Chapter 24: Part 2

- Silas -

I took this chance to sit with Rimuru, Ainz, and Saitama in a cabin.

They were playing a game in the room. It had become a routine we had started for the last month.

We played games from different worlds every night before closing the Restaurant for the night. It was a good way to chill out and spend some time with friends.

"Really? You guys are playing even now?" I asked, taking a look at the unfamiliar game.

"Oh yeah. Ainz got this game in his world. It's interesting. Wanna join us? We are short of one player." Rimuru asked.

"Hmm, sure, why not?" I nodded and got ready and sat with them too.

"Well, first things first." Ainz put a parchment in front of me. "Write your name at the top besides our name."

I picked the parchment, which looked like it was made from some kind of leather and looked at it carefully. "What the hell is this?" I asked as I tried to read the words on it.

"Just the rules and that you will follow the rules of the game. We can keep the score. This game is apparently quite famous and there are even competitions for it. I got these from a place that sold professional sets. Obviously I would take the best ones." He said, back in his normal Ainz tone.

"What language is this?" I asked as I took a look but was not understanding anything so I gave it up.

"It's a local language of the world where I have been transported." Ainz replied.

"Eh, sure. Let's see how the game goes." I shrugged and signed the parchment.

The game started and it was a dice game.

"Eh… isn't this just like monopoly?" I asked after playing it for several minutes.

"It is. It's mostly played by people from merchant families and nobles. These people throw a lot of money around for the competition and made it massive in the kingdom." Ainz explained.

"Sounds like a big deal there."

"Hmm. By the way, who was that girl?" Ainz asked, throwing a look at me.

"That was Orihime's friend." I explained the whole situation to him.

"You shouldn't just offer such things to anyone who asks for them. Hah! What do I do with you?" He sighed. "People will start taking advantage of you if you do this."

"Eh… I mean… It's not like I lost anything here. It was barely an issue for Rimuru and me." I asked.

"Yeah, awakening the Device was no problem." Rimuru added as he threw a die too.

"Oh and how well do you know that girl? From what you have told me, you only met her once before."

"Umm, twice actually. She was unconscious from the attack on the day I first met Orihime and saved them both." I corrected but added more at the look of exasperation on Ainz's face.

Normally one would feel annoyed at such things but I actually liked it and so did Rimuru. It was because we both knew the kind of person Ainz was.

He... didn't trust people easily. In fact, it had taken him some time to truly open up to us. The fastest had been Saitama and then Rimuru. Then again, Saitama would probably trust any person who gave him free tempura with his ramen.

But once Ainz trusted someone, he became very protective of them.

We understood why when he got drunk once during our hunting trip and told us about his childhood.

Seriously, I pitied anyone who lived in that world.

To some extent, we appreciated his overprotectiveness.

Rimuru was very easygoing, and I... lacked the critical thinking of Ainz too. Perhaps it was just our natures that didn't allow us to have that kind of thinking. The less said about Saitama, the better.

Rimuru was still better with his life experience, being the oldest in our group but Saitama and I… yeah, Ainz being there made our group more balanced and… complete, I guess?

"I… was thinking about Orihime. That girl... she really can't fight. I had talked to her about Tatsuki when she had come to visit us last time. She had been her friend since both were kids after the death of her brother. Well, you know how she can be a bit... unassertive." I asked, earning nods from both of them while Saitama was quiet but still listening. "Well yeah. She wasn't exactly treated well by kids before."

"Hmm, such a character would make her a prime target for bullying." Ainz nodded.

"Kids can be incredibly cruel sometimes." Rimuru let out a sigh too.

"Yeah… that was actually the case. Orihime told a few things to Sakura and Shuna and I found out from them. It was apparently Tatsuki who stood up for her and has been protecting her since then. She is... not a bad person." I added.

Ainz silently listened, not saying anything, waiting for me to finish.

"I heard that they were attacked by those... hollows, basically evil spirits, which target humans with strong spiritual pressure, basically strong souls. Both Orihime and Tatsuki are such people. They were saved by Ikki's arrival but..."

"What if they didn't get any help next time, right?" He asked and I nodded. "Hmm, when you go that way, it's understandable. The girl though… she seemed like a hero-type shonen character."

...and there he goes again.

"So are you planning to have Orihime awaken her device too?" Rimuru asked.

"Hmm. I will ask her and if she agrees, I will send her to take magic lessons from Irene-san and August-san when they return. Sakura and Lavy already go there. One more student will have no problems."

"That sounds good." Rimuru nodded.

"Well… I thought you were planning to get into her pants too." Ainz smirked at me.

"... seriously, what kind of guy do you think I am?"

"A Womaniser."

"Playboy."

"Harem Protagonist."

…

…

…

…

"That's kinda harsh, you know?"

"Hmph, what harsh? It's just the truth. You are already together with Lavinia and Shuna-chan and then there is... whatever it is with you and Sakura-chan. You even have a cute dragon maid in Tohru."

