Chapter 15

"Does everyone have their bags packed?" Buku asked the five children standing in front of her.

"Yes, teacher." "Yup." "Yes, miss Shizue." They simultaneously answered.

'I can't let them down.' Buku felt a painful pang in her heart. 'We will take care of them.' A strange, almost alien, thought calmed her down. 'That can't be! Us!?'

'Us.' her own inner monologue answered, filling her with both hopeful warmth and worry about the five kids she had taken as her charge. There was no doubt anymore; part of her was Shizue.

'I can tell them she lives in me! I don't have to crush them completely!'

"We are not coming back for forgotten toys!" Buku said in the best 'stern Shizue' impression. With everyone confirming that they had taken everything they needed for the long trip with them, Buku turned to Yuuki, who was standing behind them.

To Buku's surprise, he had gotten all the paperwork done in record time, and she was the official legal guardian of all five children, as far as most human nations were concerned.

"I guess this is another goodbye for now." she said, adding a note of sadness to her tone.

"Please be safe. Here's something extra, you know, for the future." Yuuki said with a warm smile as he handed her a small bag with money.

"You shouldn't have."

"This is the least I can do, sensei. Please be safe, and if you need any help, contact me immediately."

'She has something in mind, I can sense it. Laplace better not lose her.'

"Don't worry, I will. I know I can count on you." Buku said.

'Yeah, you are not seeing us again, you creep!'

After a few short goodbyes, all five kids dutifully followed their teacher out of the school grounds.

Solution met them outside with a polite smile. To get the maid to behave was not particularly hard, as she herself was a rather good actress, but that glint of hunger still remained in her eyes.

"Hello, children. I am Sally, sensei told me so much about all of you." she said in a cheerful voice.

"Hello, miss." the children responded shyly.

Alice elbowed Kenya who stared at Sally with his mouth open. "She's pretty!"

"N-no!" Kenya hissed, turning red from ear to ear.

"Alice, don't tease Kenya, it's not nice." Buku said, barely holding back her laughter. Solution surely had made an impression on the poor boy.

"You are so cute I could eat you up." Solution said, leaning down and ruffling Kenya's hair.

{ Solution, for fuck's sake! }

{ I am just being playful, mistress. They need to be put at ease around me. I would never harm anyone a Supreme Being wants to protect. I will protect their lives to the best of my ability. } Solution hastily responded.

{ Good! I hope the rest of Nazarick is informed as well. }

{ I sent an official report to lady Albedo. She has prepared the proper accommodations. }

Keyna, meanwhile, looked like a red light bulb, hiding behind Gale to save at least some of his pride.

"Sally is a student of mine as well. Please treat her nicely." Buku said to the children.

Not wanting to waste time and sensing someone following them, Buku called for everyone to start walking.

"Miss Shizue, where are we going?" Chloe asked as they approached the city gates.

"We will go meet my friends. I think they can help you." Buku said, accepting Chloe's hand. Alice quickly grabbed her other hand while Kenya and Ryota were holding Solution's hands, both being red in the face. Gale, as the oldest of the group, was not particularly fighting for the opportunity, but Buku noticed an envious glance from him towards the two lucky boys.

'If only they knew the real Solution. As long as she is not trying to eat them, they can have their first crush. She is a solid ten in the looks department, after all.' Buku chuckled internally. It was rather clear that the children saw Shizue as a mother figure, so the boys were more themselves around her, but Solution was a young and attractive woman who clearly intrigued them.

With the paperwork Yuuki had provided, getting outside the city was more of a formality and took only a few minutes.

'That bastard clearly planned to take them back once I found a cure.'

{ Do you sense our tail? }

{ Only glimpses. He hides well. What are your orders, Lady Buku? }

{ We will use the gate and send the children through first. Be ready in case we are jumped. If the worst comes to worst, protect yourself and the children. I am pretty much unkillable. }

{ I… As you command my lady. } Solution reluctantly responded.

