"Clap. Clap. Clap. Good show." I said as I approached Hajime while applauding the earlier spectacle. "You've certainly grown, and I couldn't be more proud." I continued as I shrugged my shoulders with a smirk.
Hajime greeted me and expressed his thanks at my compliment. Beside him was Yue, and in front of him were Aiko and the students, circled around some black-robed kid which was obviously Shimizu by this point.
The only people present were me, Hajime, Yue, Tio Aiko, the students, and the knights. I took off my sunglasses as I stood behind Hajime, enthusiastic for another fun show. I noticed something disturbing amidst the fight, a sneaking rat, so I had Raphael look out.
Aiko looked down sadly at Shimizu and shook him to wake him up.
"Aiko, he could still be dangerous." A knight tried to stop her, but Aiko simply shook her head. She asked he be untied as well. She said she wouldn't be able to have a proper conversation with him otherwise. Aiko still intended to have a teacher to student talk with him.
But her audacity in focusing solely on her own thoughts was impressive. She requested that he be untied so that she could speak to him as a teacher, completely disregarding the thoughts and opinions of those around her. I was growing more interested in her by the minute.
"Shimizu-kun, Shimizu-kun! Please wake up, Shimizu-kun!"
"Ngh..." Finally, Shimizu regained consciousness. He gazed around with unfocused eyes. A second later, he realized where he was, and came to himself with a start.
Shimizu's eyes darted from one person to another, his expression a mixture of wariness and fear. He tried to stand up, but the concussion still hadn't worn off, so he fell back to the ground. Terrified, he tried to crawl backward.
"Please calm down, Shimizu-kun. No one's going to hurt you. I just want to talk to you. Why did you do something like this...? That's all I want to know. I just want to understand your feelings." Aiko kneeled down until she was at eye level, then gazed patiently at Shimizu. His eyes stopped darting about. He guiltily averted his gaze and started explaining... or rather insulting everyone.
"Why? You can't even tell why? That's why you're all a bunch of incompetent losers. You all always look down on me... and go on about hero this, hero that. Even though I'm way better than that prick Kouki... none of you ever noticed. You always just pretended like I wasn't even there... You're all a bunch of retards! That's why I wanted to prove my worth to all of you..."
Spoken like a true loser.
"I see. So that's what you were dissatisfied about, then... But you know, Shimizu-kun. I don't understand, why would you try and get back at your classmates because of that? Why'd you try and attack the city? If you'd succeeded... and killed all the people of this town... even if you had an army of monsters at your command, that wouldn't have proven your worth." He looked up at Aiko, dark eyes peering through dirty bangs. He smiled thinly and gave a most shocking answer.
"It would have... to the demons."
As expected, the demons were involved, after all.
"Wha—!?" Everyone except the three of us let out a gasp of surprise. His smile turned into a triumphant grin, which only made his voice grow stronger.
"I went alone to the northern mountain range to brainwash monsters. But while I was over there, I met a demon. I was wary at first, but... the demon just wanted to talk to me. And they were the first one who understood my true worth. That was why... I made a contract with them."
"A contract... you say? What kind of contract?" Aiko was shaken at the fact that one of her own students had made a deal with the enemy. But more than that, she was furious. She was convinced it was the demon that had led her student astray.
However, Shimizu simply grinned maniacally and gave the most disheartening answer she could've possibly heard.
"A contract... to kill you, Hatayama-sensei."
"...Eh?" For a second, Aiko couldn't even comprehend what Shimizu had just said. The others were the same, but they recovered from their shock faster than Aiko. They glared at Shimizu with eyes full of rage. He shrunk back in the face of their unbridled hate, then desperately continued talking in an attempt to shake off their glares.
"What's with that dumb look? Did you really think the demons were just ignoring you guys? There's no way they could have ignored you, you're even more of a threat than the hero. The demon told me that if I killed you... if I killed the fertility goddess along with the rest of the town, that I'd be recognized as a hero. That was the deal." The corner of Shimizu's mouth twitched, and he continued in an increasingly louder voice.
