The ride back was uneventful. Few hostile magic beasts, no bandits trying to get revenge for those my students got arrested (Tiss was a bit concerned about that so I kept an eye out for it), and pleasant weather.
I got the feeling that Tiss wasn't fully over the whole slime-reveal thing, but she was treating me in the same kind way as before. She just seemed preoccupied, giving me strange looks occasionally before catching herself and switching to a smile.
We finally got back to the academy, and I was definitely ready to be back. I was eager to get the results of my kids' test. The second half had been called off, of course, but the results of the part that stuck still hadn't been announced. After facing what they did, if Class S wasn't the winner, I would be pretty angry.
I wanted to see Jeff's shocked face when it's announced Class S outdid Class A.
If it ended up being the other way around, that would be no fun at all. He'd gloat and brag at me and I'd just have to respectfully take it like the professional I am. Just thinking about that was enough to get me a bit worked up.
At least the kids don't seem too anxious about the results…
They were just happily running around the academy's courtyard, carefree despite recently facing an opponent that they couldn't handle. Their resilience was admirable.
"Owwwwww…"
Kenya just ate dirt after tripping during the game they were playing. He got right back up afterward though. After groaning, he brushed himself off and kept playing.
See what I mean? Resilient.
Soon after, the five came running over to my spot resting underneath a tree.
"Professor Rimuru! Today's the day, right?!" Ryota said, surprisingly loud but unsurprisingly excited.
"I already said it was, Ryota." Gale answered tiredly.
"Why are you so worked up anyway? We obviously scored the highest!" Alice confidently said, flipping her hair out of her face.
Chloe nodded in agreement.
"They aren't counting the whole phantom thing, though. That'd be unfair, right Teach?"
"Yes, but I'm sure you made a good impression on Tiss, so I wouldn't worry too much."
Just then the bell rang, meaning that the kids' free period was over. Normally, that'd be a negative thing for them, but not this time, since today that means that it was time for the results of the outdoor training event to be posted.
Immediately, the kids got even more excited.
"Let's go!" Kenya shouted, grabbed my arm with one hand, and Ryota's with his other, and started running, the others following close behind.
"Hey! Slow down, you're not supposed to run inside the school!" I shouted a warning, but Kenya ignored it. So, I dug my heels in and stopped him in his tracks.
Kenya cried out in pain from his arm getting yanked and Ryota got flung forward from the momentum.
"Heeeeeey!" Kenya whined, but I could tell he was practically uninjured. He was made out of tough enough stuff to handle that just fine, especially after taking in that spirit.
"No running."
"Aw, c'mon, teach!" Kenya mumbled and grumbled a bit unhappily while rubbing his likely sore arm. "That was mean."
"He did warn you." Gale chimed in.
"You guys ran too." I made sure to point out, causing Gale to stiffen a little.
"I-I was just trying to keep up, Professor!"
"I wasn't going to let Kenya get the first look at the score!" Alice added with her typical raised chin. "And you were running too, Professor Rimuru!"
"I was not. Kenya was dragging me." I corrected, though I annoyingly ended up sounding a bit like a kid myself when I did. "Alright, guys," I wrested my arm free from Kenya's grasp and clapped my hands. "There's no need to be competitive. We'll all see the score together, after we walk there together."
The kids met my orders with some petulant grumbling, but it wasn't enough to dampen their spirits. So we walked to the main hall of the school, where a bulletin board was hung up.
By the time we got there many students, and even a few teachers, were already crowded around the listings. Most of them were older classes, and towered over most of my kids.
"Aw, I can't see anything from here!" Kenya whined, trying to hop up while on his tiptoes.
"I can see it," Gale said, squinting. "Kinda. We're not close enough to read it."
"Oh, neat." I commented, "you guys won."
My human eyes couldn't see anything from here, but thanks to [Magic Sense] I could read it clear as day.
That was pretty cool though. I was glad their effort had been recognized, especially after that fiasco with the Phantom. This would also improve their standing with their peers. Hopefully, Class S wouldn't need my constant attention soon, so I could take a short trip back to Jura and visit the ogres.
Now, where's Jeff? I want to rub this in his face… I mean, discuss the results with him. Yeah, that.
"Uh…" Coming out of my internal dialogue, I realized that I was surrounded by my five kids, each of them radiating bloodlust. "Guys?" I glanced around in confusion, "what's wrong?"
"Teacher, you spoiled it!" Alice scolded me.
"What?" I stared at her, bewildered. "I thought you guys were really impatient to know though…? Ah–!"
Chloe suddenly bonked me on the head with her book, then hid behind it, fuming at me from behind the rim. "That's mean, Sensei. You really need to learn to read the room."
Her words were like a knife through my heart.
"Chloe!?" I was wounded, genuinely. I'm a grown adult and very good at that, thank you very much!
"I wanted to read it myself!" Kenya burst out, "you ruined the moment!" Ryota was vigorously nodding next to him, making more eye contact with me than I think I'd ever seen.
