Punctuation Key:
"Spoken dialogue"
'Quoting'
*Action*
Emphasis
Internal thoughts/talking to Ciel
[[Ciel talking]]
{{Thought Communication}}
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Kalego POV
Today I am meeting with my least favorite student, the insufferable granddaughter of that asinine Chairdemon Sullivan. That man is the bane of my existence, and that bratty girl takes after him perfectly! Lord Sullivan seems to be convinced that that blue-haired fiend of a girl poses some kind of threat to me, but I cannot see it. She does give me an eerie feeling sometimes which could lend credence to that idea, but I do not believe that she can outperform a high-ranking demon like myself. I have nothing to be afraid of when dealing with children like her.
I am finally going to get some answers out of her, something that is long overdue. Rimuru is definitely hard to shake, but I have resolved to try more drastic methods to extract information from her if it comes to it. If she is truly solely responsible for saving the school, I can conclude that she is strong enough to withstand a higher level of 'persuasion' from myself. I do not normally use this approach, but on occasion, extra force is necessary to get my desired outcome.
With my plan of action laid out in my head, All I have to do is wait for her to show up. Rimuru promised me earlier today when I confronted her before class, so she better show up or she is in for a world of punishment!
While sitting at my desk, I hear a knock on my office door.
"Come," I say loudly in a stern voice.
The door creaks open, revealing my expected guest. Rimuru is surprisingly here and punctual as well, something that I half-expected not to happen. She doesn't seem as arrogant as normal, giving off a much calmer mood. Maybe she is planning on cooperating? That would surely make my job here much simpler. This puts me slightly at ease, but I do not drop my guard for a moment. Every decently intelligent demon knows showing any weakness in the face of an adversary will spell your demise.
I gesture to the chair I positioned facing my desk so that we can talk face-to-face without having to stand. She quietly sits down and begins staring me straight in the eyes with those strange golden ones she possesses. I get that strange feeling again as I match her gaze. I still cannot pinpoint exactly what it is, but it makes me feel uneasy.
I brush aside any uneasiness I feel from Rimuru's presence and address her properly.
"Hello, Miss Tempest. I am glad you decided to show up."
"Hi, Professor. I said I'd show up, so I did." She states calmly. "Soooo...why did you want to meet with me? It seems weird that you'd wanna be in a room alone with me, considering our past interactions."
"Yes, we've had our differences, but I hope to set those aside for today. I have a few questions for you."
"Well, if that's how you're planning on approaching this meeting, I'm willing to answer a few questions at least."
"We need to discuss what happened the night of the party eve when you supposedly saved the school from that Amy boy's scheme."
"Pfft...'supposedly'? I was responsible for saving Babyls, along with Iruma; That's an undisputed fact. Even the Chief of the Demon Security Police has accepted that." Rimuru replies in a mildly irritated tone.
I am annoyed by her disrespectful tone, but I allow it to slide since my wording was not the nicest.
"How were you capable of such a thing? Only power on the level of, if not exceeding that of a Yodh-ranked demon would be able to break those barriers." I continue.
"Sheer force, I guess...? There's not much to tell. Iruma was attempting to break the outermost barrier, but couldn't do it on his own. I stepped in and strengthened the spell he was using and it was enough to shatter it." She explains casually.
"So it was both of your strengths combined that accomplished the goal?"
"Yeah, that's a way of looking at it."
That is more believable at least...but it is still an incredible feat for a couple of students to do on their own. They are descendants of one of the 'Three Greats', as much as it loathes me to admit, Lord Sullivan is an incredibly powerful demon. It is not hard to believe that his grandchildren would possess above-average strength.
Just as I am becoming comfortable with this assessment of the events of that night, something resurfaces in my mind. Something that man said to me that night.
"Rimuru is the only reason that you're not dead right now. She saved Babyls, almost singlehandedly. If she didn't break the barrier surrounding the school, the bomb Kiriwo Amy made would have obliterated everyone inside. Think for a moment what might have happened if she wasn't here helping us?"
Sullivan's words when warning me about this girl. 'Almost singlehandedly' is the term he used, which gives the impression that very little of the strength used to break that barrier was sourced from the male twin. With that wording, you might as well assume that Rimuru is strong enough to break that barrier all on her own.
I was wondering why she said 'that's a way of looking at it.'! It is such a strange way of responding, but if I am correct in my assessment at this point, her phrase makes sense! She is attempting to hide her abilities from me, just like her grandfather said! She has 'secrets' she wants to keep.
"Hey...uh, Professor Kalego? Are you okay? You're making a weird face and haven't talked for a few minutes."
