Otherworldly Brats.

Once they were gone, it was time to kick off the big move.

All it really entailed was heading to the room and picking up the keys.

As it turned out, we were gonna share a room, but meh, nothing special.

As Yuuki excitedly put it to me, I'd get to enjoy "a dedicated staff dormitory, plus three meals and five silver coins per day!"

I would've been receiving ten silver coins as per the usual, but I applied to serve as an assistant to Rimuru.

Why? Well, all the classes had their own share of problems (teachers), so there was no need to further employ a teacher, but with our circumstances, he proposed that I rather assist Rimuru since that was basically what I was here for.

The manager confirmed that with me (the payment value), so I figured I wasn't being scammed.

Even though the money held no value to me, it wasn't a good thing to be scammed.

In fact, it only made you look like a fool.

There was also the manager stating that they'd get the place cleaned up and handle the room before the day was through.

I also took a quick peek inside while I was there. It wasn't a major step down from last night's inn. I was happy with it.

Some days passed, and Rimuru decided to hit the library for some reason. Why go to a library when you have this information being as your buddy?

It wasn't like I was gonna tell him that.

 ◇◇◇ 

It was now my first day of work. After a few greetings, I was given a word or two of advice from the academy's vice principal.

Yuuki left us a note of warning, saying that it would be real work.

Yuuki—in addition to being guild master, was also chairman of this school's board of directors.

He called it more of an honorary title than anything, but I was still impressed.

In the ten or so years he had been there, he not only built up the entire Free Guild but even set up an affiliated school for the outfit.

In a way, he was the ideal all

adventurers should aspire to.

My job, however, would be running a special class that was a tad different from what most students had access to.

The S-Class, as they put it, was a group of students deemed to be problematic in one way or another.

I wasn't really fond of children, but problematic ones? Let me fix them—is all I told him.

It seems this class was wild enough that it had already driven off several would-be teachers in the meantime, including a few B-ranked adventurers.

The vice principal told me all this, much as Yuuki did before. It was composed of five students, as he put it a few days back.

Rimuru and I had a brief meeting with Yuuki and the vice principal about some stuff.

Hinata Sakaguchi, the kids, heroes, demon lords—all the boring stuff.

I already knew of those, so there was no need to listen attentively.

Rimuru ended up taking the role of saving the kids.

But really, this world was so messed up.

I totally forgot about that.

"…I'd love to put my trust in you two. It's not every day that the chairman makes a personal recommendation like this. But those kids were too much even for B-ranked adventurers. Nobody's going to hold it against you if

you decide to turn the offer down."—I reckoned him saying.

Well, I just hope they aren't all mouths and no brains.

Rimuru: 「*Sigh,* Everyone keeps looking at us weirdly. Even the vice principal.」

Fubuki: 「Well, no one could blame him for underestimating us, especially when my "daughter" having such a small physique wants to be a teacher.」

Rimuru: 「Fine, "Mom," you didn't have to lay it that thick.」

Fubuki: 「.....」

We kicked off the first day of class.

Rimuru began.

Rimuru: 「Hey, guys! I'm in charge of you all starting today—」

A friendly, blazing sword met his figure.

It was a warm welcome, no doubt.

"Sweet! Nice one, Ken!"

"Is that your finisher? It's all done now?!"

"Kinda weak in the end. It didn't even land! Look, the other one's still alive!"

Weren't they supposed to be somewhat lacking? 'Cause they seem pretty healthy to me!

Way too energetic. They aren't what I imagined at all!

And seriously?! Chloe?! What the heck is she doing here?!

She never spoke about being a reject! Was she too ashamed to tell me? I'd have had it easier if you told me!

Does that mean the time of chaos is arriving soon?

Man, I thought it was gonna take longer.

But striking someone before you even met them? How flashy.

We're in a tougher realm, so if I broke a few bones here and there, no one would sue me, right?

They were still grade-school age, but I guess they packed a punch.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting this. I thought they'd be a little more obedient.

I guess it's never easy with life.

 ◇◇◇ 

We settled down as the kids took their seats.

Now, it was time he called each by name. Looking over the files he picked up in the staff room, he began to call out each of their names.

No reply.

Then—

Rimuru: 「Please give me a reply when I call your name.」

Kenya was the first to voice his tearful complaints.

Kenya: 「Hey! What's that dog—is that a wolf?! Get it out of here!」

Ryota: 「K-Ken, are you okay?」

Kenya: 「G-get away from me! This is crazy!」

Alice: 「Ahhh! I'll behave, I'll behave!!」

Ranga: 「I am Ranga—neither a dog nor a wolf. My master requires your cooperation, child. So what will it be? Will you adhere, or—?」

Drool from his mouth bathed Kenya's head.