"I was looking forward to the surprise…" Gale sighed, still the calmest of all of them.
"Sheesh, I'm sorry!" I rubbed my head awkwardly. "I didn't realize that was part of the experience."
"Your head must be full of slime not to realize," Alice sniffed.
Um, ouch! She knew perfectly well what my head was made of. This was just adding insult to injury.
"Fine, fine." I held up my hands. "Stop with the insults, you guys know better than that. I said I was sorry, okay?"
Realizing what they were doing, some of the kids looked a bit remorseful. "Sorry, Professor," Ryota mumbled, looking downcast.
"Yeah, we're sorry." Chloe and Gale added.
"Just don't act out like that again, okay?" I patted Ryota and Chloe on their shoulders. "There will be lots more outdoor trainings to win, I'm sure."
"So what should we do to celebrate?" Kenya broke our brief moment of awkward silence. "We won, and we weren't even allowed to go at first! We need to have a party!"
"Haha, why not?" I laughed. "You guys think of something fun you'd like to do, and then propose it to me tomorrow. I need to go take care of some stuff, so you guys behave, alright?"
"Okay! Bye, Teacher!" I waved at my kids as I walked away, taking the opportunity to escape.
"I bet he's gonna go brag to Professor Emeritus," I heard Kenya whisper to the others after I was some distance away.
Am I that obvious? I almost wanted to go back and say I wasn't, but… I was. It's fine, I grumbled, me walking away doesn't prove anything to them. I'm still setting a good example, they can theorize and speculate all they want.
I wasn't allowed to be on the committee that judged the students' performance due to only being an 'advisor,' but I knew Jeff was. Which meant he already knew who won this year.
The teacher's lounge was on the building's second floor, so after a quick sprint up the stairs, I popped in, a wicked grin already on my face.
I couldn't help it, okay?
Jeff was sipping out of a mug at one of the desks, working on some stuff for his class. Unable to keep from grinning, I sidled up next to him and popped my head up over the desk.
"Hi, Professor Jeff~!" I practically sang those words.
Jeff paused, mug halfway tipped into his mouth as his eyes stopped on me. After a pause, he set the drink down on the desk and said, "if you want to seem more like an adult, you shouldn't hang off the edge of the desk like a toddler."
"It's not my fault I'm short," I pouted, but even an insult like that wasn't enough to wipe the grin off my face for long.
"So~," I leaned forward eagerly, "have you seen the results for the outdoor training yet?"
I knew he had. That's why I was here.
Jeff gave me a hard stare, bringing his mug up to sip out of again. "Sorry, if you came all this way to see me grovel, I'll have to disappoint you. Congratulations on your students' achievement, though. It was well earned."
"Aw, you just took all the fun out of it." I deflated a bit, resting my nose on the desk in an exaggerated pout.
"Don't act like the battle is won. My students will come prepared next time, I assure you." Jeff said.
"And mine will, too," I grinned, perking up again.
"Also," Jeff added suddenly, which I did not expect. I eyed him curiously, resting my chin on my hands while hanging with my feet barely off the floor. "I have something else I wanted to speak with you about."
Jeff stood up, and I prepared for him to start putting on some sort of stern face, probably telling me off for taking on a "dangerously high-leveled majin alone" in the caves or something. Instead, I was completely surprised.
He bowed to me. Ninety degrees, at the waist.
Huh? I dropped to the floor, turning to face him. What did I do to suddenly earn all this respect?
"Thank you," Jeff said, "for saving my sister's life."
"...eh?" I stared, mind blank. "When did I do that?"
"For the love of–" Jeff came out of the bow, a hand going to his face. "Madam Guratol," he explained. "You cured her illness."
"Wha–OOOOH!" I snapped my fingers. "She's your sister!? I had no idea!"
"Clearly," Jeff muttered. Clearing his throat, he started again. "She's my younger sister, to be precise. That is why the Count holds the outdoor training in his domain in the first place. My sister is very fond of this school, and wants to help the students grow."
"Y'know… I really should've questioned why we had to travel so far in the first place." I crossed my arms, a hand on my chin as I thought. "That does make sense, in hindsight."
"Yes." Jeff said, "she's the reason I teach here, you know. So, as I was saying," he briefly bowed again, "thank you for helping her."
"Oh. Well, um… you're welcome." I answered, "anyone with the ability would have done the same."
"Along those lines," Jeff picked up an envelope off the desk and presented it to me. "I booked a reservation at a nearby restaurant. Consider it my thanks."
"Thank you, Professor Emeritus." I took the envelope, which he did not have to bend down to give me, by the way, and stored it in my coat. "I look forward to it," I smiled, putting on my best look.
"You don't normally address me like that," Jeff grumbled, rubbing his eye with a palm. "You really do just do it to get on my nerves, don't you?"
