Now that the waterworks were done, we headed toward the city gates.
The morning air was crisp and refreshing, the streets not nearly as busy as usual since it was quite early. With the tense, nervous excitement permeating my students' moods, the lack of a crowd was a very welcome thing.
Briefly waving at the guards as I passed through to outside Rura, we walked over to the magic circle I'd hidden nearby, which thankfully appeared undisturbed.
"What's that? It's so big and fancy!"
"It's a magic circle I made that we'll be using to travel quickly. Step inside, all of you, and I'll trigger it."
"Um… Professor? Doesn't this sort of thing require an extra magic source? It's so big… and all of us at once? I remember learning that using spatial magic on more than one person at a time is very difficult." Gale seemed doubtful, but there was nothing to worry about.
"I promise it's safe."
"Our Professor is so cool…" Ryota muttered.
"Flashy show off…" Alice grumbled, "He did sound cool, though." she said more quietly.
I gestured again toward the circle and they all stepped inside with a little bit of room to spare. I joined them right after and sent some magicules into it.
Also, using [Great Sage]'s [Parallel Processing], I simultaneously casted a second spell just to reinforce the protection on my students. When teleporting, that's a very important thing to include in a spell or the one getting teleported could get magicule poisoning mid-trip, and with these kids already struggling with something similar, I thought it best to be safe rather than sorry. This was suggested by the trusty sage, of course.
The next thing I knew, we were back at the other circle near Ramiris' place. Everything went smoothly, all the kids were intact, all's good.
"Whoa!"
"Why didn't you warn us!?"
"I felt like I was floating for a few seconds… so weird…"
"I think I'm gonna be sick…!"
"Where did we go?"
That pixie girl called herself Ramiris of the Labyrinth, right? So I guess this place is her Labyrinth and not just the 'Dwelling of Spirits'. That's a lot less of a mouthful, so let's just call it that.
"A mysterious Labyrinth with a pixie lady who wants to help you kids. I made a deal with her to give you each a Greater Spirit to help control that energy that's the source of your issues."
I gave them some further explanation of what the plan was too, using a bit of the sage's assistance to work out the finer details. They all listened intently, hopeful expressions on their faces.
"Are you ready?" I asked the group.
"I'm ready." Gale nodded.
"Yeah, me too!" Kenya shouted.
"Uh-huh… I'm ready." Ryota added.
"Pfft, of course I'm ready! Why wouldn't I be?" Alice scoffed.
"Let's go." Chloe stepped toward the door.
"I'll be right behind you guys, so go right ahead. All you have to do is touch the door."
Right before touching the door, I noticed Chloe shudder. "I'm ready," she whispered quietly to herself.
"3... 2… 1… now."
We were all pulled inside and I was met by the same ominous hallway scenery that I did last time I was here.
"Who dares step foot in my Labyrinth!?" A booming voice that was clearly just Ramiris putting on airs and trying to act scary, filled the space, echoing.
Alice and Chloe immediately clung to me in fear, startled by Ramiris' nonsense.
Ryota took a step closer to Kenya, but didn't grab him like the two girls had with me. Gale just looked around, trying to locate the source of the voice with his eyes.
"Who's there?!" Gale shouted.
"Y-yeah! Come out and sh-show yourself! We're n-not scared of you!" Kenya backed him up, but was unable to stop his voice from shaking a bit.
They got the same giggling in response that I did before, which was even more annoying since this was all so pointless. Realizing that all five of my students were getting pretty freaked out by the act, I decided to put a stop to this game Ramiris was playing.
"Hey, calm down, both of you. I'll handle this." I reassured the group with a smile.
Shrugging off my two female students, I stepped forward and cupped my hands around my mouth.
"Ramiris, we made a deal, so come out here already and stop screwing around and scaring my kids!" I shouted at the top of my (nonexistent) lungs, outcompeting the volume of Ramiris' voice earlier. I didn't want to hurt my kids' ears so I wasn't going full power, but I was definitely louder than any human could manage.
"How do you even shout like that, professor?!" Kenya whined, still covering his ears.
"I… uh… there's quite a few useful spells out there, and I used one that made my voice louder, that's all." Puffing myself up a bit to cover my little slip, I grinned, "pretty cool, right?"