"They told me. They told me my power was the strongest. That it was a waste for me to languish beneath the hero. They actually understood. They gave me all these super strong monsters, and the strength to make a huge army... so I thought that... that I'd be able to kill you for sure! So why!? How!? How did you beat my army!? What kind of magic was that?! Where did you get those kinds of weapons in a fantasy world!? Just... Just what the hell are you!?" At first, he'd been sneering, looking down on the students and Aiko, but as he continued his tirade Shimizu's expression grew more and more angry, and by the end of it he was yelling at the three of us, not Aiko.
A hint of irritation, hatred, and jealousy slipped into his expression, along with the weariness, the fear, and the odd sense of superiority. However, what eclipsed it all was the insanity in his voice.
This kid's beyond saving now. I thought.
It would seem that Shimizu hadn't even realized the white-haired boy was his classmate. Though seeing as he'd never said a single word to him, perhaps it wasn't all that surprising. Despite his tirade, Hajime didn't react at all until Shimizu said "You damn chuuni!"
"Yoo..." I woahed, covering my mouth with my hands. His most sensitive weak point was hit. He gazed off in the distance, his heart shattered by Shimizu's callous words. I pat him in the back reassuringly, though I don't know if that made him feel any better. He was moved to tears. Thinking he was being ignored, Shimizu got even more worked up.
The silence stretched on long enough for Aiko to finally absorb everything Shimizu had said and recover from her shock. She took a deep breath and grabbed Shimizu's hand. Though he talked big, it seemed he lacked the courage to do anything more, so he didn't move.
"Shimizu-kun. Just calm down."
"Wh-What the fuck!? Get away from me!" He tried to shake Aiko off, but she strengthened her grip, making it clear that she wasn't going to let go.
"Shimizu-kun... I understand how you feel. You want to be special. There's nothing wrong with that. Everyone wants to feel like they're special. And I'm sure you can even become someone special. Even if your methods were mistaken, you were able to do so much... Still, you mustn't side with the demons. They only wish to use you. As a teacher, I cannot allow you to entrust yourself to such selfish people!"
She really just said selfish, lol. Aren't they at war? I'd say its selfish to not use everything at your disposal.
Unable to bear the weight of Aiko's serious gaze, Shimizu gradually calmed down.
"Shimizu-kun. It's not too late to start over. If you say you're willing to try again, I promise I'll help you. Someone as strong as you can surely fight together with Amanogawa-kun. Don't you want to help everyone find a way home and go back to Japan with us?"
Sadly, reality was cruel to them on that day. Aiko moved closer to pat his head, when suddenly Shimizu tightened his grip on Aiko and pulled her forward. He then wrapped his arm around her neck and started squeezing.
He pinned her arms behind her back, and pulled out a short, ten-centimeter needle from somewhere and pointed it at her neck.
"Nobody moves! Move and I stab her!" He tried to sound threatening, but he came across as hysteric. His mouth was twitching, and he glared at me now with eyes full of madness.
Aiko desperately tried to peel Shimizu's arm off her neck, but to no avail. Everyone froze, unwilling to risk Aiko's life on a rescue attempt. Shimizu was crazy enough at this point that they believed he'd do it. Everyone started talking at once, screaming at Shimizu, or worriedly calling out Aiko's name.
"This is a poisoned needle I took off one of the monsters in the mountains! One prick and she's dead! So, if you don't want your precious teacher writhing on the ground, drop your weapons now! All of you!" Everyone's faces went pale. Shimizu grinned, then turned to look at Hajime.
"Hey, you damn chuuni bastard! You, no not the person behind you, you! Are you making fun of me, you fucker!? Keep this up and I'll stab her! Hurry up and give me your gun! Your other weapons too!"
Poor Hajime. He tried to look behind, too, as if trying to escape to a reality where Shimizu meant someone else by 'chuuni bastard.' Our nonchalance seemed to irk the kid to no end.
"Um, you say that, but... if you don't kill Aiko-sensei, the demons won't accept you, so you'll have to kill her eventually anyway, right? In that case, what point is there in me handing my weapons over?"
"Shut up! Shut the fuck up! Shut up and give me everything you have! Retards like you should just listen to what I say!"
