hiding the performers, though I could see them just fine with [Magic Sense].
I managed to push my way to the front of the crowd, so I had a great view of the stage. [Magic Sense] would have guaranteed that either way, but this was pretty good for human eyes, too.
All of a sudden some musicians off to the side started rapidly beating a drumroll, and the crowd hushed as all eyes turned toward the stage.
"Presenting Master Vulpus, the greatest magician in all of Englesia!" An assistant announced before moving aside with a gesture to the middle of the stage.
"Good evening Rura!" A booming voice called as the curtain parted and a burly man wearing flashy robes came out on stage. The crowd let out a massive cheer, and I was starting to feel a bit excited myself.
The guy on stage, the magician I assumed, had a glittering masquerade-style mask in the shape of a fox covering his eyes. "As always, thank you for coming out! It's always a pleasure to perform for your wonderful city. Now, without further ado!"
With a flurry of gestures, he created a sparkling gold ball of light and tossed it high in the air, where it burst into a colorful display of magic.
What was all that hand-waving about? I wondered.
[[Answer: Human beings require incantations to cast magic. It seems this individual has created a means of gestural incantation to avoid verbal chanting.]]
Oh. I felt some pity for him… thank goodness I didn't need to remember any lengthy spells to cast something like Icicle Lance.
Still, this man was working around that little difficulty in a pretty neat, showy way–that was definitely impressive.
The show commenced, and I watched with interest as the magician and a few backup casters performed their act… except…
This is kind of boring.
The crowd was loving it, but even if the 'land's greatest magician' was just some peacocking to spice up the show, I was expecting something a bit more… 'magic.'
It's like those coffee shops in my old world that all call themselves the 'world's greatest coffee.'
It was a little sad, actually–in my old life, I would've loved this. It really was an awe-inspiring display and beautiful lights and sounds, but… that was really all it was.
With [Magic Sense] I could see exactly how these spells were working, and with [Great Sage] I could probably copy them at ten times the speed and power–no incantations necessary.
Did I just ruin the magic for myself? I wondered, a little sad. Especially because this was real magic, not card tricks or anything else!
Everyone in the plaza was cheering and hooting–clearly they were entertained. I guessed I just knew a little too much to really be impressed.
"And now I need a volunteer from the audience!" The magician's voice boomed, "what brave soul will face my challenge? You there!"
Oh, crap, he's pointing at me! "Young lady, how would you like to help me tonight?"
Not at all, really… Seeing the jealous faces on the 'other kids' nearby, though, and having the whole crowd focused on me…
Whatever. I didn't want to make a fuss, I'd help the guy with his stupid trick and then find my friends again.
"Sure!" I shrug, putting on a fake smile but not really trying that hard at it as I climbed onstage with the help of an assistant.
"Excellent!" The magician boomed, "why don't you stand right here?"
I followed the thinly disguised order and let the man position me to his side. Shoving a small crystal into my hand, he whispered, "hold tight to that, now, and don't let anyone see it!"
I was half-tempted to just drop it right then, but I decided to play nice. Ruining the guy's show just because I was annoyed was in pretty bad taste, but I did it more for the sake of all those excited kids than the magician himself.
"Now then!" The magician raised his hands dramatically, "watch as I make this young lass disappear!"
This time the magician actually started chanting, as well as hand-casting a bunch of smoke and light effects around me. It looked kind of hard to handle that many spells at once, so I thought it was kind of neat.
"Aaaaaaaaand presto!" With a final flourish, I sensed the magician activate a spell carved in the crystal I was holding, and I was warped backstage.
Teleportation? I wondered, glancing down at the crystal in my hand. That's pretty neat. I didn't have any skills that could do that.
Glancing down, I saw the spell was connected to a magic circle painted on the floor under my feet. So I guess you can't just send someone anywhere, at least not with this. Pretty impressive, though. The circle I was looking at seemed fairly complex. The spell would still be in eye-shot if it wasn't for the stage, but. Impressive.
"Well done!" I suddenly realized there was another man backstage with me. "You looked great out there!"
I didn't do anything, but whatever…
"Uh, thanks!" I said, handing him the crystal as I examined the boxes and everything they had set up here. "Are we behind the stage?"