Skills are pretty much spells anyway, so it's not a lie…
[[Correction: incorrect.]]
Nobody asked! Man, you have been talking without prompting more and more as time goes on. Is that like a glitch in your programming or something?
[[Answer: no flaws or abnormalities in the Unique Skill, [Great Sage], detected.]]
"Hey, hey! You called me over here, and now that I've arrived, you're ignoring me! What's wrong with you?! Look at me! I'm right in front of you!" Ramiris said, pulling on my bangs like they were a tug-of-war rope.
"Oh, there you are. Time to make good on that deal we made."
"Yeah, whatever. You ruined my entrance, so I guess we better get this over with." She groused, sticking her tiny finger in my face. "But just so you know, you can't have any!"
"...any what?" I tilted my head, smiling a little on the inside.
"Spirits!" The fairy shouts, "any spirits! I'll let your kids here try, but none for you!"
"Oh, right, right," I feigned recalling our conversation. "Yeah, fine, okay." I waved her off, "so, we goin' or what?"
"Who's this fairy, professor?" Ryota quietly asked me.
"This is-"
"I am the Great Ramiris of the Labyrinth, member of the Ten Gr–"
"Yeah, yeah." I interrupted, "she's a big deal. She's going to help you."
"Hey! Stop that! You messed it up AGAIN! WHY!?"
I just batted her away lightly to stop the flurry of ineffective kicks she was landing on me.
"Fine! Let's get this over with so I can make you leave!"
"She doesn't seem like she wants to help us." Kenya whispered to Ryota, who nodded back at the other boy.
"What? No. I want to help you kids, I just don't want him breaking anything else in my home!"
"Are you really still hung up on the golem thing? Shouldn't it be repaired by now?" I asked, prodding her a bit more for fun. Having worked in construction, I knew full well that there was no way she'd already put that golem back together, at least by normal means.
"No! That takes time! Ugh, you obviously don't understand how complex and impressive it is if you're thinking that!" Ramiris cleared her throat after screaming at me and turned toward the kids again, "It is my job to help those that seek the spirits, potential heroes and such. So, I'm glad to guide you five to the true Dwelling of Spirits deep inside my Labyrinth."
She sounded surprisingly mature and serious just then; too bad it doesn't really suit her. Anyway, I was glad that we were now going to take care of business. After all the time spent researching and thinking about how to rescue my students, we were finally there. I was finally going to fulfill one of the promises I made to Shizu.
So, I matched Ramiris' newfound serious-mode, knowing that if I kept fooling around it might actually jeopardize the kids' chances of being saved.
Ramiris waved her hand and the room around us 'melted', sorta. We ended up in a room absolutely brimming with natural energy; I could feel the intensity of it. It somewhat reminded me of how the Sealed Cave felt when I was close to Veldora before sending him into my stomach, but at the same time, it was different. Hard to pinpoint, really, but it was something I took note of.
There was what looked like a semi-transparent winding staircase leading up to a higher platform above with no visible ceiling to the room. It looked like it went on forever. The walls around the room were shimmering and warping, my senses not able to get a grasp on their actual dimensions no matter how much I strained my [Magic Sense].
The sight was ethereal and mystifying, like nowhere I had ever been before. I was impressed.
My students appeared to be a mix of amazed and terrified out of their wits by the sight, but were remaining fairly calm while sticking close to each other and me.
"Pretty neat place." I commented.
"Heh. I guess that's better than nothing!" Ramiris quipped, her chin raised high.
"Professor Rimuru, will we be going… up there?" Gale asked with a nervous gulp, pointing toward the higher platform suspended in a way that defied the laws of physics.
It made no sense how it was staying up there, but I suppose that's to be expected in a world filled with magic. That small remaining 'human contractor' part of me sure didn't like it, though, thinking it looked like it violated about a million different safety regulations just by existing.
"I think so," I looked at Ramiris for confirmation.
"Yes, one at a time, you kids will go there to pray to the spirits."
"Pray? Whaddya mean?"
"You can ask them for help, or say you want to play with them, or whatever feels right to you. If one likes ya, they will appear no matter what way you pray." Ramiris explained.
"Well, you kids heard her; who wants to go first?"
"I'll go first!" Kenya shot his arm up in the air and yelled.