*cough*"...ahem, yes I am perfectly fine. I just got lost in thought, that is all."
"Ooookaaay...well...is there anything else you needed? If you're done, I'd like to get some food before lunch is over. I skipped eating to come here."
The girl's words immediately set me off, since she's clearly attempting to cut this meeting short.
"I am not done with you! Don't you dare try to escape!" I bark at her to stop her from leaving.
"Heh, alright. I'll answer a few more questions, I guess. I'm trying to play nice here since I'm sick of us butting heads all the time. Teasing you is fun and all, but having you working against me all the time is just plain annoying. So can you try to keep your temper in check, too?"
Keep my temper in check?! My emotions are perfectly in check!
This irritating child sitting in front of me is now holding in laughter, most likely due to my expression.
"Your face looks like a tomato!" she sputters out between stifled giggles, covering her mouth with her hand in an attempt to hide her amused grinning.
"Stop that!" I command, now actually losing my temper with this heathen.
"Okay, sorry, sorry. I said I'd play nice, so I'll stop laughing at your red, angry face. I can't help it sometimes, y'know?"
"Tch...Moving on to my next inquiry, how did you create that replica of yourself? As far as I could tell, it was a perfect copy."
"It's not that special; I faced a guy in the combat battler's competition that could do something similar."
"No, that is not the same thing. I have witnessed a scant few demons that can create illusory copies of themselves and an even fewer number that can create copies with corporeal properties. Still, those do not compare to what I saw from you! As far as I could tell, there was no difference between both of those 'Rimurus' I spotted and interacted with. You even called them the 'other me' in lieu of the term 'my clone'."
"Wow, Professor, I'm impressed! You were able to discern that much just by looking? Yeah, you're right. It's not a simple clone, even though I call it that sometimes for simplicity's sake. It's another body, both controlled by yours truly directly." Rimuru states confidently, grinning at me.
"I have never heard about something like that existing..."
"Well, it's just something I can do, but I don't use it too much. That situation called for it, so I did."
"I still do not understand, tell me more details."
"No thanks." She says in an irritatingly cheerful tone, grating my nerves in the process.
"I demand a better explanation!"
"No can do, Professor. That's as far as I'm willing to go with that specific subject. Explaining what I have already is me being generous."
I was thinking that it might not be necessary, but I suppose that I will have to use that.
My rarely used method is a pointed use of my magical force, projecting it out in an aura. It coerces and intimidates my target, resulting in cooperation. Not many demons have mastered this technique as I have, with only the strongest ones even being capable of the technique at all.
I unleash it on the girl, holding back somewhat since she is just a child, even if a strong one. I look her straight in the eyes again to gauge her reaction. I expect immediate fear and compliance from her, but something must have gone awry. She's...smiling back at me, causing an uncomfortable feeling to well up in my chest. Am I experiencing...fear? No, that's ludicrous! I am not scared by a mere child!
"You worked hard on that little aura of yours, didn't you Professor? Good job, but I'm not scared of you." She says coldly while still giving me an evil grin.
"Are you...serious...?" I ask, barely able to accept reality.
I am flabbergasted. Not only is she unaffected, but Rimuru instantly recognized what I was attempting.
"Yes, dead serious. Since you so kindly showed me yours, how 'bout I give you a little taste of mine?" She says devilishly, but her smile morphs into a look of surprise and concern. "Oh crap, I gotta get going..."
"Hey! Don't leave after saying such a thing!" I shout.
"Duty calls, so I gotta bail. See you in class later, Professor Kalego. Oh, and don't try that stuff with anyone else in my class, you'll just end up hurting them. Not the kind of thing to use on students, I'd say." She says as she hurriedly escapes the room, leaving me fuming.
The meeting was not as productive as I would have liked, but Rimuru was somewhat cooperative. I am left with more information than I started with, so in the end, this was not a pointless venture. I do wonder why she so suddenly ran off, though. She was likely bluffing about being able to project an aura like I am, so she ran away before exposing herself. Yes, that must be the reason.
Rimuru POV
While reluctantly meeting with my teacher, I got an SOS from Iruma. I would've liked to intimidate Kalego a little since he's being his normal asshole self, but it's probably for the best that I didn't get to do that. The gall of that man, using a coercive aura on a student! If it was anyone but me, someone could've gotten hurt! I was trying to be all nice and polite with him too, yet as soon as I told the dude no, he flips out and uses his aura recklessly!