Rimuru: 「Whoa, Ranga's a big hit. Look at him play around with those kids! It really warms the heart, doesn't it?」

Fubuki: 「…That's… kinda right.」

He turned to face them again.

Kenya: 「All right! Okay!」

Kenya shouted, eyes tearing up at Ranga's threat.

There's a good boy. He may not have liked it, but it did the deed either way.

Rimuru: 「There you go! Children must do as they're told!」

He smiled and conducted the roll call.

Apparently, these kids had hit it off pretty well with Shizu. Apart from her, though, Yuuki was the only person they'd listen to.

Given their circumstances, I

should have expected that, but that didn't mean I'd let them steamroll over me.

Rimuru: 「My name's Rimuru, and I've been appointed to be your adviser starting today.

I ain't gonna coddle you the way Shizu did, so you better be sure you understand that before anything else!」

They were no longer in a state of outright rebellion, but they were hostile as ever.

Ranga got back into Rimuru's shadow.

Gale: 「Uhh, who's the lady at the door? She hasn't done a thing since she entered?」

Alice: 「Yeah, she isn't even blinking!」

Oh, right. I haven't introduced myself.

Fubuki: 「Ahh, yeah, about that, my pronouns are he and him. Not she/her. You can call me Fubuki. I'll be watching your behavior and partaking in your progress. I hope we can cooperate in peace.」

Kenya: 「A… man…???」

Alice: 「WHAT!?! That… That's just stupid!」

Fubuki: 「Excuse me?」

Alice: 「N-Nothing!」

Rimuru: 「Uhh, relax, guys. I wouldn't mess with him if I were you.」

Rimuru started drilling into them the importance of politeness and obedience.

The deep hatred they obviously had for anyone outside their group would make earning their trust a trial.

If I were them, my thought process would probably be along the lines of "I'll kill that asshole," but I wasn't.

This world was all about survival of the fittest. If they couldn't beat Ranga, their selfishness ended now.

If you wanna hate someone for it, hate yourself for being so damn weak.

Rimuru: 「Okay, then! I suppose you've all got something you'd like to say to me. So how about we have a little test?」

The effects were immediate.

Alice: 「Huh?! Hey! Why's it gotta be that?!」

Ryota: 「A test?」

Kenya: 「Blehhhhh!」

Chloe: 「I hate tests…」

Fubuki: 「Nobody gives a damn.」

Gale: 「But that's way too sudden! We demand an explanation!」

They protested with burning faces, loudly so.

Rimuru: 「Look, I know what you're thinking, but it's different.」

Kenya: 「Why?! We're gonna die either way, so what's the point?!」

Alice: 「Yeah, just because you've got a big dog doesn't mean you can Lord it over our heads!」

These kids, they really match the type I'd rather avoid.

Loud and annoying. Really, I'd rather not deal with this.

Rimuru explained his reason for calling it a test. Apparently, it's to test just how strong they are.

A small spar or something like that.

He managed to take them out with that. They seemed pretty confident in their ability to fight. This led us to now.

Rimuru: 「I'll take on these three. Why don't you deal with those two?」

Fubuki: 「Huh? Why am I being dragged into this?」

He ignored me and moved on to handle the kids.

Kenya: 「It's legal to use swords, right?」

Rimuru: 「Have you already forgotten? Give me everything you've got. If you guys lose, you oughtta start calling us with honorifics.」

Kenya: 「Pfft, let's see what you've got!」

 ◇◇◇ 

Yeah, he whooped their asses. Rimuru had Kenya, Chloe, and Ryota going for him.

They had to fight together to defeat him, and if they couldn't do it, he'll win automatically.

Ryota kept charging at him, Kenya kept swinging his blazing blade, Chloe, on the other hand, just stayed behind and stared at them.

I still couldn't get over her appearance. She's already messing with the world at this point, but that's not really my concern anymore.

As long as she doesn't bother me, then I guess there's no problem messing around with the laws. People do that every day.

It was a ten-minutelong test, but from the looks of it, Kenya had already lost.

Gale: 「You can do it, Ken!!」

Alice: 「Don't let the jerk beat ya, Ryota!」

Fubuki: 「Oh, who are you calling a jerk?」

Alice: 「Hmph!」

This brat, she has no restraint, right? We'll need to correct that during the test.

