Departures And Arrivals 3

He spent the next half an hour explaining his circumstances, how he was reincarnated, how he met the monsters (he decided to leave Veldora out), became their leader and met Shizu, and the reason he came here to speak with him. Sitting crossed legged on the floor (most of the furniture had been displaced in their short scuffle) he looked to be reminiscing about something

-'So...Shizu Sensei is dead...' he said sorrowfully 'And you inherited her will? I see...'

-'Yeah, I am sorry.' he told him sincerely 'I tried to think of something to save her but...'

-'No, its fine.' he assured him 'Sensei did told me when she left that she could feel herself losing control of Ifrit. I knew...deep down, that I would not see her again. Anyways...' he said as he got up and began to move the furniture back in its place 'She died with some peace, did she not?'

-'Maybe...' Rimuru said as he too began picking up some of the scattered stuff in the room 'Though she did have some regrets left.' he informed him

-'Ah, yes, the children in your vision.' Yuuki said as he sat a chair up 'I know who they are.' Rimuru perked up from where he was 'They too are summoned, like me and Hinata, but...' he trailed off 'What do you know about summoning rituals?'

As he explained, summoning someone from another world was a long, drawn out process that took several dozen high class mages days to perform. In short, since gaining special skills and powers n this world was nearly impossible for humans, it was a much safer bet to try and summon someone and hope they acquired skills and powers in the process; even with the low success rate, it was still preferable. The drawback was the failures, at least for those who were deemed a failure

-'Failure?' Rimuru asked curiously 'If they were successfully summoned, how is it a failure?'

-'The difference between 'success' and 'failure' is that the successful ones acquire powers and skills; the failures do not. They are only summoned. To put it bluntly, being summoned involves being disassembled there and reassembled here; in the process, those pieces gatherers up massive amounts of energy. If successful, that energy manifests as a special or even unique skill. But if not,...'

-'Dose it just remain in your body?' Rimuru asked in curiosity.

-'Yes. If you're lucky, like me, you don't get a skill but do get some high resistances or physical enhancements, or a really bad deal like being unable to properly age...' he explained, looking somewhat miffed at his condition; he could understand that. 'But most are very much not lucky. See, with no outlet to be expended, all that energy remains in the body...and eventually can't be contained, and leaks out. Violently.'

'-What?'

-'Basically, they explode, and die. That is the fate of the majority of other world summons.' he finished 'This is especially true if the summoned are children. Willpower seems to have some effect on whether it succeeds or not, and children rarely have the willpower necessary...most don't last more than three or five years after they are summoned'

Rimuru stayed slacked jawed for a few more minutes; on one hand, he was really thankful he was reincarnated and not summoned, but on the other he was quite furious with the people that continued to summon people only to condemn them to die. Now he knew exactly why he felt such sorrow at the visions he had. He decided to ask about the students

-'They are so called 'failures', of course.' Yuuki informed 'Of no use for the nations who summoned them, Shizu brought them in to the Freedom Academy, where she could keep an eye on them, teach them...maybe even find a way to save them...'

-'She never did find a way to save them, did she?' Rimuru asked the obvious; he wondered if Shizu was looking for such a way when she came to the Jura Forest...

-'No.' Yuuki informed 'but she did entrust them to you, didn't she?' he said with a smile

-'Yeah...' Rimuru said 'Could I meet with them?'

Yuuki considered the question, then snapped his fingers 'I have an even better idea!' he beamed 'How about you take over as their teacher?' he said cheerfully

-...'what...'was all Rimuru could muster

Some Time Later...

-'Alright, let's try this again.' Rimuru said cheerfully as he sat up from his desk; five children were seated in front of him, two girls and three boys. They were the five students Shizu left behind: Alice Rondo, Gail Gibson, Chloe Aubert, Ryota Sekiguchi and Kenta Misaki. He called each of them and they answered, though when he got to the last one...

-'This is tyranny!' Kenta shouted, trying to sound brave; he failed, trembling in fear as Ranga loomed behind him.

-'And what is swingeing a flaming sword at someone you only just met, then?' Rimuru asked annoyed

The situation necessitates some explanation...