"You can tell me to shut up all you want, but you're still a loser. You said you wanted to be a hero, but you act more like a two-bit villain that dies in the first chapter."
With empty eyes, Shimizu mumbled "I'm a hero. I'm special. Everyone else is just a moron. It's all their fault. But that's okay, because everything'll work out. Because I'm a hero. Because I'm special." Then suddenly, he started laughing deliriously.
"Sh-Shimizu-kun... please... we can... talk... this out..." Despite the situation she was in, Aiko still tried to reason with her student. Aiko's words cut his maniacal laughter, and he started squeezing down on her neck even harder.
"Shut up! You keep pretending to be a good person, but you're just a hypocrite! I don't care about what you have to say. Just shut up and be a good hostage."
Shimizu's gaze returned to Hajime. His earlier hysteria was gone. Now, his eyes were filled with nothing but hatred. He shot a quick glance at the revolvers strapped to Hajime's thighs. Even without words, his intentions were clear. If Hajime hesitated for even a moment, he'd kill Aiko without a second thought. He no longer cared anything for his own safety.
Before Hajime could reply nor do anything, however...
<<Report. The target revealed themselves.>>
At Raphael's words, countless dots of white light appeared in the distant sky. It was now near sunset, so it was all visible like stars.
<<This attack utilizes feathers enchanted with a Skill that melts substances.>>
That's pretty cool. There's lots of them, too, nearly hundreds, and they were all incredibly fast. It looked like a meteor shower. The kinetic energy that would be released is the mass of the feathers multiplied by the speed of flight squared, and will be released as intense heat that expands and disintegrates the enemy.
I accelerated my thoughts and activated Universal Perception to see our target. It was a beautiful woman with platinum hair and eyes, wearing a monotonic expression. She had a combat outfit which consists of a white sleeveless dress which has metal plates covering both sides of her waist as well as a winged helmet on her head, gauntlets on her arms and graves over her legs. She also had a pair of wings behind her, as she accelerated through the winds at high speeds.
This woman, though, was strong enough to pose a threat to Hajime's life currently. I'd say he has a chance of winning 3 out of 10. The feathers she unleashed were from her wings, but they regenerated in an instant.
(Before you rant, this is post-Reisen Hajime, and Volume 12 Hearst. I think Hajime can still put up a fight, but the odds are mostly at Hearst's favors.)
The feathers were closing in. I warned Hajime and Yue telepathically about the incoming danger as they failed to react on time, and they began to move as fast as they could. Yue used gravity magic to change the direction of some feathers, while Hajime deployed a large shield as he shot some feathers. It was useless, however, as it numbered nearly a thousand now, and his gatling gun is exhausted, too.
There was simply too much. It seemed Hajime also wanted to at least protect Aiko and her students, since the whole purpose of doing that embarrassing speech to the crowd earlier would be nonexistent if they all died here.
1.91828481581581 seconds after it was launched from the sky, the feathers finally hit at supersonic speed. We were outside the walls, and the feathers were mostly targeting us, so only the nearest section of Ur behind us got decimated, as well as the environment outside.
I was protected by Raphael automatically, so I was fine but the humans behind us were not. The cheers from victory from before got replaced by cries of shock and agony. 20% of the town got destroyed in the blink of an eye.
Aiko, still taken hostage, Shimizu, the knights, and the students still couldn't comprehend what happened, so they are still on a daze. The only thing they can understand is that they were sort of attacked out of nowhere, and that Hajime fortunately managed to protect them.
They broke out of their stupor as they began to hurriedly catch up with the situation.
"W-what happened!? What was that!?" All sorts of comments and questions came out their mouths, visible confusion and surprise on their faces.
Without giving them a chance to rest, another swarm of feathers descended on us. Shimizu attempted to stab Aiko with the needle during this time, but was struck in the chest by a feather. Aiko would have died as well if I hadn't slightly bent her to the back. I've grown fond of her, and saving her required no effort, so I did it anyway. She was, however, grazed by Shimizu's needle. Shimizu had some life left despite being hit by a feather straight, though he wouldn't last long.
