Some manga bribery combined with a bit more discussion about Shizu's students and their current situation later, it had been a few hours I spent with Yuuki.
It wasn't a very light conversation, once we started getting into the nitty-gritty; to be honest, I was now even more worried about those five faces I'd been shown glances of since Shizu's passing.
All five will be dead within a couple of years if I don't help them.
That's the fate of failed summons, apparently. Children just can't handle all the energy gained when traveling between worlds. It's the same stuff that manifests in the form of unique skills, but if it's not utilized, it burns the possessor away from the inside over time.
So I need to find a way to make those kids gain unique skills, or remove that energy from them in some other way.
I'll have my work cut out for me, but I'll do it. I refuse to let Shizu down.
"You're going to be a teacher!?" Kaval asks loudly and not at all subtly, right in the middle of the room I left the trio in.
I'd told them my plans, in short, but I wasn't expecting this shocked, almost appalled reaction.
"Pretty much. Yuuki called the position 'advisor', but I'll be closer to their teacher than a fellow student. I'll teach those kids what I can while trying to save them."
Kaval looked at the other two doubtfully, and they seemed just as equally worried as him.
"It's not that I don't trust you, Rimuru, but…" Eren muttered.
"Hey, I made a promise, remember? I'm going to put my all into saving those five, so don't go looking so worried about me."
"I'm more worried about those kids…" Kaval muttered, which earned him an elbow jab from Eren.
"If Rimuru says he can do it, then he can do it. I believe in him." Gido shrugged, although I could still tell there was some doubt in his mind.
"I do too…but what about us?"
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Are we splitting up?"
"I dunno…I thought you three could stick around and take work here in Englesia rather than go back to Blumund, but if you wanna go home, I won't-"
"No, we're staying here!" Eren said immediately, mind apparently already made up.
"Eren, you do realize how expensive Englesian inn-"
"We are staying here!" Eren insisted belligerently, a pout on her face.
"Fine, fine," Kaval raised his hands in surrender, "don't look at me like that!"
"Oh, I should probably mention that I asked Yuuki about that." I said, realizing they were worrying for nothing.
"About what?" Gido asked.
"Arranging somewhere for you three to stay. I said I traveled with some adventurer friends and he offered to take care of your accommodations while I'm teaching at the school."
"Why didn't you mention that earlier, Rimuruuuu!?" Eren whined.
"Because I wasn't sure if you wanted to stay here! It was an 'if you want to' kind of thing, not set in stone."
"Well, we want to!" Eren declared, "just lead the way!"
"Haha, okay, okay." I laughed, enjoying her silly theatrics. "Tomorrow, though. Let's get some food."
I led them back to the inn and we had a rather rowdy dinner, with me creating fake mustaches via [Material Creation] to wear for my best teacher impressions.
According to Kaval, trying to see me as a teacher was laughable–so I splashed some water on him as revenge.
The next morning I met with Yuuki at the free guild as we'd arranged, and he led me and my little entourage to the school dorms.
The school building wasn't far from the free guild–for Yuuki's own convenience as chairman, I imagined. All of a sudden the stuff those adventurers were saying about the door only letting in B-ranks made sense; that was probably a good way to keep the many rowdy teenagers who went here from running next door to cause mayhem. I had to applaud Yuuki's genius on that one.
"Most teachers have their own houses in the city," Yuuki said as he led us through the dorm hallways, "so we only have student housing here."
"Not a problem," I replied, walking next to him. "I'm only staying until I can save the kids, after all–and I doubt I have enough money to afford a house here."
"Actually, you'd be surprised!" Yuuki chuckled, "the market prices are pretty reasonable since I run a housing market here through the guild."
"Oh, wowww!" I leaned into him, jostling him teasingly. "Is there anything you don't do?"
"Not much!" Yuuki opened the door to a room at the end of the hall, flicking a magic lightswitch. "Here we are! Home sweet home!"
"Oooh!" I looked around in excitement, taking in a sight I hadn't experienced since my past life. It was just like the dorm I lived in when I went to trade school–small bed, nice desk, closet. Actually, it was nicer than my trade-school dorms–better funded, for sure.
Eren and the guys watched me walk around, poking at things and opening drawers. I ran my hand along the bed sheets, feeling their quality–when I found something of interest folded on the pillow.
"What's this?" I asked curiously, lifting it up to let it unravel.