Kenya strained his body, attempting to live up to the cheers. He tried his hardest to land an attack on him, but Rimuru didn't even need to predict his moves. He was an open book.

He looked like he would cry by the time the five-minute mark passed.

Poor kid.

Ryota, on the other hand, just kept blitzkrieging towards Rimuru like a bull, but he was always either swayed or avoided.

Rimuru tried to advise Kenya, but he was obviously too hardheaded to heed.

Ten minutes had passed, and he lost.

Rimuru: 「And it's over! Remember, it's Professor Rimuru and Professor Fubuki from now on. Next up!」

Chloe: 「Me?」

Rimuru: 「You didn't do anything throughout, so I figured you wanted a 1v1 match.」

Chloe: 「Okay, but don't go on crying after you lose.」

Hmm, what kind of magic was she A-okay with?

Time magic? That seems reasonable to me.

But as my mind wandered, I heard her chant "Flowing water, confine my enemy! Water Jail!" Instantly, a torrent of water pinned Rimuru's legs to the floor.

The water current grew more violent, forming a large sphere that enveloped him.

I guess this is also cool. I bet it cuts through analyzing maintaining contact with it.

Chloe: 「I've transformed that magic to have it rain down constantly upon whomever it captures! Admit your defeat, and I'll release it, but if you don't, you're gonna die!」

Freaky little brat. What's your deal?

Rimuru: 「Pretty impressive, but it won't work on me. You're using it really well, though. I hope you keep up practicing!」

Rimuru just walked out of it.

He patted Chloe on the head.

Chloe sat on the floor with a surprised expression. Her face reddened as tears came to her eyes.

Well, that's all she got on magic? Pretty lame to be honest. I really don't see hope in this generation of magic users. It's kinda disheartening, really. They've all forgotten about it.

No longer interested in fighting, Chloe ceded victory. She rubbed her head where he patted her, looking oddly content as she smiled.

Uhh, okay, I saw that wrong, right?

So, is that how it started? Really? Just from a head pat? Her take on romance is really twisted.

Rimuru came to meet me right after that.

Fubuki: 「Gotta admit, that was cool.」

He simply smirked to my remark.

Rimuru: 「I've defeated those three. Now it's your turn. Please take it easy on them. They're just kids.」

Fubuki: 「Sorry, but that only gives me more reasons to kick their asses so badly.」

Rimuru: 「How does that…?! *Sigh* Just don't kill them.」

Fubuki: 「No promises, my dude. Especially with that brat running a marathon with that mouth.」

I turned to look at Alice, who only gave me a smug look in return.

Before I could complain, she had already begun a marathon with that cursed mouth, talking trash about how badly I was gonna cry after being kicked in the ass.

Rude jerk, I'll make sure to burn that lip to oblivion, just be prepared.

Fubuki: 「Alright, let's begin. Just like Rimuru did, I'm taking you all at the same time, so do your worst.」

Alice: 「About time, my turn's up! You worthless idiots better take a lesson or two from me!」

This girl… I swear, I'll fix her.

I couldn't help but notice that we'd been attracting an audience of students and teachers.

Good, very good. I'll show off my amazing skills to the whole school and disgrace this brat in front of everybody.

Her stupid little pride must surely break after that.

Alice, it turns out, was a Golem Master, something she must've stumbled upon as she saw Shizu and her spirit skills.

It was astonishingly creative,

especially for a child.

If fur and foam produced this level of attack, she'd be packing some serious heat if someone gave her some steel robots or something.

She might be the strongest of the five, even.

Gale: 「Don't hate me if this kills you, all right?」

Gale, on the other hand, kept on shooting some annoying magic bullets like his life depended on it.

When he saw that I kept dodging all his magic bullets, he decided to talk things out with Alice.

Gale: 「Hey, Alice, distract him for me!」

Alice: 「Huh? Don't order me around.」

Despite her words, she still followed through.

Her golems all charged at me, and I had no such time following through with their stupid plan.

Fubuki: 「『Flare Cannon』.」

A literal cannon of pure flames shot out of my hand and detonated those little golems to oblivion.

Alice: 「Noooo!! My sweet babies! Y-You killed them!! Uwaaaaaah!!」

Huh? I thought she was some tough woman of equality and power or something. What's with all the noise?

Kalisha: 「Was that really necessary?」

Oh? Of course, it was a requirement to maintain my coolness.

「Ever since you fused with your demon factor, you've become significantly crueler.」

As long as I'm not destroying nations and ending civilization, let the reign of tyranny prevail!