Aiko fell to the ground, the poison kicking in. Yue and Hajime immediately shot off into the air as they engaged the platinum-haired, leaving the safety of Aiko and her students to me. They were both on full-battle state, as Hajime even activated Limit Break immediately. Only two knights remained, too, as the others all died. The students and the knights were going crazy on what to do.
"Aiko, Aiko!"
"No... Sensei! What do we do? What do we do, Rimuru-san? Sensei's going to die!"
I calmly approached them, my pony-tied hair fluttering amid gunshots, screeching noises, and explosions, I looked down on the gasping Aiko, ignoring the dying kid beside her. She raised her gaze to my expressionless face. She seemed to realize I'd saved her earlier. I smirked at her desperate and vulnerable look. The students and the knights also seemingly stopped throwing tantrums when I approached them.
"Hmm..." I hummed as I pulled out a pebble-sized full potion from the Stomach. It was crystal blue, and it hovered just above Aiko and at my command, dropped like water. The others all looked at the small liquid orb, following it intently with their eyes as they ignored the super high-speed fight just above us.
As it made contact with Aiko's body, she glowed and the poison vanished like nothing. The wound closed, too, the blood she lost instantly back as she was healed to perfect state. She shot back up, still absorbing what just happened as she stared at me before assessing herself. She realized it wasn't just imagination, she really got healed in an instant.
I stepped back and looked up. To the others, the speed of the battle was beyond what they can follow, so they just stood there, confused. It's been a few minutes, but no doubt that for those three, it felt like hours. Hajime and Yue were bruised all over, while the platinum haired still seemed fine and well. Before Hajime and Yue went to fight her, Hajime shot me a look that signaled he didn't want me to intervene. So, I just stood by. If they die, I can resurrect them since their souls would still be around.
Aiko then brought everyone's, except mines, attention to the guy they'd forgotten about, Shimizu, who was still collapsed on the floor. Only Aiko looked around with a confused expression for a second before remembering what it was that I had protected her from. Her face paled, and she quickly ran over to where Shimizu was laying and grabbed his hand.
"I... don't want to die... th-this can't be happening......
"Shimizu-kun!?" Aiko hurriedly approached him as she checked his injuries.
"No... how could this happen!?"
Cuz it happened, duh
"Don't give up on me! You'll be fine! I'll save you! No matter what...! Does anyone know healing magic?! Shimizu-kun won't hold out like this!"
Huh? I struggled to keep my laughter at bay. One second, she said she'll save him, but the next moment, she asked if someone could save him. This woman was so amusing.
Aiko desperately cast her glance around her, but the two remaining knights around her awkwardly averted their gaze. He was already beyond help. And it was clear from their expressions that even if he wasn't, they didn't want to save him anyway. Only the students were different. True, they couldn't forgive Shimizu's atrocities, but they still didn't want him to die. They haltingly looked over at me. Aiko, too, turned to me and shouted desperately.
"Rimuru-san! If we use that medicine of yours, we can still save him! Please!"
"Why would I do that?" I asked stoically, not keeping my eyes off my students' fight. They were certainly losing. "In any case, he tried to kill you."
I wonder how many teachers out there would be this desperate to save their student even after they tried to kill them. Especially for a reason as flimsy as "because he's my student." That was far above and beyond what was required of the teacher profession. As admirable as it was, it came off with flaws, especially if you have a whole class and if you're weak.
"You may have a point. In fact, you're probably right. However, this is the kind of teacher I want to be. When I became a teacher, I swore an oath that I would always be there for my students. Rimuru-san... please... save him..."
"I missed the part where that's my problem." I replied, my eyes still on the fight. Hajime's time with Limit Break was running out, and gravity magic wasn't restraining the winged-platinum-haired that much. She sustained damage from Hajime and Yue's onslaught, but it's feeble in comparison to their own injuries. More than that...
<<Acknowledged. The individual in question has a special heart which provides her an infinite source of mana.>>
And that's a major disadvantage, as Hajime and Yue had limited mana. In all honestly, I'm surprised the kid hadn't died yet. Must be because of his status as a summoned.
I glanced at the kid. Feeling my stare, Shimizu shook and averted everywhere. What to do... I wanted to leave this to Hajime, as its his classmate in concern. I can message him telepathically, but he is right now in an intense fight.