"Wha…"

"He's not wrong, you know." Ainz shrugged.

I looked at the last person in the room for some support only to see the blank look on Saitama's face.

Yeah… my bad.

"Dammit. Here, choke on my vengeance." Rimuru said as he fined me for moving into one of the properties owned by him.

I rolled my eyes at his words. "Why are you bothered anyway? It's not like you don't have Shizuka-san and Shion... not that you could do anything." I smirked at him.

As expected, he went crazy flailing his arms again.

This point never failed to rile him up.

In fact, I was pretty sure if he someday finds the person who isekai'd him as a slime, he would most likely torture them.

Anyways, incensed or not, Rimuru has great luck, especially when it comes to games.

He won the game and surprisingly, it was me who lost, being in last place in the game.

This did calm him a bit and I too offered him a drink on the house to calm him down.

We talked about a few more things before we decided to retire for the night.

______x_______x________

"Did we pack everything?" I asked for the fifth time.

"Everything is packed already. If we miss something, I can open a Gate to the Restaurant and we can get it. Let's go already." Ainz said, getting impatient finally.

I smiled at his impatience. The normal cool and calm Ainz Ooal Gown was acting like a kid going on a picnic, although still keeping up that roleplay of his.

"Alright, alright, no need to get so overexcited. I am just making sure." I chuckled.

The first day was mostly for us to show off our manga and there were also some shows. The girls said that they had also prepared for that part, although they didn't tell me what.

The cosplay competition will be tomorrow, although people will cosplay all three days regardless. Just like the people like Ainz and Rimuru who have prepared a different cosplay for every single day.

I wish I had that kind of dedication... or interest.

We weren't even alone today.

Many others had come from other worlds to join us too.

Naruto and Kanna wanted to join so Tohru joined in to keep a watch on them.

Fafnir wanted to come when he heard about it too.

Lucoa joined when she heard these two were coming to keep a watch on them.

Milim couldn't be stopped, so the only thing I could do was take precautions by increasing her watch by putting Shuna, Lavy, and Sakura in charge of her.

Cid was coming and so was Saitama. Although both of them were wearing their original outfits. Although some of Cid's friends were going to accompany us too.

Same was the case with Kazuma's friends, although Aqua denied it, preferring to stay back and drink rather than participate in all this. None of us were unhappy with her decision.

For our trip today, Tohru and Lucoa had used spells on us, which would hide the supernatural characteristics of some of us from normal people.

And wasn't that a mess by itself? At first, Fafnir had suggested wearing a necklace he had cursed, which would kill any normal people who identified us. Safe to say that idea was thrown out as soon as it came out and Fafnir got another ban on things he couldn't bring or give out in the Restaurant.

Seriously, that guy was a menace even when he was well meaning due to his thinking.

When he heard about Kanna and Naruto's... misadventure, he gave them a hundred cursed talismans, each with effects like bringing draught to a country, causing an epidemic, or downright bringing natural disasters like floods and earthquakes.

Thankfully, this was seen by Shuna, who stopped the whole mess in time or things would have been… catastrophic.

It was also the day he got the first ban on himself and a several-hour lecture by Lucoa about what to give children and what not to.

Later, Lucoa explained that Fafnir was actually meant to safeguard the kids in his own way. It's just that... his way and what he thought was normal was not normal for us. In other words, what a million-year-old dragon like him considered normal... might be very different from what we consider normal.

I finally understood what the term 'Generation Gap' meant.

I took another look at the dragon who was sitting with Kazuma as the two of them played video games.

This was an unexpected duo. I hadn't seen it, but it seems that after staying with eccentric people like his teammates, Kazuma had developed a very high resistance to... weirdness. If anything, Fafnir's brand of weirdness was right in Kazuma's zone of tolerance. And this was easy to see, as the dragon had done nothing bad since then.

We had hired a bus for the trip and the one driving was Yuri. How she got a licence for that, I don't know but she indeed had the licence for driving a bus.

I checked.

"Alright, everyone get in the boss. Slowly; don't rush. Careful. Don't rush. You might accidentally break the bus."

…Even I realised how weird my words were when I spoke them but... it was exactly what was needed as Milim tried jumping straight in and broke the window as well as the corner of the bus' chassis.

It was however immediately repaired by Ainz with a snap of a finger, as he didn't want anything to delay us.

This was like managing a dozen kids with superpowers.

I suddenly found myself respecting the teachers who took us on school trips.

Finally, I got on the bus as well and the bus started. I took this opportunity to address the group.

"Everyone remembers the rules, right?"

"Yes!" Several of them replied.

"Good. Remember, no fighting anyone. Don't wander around without your partner. If you lose contact with anyone, call the number you were given and wait in that place until we come and pick you up."

"Yes Mum!" Rimuru shouted, changing his voice, resulting in the crowd erupting in a laugh.

…

"Hah! Alright, alright, as you wish." I took the seat near Lavy too as Yuri started the bus and we left for Comiket.