"Do what?" I beamed up at him, only smirking a little bit.
Jeff just sighed, side-eying me disapprovingly as he sat back down and returned to his work.
"Hehe. Have a good day, Jeff. And thanks." I said as I left.
"Have a good day, Professor Rimuru." He replied, not looking up from his papers.
Ah, there they are!
After a few minutes of looking through the crowd of children, I spotted Class S, the winners of the outdoor training. I wanted to congratulate them, even though I was the one that set their score.
"Congratulations on your score, Class S!"
"Thank you, Professor Tiss!"
"Uh-huh."
They all look so happy!
I was worried that they might still be hung up on what happened with the phantom, but it seemed my worries were unfounded.
"You kids are doing fine, right? You've recovered well?"
"I'm better than ever!" Kenya cheered.
"What about your arm, though? You were just whining about it a few minutes ago." Alice added, crossing her arms.
"Th-that's unrelated!"
The pair started bickering with each other.
"Quiet down, please." I said gently, but it didn't seem to be heard by either child.
"Do you want Professor Rimuru to scold you when he gets back? Professor Tiss will tell him about this." Gale warned them.
That made them stop, thankfully. Rimuru really does know how to handle these five well. But, where is he? Rimuru doesn't seem to be here.
I looked around again for him but didn't spot his signature light-blue hair in the crowded hallway.
"Where is he right now?"
"Bragging at Professor Emeritus."
"Did he… say he was going to go do that?"
"Nope."
"We can just tell."
"I could see it in his eyes."
"When he smiles like that, we know he's up to something."
The kids all seemed sure of this. I suppose Professor Rimuru can be quite easy to read, depending on the circumstances.
"You five seem to know Professor Rimuru very well."
"I guess." Alice huffed, and Chloe nudged her, giving the other girl a slight dirty look.
"Of course!" Kenya said excitedly. "He helps us and does lots of fun things with us, so we're around him all the time."
"He's a great teacher too." Ryota added.
I smiled and nodded, mentally preparing myself to move on from this. I was about to ask a very important question and I needed to be careful about how I did it.
"Yes, he does seem like a great teacher, and a great protector for you kids. I saw that back when he defended all of us from that phantom. But I do need to ask you all something very important, so please answer seriously."
Taking a deep breath, I steeled my resolve.
"How much do you trust him?"
It hurt to even ask, but I needed to hear it from them. I needed to silence the small, lingering doubt in the back of my mind.
I felt a shiver and my eyes were drawn to the black-haired Chloe. Her dark eyes were cold, piercing, and lacking any childishness whatsoever.
"With my soul." She said emphatically. It feels sort of like Rimuru's presence back in the cave…
The other children took a step back from the girl, also feeling the strange air around her.
"I t-trust him completely," Gale interjected, his voice a little shaky.
"I do too! He's a great person!" Kenya shouted.
"Teacher protects us… I trust him a whole lot." Ryota added.
"Even though he's sneaky, I trust him to keep us safe." Alice answered last, after a pause.
They were all staring at me now like I did something wrong, or they were trying to decide if I did.
To diffuse the situation, I put on my teacher's smile and said, "that's great! You never really took to any other teachers, so I was just curious. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable, I just wanted to see how you were all doing."
"It's okay!" Kenya grinned widely, putting his hands behind his head. "We're doing great! Thanks for asking though!"
"I'm glad to hear that. You children be good for your teacher, okay?"
With that taken care of, I started walking back to my classroom, taking a few deep breaths to calm myself.
That was tense… but now I don't need to worry.
"She knows," I said seriously, turning to my other classmates.
"Huh?" Kenya turned to me, looking confused. "Knows what?"
"She–" I took a deep breath to calm myself. We were still in a busy hallway, I had to be careful to protect Rimuru. "Let's go back to the classroom to talk," I said, and raced off with my picturebook clutched to my chest.
Once we were alone in our room, Kenya asked again, "what's wrong, Chloe? What's Professor Tiss know?"
"Are you okay?" Gale asked, "you're acting weird."
"Yeah," Alice said. "You're kind of scaring me, Chlo."
"Sorry," I sighed. Putting on a serious face again, I said, "I think Professor Tiss figured out that our teacher is a monster."
Actually, I knew this for certain. When I pretended to be knocked out in the cave, I heard Rimuru reveal himself to Tiss. He's still so naive…
But if Tiss was questioning Rimuru, then she might turn on him. I didn't like that she knew in the first place, and if she was going to threaten him, then…
Then I'll take care of it.
There was no need for that yet, though. Hopefully my friends and I could take care of it less… violently.
"...that does make sense." Gale frowned, his brow furrowing. "She saw him fight the phantom, right? I bet she figured it out then."
"So she was asking us to make sure we're safe?" Ryota spoke up softly. He didn't usually say much, but he was observant, and I could see he was worried for Rimuru too. "If… if Professor Tiss knows, she might…"
"Yeah." Kenya nodded, "we need to do something."