"Who says you get to decide, Kenya?!" Alice snarkily questioned.
"Maybe I could go first… just this once?"
"No, it should be me!"
The four start childishly bickering over who will go first, their previous fears thrown away in an instant.
"Professor Rimuru. I'll be going first." Gale said, approaching me calmly unlike his classmates.
He seemed the most resolute so I decided that he could be the vanguard here. "Alright, Gale, let's go."
"You don't mind if I accompany them up there, right?" I turned and asked Ramiris seriously.
"I suppose that's fine." Ramiris grumbled.
We stepped onto the winding ramp of light that led to the platform where we could communicate with the spirits. As we walked, Gale grabbed my shoulder.
Ignoring the height difference that was still kind of irritating to me, I looked up into Gale's worried eyes.
"Professor," he said earnestly, voice low in case he could somehow be heard down there. "If something happens to me… please, take care of them."
He glanced downward at the other kids below us and at a distance, his worry evident on his face.
Wow. Poor kid. That must have been why he insisted on going first. Gale has always seemed like the older brother-type of the group, the protector and voice of reason for his classmates, but I never imagined that he had held this level of personal responsibility for them in his mind until now. I felt it was too much for a kid his age to be worried about, but it wasn't like I could change his feelings; the best I could do right then was reassure him.
"Nothing will happen Gale," I promised, patting his back comfortingly. "But if the worst ever does, I will."
We reached the top of the spiraling ramp, where we stepped onto a semi-transparent platform made of magicules.
Gale knelt down in the center and put his hands together, glancing at me anxiously. Even kneeling, he was eye-level with me.
"It'll be fine," I reassured him. "Whatever happens, just keep your eyes closed until I tell you."
Gale nodded, closed his eyes, and began to pray.
A light, similar to sunlight, appeared from a vague source high up in the dwelling, It grew in size and seemed to descend, bright rays reaching down to brush our heads.
Then, one by one, tiny pinpricks of other lights began to manifest from the magicules in the dwelling. Lesser spirits, surrounding us in a starry cloud dancing around in the air. I almost felt like I could hear them as they brushed up against us.
But, after a moment of waiting, nothing else happened.
I guess I'll have to use that 'method.'
I'd had [Great Sage] prepare a contingency for this since summoning Greater Spirits wasn't a certain thing. I gave Gale enough of a chance; it was time to use it and help him out a bit.
"Hey," I glanced back at Ramiris, "don't be alarmed, okay?"
"Eh?" She stared, "alarmed at what?" She narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously and folded her arms, but I didn't pay her any further mind.
Turning back to the spirits, my arm–the one not currently resting on Gale's back–dropped its mimicry and shifted into slime, which stretched out and swallowed the Lesser Spirits like a giant net.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Ramiris shot towards me and a tiny, tiny boot wheeled around and kicked me in the eye! (Thank you, [Pain Nullification], you're a god-send!) "I said you couldn't have any spirits!" She screeched at me.
"I told you not to be alarmed," I said sharply, barely holding back from snapping for Gale's sake. "Just trust the process, 'kay?"
Gale shifted slightly, and I felt him tensing under my hand. "Everything's still fine," I reassured him, "just keep praying."
[[Notice: assembling lesser earth spirits into artificial greater earth spirit… successful. Creating artificial ego compatible with the individual Gale Gibson… successful. Would you like to use the Unique Skill [Degenerate] to merge the artificial greater earth spirit with the individual Gale Gibson? Yes/No.]]
Right. I breathed, not because I needed to, but because it comforted me. Now for the moment of truth.
YES.
With the help of [Great Sage], I removed the artificial spirit from my [Stomach] and began transferring it into Gale. Placing my reformed hand on his head, then I closed my eyes in concentration.
[[Notice: artificial greater earth spirit successfully integrated into the spiritual body of the individual Gale Gibson.]]
YES!
I was suddenly hit with a wave of light-headedness wobbling a bit as I leaned on Gale for support.
Great Sage, what's up with me?
[[Answer: feelings of exhaustion are resulting from sudden loss of large quantities of magicules.]]
Well, can you turn it off or something? I grimaced, until all the kids are saved. I need to focus.
[[Acknowledged.]]