「It's a good thing you would never get the chance to pass down your "evil" traits to your own generation.」

...You dare?! You—?!

Kalisha: 「Uh-oh, someone's taking it personally. But what she speaks is nothing but the truth. It's either you get smashed or nothing at all.」

So, these dudes, the first thing they do after not speaking for a while is to bully me.

Rimuru: 「Uhh, Fubuki, are you even paying attention?」

Oh shit—!

Before I knew it, a magic ball jammed me—full-fledged blast and all.

Debris rose up to cover my entire figure.

That was not good.

That blast could take out a B-ranked adventurer, so if I came out of that up and kickin', things won't stay good.

But hey, what do I care?

That kid just tried to kill me. Shouldn't I get some sort of praise for defending myself from such an attempt at murder?

Kenya: 「Yeah! You got him, Gale! Nice one!」

Ryota: 「Way to go, Gale!」

Chloe: 「Is he okay?」

And these brats, they were merrily cheering their lives off.

Rimuru: 「Uhh, let's not get too excited now, kids. Look closely.」

I felt a pair of squinted gazes fixed on me, but I cared less about their thoughts on th matter.

Manipulating the air current, I swept away the debris, and my figure was clearer now than ever.

Kenya: 「N-No way… He still lives?」

So, I was supposed to die? Tch, they're pretty cruel for little children.

Ryota: 「He's really strong, isn't he…?」

Alice: 「Shoot him again! I don't wanna see his stupid face! He ruined them all!」

That wouldn't happen if you kept your little mouth shut and taunted me less. You were pretty much screaming suicide when this all started, asshole.

Gale: 「Yeah, that's not happening. I'm drained, and the time limit has been breached. We've lost…」

Good, at least one of you have a good head on their shoulder.

Fubuki: 「Good, you've lost, so you follow our instructions now. Get it?」

I'm sure the crowd would think I was a bully, but that mattered less.

Well, at least I managed to save face. I had now shown what I could do to all five of my students.

These are definitely the loudest bunch of brats I've had. I really miss those guys now…

"Wow, that adviser in the mask is amazing! He just dominated those little hellions!"

"That was a B-ranked adventurer? No way. Strength like that has Shizu written all over it!"

If only you knew the truth. Damn, I've got people underestimating me a lot these days. It's really refreshing.

With that kind of commentary from the crowd, I felt safe assuming my reputation around school was now secure.

Back in class, we sat the kids down and addressed them.

Rimuru: 「All right, with all that said and done, I'm sure you've seen that we're really strong, and I promise you: we are going to help all of you out. I swear it by my mask here.」

Fubuki: 「Yeah, just keep the disrespectfulness down, and I'm sure we'll get along pretty well.」

Alice: 「Hmph!」

Uhh, seriously? This is getting a little too far. Let's fix that.

Fubuki: 「Yeah, also, I'll make you some other golems to use. I'll make sure they're way better than the previous ones. So, will you forgive me by then?」

Alice: 「You better stick to it…」

She didn't even answer my question. Am I being tricked or…?

Chloe: 「Is that… Miss Shizu's mask?」

Rimuru: 「That's right, Chloe. Shizu gave it to me…and when I accepted it, I guess I agree to take you guys on, too.」

Chloe: 「All right.」 Chloe said, nodding her head satisfaction. 「I believe you.」

Ryota: 「U-Umm, me too.」

Alice: 「Yeah, I believed in you from the beginning, ya know!」

Rimuru: 「Sure you did.」

I'd rather not comment on that.

Kenya: 「Oh, come on, guys… In that case, I guess…」

Gale: 「Yeah, Kenya. I think we can trust this guy, too.」

I guess that's all settled. Wait a minute—

Fubuki: 「Hey, what about me?!」

Alice: 「You're a fraud.」

Fubuki: 「What?! You dare?!」

Chloe: 「Heh.」

These little—

Rimuru: 「Alright, that settles it! I promise we're saving all of you, but to do that, I need you to trust us and act like good boys and girls. All right? Shizu entrusted me with you, and I'm not going to abandon any of you! So is he, so, is that alright?」

Alice: 「Until he gives me a new toy, I'm not giving him a dime.」

Chloe: 「I don't have anything against him, so I'll believe him too.」

Ryota: 「M-Me too.」

Gale: 「I guess I'll trust him…」

Ahh, he's still thinking about that blast. Well, I'm built differently, so you shouldn't feel bad.

Kenya: 「I don't care.」

So, he's tsundere, huh? It's not really cute. Just like Velda's girlish gaze, it creeps me out.

