124. Hiiro and Heroes

When Izumi entered his mansion, he was greeted by Nikki and Mikazuki.

"Ah, welcome back Mister Izumi!" Nikki greeted him.

Meanwhile, Mikazuki looked around as if she was looking for someone.

"Umm, Master?"

"Your master still has work to do." Izumi replied with a smile. Then, he asked. "By the way, was there anyone coming?"

"Yes. A man with blue hair brought a Humas girl. He said she was your acquaintance." Nikki replied while nodding repeatedly.

"Yeah, I know her. But what I'm asking is, why are there two strangers in my mansion?"

Naturally, Nikki was surprised because Izumi knew that there were two people inside his mansion.

"Eh, how did you know?"

With a firm and cold expression, Izumi asked once again.

"Just answer me! Who are they?"

Nikki and Mikazuki looked scared by Izumi's expression. Nikki answered him with a stutter.

"I-I found them. T-they were unconscious, s-so I brought them here."

Izumi didn't take his eyes off Nikki, so he knew that Nikki had the intention to save those two who were injured. Not because those two people threatened Nikki. Izumi sighed in relief.

"Then, bring me to them. I want to see who they are."

"Y-yes."

Although Izumi could go by himself, it was Nikki who brought two strangers. Thus, putting his hands behind his back, he forced Nikki to lead him.

— — — —

"Huh. Heroes?"

Izumi was slightly surprised to see the Humas race– no, they were Japanese like him.

One of them is short with wavy black hair and eyes. And the other one has a voluptuous body, glossy long black hair, and eyes.

Sure enough, they were heroes who were foolish enough to believe Rudolph's words to defeat the demon lord.

"Eh, mister Izumi know them?" Nikki asked him in wonder.

"Not really. But your teacher is."

"Oh."

"Well, let them rest first! Once your teacher came back. Tell him to take care of these two! Just tell him he has guests!"

"Yes."

Nikki sighed in relief. She thought she would get scolded after bringing unknown people to his mansion. But it seemed those two were her teacher's friends.

But then…

"Ouch, ouch, it hurts, it hurts…"

Izumi ground her head in annoyance.

"Next time, don't just bring someone you don't know to my mansion as you please!"

Nikki could only look down to admit her mistake. Even though her eyes were welling up with tears, she tried to hold back the cry while nodding.

Then, Izumi rubbed her head with a smile.

"You know, Nikki. I'm not that angry. I'm just trying to let you learn common sense in this world. There are a lot of bad guys in this world, so you need to be prepared beforehand. And don't carelessly invite someone to your residence in the future unless you know that person pretty well. Moreover, you're a girl. Thus, you need to be wary of other people you don't know. You know, even the demon lord got fooled by her childhood friend and she would be killed if I'm not around." Izumi explained slowly and clearly to let Nikki understand his words.

At first, Nikki just nodded. But after hearing all of them, she understood one thing while her shining eyes looked at Izumi. The fact that the demon lord got fooled by her childhood friend naturally surprised her. But, while a demon lord almost got killed, Izumi could stop the murder. With that in mind, Nikki's thoughts changed completely.

At first, she thought the demon lord was the most powerful person. But now, the strongest one that came to her mind was Izumi. Even his teacher couldn't do anything to him at all.

Izumi didn't know what was in Nikki's head. However, he saw that she could understand his words.

"If you want, I can teach you how to read people's expressions. How is it?"

Nikki nodded excitedly.

Izumi had a good impression of her. Nikki's fighting style was somehow a copium of an actor in the action movie, Bruce Lee. Even though Hiiro rarely taught her, the fact that she could imitate half of it proved that Nikki was talented. It was just, she was too careless. So, Izumi intended to teach her something important although Izumi himself couldn't guarantee it would work every time.

Then, while waiting for Kyouko to wake up, Izumi taught Nikki how to decode people's microexpressions. He taught her to decode with some changes or movements in the lips, eyes, forehead, etc.

Izumi knew that Nikki wouldn't be able to master it any time soon. But at least it could be used as an experience for the future.

— — — —

When the sky started to turn dark, it was at that moment that Hiiro came back after he took care of everything to fulfill the contract. Behind him were Liliyn and Silvan who helped him.

"Why did you take so long?"

"Bunch of Avoros' minions also came. We try to fight them while preventing them from destroying their surroundings. It's a bit difficult for us because they are so strong." Silvan replied to Izumi. He had to admit, even a level 100 like him was barely any use against them. Only Aquinas, Marione, Ornoth, and Hiiro were able to stand against them. While Silvan and Liliyn were only acting as supports.

"Oh, no wonder I couldn't sense them, so you tried to lure them away from the capital, huh? Good job!" Izumi threw a thumbs up.

But, Liliyn twitched her cheek.

"You're a Cruel Brigade, aren't you? Why didn't you help?"

Izumi shrugged his shoulders to respond to Liliyn's question.

"Why should I? It was a chance for you guys to level up. I'm not nasty enough to spoil your experience." He turned to Hiiro with the following words, "Anyway, Hiiro. You have guests inside."

"Hmm? Who?"

"You'll know soon. Come with me!"

Izumi led him to one of his rooms inside his mansion. Izumi could tell that those two heroes had already woken up. And after he stood in front of that room, he opened it right away.

At that moment, Hiiro was stunned. He could tell from their posture although he couldn't see them well. One of them was currently occupying the bed, while the other one was currently treating the wounds sustained by their body with healing magic.

"Oi, what's the meaning of this?" Hiiro turned to Izumi with a frown.

Since Hiiro was so loud, naturally those two noticed him.

Izumi shrugged his shoulders.

"I didn't bring them. Your disciple did."

"Umm, Okamura–"

"Shut up for a bit!"

Even though the wavy-haired girl tried to speak in a nervous tone, Hiiro flatly cut her off when she tried to enter the conversation between him and Izumi. Seeing Hiiro's foul mood, that girl decided to remain silent.

"Tsk, where is that stupid disciple? I will hang her. Why is she always making trouble one after another?"

"You can do whatever you want later on. But, what your disciple did should be your responsibility. So, you should take care of them! Moreover, Nikki is still young. So it's natural that she is curious and clueless about a lot of things. That goes for me and you too."

"Haa, this is a pain in the ass…"

Hiiro scratched his head while expressing his grief. He sent his gaze toward the one sleeping in his bed, Minamoto Shuri. Following this, he spat out a light sigh before directing his face toward Shinobu, the wavy-haired girl. She returned his gaze with uneasy eyes.

"Can't be helped. You're still wounded. I will send you back to Victorias after you recover."

He coldly shot out those words, then turned his heels and tried to leave them. Izumi just curled up his mouth while waiting for the other response.

"W-wait a second!"