Ramiris immediately seemed irritated when my focus broke. "What did you just do…?"
She stared at me with a look of suspicion plain on her face.
I knew what she was talking about, as there was now a Greater Spirit inside of Gale, one of earth. It hadn't quite formed into anything, but it was already beginning to clean up the mess of magicules inside the kid.
"I've never seen anything like that before…" She grumbled softly before she stopped talking and turned away.
"What is she talking about, Teacher?" Gale whispered as he finally opened his eyes again.
"Nothin', don't worry about it. Seems this spirit is new, but it still seems to like you a lot. Take good care of them for that fairy over there, and I'm sure we'll be just fine." I gave him a pat on the shoulder before walking him back down off the platform.
"Who's next?" I addressed the rest of them.
The rest of them now looked a little bit apprehensive now; none of them stepped forward on their own. It took quite some time for any of them to do anything, actually.
I wasn't that surprised to see Alice be the bold one, though.
She was being a little more docile than she usually is, but she did still say something sorta rude. "I am scared of falling, carry me!" She exclaimed just under her breath not to yell.
It was still kinda funny to see her have respect for something, but she did seem to respect the dwelling.
I sighed, stepped forward, and picked her up before walking quickly back up to the top of the platform.
I then let her fall to the ground slowly to not make a loud noise when she landed. I wasn't quite sure how the spirits would react to loud noises.
After a few moments of staring up at the odd glowing 'ceiling', Alice huffed and said. "What should I even pray about?"
"Well, what would you enjoy?" It seemed the spirits would be best to have personalities similar to the person they were fusing with.
"I guess, I just want a spirit that would be kinda like Chloe, or maybe more like me? I'm not quite sure." She sighed loudly and audibly before kneeling down and clasping her hands to try and pray herself.
Her attempt definitely took a lot longer than Gale, almost thirty seconds before the glow of something similar to moonlight appeared and a lot of tiny spirits appeared around us.
I didn't wanna have to do it again, but after a few more moments of waiting I got impatient and did the same thing that I had done for the spirits Gale summoned.
The process was a lot faster, and this time I ended up creating a Greater Spatial Spirit, however the sage did say I was starting to get low on magicules with a few warnings.
Couldn't stop now though, and didn't particularly care.
I could finally fulfill my promise.
"I… feel better."
"Yes. You're all right now. You did well, Alice."
Alice looked up at me, surprisingly teary-eyed, then lunged at me. She hugged me tightly for a moment, crying into my shoulder before turning and planting a quick kiss on the side of my face.
Cheeky little brat… I thought as I looked at her little self-satisfied smirk as she backed away. I decided to let it slide just this once.
After that, Alice grabbed my hand and started leading the way back down to the others, practically skipping her way down the ramp.
What ever happened to that whole 'scared of falling' thing?
Soon afterward, she went over to Chloe and began speaking to her in whisper. I decided not to eavesdrop on their conversation, especially not when Great Sage was irritating me so much with warning after warning.
"Okay, who's next? I think we can get everyone a spirit."
This time, the response was a bit faster as Ryota stepped forward. That move did surprise me, he was being more bold than Kenya for once. It was definitely a good development for the kid, and I hoped he kept it up.
"Sensei, do you think you can get Kenya to come up next? He seems sorta scared. Worried that no spirit would like him." That explained it pretty quick, though. He was worried about Kenya and wanted to show his friend how easy it was.
Ryota was whispering, which meant none of the other kids could hear him. That was for the best.
"Sure, I'll see what I can do." I took his hand and led him up the platform to the summit.
Ryota was a lot faster to get on his knees and clasp his hands together in prayer. Spirits were quick to respond as well, a mixture of colors with no definite standout. It definitely trended green and blue though.
That made it a little harder to work with in my mind, but I could manage. It wasn't long before it was proven I had to again as well. No big spirits arrived.
I sighed and glanced over to Ramiris. At this point she looked flustered and angry, but didn't say anything yet. I'm sure she'd berate me when we were done.
Okay then, Great Sage?
[[Notice: Required magicules… sufficient.]]
That sounded like something I'd need to deal with first, but it was alright. Then let's do this.
I executed the process one more time, but this time it ended up taking a lot longer. I guess the sage was trying to take it slow to make sure nothing went wrong.