We were, obviously, but I had no clue what to say besides that.
"That's right, missy!" The man smiled, leading me over to a small table. "Sit right here, please. The show will be ending now, so we ask that you don't show yourself again until it's wrapped up."
I sighed. "Alright." The assistant guy looked kind of put off by my unenthusiastic attitude, but he didn't question it.
"Would you like some snacks?" He asked cheerfully, pulling out a box of cookies.
They looked tempting, but I had recently had someone try to poison me (even if it wasn't effective, and even if the poison was in a drink not meant for me to start with.) "I'll pass, thanks," I said, lifting a hand.
The assistant was really confused now, but he kept things professional. "Then we will simply wait a moment for Master Vulpus to be back, and you'll be on your way!"
"Okay," I shrugged, kicking my feet while I sat at the table.
We waited in silence for a few seconds. "So," the man asked, "what's your name?"
"Rimuru," I answered nonchalantly.
"Nice to meet you, Rimuru."
"Phew!" We were thankfully saved from the awkward interaction by Vulpus coming backstage. "Another success," he grinned. I wasn't sure what it was, but something about that grin put me on edge.
"Thank you so much for your help, little lady!" He turned to me and bowed, offering a hand. "How did you like the show?"
"It was pretty cool, I guess." I shrugged, shaking his hand. I was getting good at doing that with my current size. But I didn't get the reaction I was expecting.
"Just cool, eh?" Vulpus actually seemed a little angry, though he tried to hide it with that big smile of his. It surprised me. "I tell you," he turned to his assistant, "the crowd gets tougher every year!"
"Haha," the assistant laughed, "well, she's probably just acting aloof."
"But what was it that was wrong with my show?" The magician wondered anxiously, turning back to me. "Young lady, what failed to entertain you? I would surely appreciate any suggestions!"
"Uhh…" I leaned back a bit, this Vulpus guy was getting right in my face. It was strange, looking into his eyes. They seemed normal, but with [Magic Sense] they almost looked painted over black. His whole being was that way, really–all humans had a little bit of magic in them, but this was reminding me of that town with the demon. Something was interfering with this guy's natural energy.
"Master Vulpus!" The assistant grabbed his shoulder, "I don't think it's appropriate for you to–"
"Quiet!" The magician threw his assistant's hand off and whipped around on him, snarling. I was a bit worried he would hit the guy, but Vulpus stopped himself.
"Master Vulpus," the assistant pleaded, "what's gotten into you!?"
"I am simply asking this child for feedback on my show!" Vulpus shouted. "There is nothing wrong with that! I want to be the greatest magician alive–I want the world to know my name! If I cannot impress a mere child, then what am I!? Nothing!"
"I'm sure she was very impressed, sir!" The assistant glanced at me, trying to ask with his eyes for me to go along.
"Oh, uh… yeah. It was fine." I wasn't really buying into this guy's rampage, but I did wonder if I should get my sword out from my [Stomach]. This seemed to be going in a bad direction.
"Fool!" Master Vulpus rounded on me, "don't lie to me!" Then, while I was standing there wondering if I should do something about this situation, he back-handed me across the face.
Because I wasn't exactly guarded (there was no way this guy could do real damage to me) and because on the inside I was just light, squishy slime, the blow caused me to fly back and crash into a nearby crate.
"Master Vulpus!" The assistant screamed, staring at me in shock, but then Vulpus turned on him and shot some type of light spell at him.
It knocked the assistant back, though he managed to keep his balance. Staring at the magician in horror, he turned and ran.
Thanks, guy. That was super helpful. I could only hope he was calling the guards or something, not that I needed them.
"Now then," Vulpus turned back and grabbed my collar, looking at me almost desperately. "What was wrong with my show?" He asked, "surely I can improve!"
I almost felt a little bad for him. Whatever magic was affecting Vulpus' mind had screwed him up bad. I considered fighting back, but that would likely lead to me getting outed as a monster… better to just hang tight, I supposed. This guy couldn't actually hurt me, so my best bet was to just hope that other guy had gone to find the guards.