"Yes. Professor Rimuru protected us, now we need to protect him," Gale agreed.
"Why don't you just tell Professor Rimuru then?" Alice asked, "he can take care of it himself."
"No, we can't do that," I argued. I didn't want him to have to deal with this, we could figure out the problem with Tiss ourselves.
"Well, why not?" Alice crossed her arms.
"Well, what if we're wrong?" I questioned, using the first excuse I could think of. "If we tell Rimuru-sensei she knows and she doesn't, Professor Tiss might find out anyway. And then he'd be mad at us!"
"So what do you want to do, Chlo?" Gale asked.
"We need to convince her to stay quiet," I said, "and I think I have a way how."
When the weekend came, I took my kids off school grounds for a little treat. I said I'd get them something to reward them for winning the outdoor training event, and I kept that promise.
We went to Yoshida's cafe, of course. The kids love it there. I do too, but that's not the point.
I got them whatever they wanted, and now they were in dessert bliss, thanking me profusely. It put a smile on my face, seeing them all this happy.
"Isn't that the mask of that famous hero?"
Some dude rudely pointed at me, but I tried to ignore it and just enjoy my cake.
I was wearing Shizu's mask on the side of my head, as usual, but I wasn't expecting someone to point it out like that.
"On that kid? Nah, it has to be a fake." the other man seated next to him said in a dismissive tone.
Did he just accuse Shizu's mask of being a fake?!
Oh, now I was offended. I didn't even care much about that 'kid' comment, but I couldn't let an insult to Shizu go unchallenged.
"Excuse me for a moment, kids." I said as I stood up from the table.
They all heard the comment too, and they all knew I was angry.
I then marched my way over to the pair of rude adventurer-looking types to argue my point.
…
Despite my best efforts, after 10 or so minutes, I gave up. No matter what I said they both remained unconvinced.
Apparently, some places around here actually sell replicas of Shizu's mask, meant for kids to use in pretend-play, which definitely didn't help my case. It sucks those two were too stupid to tell the real genuine thing from a cheap, kids' toy fake.
I even let them take a closer look at the precious mask of magic resistance (leaving it on my head, of course. I'd never let them hold it), but it did no good.
Not wanting to make even more of a scene, I retreated, my good sweet-boosted mood utterly ruined by the interaction.
Shoot. Where'd the kids go?
The table was empty, the kids' desserts left behind half-eaten.
A quick scan with [Magic Sense] was enough to figure out that they were in the back of the cafe, talking with Yoshida.
Sighing, I let myself back there so I could fetch them.
I thought they knew better than to just barge into the back of a restaurant.
"Guys, you can't just wander off like this."
"Haha, it's fine, Mr. Rimuru, I kept an eye on them for you." Yoshida cheerfully answered for them, sounding unbothered by the kids. I knew he liked them a good deal, so this wasn't surprising.
"I wanted to learn how to make creampuffs, but Mr. Yoshida refused to share his secret!" Alice said with a small pout. "The others just followed along."
"I wanted to learn that too," Chloe added.
"Me too… kinda…" Ryota muttered.
"I just followed to keep an eye on them." Gale shrugged.
"And I didn't want to be left out! I don't care about creampuff learnin', but sitting at the table alone would feel weird." Kenya tried and failed to make excuses.
"No more bothering Mr. Yoshida. Let's finish our food and get going so the table can be cleared."
The day of our lunch together Jeff told me to meet him outside the academy in my "best clothes." I still wasn't really sure what qualified as formal garb around here, but I'd [Material Creation]'ed myself a nice tux, exactly like one I wore as the best man at my brother's wedding in Japan. A perfect replication of it actually, just a bit… downsized…
Hopefully it would pass–it certainly looked good, though it gives a bit of a different impression on me now. Back then I looked like a strapping, dignified young man, now I just… well, yeah.
I hope no women offer me roses as a joke to make me blush… do roses even exist in this world? I had no clue, not that it mattered much.
After a minute or two, I noticed the sound of horses' hooves, though far sooner than I expected. Was Jeff early?
Then I realized I was hearing this from a little under half a mile away. I'd been aware of the sound before then, but this was the first time it stood out from everything else in the city. Wow, [Magic Sense] really is something.
I ended up waiting about ten more minutes for the carriage to arrive, and when it pulled up… my jaw dropped.
Stepping down from the driver's seat, a man in immaculate clothes opened the door and bowed to me. "Sir Rimuru Tempest, your escort has arrived. Please step inside."
"Uh…" I couldn't help it, I was still gawking at the sheer flamboyance of this thing. How did Jeff manage to afford a ride like this on a teacher's salary!?
"Y-yeah. Sorry. Thanks." I nodded at the driver and climbed on, pointedly ignoring the hand he offered to lift me up. I was perfectly capable of jumping, thank you.
Jeff was waiting for me inside, and the first thing I did (after sitting down) was fix him with a look and say, "how?"