I could sense that there was something akin to the 'coercion' skill embedded in it, making it an effective intimidation tool. Effective on other people, that is. It was a rather impressive aura for a magical being of his class, so I'll give him that at least. Within the Netherworld, this guy's no joke, but, unfortunately for him, he's simply outclassed.
Within his 'intimidating' aura, I could feel his anger intertwined with the coercion-like effect, which is honestly a feat in itself. Having an emotion manifest within the aura you exude is not something that everyone can do. Based on the strength of his aura, I could tell that the anger was an intentional addition to it, rather than an unconscious one like it is with mine. It's something that results from careful, precise control of your magic, honing your intent behind it to a fine point, or possession of sheer power. Kalego's being the former option, and mine is the latter.
Once a magical aura reaches a certain caliber, the possessor's emotions tend to be carried by it as it's released. This is an effect that I'm rather familiar with at this point since it's a source of trouble for me. When I get overly angry, or emotional in general, my aura becomes harder to hold in. This is because it takes in that emotion that I'm attempting to suppress, causing it to behave erratically, with the effects varying based on the emotion.
The way I suppress that crazy stuff that I naturally give off is a delicate process, one that needs constant attention paid to it by either Ciel or myself. Despite this, it's not a problem until my emotions (particularly the negative ones) get out of hand. That delicate transfer from my body to the infinite space of azathoth gets disturbed, causing some of it to leak out in the process. Only a small fraction of it, of course, but when it's mixed with my negative emotions, it becomes particularly dangerous. My aura becomes violent and destructive when I'm angry, something that nearly became a disaster when I was dealing with Kiriwo. When I was filled with fury at what he did, I felt the figurative dam holding in my aura start to crack, so I let out some of it on purpose to release the pressure in a controlled way rather than letting it burst out unwillingly. If I had let that happen in that case, it would've been a death sentence for that boy. It still might've been, even with that countermeasure, if it wasn't for Ciel's intervention. She, knowing me very well, knew that killing a child would weigh on me greatly, so she shielded him from my aura with a barrier at the last possible moment. I may have been furious, but I wasn't trying to kill him, so I'm grateful that she did that.
But back to the current issue; Iruma calling out using thought communication. I'm glad to have an excuse to cut that unpleasant meeting short, but this isn't an ideal reason at all. Iruma said that some guy is spying on him, or at least following him. He's freaking out, thinking that it's a demon that's figured out he's human and is stalking him like a wolf, with Iruma being the prey, of course.
I quickly teleport to my 'brother', not minding much if someone sees me. Time is of the essence since the kid I'm charged with protecting is in danger.
"Hey, where's the man?" I ask Iruma, who's now only a few short feet from me.
"Whuaaaah!" he shouts, startled by my sudden arrival. I don't laugh at his startlement, though, since I'm in 'serious mode' right now. No time for laughs or fun, I need to find this mysterious stalker.
"Whoops, sorry. Didn't mean to startle you...at least this time."
"It's...okay. He's over there." Iruma points to someone I recognize.
It's Henri Azazel, the Chief of the Demon Security Police. He must be here for that meeting with Iruma he talked about when we last met.
"Oh, he's nothing to worry about. I think he just wants to talk with you about something. I met with him after the battler party incident."
"He is? Why would he want to talk with me?"
"You'll see. I'm sure he'll explain that to you. C'mon, let's go talk to him."
Iruma POV
"Ah, there you are." The scary man that's been following me during my entire free period says.
His features are sharp and his eyes cold. He towers over me in height, adding to his scariness.
"Sorry, Mr. Azazel. Iruma got scared when he noticed you following him. I'm guessing you're here to ask him 'the question'?" Rimuru says politely to the man.
"You are correct in that assumption." He responds in a stern voice.
"Who is he, Rimuru?"
"He's the Chief of the Demon Security Police, Henri Azazel. He's also Ameri's father."
"What your...sister...says is true. I am Henri Azazel, Chief of Police and one of the Thirteen Crowns." He holds his hand out for me to shake.
"Um...n-nice to meet you, s-sir...I'm Iruma Suzuki." I say shakily, my nerves getting the better of me. I then shake his hand, trying not to show how scared I am.
What in the world do the police want with me?! Did they figure out I'm human?!
"Calm down Iruma, it's okay. He just wants to talk to you." Rimuru calmly tries to reassure me, aware of how freaked out I am by this intimidating man.
We three begin walking to a more private spot; a secluded bench on the outskirts of Babyls' grounds. Before even a word is said, he grabs me by the face out of nowhere. It reminds me of when I first met Ameri. She grabbed me in the exact same way.