When we were done, we had a spirit with both wind and water attributes to fuse to Ryota.
I did so, and began to feel drowsy, in a more natural way than I was used to.
I powered through it though, and tapped Ryota on the shoulder to get his attention. "I think it worked."
"Sensei, I've never heard of a spirit like this before?" Ryota looked a little concerned.
"Neither have I." Ramiris whispered from the background.
"Don't worry about it. Let's help the others. I'll get Kenya to go next." I helped the kid up and walked back down for the last two.
"Your turn, Kenya." I motioned for the boy to follow me. He seemed surprisingly nervous, but also a bit excited too.
I hope I can hold out long enough for these last two… and if not, I hope Ramiris can get these kids home for me.
Kenya took his spot in the center of the platform and moved his arms to place his hands together, but before he could even do that, bright beams of warm sunlight-like light filled the area around him.
Whoa.
Then, without me having to do anything, a Greater Spirit appeared. It had the appearance of a blond-haired boy.
"Hiya!" The spirit, smaller than me but a bit bigger than Ramiris, waved happily. "Nice to meet'cha! I'm a spirit of light!"
Uh… I stared, Kenya also opening his eyes. Are spirits normally this friendly?
"What's your name?" It hovered in front of Kenya excitedly, leaning closer to him.
"Uh, Kenya…" He answered, bewildered.
"Can I call ya Ken then?" The spirit asked.
"S-sure…"
"Hey, hey, hey!" Ramiris suddenly started freaking out, flying up to shove the spirit away from Kenya. "What d'you think you're doing in my home!?
"Well, I felt a potential Hero calling out," the spirit winked at Kenya, "so I just popped in!"
"Um," I raised my hand, "what's wrong, Ramiris?"
"This guy," she turned to me and pointed at the spirit, "is a real jerk!"
"...he seems nice to me," I tilted my head. "You get a lot of those around here, don't you?"
"You're one to talk!"
I looked at the light spirit for help.
"Oh, I might know about this!" He hit his palm. "I'm the same spirit that was summoned by Leon!"
"Yeah, that crybaby Demon Lord who used to be a Hero!" Ramiris scoffed.
Wait… Demon Lord… Leon… "Demon Lord Leon Cromwell?" I asked, a bit surprised at the amount of venom in my voice. It was a good thing I was wearing the anti-magic mask on the side of my head.
Ramiris backed away, looking a bit frightened. The light spirit was also uneasy, but it stood up to me. "What'cha got against him?" It asked.
"A few things… he hurt someone I care about," I said, glowering. "So I'm gonna punch 'im. You're in league with that guy?"
"Erm… I wouldn't really advise punching a Demon Lord, not if you don't plan to defeat them," the light spirit said. I thought punching Ramiris would be perfectly safe, though I didn't say it.
The spirit kept talking, though, which derailed my angry thoughts. "Anyway, I'm the same kind of spirit that Leon summoned. A completely different individual! I won't stick my hand in that kind of work."
I sighed, deflating. "Fine. Sorry, I get a little worked up when it comes to him."
"I'll say," Ramiris muttered. You were just as worked up as me! I decided to ignore her, however.
"Anyway," the light spirit said cheerfully, bringing back the upbeat atmosphere, "I came here in answer to Ken's call!" He ruffled the boy's hair where he'd settled down to lie in it.
"Um... okay… I was hoping you'd lend your strength to save his life," I said, getting back on track.
"Sure thing!" The spirit trilled happily, "your teacher may not be Hero material, but you've got a spark in you, Kenya!"
"Hey, why are you making fun of my teacher?" Kenya asked defensively. I was a bit touched he'd stick up for me.
"Oh, it's nothing against him," the spirit reassured him, "I just have a… way of telling who'd make a good fit! I'd say he has more potential in the other direction, actually, not that I'd condone that sorta thing." He glanced in Ramiris' direction, which infuriated her.
"Wait, what is that supposed to mean!?" Kenya asked in confusion.
"Shut up and get in the kid already!" Ramiris shouted, "we don't need you causing any more trouble!"
"Oh, it's fine!" The spirit waved her off, "and don't you worry," he beamed at me, "I'll take good care of Ken until he's all grown up!"