"Pardon?" Jeff asked, giving me a confused stare. But, after a moment he seemed to get the gist. "Ah, I suppose it's not obvious while I'm at work, but I am a noble here. Naturally I have the resources that accompany the title."
"This might be too much to use on me, man," I said a bit uncomfortably. "Not that I'm ungrateful."
"Nonsense," Jeff waved me off. "You saved my sister's life. Even if it's just once, I would like to treat you with the thanks you deserve."
"Well, uh, thanks." I nodded, hiding my confused mix of bashfulness and irritation. I didn't want to seem rude, but really? This much?
Nobles really don't know how to tone it down, do they? I mean, I guess Jeff looks normal enough at school, but he's definitely always got that stuck-up attitude…
Whatever. He was obviously going out of his way to give me the royal treatment, so I ought to at least act grateful.
"We were quite lucky to have such nice weather for the occasion today, yes? It's getting further into fall after all, I'm sure it won't be long before we see some dour weather."
Uh… really!? That's like, the most cliche topic you could've picked!
Today I learned that boring small talk about the weather was actually a thing, and not just from light novels. It even carried over to other worlds.
"Uh… yeah. It's, uhm, sunny." I answered stiltedly, not sure where to go from here.
"I think you'll like the place I picked out. They have dishes there you can't sample anywhere else in the nation."
That's… actually piqued my interest… but really man, can you get any more boring!?
"Well, great." I said, "sounds like fun."
"By the way," Jeff gestured to me, "what kind of clothes are those? It looks good, don't get me wrong, but I've never seen anything like it."
Wait, Yuuki's never worn a suit like this here? I'm surprised. "It's formalwear from my homeworld that I recreated," I said.
We continued on like that for the entire trip, saying absolutely nothing useful. And, just as I was starting to adjust to the atmosphere, we came to a stop.
I turned my senses outside of the carriage, curious about this place that Jeff was taking me. He really talked it up on the way there, not that I listened to him too closely, but it still left me a little interested about what was considered a fancy restaurant in this world.
Oh boy…
This wasn't what I was expecting at all! We'd passed into the city's inner circle on the way here, so I knew it was going to be an up-town place… but wow!
We were in probably the densest part of the city, but the palace-looking building in front of me had a full lot, no neighbors, and was surrounded by a gorgeous garden.
How far were we from the Englesian royal palace anyway?
…only a few miles. Crazy, so this was actually some big-shot noble stuff.
Well, now I was absolutely terrified.
Who knows what would happen if I screwed up and didn't mind my manners around here? Nothing good, I knew that much. I might even be sentenced to a beheading (was manga a good reference for this type of thing?). I didn't think that would actually kill me, but it would get me outed as a slime.
I was getting carried away in my thoughts, so I shook my head a little to clear it and stood up from my seat. The driver again tried to help me, but I just hopped down out of this thing, completely skipping the step provided.
Jeff followed me down, and the driver took the carriage away to some parking-lot-stable type area nearby. Gazing up at the building, I took a deep breath and followed Jeff inside, making sure to stay behind him.
It's fine. A bit fancy, but I've been to fancy places before. Just stay calm, mind your manners, nobody will–holy crap.
The outside was fancy, yeah, but they dialed it up by ten times for the interior. Jeff led us up to the reception, where the pretty hostess smiled and said, "Welcome! May I please see some identification?"
They even had bouncers, or whatever they're called in a place like this, standing on either wall next to her. This place was legit. They looked like normal servants, but they even had some discrete magic weapons on them.
I started fishing around in my coat for my ID, but Jeff held a hand in front of me. "No need, Rimuru. You're my guest." Producing his own license, Jeff handed it to the receptionist.
"Ah, good to see you Sir Emeritus!" The lady handed it back after a quick look and what I guessed was a validity scan on some magic device. Bowing, she stepped out from the counter and said, "right this way!"
I noticed she'd given me a long look, but she was trying to make it subtle.
Yeah, I'd like to know what a kid was doing here, too.
We were led to a cushy booth lit by a window that looked over a fountain in the middle of the garden. "Thank you for coming," the hostess bowed gracefully, "our wait-staff will be with you soon."
I picked up the menu she'd left with us and started looking at drinks.
"Good day, my lord, …young miss." She had to take a second to decide what I looked like. Really, the tux doesn't help? At all?!
I could see Jeff crack a subtle grin, which I ignored as the waitress continued, "what can I get you to drink today?"
"I'll have a dragon's blood with two shots of morning dew," I said, putting the menu down and pointing. This body had a poison resistance, so since it didn't matter how alcoholic the drink was I wanted to sample what the stiffs were like here.
"...that…would you like to pick something else, miss?" The waitress asked with careful politeness.
"Give the young man here a glass of water, please." Jeff interjected, "and I'll have a mourning lily."
"Right away, my lord," she nodded enthusiastically and left.