Fubuki: 「Thanks for the trust. I also believe I'll take good care of you guys, so rest assured.」

They rewarded me with their calm, resolute stares.

""""Thank you, Mr. Fubuki!!""""

Uhh, that sounded weird as hell!

 ◇◇◇ 

Fubuki: 「—And in the last minute, the jerk pulled out the—"Nah, I'd win"—card and gave that alien god or whatever he was the sickest punch I've ever seen!」

「Note: Most of you already know the anime he's speaking of, but for those who don't, you really need to get a life. An anime life. No offense, though.🤷」

Alice: 「Wha?! Really?! That's so cool!」 Alice exclaimed with stars in her eyes. 「Did it kill him?!」

Fubuki: 「Nope, no spoilers. Time's up, kids. We have math to solve!」

Alice: 「Daaahhhh!! I hate you!」

The days were occupied by classes; the nights by information-gathering sessions. It made me glad I didn't require sleep with this body.

I had seen the problem with the kids, and there was a solution.

I could easily solve the problem, but that would pose too many problems.

First of all, it was something about Chloe. She mentioned being summoned into the future in the labyrinth or whatever.

I'm not clear on the details, but as long as it has something to do with the labyrinth, then I'm not interfering.

Plus, I can't have this slime always depending on me all the time.

If he gets too dependent, it would only set a bad example for our people.

Besides, I'm not always reliable. There are instances where I become completely useless.

Just like when Velda died. With all the power I had, there I was, standing uselessly before their wounded corpses.

That sight would haunt me forever, but I had better things to do than to remain on a forgotten past.

A world to watch and a life to live—I guess that's how I saw things through to this very day.

Rimuru thought it was cool to take the kids out on an adventure of the sort.

School wasn't in session; it was the equivalent of a Sunday in my old world. Now that I think of it, I haven't really thought about those types of things.

The comparison between my old and new world.

I had other matters to deal with, but that would come later.

I was clear with Carrion, but I knew less about the others. Especially that guy called Clayman.

According to Milim, the newer generation was somewhat weaker than the previous ones and was definitely more ambitious.

All of them weren't true demon lords. Looking back at it, there are only four true demon lords present in that bunch of terrorists.

There's also a former true hero playing around the gang.

The whole squad is just a bunch of retarded weirdos playing around and fighting for power. There's nothing else really interesting about being a demon lord.

That honestly didn't matter to me. If they were bored, they should probably just go commit suicide or something, but messing with my forest is a no-no.

I had to make that clear. I'll have to make my stand clear during one of their stupid meetings.

After that, I'll see what their next course of action would be.

 ◇◇◇ 

Fubuki: 「You're planning to head over to Ur-Gracia? The place of the spirits?」

Rimuru: 「Yeah, I figured you'd be useful, but it seems I had to handle all the work myself.」

Two months had passed since I accepted the teaching role at Englesia.

His goal was to save the kids, but I had no such ambition. I was supposed to help, but that didn't mean I'd have to go out of my way to do it all.

Fubuki: 「Scrap that shit. All you did was find a possible solution. You weren't the one carrying out the lessons, yeah?」

I had been the one teaching them actual stuff. All he did was intervene and crack stupid jokes to rile me up.

In the middle of a serious lesson, he would summon a stupid old joke, and the students would lose concentration, making things harder and more difficult for me.

Rimuru: 「Yeah, yeah, I guess you had your times. Anyway, about the summoning thing…」

Fubuki: 「Right, sure, that's alright with me. I could take y'all there.」

Rimuru: 「Wait, you knew where it is?! Why didn't you tell me?!」

Fubuki: 「Uhh, you never asked? Besides, there was no solution to the problem at the time.」

Rimuru: 「*Sigh,* I guess you doing this for us is another way of helping.」

Fubuki: 「When exactly?」

Rimuru: 「Tomorrow.」

It also meant he had thoroughly planned things out before consulting me. As expected.

Fubuki: 「All right, if you're ready, just gimme a heads up. I'll be at your service.」

Rimuru: 「Thanks a lot.」

Well, it looks like things are wrapping up quickly.

Let's see what happens with Chloe next.

—————————————————————————————————

「Note: Yes, it's the end of the chapter. What? You expected more? Straight to my ass. I couldn't care less. There's nothing much to say, so I'll just talk trash all through.

Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed the chapter, even if a little, please make sure to smash that vote button as hard as you can. It doesn't matter to me whether your device got broken or not. I'll pay for the damages.

Without further ado, let's part ways. See ya!」

Word Count: 「4281」.