"Erm, well, thanks." I scratched my head. The spirit offered me a playful salute, and dropped into Kenya's head.
"Is that it?" Kenya asked, a bit stunned.
"I think so…" I answered, a bit bewildered myself.
"Nothing went wrong, right?" He touched his head where the spirit had been.
"No, no, everything went to plan!" I reassured him quickly. "No need to worry!"
I'm just a little shocked that went so fast and without me having to do anything. It threw me off a bit, was all. Did he mean I could become a demon lord…? No, I shook off the thought. Even if I did have that kind of potential, I don't need that kind of trouble. I may be a slime monster now, but I'd like to keep a few scraps of my humanity, thank you very much!
"Huh…okay…"
Kenya didn't exactly look like he believed me fully, but in the end, the results were perfect. I could see the energy inside him stabilizing more and more by the second, the light spirit making good on its promise to keep Kenya safe. I was glad.
I led him back down to the lower platform with the others.
One left to go…
The fatigue was definitely starting to become a problem, but since I got to skip my work-around with Kenya's spirit, I was confident I would be fine. All I had left to do was save Chloe, then I could rest.
"Can you carry me too?" Chloe sheepishly asked.
"Of course."
Chloe seemed more nervous overall during this trip so anything I could do to comfort her, I would.
I scooped her up in my arms and started walking her up to the higher platform.
"Professor…" Chloe mumbled as I carried her.
"Yes? What is it, Chloe?"
"I… I love you!"
Awww, how sweet. Kids just say the most precious things, don't they?
"I love you too, Chloe."
As my student, of course. She, just like the other four, had become important to me, almost like family.
Chloe smiled back at me and I kept walking with her until we reached the top.
She took her place in the center to pray, just like the others had, but after a few seconds, an overwhelming pressure filled the air.
It was nothing like what happened with the other kids, and the sense of danger it was filling me with was incredible.
A 'something' materialized near Chloe, taking the form of a beautiful adult woman with dark hair, dressed in a white gown and veil. I stared at her for a moment, and she stared back. It was ominous and unreadable, but the danger of this 'being' was evident by my instincts screaming at me to flee.
But, I froze, unable to even look away from the semi-transparent woman.
Is that… a spirit?
[[Negative. It is a spiritual body like Greater Spirits, but its existential power far surpasses that of one.]]
"What is thi-!?"
But before I could get the words out, the woman appeared right in front of me, having moved much faster than I could follow with my senses.
My words caught in my throat and my thoughts halted in her presence. Then, while I stood there unmoving, she reached out to me…
… and planted a kiss on my lips.
Being non-corporeal, though, I felt nothing from it but it left me stunned for an entirely different reason.
I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to say. I couldn't believe this was happening!
The kiss only lasted a moment, then the non-spirit drew back, still cupping my cheek with her ghostly-pale hand.
She stared me in the eyes again, this time with tenderness, concern, and longing on her face. She looked at me as if she knew who I was and cared deeply for me, but there was no way that was the case. I would never forget a face like that so we couldn't have met before.
I could feel an internal sense of resentment toward them, a soft one, but a noticeable one. It wasn't from me though. I ignored it to focus on the situation.
"Oh no you don't! I won't let you have your way!" Ramiris screamed, and I saw her with a ball of energy held over her head. "Leave this place at once!" she yelled with much more venom in her voice than I had heard from her before.
Ramiris sounded frantic and scared, affirming that the woman was a huge threat.
The fairy tossed her magic at the spirit-woman, but missed. Then, in another motion, the spirit-like beauty merged into Chloe's body.
"Chloe!" I yelled, reaching out to the girl helplessly, but Chloe seemed completely fine by the time I got to her.
"Are you alright? No pain? No weird or bad feelings?" I fussed over her, checking her over thoroughly.
"N-no. I'm fine…"
"Thank goodness…" I sighed with relief. Whatever it was, it seemed to be stabilizing Chloe in the same way the Greater Spirits had with the other kids.
"What was that, anyway?" I asked out loud.
"I have no idea!" Ramiris answered. "It was bad, though. Very bad."
"Yeah, I could feel that…" Yes, the general feeling I had gotten from the woman was absolutely terrifying, but at the same time, I had my doubts. I couldn't shake off the odd interaction we had.