"Don't ask me," I shrugged, "I'm just a stupid kid."
"This way!" Ah, that was the voice of Vulpus's assistant. He didn't abandon me! What a nice guy. He rushed in followed by someone clad in silvery-looking armor and a white coat.
Is that a guard? I stared at the new guy. I didn't take this city as the type of place to arm guards that well… seriously, with [Magic Sense] and [Analytical Appraisal] I could tell this guy was wearing stuff most adventurers couldn't get their hands on.
Englesia is way more upscale than Blumund.
The knight-looking guy stopped, taking in the situation. "Put down the girl and come quietly," he ordered.
Vulpus, likely seeing he was outmatched, dropped me and tried to make a run for it. I landed on my feet, watching while the knight body-check Vulpus as the assistant rushed over to check on me.
"Are you alright?" He asked me quickly, examining my head.
I nodded mutely. While I hadn't been scared of Vulpus, I was scared now–because I'd figured out who this knight-looking guy was.
Evidenced by the cross on his shoulder, he was with the Holy Church. He was one of the anti-monster guys I was warned about. Kaval, Eren and Gido had all spent hours continuously hammering into me not to go near them, to the point where thinking about it made my skin crawl.
Am I going to be found out now? I cringed.
Quickly securing Vulpus, the holy knight began walking toward us.
Oh no, oh no! Is this one of the guys who's a monster detection expert? Does distance matter? Will he figure me out if I let him get too close!? I panicked, unthinkingly taking a step back.
Seeing me literally shaking, the knight's hard frown softened and he crouched down, halting his approach. He took off the visor-like helmet covering his eyes, revealing a kind expression. He was a younger-looking man, with a typical do-gooder face and everything.
"It's okay," he smiled, stretching out a hand. Before I could stop myself, I flinched back a bit.
Why am I so scared? I wondered. I had faced way worse than this dude. It had never occurred consciously, but… am I really this afraid of being discovered as a monster?
The strength of my own reaction surprised me somewhat; I hadn't realized I'd grown this worried–but I guess it made sense. With Blake, it was fine since I'd gotten to know him somewhat, and I was still in a small kingdom with Jura close by to flee to; but if one of these church-guys found out, I could be in real trouble.
For one, the barrier over the city could make it difficult to escape before I was killed or restrained. And if I did make it out, Jura was a long ways away. I could probably make it back safely, but that would mean completely abandoning Shizu's kids, and I would never accept that.
"I'm with the Holy Church," the young knight smiled. "I'm here to help."
Yeah, I doubt that. Not if you knew what I am, at least.
"You can trust him," the assistant fruitlessly reassured me.
He looked both confused and worried by how I was reacting, and I realized that I needed to reign in my expression.
I need to calm down, or this really will reveal me. Taking a deep breath, I nodded.
"I'm sorry, sir..." I stumbled back a bit, on purpose. I tried to look as exhausted as I could.
"Are you sure you are alright, young miss?" The knight pulled his hand back, and waited a few moments while the only sound in the tent was my intentional breathing. It almost felt like he was waiting, or listening for something.
As we were talking, another holy knight had entered behind the stage, leading some actual guards. As the guards got to work dragging off Vulpus, one of them came up to the three of us.
"Excuse me," he said to the assistant, "can I ask some questions about what happened here?"
"Of course!" The assistant guy patted my shoulder, leaning down to quickly whisper, "sorry about all this," in my ear before leaving.
I did not want to be left alone with this holy knight-person, no matter what his intentions were, but here we were.
"Come on," the knight stood up, "I can help you find your family."
"No!" I said quickly and much too forcefully. "No. I'll be fine." I leveled out my tone, "Um, thanks for everything, they're close by so I'll just go find them now."
As I tried to shove my way past him, the knight caught me by the shoulder and stopped me. I was tempted to just break free and run, but I didn't know if pulling that off would give away my monstrous strength.
"Really, it's okay!" The knight reassured me.
Ugh… I guess I had to go along with this. I really didn't want to explain to Eren why I was with a knight of the Holy Church. I bet he'll leave me alone if I show him my adventurer's license, I realized.