{ Remember, don't go suicidal on me. We can go all out here. I got what I came for. } Buku sent a message. No part of her cared about the rest of the humans to a noticeable degree. Even Shizue's part of her didn't care that much about humanity and the world in general.

The spy carefully followed them, never coming closer. A safe bet was that once the gate opens, he would try to stop them from escaping. However, there was little reason not to worry for her own safety, as the one who followed them was above Solution's level but not even close to hers.

After a half-hour walk outside the city, Buku stopped. "We are far enough."

"Teacher?" Gale asked.

"We are taking a shortcut. Please don't be afraid of what you see on the other side." Buku said as a black void appeared in front of her. "It is safe. Go through it." She urged the children, carefully monitoring the presence that was following them all this time.

To her relief, the spy was not attempting to charge them and sat a safe distance away.

One by one, the children went through the gate, followed by Solution. Buku sensed that the spy was getting closer but not revealing himself. She smirked, created a blue fireball in her hand, and sent it in the spy's direction, causing a loud explosion near his position.

She then stepped through the gate while still facing the spy, with it closing the moment she was on the other side.

Buku intentionally chose her quarters. Her plan was to butter them up with sweets and manga and then tell them the truth.

"Where are we?" Chloe asked, looking around the luxurious room with an awed expression, just like the rest of the children.

"This is the home of my friends and I."

"Home? Teach, I thought you were from Earth, just like us?" Kenya asked.

"I will explain everything. Come, I have some snacks prepared." She guided the five to the table with pretty much every snack a kid would want on it.

Each took a seat and looked at the pile of food prepared for them, only then noticing the pile of manga sitting between the plates as well.

While the children dug in the food and grabbed manga to read without a care in the world, Buku stood at the end of the table, mentally preparing herself for what was to come.

{ Do not protect me. They are unable to harm me! No matter what they do, you are not allowed to interfere! Is that clear? } She sent a message to the eight-edge assassins guarding her.

{ As you command, Lady Bukubukuchagama. We will not interfere unless ordered by you. }

"Children." She got their attention. "I have something to tell you."

All five looked up at her in confusion. She could see fear and dread rising in their faces. They likely expected to hear that the cure was a lie.

"I… I… I am not Shizue." Buku said, transforming to her default look. "Your teacher… She died and is now a part of me."

All five just looked at her in confusion for a moment. Gale was the first to react as he got in front of the rest of his friends. "What- what are you? What did you do to miss Shizue?" he asked with a trembling voice.

"She died and I absorbed her. That part wants to save you. My friends and I will help you no matter what." Buku said. "I couldn't tell you this before, but I needed to save all five of you."

"What did you do to teach?" Kenya jumped to his feet and shouted, grabbing the handle of his sword.

"I didn't kill her." That was not a lie; Buku wasn't the one who killed her. Everyone else who knew what really happened was instructed to lie that Shizue died peacefully in her sleep.

"Why do you look like her?" Kenya shouted again, ready to strike.

"I… I took her form after she died. She is part of me now. I have her memories. I have her love for all of you."

"What did you do to her, monster?!" Kenya shouted and charged, his sword engulfed in flames. Buku caught his sword in her hand.

"Kenya, you can't harm me." Buku said with a soft voice. "None of you can."

Kenya tried to jerk the sword out of Buku's hand with no success. "What kind of monster are you?" he shouted as the rest of the children looked in shock.

"Children, my friends, and I will never harm you. We will do anything to save your lives."

"Kenya, stop. Let her speak." Chloe said.

Buku let go of the sword as Kenya jumped back and, together with Gale, stood in front of the rest of the kids.

"I'm so sorry I had to lie to you. If I could, I would have come like this, but they would never let you go willingly. Can you please give me a chance?" Buku asked.

"What will happen to us?" Chloe asked in a timid voice with a wary expression.

