Chapter 9: Part 2

- Rimuru -

"So you guys had a sparring session. And the last guy tried to feed you a finger to take over your body. Is it just me or your life is weird?" He said, looking at Silas.

"Says the slime who rules over the village of goblins." Silas retorted, rolling his eyes.

"Touché."

"What happened then?" Ainz asked.

"Ughh….I apparently ate the soul"

"Digested maybe, not ate. That would imply you did it by your violation." He interrupted, knowing the complex feelings Silas had about his newly discovered heritage.

"Well….that, I guess. I did feel a bit stronger after that happened." Silas continued.

"That….makes sense in an odd sort of way." Ainz nodded. "Still, you were quite careless, Sil. Maybe you need to train your awareness a bit. Who knows what kind of magic you might encounter with your Restaurant opening in so many other worlds. It never hurts to have some training."

"Well, he's not wrong." Saitama added. "Just make sure your hair is taken care of." He said, caressing his bald head with a sigh.

"Pfft!"

"Oi! Stop laughing." Saitama scolded, making everyone laugh even harder while the guy pouted.

"How about this, the four of us can go on a training journey in my world?" He proposed.

"Oh, a training trip sounds good. Like power levelling and stuff, right?" Ainz agreed.

"Ah, I will have to pass. I have decided to register as a pro hero on Bang-san's advice." Saitama sighed.

"By the way, did you get the things I asked for?" Ainz suddenly whispered to Silas, the red light in his eye sockets looking round to see if anyone was looking at them.

"Oh….those. Yeah, Sakura and Tohru went shopping today and got everything. One moment, let me ask her."

"H-hmm. Alright. Take your time." Ainz went back to his fake royal persona and he chuckled at the guy's roleplay.

As they were talking, Silas went upstairs and came down with two bags and placed them on the table. "Here you guys go."

They quickly opened the bags to reveal the treasure in front of them.

"Woah….these are the classic gameboy advance. In my world they stopped making these over a century or so ago. I remember seeing one at a gaming museum when I was a kid." Ainz said as he carefully picked up the device between his bony fingers.

They looked at the man in wonder.

Over a century….gaming museum.

"I asked them to buy the latest ones in the market." Silas rubbed his head.

"And they are. Let's see the games. Ohh, Pokemon Red, Blue and Yellow and is that Legend of Zelda and Mario? Man, it's been a while since I have played these." He picked up the games with a nostalgic look on his face.

"Then how about it, we pick one each and then battle each other later." Ainz offered, picking Pokemon Red.

"Loser pays for the tabs that day." Saitama replied as he quickly picked up Pokemon Yellow.

"You are on." He picked up Pokemon Blue.

"….Aren't you guys busy or something?" Silas looked at them blankly.

"Yeah, I need to grind some levels. The gym is the rock type one and Charmander sucks in those situations." He waved it off, already on his character selection screen.

"My free food is at stake here, Sil. By the way, can I get some more udon." Saitama replied, switching on his own console.

As they were playing, the door to the Restaurant opened. He didn't pay attention to the person who entered the place….until he heard Sil's voice.

"Welcome Shizuka-san. What would you like to eat today?"

Rimuru's hands froze as he looked up slowly to see the same woman from all that time ago.

Even Ainz and Saitama paused and looked up at him and then her.

She too noticed their gazes and looked at them and paused at Ainz's form, staring for a while. "That's a cool Halloween costume."

Her eyes then went over at him. "Haven't seen you around. Are you new here?" She then threw Saitama a look. "Finally snagged yourself a girlfriend, I see."

….

….

….

….

- Silas -

I held the urge to laugh at the look on Rimuru's face.

Shizuka-san was never soft in her comments….even when she was sober.

She was a regular at the Restaurant and had been away for a while because she was out of town.

"Umm….Rimuru here is not Saitama's girlfriend." I offered, all the while pinching my hand to not burst out in a laugh. "Also….he is a guy."

"Get out!" She exclaimed and looked at me incredulously.

Seeing my unchanging expression, she asked again. "Seriously!"

I nodded and she turned towards Rimuru. "Wow, aren't you cute? And I thought Totsuka Saika was a trap."

Ouch.

She slumped down in the seat beside them. "I bet girls will be all over you, aren't they cute?"