[[Notice: after the fearful reaction displayed by the individual Rimuru Tempest, being recognized as a B-rank adventurer will only seem more suspicious.]]
Darn… I wondered what else I could do to get out of this predicament. I didn't want to be around this guy any longer than necessary–I had no idea what signs could unwittingly give me away. Blake had said how I was terrible at hiding that I'm not human, and I can only imagine that this holy knight is just as sharp at noticing little hints that might give me away.
I just needed to get out of here as soon as I could.
Well… There was one thing I could think to use.
"Look! A monster!" I shouted, pointing behind the knight.
The guy whipped around in shock, looking for whatever it was I was pointing at. Quickly activating Formhide, I disappeared and took off in the direction where I could sense Eren, Kaval, and Gido.
I had been tempted to use [Shadow Step] just to avoid any potential problems on the way, but if I was caught doing that I'd never be able to explain it.
I could sense the adventurer trio frantically searching for me nearby. It had been a solid two hours since I slipped away, so they had left the shop and were searching the surrounding buildings.
"Hi, guys!" I said, appearing behind the three without any warning.
"Gaah!" All three shrieked in surprise, whipping around to see me standing there like I'd never left.
"Rimuru," Gido clutched his chest, "I've told you not to do that!"
"Hehee," I chuckled, mostly to release my own tension. "Sorry."
Eren immediately threw herself on me, wrapping me in a tight hug. "Where were you!?" She sobbed, "don't run off like that again!"
Woah, is she about to cry? I didn't think she'd be this upset…
"Haha," I laughed a bit awkwardly. "Don't worry, I learned my lesson."
"So what were you doing, anyway?" Kaval asked.
"I was committing war crimes!" I smiled and did jazz hands.
"Rimuru! Don't joke around like that!"
"Haha, sorry." I smiled, "I was just kidding."
"We know," Gido sighed, "just don't say that around anyone else, alright?"
"Yeah, alright."
After my little stint alone in the city, my group didn't take any more deviations. They brought me straight to the Free Guild branch building, scared that I might wander off again or something.
It was a large, impressive building that surprisingly had automatic sliding doors! Yeah, I wasn't expecting that!
Whoever designed this place had to have some otherworlder inspiration, and I had a sneaking suspicion that person was the Grandmaster of the Guild, Yuuki Kagurazaka. I knew from what Shizu had told me that he was a Japanese otherworlder, just like me and her, so it made sense for him to recreate some of the tech from before he was brought here.
Anyway, with my letter from Fuze in hand, I made my way to the reception desk; another way-too-tall one, just so you know. I was annoyed, but put up with it.
As I did, I got some odd looks from the few people sitting nearby; other adventurers, I assumed. They seemed to be questioning why I was even here, but that was none of their business, so I didn't bother even looking in their direction.
"I am here to see the Grandmaster. I have a letter of introduction from Guildmaster Fuze of the Blumund branch." I reached up and set the sealed envelope on the counter.
The man at the desk looked at me questioningly, then picked up the letter, inspecting it for a few seconds before he seemed satisfied.
"I will have this delivered to him. Please take a seat in the meantime."
"Thank you."
I found a comfy chair to sit in while waiting, but the stares I was getting from the other folks here were anything but comfy.
"What, this kid is gonna see the Grandmaster? Just like that?"
"Who even is she? Is she really B-ranked?"
"Has to be. The door wouldn't let her in otherwise."
So I was the subject of their gossiping whispers. They were another party of adventurers, I thought. They looked on par with my group equipment-wise, and based on what they said they wouldn't have been let in if they were C-ranked, so I guessed they were all B-ranked as well.
"For the record, I'm not a 'she' or a 'her'." I corrected them.
"Yeah, Rimuru's a boy!" Eren added.
The man held his hands up as if saying 'how was I supposed to know that?' I felt kinda bad for him, stoking Eren's ire that quickly. She can be surprisingly forceful when she puts her mind to it.
An attendant entered the waiting room. "Rimuru Tempest? The Grandmaster is ready for you."
I stood up, and so did my three friends.
"Only Mr. Tempest, please." The Guild employee clarified after spotting my entire group rising from their seats.