"We will try to do our best to make your bodies permanently stable, and then you can live out your childhoods in our nation. I will not force you to be weapons, but I want to train and educate all of you to be ready to face the world if you want to leave when you grow up."

Chloe took a careful step forward and asked, "Who are you, and where are we?"

"I am Bukubukuchagama Tempest, but you can call me Buku." she said while finally exhaling. "There is one more thing I must warn you about right away."

She took a long breath. "You are in Nazarick, which is located in the Tempest Hegemony, a nation made by monsters."

"Are you a monster?" Alice asked, trembling slightly.

"I… Yes, I am a monster." Buku said and transformed into Shizue, carefully approaching the children. "But please understand, part of me is your teacher and cares deeply for you, I care about all of you. I want for all of you to have long and happy lives, and I will stop at nothing to give you that, even If I have to protect you from all those nations that summoned you."

Alice stepped forward. "How can you be her?" she asked with tears forming in her eyes.

"I… When she died, she became part of me." Buku said as her high-pitched voice turned lower and softer, becoming a mix between her usual speaking voice and how Shizue would sound. "We are more than just one, we are Shizue and we are Akari. Together we are now Buku."

'Why am I using we?'

'I am her memory, but I am still here. Please take care of them.'

'I will, I promise.'

'Then I can sleep. I will come to help if you ever need help with them.'

Buku exhaled. She was not just Akari anymore. Perhaps Akari was the dominant personality, but she was not alone and would never be.

"I don't understand." Alice said.

"I know it is strange, but are you willing to give me a chance?" Buku asked and kneeled down, gently wiping Alice's tears away. The girl slowly nodded.

"Come, I will show you around." Buku said as she motioned for all five to follow her. "I want to introduce you to my daughter and son."

‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›

"What do you mean you lost her?" Yuuki asked in a calm voice with a gentle expression on his face, with only his eyes betraying his burning rage.

"She used some kind of door to disappear, almost burned my arse off as well." Laplace said, leaning back on the sofa.

"Where did she go?" Yuuki asked as Kagali put down a cup of tea on the table in front of him and sat down next to him.

"No idea. That girl for sure wasn't yer old teacher. That flame she tossed at me was intense. Something I would expect from Milim, not some human hero." Laplace exclaimed.

"Tempest." Yuuki said quietly, touching his chin with his thumb and putting his index finger on his cheek.

"What makes you think she was from Tempest?" Kagali asked.

"As far as I know Leon doesn't have a shapeshifter like that, and there is no one else who would even care about those kids. The question still remains, why would they need them?"

"She was an almost perfect imitation, good enough to trick even you who knew her best. I think the monster who impersonated your old teacher had consumed part of her soul and may have gained some of her motivations." Kagali said.

"I assume you have dabbled in that sort of thing?" Yuuki asked her.

"Among other things, yes. When souls are involved, the results are unpredictable."

"Knowing that Shizue was traveling through Jura, we can assume she was killed and consumed by the monster that now impersonates her and, for whatever reason, that monster took the kids and likely returned to Tempest." Yuuki said.

"President, do you have any idea what that place is?" Laplace asked.

"No. There never existed such a place before, so we must be careful. Was Chloe, the brat Leon was looking for, among the five they took?"

"How should I know? He never told me what he was searching for." Yuuki said and then added lost in thought. "Although we know he is searching for a dark-haired girl. There is a small chance Chloe is the one. Did Clayman or Tear find out anything?" he asked Kagali.

"Not yet. Didn't you send merchants to spy on what's happening in the dark area?"

"They have not reported back yet. I had to hide my involvement. In either case, we must be careful. I would hate losing Clayman's eyes on the demon lords."

"What's next then?" Laplace asked.

"Poke around in Dwargon. Maybe something of use comes out of it." Yuuki said. "We may need to rethink our plan."

The unexpected turn of the five children being kidnapped by an imposter was a strange twist of fate, an unwelcome one at that.

Edited by Edgy.

Proofreading by placid_void and kamijazz.