"Oh, it's a present!" Yuuki said cheerfully, as I watched a cheerleader-style tank top with little stars and a skirt barely long enough to keep me covered open up in front of me. "It's a housewarming gift!"
"...Yuuki." I said after a long moment, watching him with [Magic Sense] but still turned away.
"Yes?" Oh, that little snake–he was positively beaming at me!
"This is workplace harassment." I turned to him with a deadpan, which only caused him to burst out laughing. Was this guy really 28? What kind of humor was this!?
"Aw, I was hoping you'd wear that when you went to meet the kids!" Yuuki snickered, wiping tears from his eyes.
"It's cute, Rimuru!" Eren cooed.
"Eren, that is not helping!" I shout, feeling my face turn red. Grumbling, I balled up the disgusting outfit and hurled it at Yuuki's smug, laughing face.
While he was recovering from having a t-shirt canon launched into his head point-blank, I walked up to Yuuki and grabbed a fistful of his shirt.
"Thank you very much for the tour, Chairman," I said with my best customer service smile. Forcing Yuuki backward by his shirt, I walked him out of the door to the room. "Unfortunately, I need to prepare for my class. I'm sure I can find my way on my own from here, so you have a good day."
I slammed the door in his face, Yuuki still laughing.
"Wow, that was cold, Rimuru." Kaval stared at me judgmentally.
"Don't interfere in things you don't understand, Kaval!" I snapped at him.
"I mean, it was just a skirt…?"
"KAVAL!" I shouted.
"What's the big deal, Rimuru?" Eren asked, tilting her head all innocently.
"Oh, for the love of–" I slam a hand on my face, "that outfit has a completely different meaning where Yuuki and I are from, okay!?"
"Well, you come from a place with some pretty weird traditions," Kaval crossed his arms as he said that. "I don't know why I'm supposed to know them all."
"Alright," Gido, ever the peacemaker, stepped in. "Now that that's out of the way, how about we go browse the dessert shops?"
I knew Gido was just using this as a way to make me forget the discussion… but I had no problem with that.
After some sweet breads and cream puffs from a fantastic cafe, I spent the remainder of my adventuring money with the trio buying some things for my new room.
One nice thing about being small was the room felt pretty big to me; about the same as my bedroom in my previous life. I didn't really mind living in cramped spaces, but that was still a nice little bonus.
I also found the cheerleader uniform back on my bed when we returned. I knew Yuuki would just bring it back if I tried to throw it away–I needed to dispose of this thing properly.
When I picked it up, I got another detailed view of the outfit, and the brief image of myself wearing that thing flashed across my mind.
…NO. An abomination like this deserved to be disposed of properly–but just as I was about to burn it, another thing occurred to me. Does this building have a fire alarm?
It would be so embarrassing to accidentally set off a sprinkler system or something on my very first day here. Knowing Yuuki is an otherworlder, I could imagine him having developed something similar.
I need to contain it. Focusing on the atrocity in my hands, I manifested a [Ranged Barrier] around it, my hands shifting from holding the cloth itself to controlling the bubble it was suspended in in mid-air.
Squinting, I created a small amount of [Black Flame] inside the barrier, then let it loose. The result was a massive contained explosion–the heat was a bit more intense than I intended, as even the ashes were completely destroyed. Huh, you'd think the flame would have run out of oxygen, but I guess this is a good way to burn things?
[[Answer: the extra skill [Black Flame] does not require the presence or consumption of oxygen, instead being fuelled off magicules alone. Notice: The temperature index inside the barrier is in excess of 12,347.52 degrees Celsius.]]
Wow. I stared as the armageddon bomb I'd accidentally created disappeared. Okay, so… let's not break that out willy-nilly from now on. Though, using such a crazy technique on that atrocity was pretty satisfying.
"You really hate that thing, huh?" Gido's voice broke me out of my thoughts. "What even was that?"
"It looked scary," Eren shivered a bit.
"Oh, uh… it's my 'Getting-Rid-of-the-Annoying-Perverted-Costume-Flare.' Like it?" I kind of forgot that these three aren't used to seeing most of my skills–they looked a bit shocked, staring at me.
"...sure. But please, Rimuru, don't do that to any of the stuff I buy you," Eren begs. "Just give 'em back if you don't want 'em."
"Ah…hahaha," I laugh awkwardly, rubbing my head. "Don't worry, Eren, after seeing it… I don't think I'll break that out again for a long while."