"Jeff!" I whined, "what was that for? You know my background! You could've backed me up!" I knew I had shared those details with him before, just to try to stop him from treating me so badly.
"Yes, I am aware you were an adult," Jeff nodded as he browsed the menu, "but your current body is certainly not. I don't think it's advisable for you to have strong drinks until you grow some."
…well, I couldn't argue with that. At least not without giving away my monster-ness. "Psh, spoilsport." I clucked my tongue, but decided not to pursue the issue.
I shifted in my seat a little, still feeling out of my element in a place like this. I could see every nook and cranny of the room, down to the smallest minute detail. All the subtle odd looks from diners and servers nearby, bits and pieces of all their conversations too; I was picking up on all of it. On top of my nerves, this was all just too much.
I decided to fix it by toning down my [Magic Sense] right then and there, not wanting to be a jittery mess this entire meal. If I kept on focusing on all the worrying details around me, I wouldn't be able to focus on the upcoming meal. It wasn't like I was under any real threat, outside of accidentally breaking something or offending someone and the subsequent consequences of that possibility.
Thankfully, it wasn't much longer before our drinks were brought out and it was time to order the actual food.
"I'll have the spiced herb-grilled steak with a side of abretto salad, hold the sauce," Jeff said.
"Of course, my lord," the waitress smiled. "And you, young master?" She turned to me.
"Uh… one sec…" I was furiously reading through the menu with [Thought Acceleration]... for the third time…
Gah, I don't know what half of these words mean! I squinted at the small letters, and it all sounds so good!
…you know what, screw it. I had already spent a day and a half trying to decide here in thought-accelerated time. "I'll have what he's having," I gestured to Jeff while putting the menu down.
"Right away!" The waitress whisked the menus off the table and went back with the orders.
"So," Jeff's face had that stoic noble-mask on, which I assumed meant he thought this was funny, "how have you been faring in the academy? I apologize for not asking sooner, since we don't see very much of each other."
Dude, you actively antagonized me for half the semester… He must really love his sister, since he was acting like this. Or maybe this was some kind of backhanded taunt? Hard to say.
"Well, considering my class won the outdoor training exercise, I think things have been going great." I beamed at him, the picture of innocence. "The kids are still really pumped up about it. We even had a celebration at a local cafe after the results were announced."
That, and the fact that they can live full lives now… No need to bring that up though.
To my surprise, Jeff didn't take the bait. In fact, he seemed genuinely happy. "That's good," he took a sip of his drink. "They deserve to have some happy moments in their lives, given what they've gone through."
"Oh…" Uh, what should I say about that? I wasn't actually sure how far the news had spread yet that they were okay. "Well, they've got a lot to be excited about. Especially now that they're not in danger of dying."
Jeff's drink stopped halfway from his lips. "Pardon?" He said, looking flabbergasted but… also a little eager.
"Heh," I smirked. "Surprised you, didn't I? I found a way to save them. They're going to be fine now."
"That's…" Jeff set his drink on the table and dabbed his mouth with a napkin. "You're just saving lives left and right, aren't you?"
"Well, I'm just doing what's right… and I made a promise to save them. You can't fail a promise like that." I took a drink from my glass of water.
Jeff looked at me for a long moment. "...have you told them?"
I glanced at him, a little apprehensive. Did he figure out that I'm a monster? "Told them what?" I asked.
"About Professor Shizu."
I stopped, or froze, more like, and carefully set the glass down. I wasn't even aware he knew about that, but I guess he was more well informed than I thought.
Leaning forward and putting my hands together on the table, I thought for a long moment.
"I want to," I said at last. "They deserve that much. But their lives have been so chaotic recently, and they're still learning to get along with the other kids… I want them to have a stable foundation when they take this on, y'know?" I sighed, "there has to be a time and place for that, right?"
"Hmm. It's a difficult burden to carry," Jeff said sympathetically. "You know them best at this point, and they seem to trust you. I'm sure it will work out."
We sat in awkward silence for a moment. "So how's your class going?" I blurted out, unable to bear the anxiety of what I still had to do. It completely dwarfed the nerves I'd felt about the fanciness of this place earlier. I almost felt sick to my stomach, if that was even possible for slimes.
The waitress suddenly returned with a tray on her shoulder and skillfully slid our dishes onto the table, then refilled both of our drinks before leaving silently.
"Things have been fine. Currently I'm teaching an elective class on magic wildlife, on top of my usual duties teaching Class A," Jeff replied. "The students have been hardworking and eager. I couldn't ask for a better group."
"Hah," I chuckled. "Yeah, they're probably nothing like Class S. So you're studying monsters?" I asked curiously. I was happy to have the distraction of a new topic to talk about, one I was familiar with.
"Yes, but only the weaker, docile sort. The kind that can't pose any threat to people." He answered while cutting into his steak.
"So like slimes?" I took a bite of my own food.