When Yuuki suggested he become a teacher at the Freedom Academy, he was a bit taken aback at how sudden it was; however, he quickly realized that the Grand Master had a very good idea: he could keep an eye on the kids and look for a way to cure them, just like Shizu wanted. As the Headmaster of the Academy, Yuuki could give him a recommendation and everything would be fine. He would get a room at the dormitory, a salary and access to the schools library and other privileges, so it was more than a fair deal. As Yuuki explained, the kids trusted no one after Shizu left; any new teachers assigned to them would be chased away, crying, within hours. Yuuki hopped Rimuru would be different.

Speaking of Yuuki, he had taken to calling him 'Master' after Rimuru asked for some paper and used it to recreate some of the -many- manga he had read, as a kind of gratitude. Yuuki was so happy he started crying.

In any case, the next day he saw the adventuring trio off, as he would be staying until further notice; then he made his way to the Academy to begin his time as a teacher. It did not start well. Both Yuuki and the manager of the institution had warned him that the kids were rowdy, but getting attacked by the Kenta kid with a flaming sword before he could even properly step into the classroom was way beyond 'rowdy' and straight up 'delinquency'. So, he decided he could play the dirty game too; hence, Ranga.

-...'Miss Shizu always dodged it...' Kenta said lowly. The other kids nodded, looking non to pleased at the current situation either.

-'Hm, yeah!' the blond girl, Alice, shouted 'And was always way nicer to us!' the others nodded in agreement 'She would't sick some giant dog on us...'

Rimuru carefully considered the kids; Yuuki said they were aware of their conditions. Thus, they knew they were living with a ticking time bomb inside their bodies, which would certainly put an adult on edge, let alone a kid. Then there was the fact that they got summoned here, ripped from any family they had, and then discarded like trash for being 'failures', he imagined they had quite a few good reasons to trust no one. He certainly would. He considered his options, then came with an idea...

-'Ah, fair enough.' he said 'Then how about this? We're gonna have a test!'

-'What?!' was the immediate collective protest 'Already?!'

-'No, no, not that kind of test.' he reassured them, to which they relaxed a little 'We'll go outside to the field and have a little one-on-one spar, yeah?' If you win, I resign. If I win...you gotta respect and listen to me, agreed?'

He had lay the trap, and they bit hook line and sinker. They all quickly agreed, cheering about how they were gonna make him leave like all the others. They didn't. Rimuru was almost sorry; they had no real chance against him, but he figured it had to be done. In order, all five of them were defeated right in the school yard.

They returned to class, dejected but with a newfound- very small- respect towards Rimuru. After talking for a bit about their education, Kenta spoke up

-'What's the point? We're gonna be dead in a year or two...' he said cynically. The others looked down and did not deny any of it. 'Even Miss Shizu abandoned us...' They could hardly say anything, with some looking ready to cry at the though, but then...

-'No, she didn't.' he told them firmly 'She never once did. In fact, she left to find a way to save you; I know, because that's why she sent me here...' he said; he realized he should tell them the truth about her death sometime, but not now.

Hearing what he said, the kids all looked up in surprise, eyes wide 'So, teach...that mask, it's really Shizu's?' Alice spoke up

-'Yeah, it is.' he told her 'She gave it to me as a memento when she entrusted you to me.' At this, the kids all looked at one another, as if speaking a secret language, but looking indecisive on weather to trust him. He decided to seal the deal, and took off his mask. Upon seeing his face, they all got tears in their eyes

-'Don't worry' he said smiling 'I'm taking over for Shizu; I want you to be good boys and girls and trust me when I promise this: I am going to save your lives!'

Thus began Rimuru's life as a teacher. He would try his hardest to succeed in his promise, no matter what lengths he would need to go.

He wanted to return to Tempest with his head held high, relieved of the burden he had accepted upon himself when he absorbed Shizu. Only then would he be able to smile the best he could when he welcomed someone special back.

Around the same time

The great city carved into the mountain side came into view as Milim came out of the clouds; unlike her own, this was build right on the peak of one of the tallest mountains in the region. This was Jia, the capital of the Harpy Kingdom of Fulbrosia, led by the Sky Queen Frey, a fellow Demon Lord. As she approached, the guards noticed her but didn't get in the way. They already knew who she was and had standing orders from their queen not to get on her bad side.