"I felt a shift in the time axis inside that thing. I think it came from the future, though I can't imagine why it showed up all of a sudden like that. Maybe its goal was to find a place within that girl, but….arrrrgh! I can just tell this is going to cause a huge disaster! I can feel it!"
"...oh, yeah?"
"Hey, why are you acting so casual!? This is serious business, mister! This could become a catastrophe later, y'know!?"
"Yeah, but it's hard to take it seriously when you can't even explain it properly to me. Besides, whatever that was, spirit or not, it seems like it's helping Chloe and that's what matters to me."
"Oh, you're right… her magicules are stabilizing." Ramiris did a quick lap around Chloe's head, looking her over, before flying over to me. "Talking about magicules, are you doing okay? I know we've had our problems, but you're not looking so good." Ramiris whispered in my ear.
It's weird that she's worrying about me now.
"I'll recover." I answered curtly.
"If you say so."
"But, if you could tell the other four to come up here, that would help. I need to sit down."
Ramiris sighed and flew off.
I plopped down on the floor, feeling utterly drained. I knew that just resting here for a while would be enough to get me back on my feet with the high concentration of magicules in the air.
"Teacher? Are you alright?" Chloe asked me, concerned.
"Just a little tired. Bringing you all here wore me out earlier, so I just need to sit down for a bit before I take you back."
What's with that troubled look? I didn't remember Chloe looking at me so seriously before.
"See, Chlo, I said it wouldn't hurt!" Alice said to Chloe, diverting her attention away from me.
"Hey, why is Professor Rimuru on the floor?" Gale asked.
"He looks pale."
"He always looks pale."
"Nah, paler than usual."
"Are you getting sick?"
"Stop worrying about me. I should be the one doing the worrying, as your teacher."
I realized that sitting on the floor was just making the kids think something was wrong, so I stood back up. I wobbled a little as I did, almost losing my balance, but managed.
Whoa. The lightheadedness hit me again. I flashed my worried-looking kids a smile.
[[Notice: Internal magicule concentration is dangerously low. Immediate ceasing all activity is highly advised.]]
No, I can't sleep right now. Not around the kids.
If I slept right then, they would all see me as a slime. I couldn't have that happen.
"He did some magic to help us, I think, and now he's tired."
"Did you overdo it, Professor Rimuru?"
"No, I'm fine."
[[Notice: Engaging emergency control features.]]
Wha-
My consciousness immediately began to fade.
No… I can't… not here… n-not…
"Ramiris… send me out… like before…"
"What?"
"Out… of the Labyrinth… c-can't… need to…"
"I'm not sending you out when you're in that state! You may be annoying, but you're interesting! I'm not gonna let you die that easily!"
I couldn't even think straight at that point, my mind slipping away rapidly. It felt shockingly similar to when I was bleeding out when I was human.
I felt myself lose shape and started to fall, my [Magic Sense] flickering out before I even hit the floor's surface.
Wait, die?! No, no he can't die!
I ran and caught Rimuru before he fell to the floor and cradled him against my chest.
"No… not again… how…" I muttered as my tears started to fall.
I couldn't believe it. I had just regained my memories and already Rimuru was sacrificing himself for the sake of others. I couldn't accept it!
"Hey, hey! Don't start crying, he'll be just fine! Nobody can die in my Labyrinth!"
Ramiris had flown over to me and started trying to reassure me.
Nobody… can die here. So Rimuru is perfectly safe right now.
With all the faded memories of him leaving for battle and never coming back that I had just regained, I couldn't help but react like this. Again, he had done something reckless and gotten himself killed… but I had never seen it happen now in any of the loops.
This entire situation was abnormal, not matching anything I'd encountered before. I wasn't sure what caused it, but this timeline was off.
But, I could look into that later. Right now, I needed to act realistically since my classmates are here.
I took a deep breath to calm myself and turned to my four classmates.
"Is that… P-professor Rimuru?" Gale hesitantly asked and pointed to the slime held in my arms.
"Yes… you saw him transform too, right? It has to be him." I answered.
"Yeah, b-but… how…" Gale stuttered.
"What is he…?" Ryota asked.
"Rimuru is a slime. Didn't you know?" Ramiris asked and we all shook our heads. I knew from my very recently regained memories, but I needed to play along. "So he never told ya? Sheesh."