"Sorry, guys. I'll be back soon, so just wait here for me please."
"Sure thing, buddy." Kaval answered.
"Yeah, we can wait a little." Gido shrugged.
"Good luck!" Eren waved cheerfully.
I followed the woman into what looked like an elevator of sorts at first, but turned out to be some sort of teleportation device using a magic circle. It felt odd, going through that thing, but it wasn't unpleasant. If anything, I was impressed by it, not intimidated. Still, it was taking me somewhere isolated, I guessed.
I was led to some sort of office, probably where the Grandmaster holds audiences with guests. It wasn't lavishly decorated, but looked modern and clean. I noted a few familiar-looking things on one of the shelves in it, appearing to be some figures based on manga and anime characters.
So he's a man of culture. Wonderful.
Negotiation would be easier knowing that. I could use that commonality to get on his good side, if needed.
So, I took my seat on the couch inside (my feet unfortunately dangling a bit as I did) and waited patiently for Yuuki to enter the room.
Yuuki didn't take much longer, thankfully, but when I finally saw him, he wasn't exactly what I was visualizing when I heard the title 'Grandmaster'. To be brutally honest, he looked no older than maybe 16. Definitely Japanese, with dark hair and brown eyes, and a youthful, somewhat handsome face.
"Hello," he said to me in a casual tone as he closed the door and sat down across from me. I was definitely being inspected by him for a few seconds; I bet he was seeing Shizu in my face, since he's her former student and all.
"Hi," I replied amiably, flashing a smile to ease the subtle tension.
"I'm Yuuki Kagurazaka, Grandmaster of the Free Guild. You're Rimuru Tempest, correct?"
I nodded politely. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
I really laid on the manners with him since I need to get on his good side to find Shizu's students. If I screwed this up, I didn't know what I'd do, honestly.
"Now." Yuuki sighed and leaned forward in his seat, "Let's get down to business, now that that's out of the way."
I had no reason to be upset about that.
"Ms. Shizu is dead, right?" He was blunt and to the point, in a way that hurt a little bit with that topic.
I nodded softly and glanced down. It was hard to look him in the eyes.
"Are you at fault?" I felt an urgent sense of danger in his tone, but it was restrained by something.
"N-No! Of course not! I would never hurt Shizu!" I pleaded immediately against the accusation, the calm demeanor I'd constructed completely shattered by now.
Yuuki's eyes bored into me as he stared, leaning forward in his seat.
"Explain what happened then. As her former student, I have a right to know the truth."
Sheesh, this guy can really turn on a dime, can't he?
So I told him exactly that. From the moment I met Shizu, to the time of her death; I explained it all in detail.
Yuuki intently listened to every word, taking in everything I said. I could tell it saddened him to hear about her passing; he visibly drooped a bit as I got to that part of the story, but he was pretty subtle about it.
The level of restraint he had was impressive, especially for someone so young.
"So that's how I ended up gaining her form. I'm sure you noticed the resemblance as soon as you saw me."
"Of course I did. The letter from Guildmaster Fuze said you are a slime monster, right? You sure don't look like one to me."
"He said I had a mimicry skill though, right? I know I mentioned that to him."
"Yeah, that was included." Yuuki nodded, "It's pretty astounding to me, though."
I pursed my lips, thinking back to why I was here. I wanted to stay on topic. "So, are the kids Shizu-san talked about, are they summons?"
"And why do you think I would tell you that? Miss Shizu might've trusted you, but I still don't have much reason to trust you right now, Rimuru."
He said it with such a refreshing smile that it took me a moment to grasp the actual tone behind his words.
"Because we're from the same place. The same place Shizu was summoned from: Japan."
"That's what the letter said, but you sure don't look it, Rimuru. I mean, a slime from Japan? That's not a thing."
How am I gonna convince him? He's obviously skeptical of me.
But then I remembered the thing I observed before Yuuki even entered the room; those anime figurines.
That's it!
Both a way to win trust and make my story more believable.
Great Sage, is there any way I can recreate manga volumes from my memories?
I remembered how I'd shown Shizu what Japan looked like from those, so it might be possible to do the same with books I'd read.