"He's single." I threw in, earning a glare from Rimuru.

"Eh….no way." She looked at him. "I don't see why. You are cute. Maybe be more assertive. Hell, I would have gone out with you. At least I wouldn't have been stood up like the last time by that bastard Satoru."

….

I finally couldn't take it anymore and burst out in laughter.

"Silas, you bastard. Let's take it outside if you are a man!" He stood up, angrily.

Even Ainz and Saitama joined me.

_______________________________x______________________________________

After calming down, I explained the situation to Shizuka-san and it took her two hours and three bottles of beer to finally get on level with the situation.

"So, you….are Mikami. That same guy…." She asked, once more looking at Rimuru in front of him.

"Yes. I am sorry for not showing up that day. I was….you know….dead and all that."

The plans for the training trip were set aside for the meantime as Rimuru was having his much awaited reunion.

We decided to give the two some space and I went to check on Zeref and others to see if they needed anything.

And there, something else was going on entirely.

"You will be going with them?" I asked Lavinia, surprised at the sudden turn of events.

She nodded. "I don't really have much in that world and maybe a new place will help me come to terms with things."

"That's….alright."

"Actually, you all should visit too. It would be a good opportunity for you to learn magic." Zeref offered. "It will also give you all some time away till this whole incident calms down." He added, making me consider the option.

There have been people sniffing around the place since that day.

I was able to stay safe only due to the Restaurant.

Even Sakura and Tohru went shopping in Hayato-san's world to avoid the whole mess.

Our training trip was postponed either way so I need some place to chill out and I cannot stay inside my Restaurant all month.

I looked at Sakura and she didn't mind so I agreed too.

"Well, I guess that sounds good."

It was finally decided that we would go visit Zeref's world and. My shop will be open in the mornings as Lavinia said that the Supernatural side of things are more active during the nights so I can more or less avoid them in the mornings.

"Then allow me to host you all at my place." Zeref smiled.

We didn't need to pack much as the shop was near Zeref's place so we could return back at any time.

- Serafall -

She placed the reports back on the table and looked incredulously at Azazel. "This is a joke, right?"

The man stared back at her. "As much as I would like that to be true, it's not. I am sure your people can verify the news just as well as mine."

"But how is something like that even possible? To….selectively kill just the members of one organisation throughout the entire country."

"Two organisations." Azazel interrupted.

"Even worse. We have no records of anyone from that family having this kind of power."

"There are no records of anyone from any of the Three Factions….or the entire world having this kind of power." Azazel countered. "And yet, it happened. The facts are in front of us. We just have to accept it." He finished before picking up his drink and finishing it in one go.

She did the same.

"My theory is that the Wizards of Oz and the Utsusemi Agency encountered him and had some kind of altercation. One of their members, Augusta, the second generation Witch of the East, was the current host of Incinerate Anthem. The guy must have felt danger and decided to go all out."

"And wiped out everyone, from the footmen to Ultimate Class top officials?" She asked.

"Whoever it was, did leave the kids unharmed. Not something any member of that Clan would have done and yet there it is."

"There were witnesses? Do they know what happened?" She quickly asked about the new information.

"No. They were the kids who were kidnapped by the Utsusemi Agency. The kids had been experimented on and are still in a comatose situation. They were under control during the fight so I doubt that they would have any recollection of what transpired there that night. But just the fact that none of them were killed and even safely placed in a park, is not the behaviour of a normal Lucifer. Whoever this person is, he is not a bloodthirsty murderer."

That was….better than nothing.

"Can you at least tell us where the kids were found? Or if you have any idea about the location of the new Lucifer?"

Azazel looked at her strangely without any words.

"No."

"Huh?"

"I said 'No'. I don't want anything to do with the new guy and I don't want to risk the ire of that guy."

Her face blanched. "We are not looking for him to fight."

"Yes. But do you think I will take the risk? You know what this guy can do. Not to mention there is no guarantee that he is there. He could have easily moved on."

She tried asking a few more times but Azazel was adamant so she didn't push it.

Finding the place shouldn't be hard but even she was unsure if she wanted to poke the hornet's nest.

She would have to discuss this with the other three.

Just thinking about what could happen if someone like that decided to join the Old Satan Faction, made her dread.