"Hey, hands off! Don't get all grabby with Iruma, or I'm not letting you talk with him! I'll just make the offer to him myself!" Rimuru scolds the man.
Offer?
He immediately releases me, much to my relief.
"Sorry, I was just verifying his physical condition. Direct contact is necessary for me to make a proper assessment."
"You could've been a bit more gentle about it..." Rimuru grumbles.
"Um, sir? What is all this about? Why do you need to talk with me?" I ask, getting even more confused. They both seem to know exactly what this whole interaction is about but are leaving me out of the loop.
"I am aware of what you are and am here to both assess your wellbeing and to offer an alternative to you remaining here."
"A-aware of what I am?!" I ask, shocked by the potential implications of what the man just said.
He knows I'm human!
I try to run away but am stopped by Rimuru.
"I said this man just wants to talk with you! He won't try anything fishy, especially with me around. Just sit back down and listen to what he has to say. I promised him that he could have this meeting with you only under the condition that he won't make you do anything you don't want to." Rimuru reassures me in a comforting tone.
"O-okay..." I say as I'm reluctantly dragged back to the bench. I sit down awkwardly between the tall, redheaded demon and Rimuru.
"As I said, I want to make an offer to you. I have a way to return you to the human world if you wish to."
"R-return? To the human world? Th-that's possible?!"
"Yes, it is. You can go back immediately if that is what you want. If you take that option, we will do a procedure that erases your memories of the Netherworld, so you can go back to living your life without worry. This is something I've carried out multiple times throughout my career."
"I..." I try to say something in response, but I can't find the words.
"Iruma; if you seeking help, please don't hesitate to ask me for it. The Netherworld is a dangerous place not suited for human survival, even more so with the recent surge in individuals going 'back to basics'."
"I...don't know..."
"You don't need to make a decision right away. I implore you to give this some thought and to contact me if you decide to return home, the option will always be open. Here is my business card."
"Th-thanks..." I take the card from the man and he walks away without another word.
"See, I told you he wasn't here to hurt you." Rimuru smiles at me reassuringly.
I don't respond since my head is swirling with thoughts. Go back? Back to where there aren't any demons trying to eat me? Is that what I want?
"It's okay, we can talk about this later, kid." Rimuru pats me on the shoulder then gestured for me to come with her.
Return to my real parents? I never even thought that that was a possibility, so I had just accepted that I'll live here in the Netherworld for the rest of my life. Now that I have a method of returning, I'm torn. I've made such good friends while here, but I still don't feel like I belong completely. Back with my parents I never felt like I did either, but at least I didn't have the risk of being eaten.
Rimuru has been nice to me; helpful and kind, but there are times I doubt that view of her as a person. Times when she scares me on a primal level; times where she's cold and terrifying. After going through the shock of Kiriwo not being the person I thought he was, I can't help but have lingering doubts about the person I've placed the most trust in.
Rimuru POV
I never thought he might actually want to go back to those people...
I managed to keep my composure during the meeting with Mr. Azazel, but on the inside, a storm of emotions is raging. I was completely caught off guard by Iruma's reaction to that man's proposal. If I had known that he might prefer to go back to his horrible parents, I would've asked him this ages ago! Now I feel horribly guilty about this whole thing.
I walk beside the boy, hiding the fact that I'm not emotionally stable at the moment. I can tell he's greatly troubled by his own thoughts and feelings right now, so showing that I'm not doing okay as well will just make things worse.
I'm the adult here. I need to stay strong. If he wants to go back, I'll make sure that happens. I'll miss him terribly, but if that's what he wants, that's what I want too...
I keep telling myself that, but I can't shake the feeling of sadness behind that possibility. I don't want to lose the kid, but I don't want him to be forced to stay with me either. The only thing I can do is wait it out and let him come to his own decision, and I'll have to accept whatever he chooses.
The rest of the day goes by terribly slow. Everyone in the class noticed Iruma's change in demeanor but, thankfully, didn't notice the subtle hints of sadness I showed. Azz and Clara were especially concerned for him, which I don't blame them for. Those three have gotten pretty close.
Does he really want to leave those two behind?
I'm sure those kids would be devastated if Iruma suddenly left without explanation. Even if we came up with a fake excuse, they'd still be dismayed.
Ameri too would be heartbroken if he left. She's aware of his humanity, so I would tell her the truth if he did decide to leave. She's owed that much, at least, after all I've done to try to get the two of them together.
But I shouldn't be jumping to the conclusion of him wanting to leave, since Iruma hasn't even said anything on the subject yet. I can't help it, though; he's become important to me, and losing him would hurt immensely.