"Hmph. No, nothing that common. There's nothing to gain from studying those. Besides being repulsive, they are as uninteresting as they come."
I closed my eyes for a moment to center myself.
…I was really, really offended, and trying not to show it.
Then I looked down and spotted my fork in my hand, bent out of shape. I hadn't realized I was even clenching it.
Oh, whoops. That probably wasn't good, this was an expensive place. My hand had already been halfway under the table, so I hid the fork and tried to bend it back… but to no avail. I could bend it, yes, but it still didn't look like it did before my little accident.
Fine. Absorbing it with [Predator], I said, Great Sage, fix that thing and give it back to me discreetly.
[[Understood.]]
"I wouldn't be so sure," I argued back, now that I was confident I could keep my tone and expression composed. "They have incredible regeneration capabilities, for one, and I've heard that each part of them is so versatile they can dynamically alter functions to fit their environment and needs."
"The regeneration is nothing we can't learn from potions," Jeff took a bite. "But where did you hear that last bit?"
Huh, I guess that's not common knowledge. After what Jeff said earlier, I shouldn't be surprised. If everyone thought that slimes were uselessly uninteresting, knowing details about how they work on a biological level would be uncommon.
"Oh, uh… from a slime enthusiast." I backpedaled, "random guy I met a while back. Odd hobby, right?"
"Odd and unproductive, yes." Jeff answered.
I may have jabbed my steak with the newly-fixed fork just a bit too hard after that comment.
This was going nowhere, and I was liable to give myself away at this point. "Well, what is it you're studying then?" I asked, my voice coming out a degree too harsh. I needed to turn the topic away from something that was making me so volatile.
"A variety of things." He replied, "mostly monsters that can be found within a few miles of the city. Although," he paused, "we lost one of our study subjects recently. The students went to check on a colony of two-headed ground-Fleebs, and found the entire thing destroyed."
"Two-headed what-now?" I stared, confused.
[[Answer: …]] Great Sage said something, but I didn't hear it since I was busy focusing on Jeff.
"Ah, you probably don't have anything like them in your old world, do you?" Jeff realized, a condescending edge to his tone. "They're long, burrowing monsters with a head on each end of their body. They're incredibly cute, and very friendly. They live in large colonies in grasslands around the city."
"And you don't find that repulsive?" I asked, "two heads, really? What would they eat that means they need that?"
"Actually, they passively absorb magic from their surroundings, and any creatures they come in contact with." Jeff said, "it makes them very cuddly. A thriving colony is a sign of a healthy magical environment, so they're quite important. But sadly," he sighed, "something found the colony and dug it up. You should have seen the destruction, every single fleeb, gone without a trace!"
I froze, midway through taking a bite of my steak.
"I had to keep the students in the city while the guild ran an investigation," Jeff continued. "The monster responsible was surely extremely vicious, but the searches never turned up anything." He chewed, "most monsters are mindless, with only a drive to consume, so I imagine whatever it was moved on after exhausting the magic in that area."
Or maybe that monster just didn't like the look of those things! I guess I had, unintentionally, messed with one of Jeff's classes… but really, that was fine. It was still worth it, and now I knew I had gotten back at him in the process.
"Well, how did the kids react?" I prodded.
"How you would imagine," Jeff added. "I didn't allow any of them to call the fleebs by name, but they were akin to class pets. Many of the students were distraught."
"That's too bad," I said flatly, continuing to eat like everything was normal.
"Well, it made for an important lesson, I suppose." Jeff said, "the wild world is vicious and brutal, especially when monsters get involved. Anyone wanting to study magic creatures, or even just simply wanting to become an adventurer, will have to come to terms with that."
Man, I really had to hold my tongue here. I wanted to tell him off for lumping all monsters, and me, into that category, but getting too deep into it would just reveal my true nature.
"Human society can be pretty brutal too," I said, trying to control my tone. "You should know that, being a noble and all."
"Of course," Jeff nodded, "but you don't see people rampaging, killing innocent creatures to sate a mindless urge."
Monsters need to eat too… I grumbled internally, and what I did wasn't 'mindless'! "Well, I've seen people wage war for pretty mindless reasons, and innocents died in the process."
"Do people often war against each other where you're from?" Jeff asked curiously.
"It's incredibly common. Even more-so in history, but it's never really stopped… not on a global scale, at least," I answered.
"Well, that kind of thing doesn't happen here." Jeff said, "there are territorial spats between smaller countries, though those are usually handled through the council. Most nations simply don't have the resources, since they need to be on guard against more dangerous threats."
"By which, you mean monsters." I said, "Where I come from, monsters don't exist outside of stories. I know they're a threat, but are they really such a big deal everywhere?"
Jeff stared at me for a moment. "Maybe it's because you're an otherworlder," he said, "as they're often significantly stronger than normal people. But where we're sitting now is one of the safest places in the world." Raising his fork to point at me, he said, "in most places, including just a few miles outside these city walls, a single monster of even moderate strength can threaten the existence of whole villages. Regular people, even magic wielders, just can't fight back effectively."