"Yeah," Kaval laughed dryly, "that's probably for the best. If you used that on a monster, I don't think there'd be anything left for us to turn in to the guild!"
Leave it to Kaval to worry about their bottom-line. I couldn't help but snicker. "Well, you guys mind helping me set up in here?"
"Sure thing!" Eren brightened up once I said that, and after setting up a few small pieces of furniture along with supplies, the trio and I went exploring.
Coming down to the first floor of the dorms, I found Yuuki reading one of his newly acquired manga on a couch.
I was a bit tempted to burn the manga, too, given what Yuuki tried to put me through… but I decided against it. He'd have to earn it, but I could do it if necessary.
"You all set up?" He turns his head to me.
"Yeah!" I said, grinning.
"Great!" Closing the book, Yuuki stands up. "You and I need to go meet the vice chairman together. Your friends can't come though–it'd get too crowded."
"Hah! No worries," Kaval claps me on the back. "We'll go see what jobs they have posted at the guild. Have fun, Rimuru!"
"Bye Rimuru!" Eren cheers as the trio walks out without me, Gido giving a small wave as they leave.
"Alright," I turned to Yuuki, "lead the way!"
Yuuki walked me across the campus of the Free Academy–the school I was to be advising/teaching at–and into the school building proper. Walking down a large hallway with a high ceiling, he knocked on a door that read "Vice Chairman" in bold letters.
"Come in," said an older man's voice. With [Magic Sense] I could see the vice chairman sitting at his desk. He looked nice enough–an old man with little round glasses and a mustache, kind of pudgy but well-groomed.
Opening the door, Yuuki cheerfully said, "hey, Vice Chairman!"
"Oh, Sir Grandmaster!" The vice chairman scrambles to his feet, "I was just preparing for you to arrive!"
He clearly wasn't, I knew that thanks to [Magic Sense], I bet he just forgot.
"Honestly, how many times do I have to tell you? Just call me Yuuki," Yuuki sighed.
"Oh, yes, Yuuki Sir!"
"Just Yuuki," Yuuki repeated again. "Anyway," he gestures to me, "this is Rimuru."
"Oh, erm… yes!" The Vice Chairman turns to me. "Hello, young miss. Are you a new student here?" Turning to Yuuki, he said, "I thought you were bringing in a new teacher for S Class today. But a new student is always a welcome surprise!"
Ignoring Yuuki's obnoxious snickering off to the side, I whip out my adventurer's ID. "I am the new teacher," I say sternly, "and I'm not a 'miss' either."
The Vice Chairman gapes for a second, takes the ID from my hand, and gapes some more as he looks back and forth between the "B Rank" under my picture and me.
"Erm… a pleasure to meet you!" He shakes my hand, and I manage to nail not getting swallowed up in his big paw. "Pardon me, but… while I don't doubt your ability, you may be a bit… young… for this job."
"I'm not young, either." I huffed, snatching back my ID from him. "At least, not as young as I look."
The Vice Chairman looks to Yuuki for assistance.
"Yup," Yuuki grins proudly, "this is our new teacher, Rimuru–he's older than me, even!"
"I–I," The vice chairman's gaze goes back to me. "My apologies," he says, "I really appreciate the help, especially as we haven't been able to find any successful teachers for Class S, but… I worry that you won't be able to control them with your… appearance."
"That won't be an issue," I said, "I'm used to dealing with it."
"I understand that, but this class, they're not… receptive to newcomers. It has been quite a problem for some time." He swallows, "and they are, ah… a bit more trouble than they look."
"I assure you, vice chairman, I can handle it." I said firmly, glancing at Yuuki to back me up.
"It's true," Yuuki thankfully heeds my plea. "Frankly, he's our best option. I intend to at least let him give it a shot–we won't know until we try, after all."
I didn't really like him voicing his lack of faith in me right off the bat, but we barely knew each other so I couldn't really complain.
"Alright, then." I could see the Vice Chairman give me one more doubtful glance, but hey, he was listening.
After a bit more touring with Yuuki, I settled in for the early evening with a set of student records and lesson materials for the S Class. I could've taken these back to the dorms, but the staff room was more convenient, so that's what I'd chosen when picking a spot to get to work.
Still can't read this world's language without the Sage's help…I should probably work on that… That little problem can wait until after I accomplish my goal, though. I have a whole life ahead of me to worry about such things.
