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Shizu held the internship report in her hands, and the usual gentleness on her face had given way to something rare: a frown.
"So this is the internship report you submitted to me!"
"Uh... there are always all sorts of unexpected things that come up, aren't there!"
Kaito scratched his cheek, looking thoroughly awkward.
"Oh? Is that so? Then explain to me why you let my students participate in a kingdom coup and watch people get killed right in front of them?"
"Do you have any idea how old these children are? Not one of them is over fourteen!"
The vein on Shizu's forehead grew more pronounced with each word. Watching her, Kaito muttered under his breath:
"None of your students were scared, though. If anything, they were all more excited than the last one..."
Bang!
Shizu's palm came down hard on the desk. Everyone standing before her flinched.
"We're sorry!!! *4"
"Hey! Milim, why are you apologizing too! You're not even part of our Jura-Tempest Federation!"
Rimuru glanced sideways at Milim, who had her head bowed right alongside the rest of them.
"I don't know either. I just had a feeling something really scary would happen if I didn't!"
Milim said, still visibly shaken.
"If there is a next time... you already know the consequences. But don't think you're getting off easy today either. As it happens, there's something I need your help with."
Shizu fixed each of them with a sharp look before finally speaking.
"Something? What is it, Shizu!"
Kaito asked, genuinely puzzled that she was actually requesting something from them.
"It's like this. I have a few students currently in the Englassia Kingdom..."
As Shizu explained, Kaito quickly pieced it together.
This was the arc from the original story where Rimuru traveled to the Englassia Kingdom to teach the otherworlder children.
But something didn't add up. Shizu wasn't dead. Ifrit had already left her body. So why was she asking them to go in her place?
He asked directly.
"Shizu, you're perfectly fine now. Ifrit is gone. Why don't you go yourself? Those children would really want to see you."
Shizu's expression shifted to something more troubled.
"I want to, believe me. But the children are all off on their own internships in different places right now. I genuinely can't get away."
"So I have no choice but to ask for your help."
Kaito nodded slowly, then turned to look at Rimuru.
"Rimuru, how about you go? I need to head to the New World to pull two poor souls out of a bad situation."
Thinking about the deep bond that Chloe and Rimuru shared in the original story, Kaito felt that sending Rimuru personally was the safest call.
"Sure! I've been wanting to see another country anyway!"
Hearing Rimuru agree, Shizu continued.
"Then I'll leave it to you, Rimuru-san. When you arrive in the Englassia Kingdom, go directly to Kagurazaka Yuuki, the Grandmaster of the Free Guild. He is also my disciple, and he will arrange for you to meet the children."
At the name Kagurazaka Yuuki, something shifted behind Kaito's eyes.
The final boss of the entire Slime world.
How to put it? Back in his original world, the man had been celebrated as a genius of the highest order. And perhaps precisely because he was too much of a genius, he had found everything in the world utterly boring.
After arriving in this world, he had discovered it was far more interesting than anything he had ever known. And from that discovery, he had conceived an idea that could only be described as insane: destroying the world itself, simply because he could. That ambition had made him the ultimate adversary.
Chloe, bound to Rimuru by something deeper than fate, had traveled through time again and again trying to avert the catastrophe he would bring.
Though it was said that in the light novels, Yuuki's goal was to rule the world rather than destroy it. Which version existed in this timeline was still anyone's guess.
(PS: The author hasn't actually read the light novels and is operating entirely on secondhand research.)
(PS: Even the Translator just saw the anime and some light novel chapters, so go easy on me)
To Kaito, who held what he considered a perfectly ordinary moral compass, there was only one word for Yuuki's reasoning: insane.
'What exactly did the world do to you? You want to destroy it because you're bored? Did anyone stop to ask how the world feels about that?'
He made a quiet decision then and there. Once he returned from the Girls' Last Tour world, he would deal with Yuuki. Knowing who the final boss was and simply leaving him time to grow stronger—that would be the real idiotic move.
By the time Kaito's thoughts returned to the room, Shizu had already finished going over the details with Rimuru.
"Then I'll leave it in your hands."
"Leave it to me! I'll bring them back safely!"
Rimuru gave a firm nod.
"Well, it sounds like everything's been sorted out. In that case, we'll take our leave!"
Kaito said, then frantically began shooting looks at the other three. They caught on immediately.
"Right, since this is settled, we'll be heading off!"
"Then, Ga-na~!"
And with that, all four of them bolted out of Chairwoman Shizu's office as though their lives depended on it.
Shizu watched their retreating backs and had the nagging feeling she had forgotten something.
Meanwhile, the four who had narrowly escaped punishment were in remarkably high spirits.
"Heh heh! Shizu thought she could punish us? Does she really think our 'Doing Nothing' are pushovers?"
"That's right!"
"Good thing I ran fast. Otherwise I'd be pulling guard duty here again!"
Rimuru looked at the three of them and sighed.
"So the three of you do absolutely nothing, and everything ends up on me?"
Kaito turned to her with an indignant look.
"What are you talking about! I'm going to another world entirely. That's considerably further than where you're going!"
Milim chimed in right behind him.
"Exactly! Exactly! I have to get back to the Dragon Capital too. If I stay out any longer, they'll come looking for me!"
Rimuru conceded the point reluctantly. Then she turned to look at Veldora, who had yet to say a word.
She was genuinely curious what excuse he was going to come up with.
"Uh... uh... right! This great me has been away from the seal for so long, it's about time I paid a visit to my elder sisters. I miss them terribly!"
Kaito stared at him with an expression that could only be described as profound disappointment.
He truly had not expected Veldora to sink to that level. Everyone present knew exactly what Veldora's relationship with his sisters was like, and he still had the nerve.
"Veldora, you would've been more convincing if you said you were going to the Eromanga Sensei fan club's monthly meeting."
"Cough cough... In any case! This great me also has affairs to attend to. Shizu's matter is entirely in your capable hands, Rimuru!"
Rimuru accepted her fate with a resigned exhale.
"Oh, right," Rimuru said suddenly, as if just remembering something. "Diablo seems to have come back. And he brought three girls with him."
"Girls? Is Diablo collecting a harem now?"
"Kai-chan!"
"Alright, alright. No more jokes." Kaito waved a hand. 'I already have a pretty good idea who he brought back.'
In fact, the moment he heard it was three girls, he knew. Outside of the other three original demons, he couldn't think of anyone else who would matter that much to Diablo.
"Rimuru, come with me to meet them."
"Okay!"