"Hm," I hummed, taking in the knowledge as he continued.
"Frankly, I don't see why the people of your previous world wouldn't embrace peace, being able to live without the threat of monsters." He took a bite, "it's quite foolish."
"I agree."
I went to take another bite of my food, just to notice that none of it was left. I managed to eat it all without even tasting a thing, fully focused on the conversation I was having.
How disappointing…
[[Notice: recreation of that dish is possible with gathered data as long as the appropriate ingredients are present.]]
That was a small comfort for me. Nice to see that the sage had my back, as usual.
"Do ya think this is gonna work?"
"Of course it's gonna work. Everybody likes cake."
"Yeah, but ours is a little… tilted."
"I'm sure it tastes fine, though. Mr. Yoshida made sure we did it right, remember?"
"Maybe I should taste it. Y'know, just to be sure."
"No, Ken. It's for Professor Tiss, you know that."
"Yeah, I know…"
This was our plan for convincing Tiss to not snitch on Rimuru, although I knew it wouldn't be enough. I have my own ways of making sure that woman doesn't say a word about our sensei and his secret.
We escaped school grounds while he was gone on some sort of trip with Emeritus, planning on taking care of this whole thing while Rimuru was away. He probably wouldn't like my methods, but this was for his own good and safety.
The cake was fine, he'd have no problem with that part, but the other… he's too gentle to accept it, at least as he is now.
So, we knocked on the door to Miss Tiss' apartment. She had one so that she could stay in the city all year around, since the work she could get here was a lot more her speed than stuff she'd get on the outskirts of the country.
Just some little details I'd picked up about her over the years.
A tired-looking Miss Tiss opened the door, but she smiled softly when she saw us, before quickly realizing we were unattended. "What are all you doing here? It's dangerous to wander the city on your own."
"We needed to bring you a gift." Kenya was the first to talk, being as bold as ever. I also assumed he wanted to take the credit.
I smiled softly along with Alice, deciding not to be too abrasive yet. I needed to get inside her house, after all.
"Ah… Well, come in. I'll take you back to the school grounds once I see it." She opened the door wide, and led us to a small living and dining room. Then she sat on a chair in front of the small table in the middle of the room.
Gale, Ryota, and Kenya carefully carried the box to the table before slowly lowering it onto it.
Then we arranged ourselves on the couch.
"So, what did you guys bring me? This box is kinda big." Tiss seemed a little surprised at getting a closer look at the box.
"It's a-"
"Just open it, it should be a surprise." Gale cut Alice off, and she seemed a little annoyed, but quickly accepted it.
"Ah… alright then." Miss Tiss leaned down and opened the box, before getting a little jumpy. "It's a cake! A whole cake?! How did you kids afford this?"
"We asked Mister Yoshida for help baking it, and he let us use the ingredients for free." I wanted to make sure we didn't get any more suspicious implications in her mind.
After that, I tuned the children out for the most part. I focused my gaze on Tiss.
"Oh… Well that is nice, thank you all." She carefully took the cake cutter at its side and cut the round-ish cake into eighths. "We can share it then. I just wanna ask, what is all this for?"
Alice was the first to speak, what she said was important, so I made note of it. "Miss Tiss, we think you… know things… About our teacher."
"Oh… That is what you are worried about." Tiss set down the cutter and sighed audibly. "I had my doubts, but if you kids are going this far… Rimuru can't be bad. You are talking about Rimuru being a… S-L-I-M-E… Right?"
We all gave a quick nod, not wanting to affirm it clearly.
Tiss smiled softly. "Well… Don't worry about that. Rimuru's secrets are safe with me. Especially if you kids are so insistent about it, I'd only reveal Rimuru for you guys."
"Oh! I'm so glad, Miss Tiss!"
"No problem. Let's have some cake, hm?" Miss Tiss picked the cake cutter back up and then went to grab some plates from her cupboard. After that she came back and quickly placed a slice for each of us in the room.
"Yeah, I'm glad we can just enjoy the cake. I thought I might need to take this further." I made sure Tiss heard that, even if I tried to pretend to hide it by speaking under my breath.
Tiss raised an eyebrow at me, but ignored it a moment later. She began passing around the cake.
I smiled slightly. "Don't worry Miss Tiss, I couldn't have done much."
"Ahaha. Don't say that Chloe, you're definitely stronger than me already. I'm just a C rank." She sat back in her chair and began picking at the cake with a fork.
"I guess… I don't think about it that way. Personally though, I trust Sensei so much that I would've tried talking to you in private." I began eating my own cake, watching the woman closely.
"I-I promise there's no need for that." Tiss laughed awkwardly, as I saw the shivers creep up her spine. I still had my presence, even if it was a bit weaker, and I'd said enough to make my point clear.