"Our teacher is a monster!?" Alice screamed.
"Well, yeah, obviously." Ramiris replied, shrugging.
"He's not a bad monster, though! He saved us!" Kenya shouted suddenly. "He's taken care of the five of us for months!"
"W-well, yeah… but he still lied to us! He's a liar!" Alice shouted back.
"He didn't lie. Professor Rimuru said he was human before, but never said he was human now." I corrected her. It was very hard for me to hear her talk about Rimuru like this.
"But he still kept this a secret! Did he not trust us enough to say anything!?"
"I bet he was scared…" Ryota muttered. "You heard about what the church teaches, right? That monsters don't deserve to live. Wouldn't you be scared too if you were a good monster?"
"Maybe… b-but… I still feel… betrayed."
"You shouldn't." Ramiris interjected, "He obviously cares about you or he wouldn't have nearly killed himself trying to help you kids. Rimuru was using some very powerful skills to make sure every one of you got a spirit."
"How close to death is he though?" Alice stared at Rimuru warily while backing away.
"How close? Hm… Well, his magicules are rising pretty fast, but if I were to estimate using my own skills. He got all the way down to half a percent of his capacity. I'm honestly surprised he isn't dead, that would be fatal for any other monster… Maybe he has a trick or two inside him." The fairy flew around me a few times while looking Rimuru over. "Around three percent or so now, but I'm just estimating. Even inside my labyrinth knowing his real limits are kinda hard when I'm in this form."
"At least he's still here…" I sighed deeply and fell to the ground carefully, giving Rimuru a few pets.
"Do you think he'll wake up?" Alice seemed calmer now, Ramiris saying Rimuru was almost dead had made her realize there were more important things to worry about.
"Not for a while, probably a few hours at least. Seems his recovery is slowing. He's a weird one." The fairy sat on my shoulder, and it seemed we transitioned to another room made of stone. "I can keep the magicule concentration here high, but I don't wanna risk any more crazy spirits visiting." From my memories of her, Ramiris almost seemed out of place behaving this maturely.
Kenya, Gale, and Ryota sat nearby, while Alice kept her distance. I suppose she had some past with monsters, but with all my new memories… I couldn't really sort them out well enough to remember.
"Hm. So if he is a slime then, how did he become an adventurer?" Gale tilted his torso around a few times to look at Rimuru from all angles.
"Maybe he was just so strong that he was able to threaten Grandmaster-Mister Yuuki? They seem to interact a lot." Kenya smiled. "Teacher would be really cool if he can do that much."
"Maybe." Ryota looked around, he seemed to focus on a pile of metal off to the side of the room. "What is that?"
"Ah, Rimuru fought it to come in here. That's all. I'm gonna repair it later… That was how I figured out he's a slime. I'll make sure the next iteration is way too strong for him!" She puffed her chest out while putting her hands on her hips.
"It looks kinda big, how did he take it down?"
"Yeah, he's so small like this..."
"I don't want to talk about it!" Ramiris indignantly answered. I guessed that was a sore spot for her.
"I wonder why he's as strong as he is… aren't slimes supposed to be weak?"
"He's an otherworlder, just like us and Miss Shizu. Maybe that's why."
"Is he, though? I've never heard of someone turning into a monster after dying."
"This world is crazy, so maybe it's possible."
"Maybe he just got the memories and powers of one… I hear slimes can sometimes absorb attributes of things." Alice said it under her breath, but with how quiet the room was, everyone heard it.
"Psshhhh… Nah." Ramiris scratched the back of her head and stood up frantically to cross her arms. "I'm sure that isn't it, he doesn't have many bits of human soul floating around in there. Probably just his old self though if he was human before like ya said." She went silent for a few moments. "How about we play a game?"
"I'm too tired…" Ryota yawned.
"Yeah, me too. I dunno why, but I feel like I wanna take a nap right now." Kenya agreed.
"Hm. It probably has something to do with your magicules sorting themselves out." Ramiris nodded. "Alright then, here ya go." A bunch of tents and sleeping bags materialized in front of us. "This is the stuff adventurers normally use to sleep in here, so I'm sure you can figure it out. Rest well, I'll keep watch."