[[Affirmative. As long as appropriate materials are present, recreation of books from memories is possible.]]
"Hey, I have a way to prove I'm Japanese to you, but I need some paper first."
"Paper?" Yuuki sounded curious. Confused, but still curious.
He had a full bookshelf of books, so I thought he might have some on hand, and I was right about that.
Yuuki stood up, opened a drawer in his desk, and handed me a small stack, looking a bit skeptical but still interested.
I immediately absorbed it and sent my skill to work recreating a volume of One Piece.
I held it in my hand, waving it a bit enticingly at Yuuki.
"Wait, is that…?" he asked in astonishment.
"Yes," I smiled.
He eagerly took it from me, and I didn't try to stop him.
Frantically flipping through, his eyes grew wider and wider, clear excitement taking over his well-honed poker face. Yuuki looked at me with awe and amazement, like I'd just performed a miracle right before his eyes before suddenly asking, "Is it done yet?"
"One Piece?"
"Yes. Did they finish it?" he frantically asked.
"No." I stared blankly.
"Figures…" Yuuki muttered as he continues staring at the manga in his hands.
"So…how long has it been since you were brought here?" I asked him.
"10 years, more or less."
Hm, so he was very young at the time…but then how would he have read One Piece? Five is a bit out of the typical age demographic for that sort of thing.
"Wait. How old are you?!"
Yuuki looks to the side and answers, "28."
Dang. Talk about a youthful face. I'm not sure whether to be jealous or pitiful of him.
Before I could voice this thought though, Yuuki, looking a bit dejected, spoke up again.
"Yeah, I know. I've looked like this ever since I came to this world. It's a sorta curse, I guess." Yuuki explained.
Then I thought it over.
Wait… am I also going to look as I do now for as long as I live?
I was a little disturbed, considering that possibility. My appearance is that of a seven-year-old, and spending a lifetime like this doesn't sound too appealing to me.
"Now that I believe you, how old were you before you reincarnated?" Yuuki asked.
So the manga was enough to win him over? Nice.
"37. I was a full-grown man, just living my life, I guess. Got stabbed and woke up as a slime."
Yuuki let out a whistle.
"And now you look like that?! I guess I have it easier than you do in that regard." He teased, laughing to himself a bit.
"Says the guy that looks like a high-schooler!" I shot back.
"Better than looking like a little girl." Yuuki laughs, "Hey, are you able to make more manga for me? I have plenty of paper for it."
"You'll have to earn it. I want you to help me help Shizu's students."
I'm not going to just give him my only bargaining chip for nothing!
"I'm guessing you need access to them. Well, I want them to be saved too, so I'm willing to assist. They are still attending the school that Ms. Shizu taught at; Freedom Academy. I'm sure I could get you in, considering that I'm the Chairman."
"That would be very helpful. I could take Shizu's place as-"
"I'm sure those five would be grateful to have another classmate. You could join them, y'know, go undercover, play the 'mysterious transfer student' role!"
"Hey, wait a sec, I don't wanna be-"
"I bet you'd look great in one of the school uniforms! Oh, and Chloe and Alice would be so happy to have their numbers evened out with the boys in the class!"
"STOP!"
"What's wrong?" he asked with a small head-tilt.
"I'm not going to be a student, and I'm definitely not going to pretend to be a little girl! It's bad enough that most people assume I'm one at first glance!"
"Hmmm…but those five, they're not very trusting. I'm just offering up the best option to get on their good side." Yuuki explained matter-of-factly.
"You seriously want an adult man to roleplay as a little girl to deceive children?! That's messed up!"
"Well, when you put it that way, I guess. But, can you really pass as a teacher? You look younger than most of the students, you know. The youngest is Alice, and she's 7."
I didn't think about that.
"But…I suppose you could use your reincarnation backstory to explain it."
I thought about that option for a few seconds, and realized that fixed a lot of my problems.
"Yeah, I can… that's a great idea, actually!"
"I still don't think it's that good of an option, but we can make it work. I'll probably need to introduce you so they trust you a bit more at first glance." Yuuki nodded, but then looked at me a bit more seriously. "But manga first. I have some requests."
This guy…