"What are you doing in here? This is an area strictly reserved for teachers." a nasally voice rang out in the room, pulling me out of my thoughts.
I turned my attention to the source of it just to find a man whose mustached face was definitely fitting with his tone. The snide glare he gave me, combined with his arrogantly raised chin made the interruption all the more annoying.
"Considering I am a teacher, I don't see the problem."
Yeah, I was just hired in today and hadn't so much as met my class at that point, but officially, I was a teacher at this school nonetheless.
This, of course, earned me a disbelieving scoff from the egotistic-seeming blond man.
"My name is Rimuru Tempest, and I'm a B-ranked adventurer hired to supervise the S class as of today." I further explained, pulling out my adventurer's ID again. It worked just fine with the Vice Chairman, so I assumed it would do the same here too.
Some doubtful glancing, followed by an exasperated huff, led to the man seemingly accepting my explanation before he handed me back the small card.
"I am Professor Jeff Emeritus, teacher of Class A." he introduced himself as he straightened out the collar of his shirt a little. "I see the school has truly grown desperate when trying to find someone to manage those miscreants. I wonder how long someone like you will last."
Someone like me?! Oh, now he's posing some kind of challenge!
If I wasn't already dead set on sticking to this, I'd be even more motivated by this man's doubtful attitude.
"You aren't the first hired in, just to give up within a week or so, and looking at you, I don't think you will last even that long." he continued, "Tch…hiring in a child, even if they are a B rank…what was the Chairman thinking!?" he exasperatedly huffed under his breath, shaking his head.
"Hey now, that's not fair to say. I'm older and much more capable than I may look at first glance, and I don't plan on giving up no matter what those children throw at me." I stood up to face him properly and make my point, but to be honest, it didn't seem to help much.
"What's going on? Is something wrong, Professor Emeritus?" someone else entered the room, apparently hearing some of my conversation with Jeff from the hallway. She was a kind-looking young woman, assumedly another teacher.
"It seems that the academy has hired a new teacher for the S Class, Professor Tiss." Jeff smoothly gestured in my direction.
She curiously looked at me before a hint of sympathy filled her eyes, although only for a moment since she quickly hid it with a warm smile.
"Oh, I hadn't heard about them finding someone new to look after those poor kids." She walked over to me and went to the trouble of lowering herself to my level, "My name is Tiss, what is yours?" Tiss asks with her hand held out to shake mine.
I could tell she was talking to me much like she would a child, using her likely well-practiced 'teacher voice', but at least she was being kind, unlike Jeff.
"I'm Rimuru Tempest. It is nice to meet you, Tiss." I shook her hand before turning my eyes to Jeff for a few seconds, "and I look forward to working with you both."
I paired this last comment with one of my patented salesman's smiles.
Tiss stood up, "I wish you luck with the S Class. They really do deserve someone who can earn their respect, and I hope you can fill that role."
She reaches out as if to pat the top of my head, but quickly stops herself.
"I wish you luck as well," Jeff added, "I am certain you will need it." he continued more quietly, smiling to himself as he turned away and walked out of the room.
Tiss shook her head lightly at his behavior, before giving me another friendly smile. "Don't mind him. Professor Emeritus is just a very serious man."
Tiss also turned to leave, but I spoke up to stop her. "You said they deserved someone who can earn their respect…what did you mean by that? The Vice Chairman also said that I might have trouble."
"They still think Professor Shizu is coming back, which isn't impossible I should add. But, every temporary replacement the school has given them in the meantime has been scared off in one way or another. Those five just don't seem to trust anyone else, outside of maybe the Chairman…and I can't really blame them."
They still think Shizu is coming back…that will be a problem…
"Oh, but don't be discouraged! Maybe having a younger teacher, someone closer to their ages will help with that."
I wasn't feeling discouraged, but the mention of Shizu definitely brought my mood down a few notches. Tiss picked up on that but didn't seem to understand the real reason behind it.
"Maybe it will. Either way, I'm determined to help them."
"I'm happy to hear that. You seem like a very mature young l-…um, pardon me, but may I ask if you are a boy or a girl? I'm not the best with this sort of thing…"
"Boy." I answered, holding back a sigh.
"Well, then you are a very mature young man. If you ever need some advice or help, just ask. I know how difficult teaching can be."
"I appreciate that, thanks."
With that, Tiss left, and again I was in the room alone with just my papers and my thoughts.