She flew quickly into the main entrance of the palace, located in the upper part of the complex, then landed and walked. Standing on each side of a large door were two identical harpy guards, both of which had panicked looks on their faces as she casually and loudly slammed the doors open. Inside, completely undisturbed by the commotion, was Demon Lord Frey, sipping tea

-'Helooo, Frey!' Milim billowed as she entered 'Nice day today, huh?!' she asked. She was wearing her Dragon Knuckles proudly on her arms, and Frey immediately guessed that she was looking to show off.

-'Indeed, it is, Milim.' Frey said with a smile 'What's that?' she said as she looked at the gauntlets. She had to admit, while they didn't suit her outfit, the gauntlets looked exquisitely made. Milim immediately had a starry look in her eyes and launched into a tirade about her latest exploits in the land of Tempest, showing off not only her gauntlets but many of the new clothes she got. Frey listened with the patience of a woman who had centuries of practice with hyperactive intruders; she had always liked Milim, even if the dragonoid got carried away at times. She especially liked how open and genuine she was; as a society built of strength, harpies often had to betray and back-stab one another to climb the social ladder, and Frey was no different: her current position as Queen was taken by slaying the previous one, her own mother. It was safe to say she had an impossible time trusting others or being genuine with them. Milim had no such problem; she was always truthful to a fault, though there were times when Frey saw glimpses of a deeper, more mature side of her. What that side was, truly, she could not say for sure.

In any case, she listened carefully at Milim's explanation and nodded along; she already knew she was in Tempest (she herself had recently sent someone to see what the place was about, but she didn't expect much from that particular girl...). She tried to hide her surprise at the more unexpected things. More importantly, she tried to hide her anxieties and fears of the future; recently, she had fallen in quite the conundrum when she accepted the assistance of Demon Lord Clayman with a little problem called 'Charybdis', and was in a bit of a bind.

-'My, this place dose sound like something, but...' she contemplated; Milim seemed...different, somehow. Something she never saw in her before. She carefully considered the way she talked on and on about this Rimuru, and then realized something... 'Hey, Milim?' she interrupted the dragonoid, who put down one of the dresses she was holding up

-'Hmm?' the girl asked.

-'Do you...like this Rimuru?' she asked. The huge blush that immediately appeared on Milim's face told her all she needed to know 'You do..' she said, unable to hold herself from smirking a bit. Of all the things, Milim having feelings for someone like that was on the very low end of the list

-'Ahhhhh...'Milim quickly tried to talk back, but stuttered wildly 'He he, ya see...its...not that...more like...' she looked away, looking like she wanted to run away, but decided against it 'yes...' she said meekly, like she herself was still coming to terms with it '...actually, we're...kind...a thing already...' she finished with a nervous smile

Frey had to blink. 'I see..' was all she could say. That was even lower on the list. She decided to offer a supportive smile 'Congratulation. I'm happy for you.'

'Eh he he...' Milim laughed as she scratched the back of her head, then heaved a sigh.

Suddenly, Frey felt a strange tension in the air. Milim's face turned to her and she could see the more serious side she knew of taking the place of the usual bubbly girl. Whatever it was, it was going to be bad for someone, she just knew it...

-'Listen, Frey...' she said slowly 'I know you're in some kind of trouble.' Frey thanked her lucky stars she had a good poker face, because inside she was actually panicking. She wasn't sure she wanted anyone else to get involved in her issues, let alone Milim. Not because she though the dragonoid could't help, but because she didn't want the girl to get more involved with her shady busyness.

-'Why do you say...' she tried to say but a look from Milim told her she wasn't buying it. She sighed...'It's personal...'

-'Dose it have something to do with Charybdis?' Milim asked; Frey blinked at her. 'When that think attacked Tempest...' Milim said 'It was coming from the direction of your nation; and you were awfully worried last time I saw you...' she tried to explain, continuing to lock eyes with her 'and even though it's dead, you still look really...off.'

Frey had to give it to her; she was more observant than most people ever gave her credit. She didn't though she looked particularly worried right now, and maybe she wasn't, but that was not fooling Milim in the slightest.

-'Something is going on. I have some idea, but I wanted to hear it from you...' she told her in a serious tone that Frey had never heard before. She wanted to keep denying it and tell her to leave, but felt a small, gentle hand placed on her shoulder 'Please. You can trust me.' Milim said with concern. Frey looked up in the girl's blue eyes.

And for the first time in a long time, she felt she could trust someone fully.