Leaving me no choice, I did what I think Hajime would've done to them either way.
"Hey, kid." I called out to Shimizu. "I can save your life, but I want to ask you something. Are you an enemy?" My tone and gaze asked him if he was planning on standing on our way.
"I-I'm not... I-I don't know what came over me. I promise... I won't do it again. If you save me, I-I'll do anything you ask. I'll make you... an army... I'll even brainwash all women you want... I-I swear... I'll be loyal to you forever. Please... I'm begging you... save me..."
One look at his eyes and I can be certain this guy's done for good. Hatred, anger, jealousy, desire, and a hodgepodge of other negative emotions were all that he had left to him. A crystallized sword of golden magicules radiating heavenly radiance appeared in my hand, and... realizing what was about to unfold, Aiko hurriedly yet uselessly yelled.
"No!!"
—it shot straight to Shimizu's chest as I seized his soul. His body that was barely holding on finally became lifeless. The sword that pierced his torso dissipated as glittering golden particles.
"Why?" She stared dumbfounded at the empty shell that was Shimizu's corpse.
"That kid's beyond saving."
"No! Shimizu-kun was...'
Aiko must have also realized it, but because she believed in her principles as a teacher, she couldn't abandon Shimizu. Not without abandoning who she was.
"That doesn't mean you had to kill him! If we'd just locked him up in the palace, maybe when we'd finally made it back to Japan he'd... There was still a chance!"
I looked back up, as I laid down my thoughts.
"Aiko Hatayama. Let me ask you this. What are you going to do when someone you saved kills someone else in the future? Halt with your self-righteous hypocrisy. The future is neither certain nor controllable, you know? You seem to have a thought process where you believe that you can talk your way into everything and all will be fine. If you honestly believe that with enough time, you can reach a mutual understanding with anyone, you're still too much of a naivete. You're too honest with your ideals and feelings while being completely oblivious to your surroundings. You're smart, and I've taken a liking to you for that. You must've realized your flaws already too, but your blind and empty idealisms must've been getting in the way, am I wrong? If you focus too much on your ideals while ignoring logic, you won't be able to do anything."
Aiko Hatayama was hit to the core. She still didn't want to accept it, but she couldn't refute me. I've only known her for what, a day? She's too straightforward with her thoughts and desires that she's an open book to read.
A loud boom echoed. Hajime and Yue were thrown back to the ground with immense impact, creating a big shockwave, while the platinum-haired was missing an arm. It seemed they managed to land a fatal hit, after all. She looked prepared to attack again but...
A strange frequency, I sensed, implying the woman was having some telepathic conversation with someone, and she began to hastily retreat.
Well, I'll take care of her later. Right now...
I splashed full potions at my students and they immediately got back up.
"Where is she?" Hajime asked as he warily looked around.
"She fled."
"You let her go?"
"Yeah. More than that, deal with these guys." I said, pointing to Aiko and the students.
One look was all Hajime needed to understand the situation. As such, former student-teacher, Aiko and Hajime began to converse once again. I lost interest so I just chatted with Yue about the woman before. According to her, the woman introduced herself as "I am Hearst. An Apostle of the Supreme God, Ehit. My duty is to remove unwanted pieces from my lord's game board." We continued on for a few more minutes after that.
"I may do the same thing again. If I think it's necessary... I'll pull the trigger as many times as it takes. If you think I'm wrong... then do what you think you must, Sensei. Just remember, whether it's you, or any of my other classmates, I'll kill anyone that becomes my enemy without hesitation."
At some point, the argument got heated and Hajime turned his heels after saying that last line. Aiko bit her lip and hung her head. She was the one who had told Hajime that she wouldn't hold it against him if he chose not to help after listening to what she said. Now she didn't know what else to say.
"Let's go, sensei." He muttered as he went past me, a dejected expression on his face from letting a dangerous enemy escape.
I opened the portal for Fuhren so we could finish our business. Tio appeared to be joining us after another few minutes of discussion. She won't let go of Hajime, no matter how badly he beat her up; instead, she moaned in ecstasy. It was strange, and I'm definitely staying away from her, but I didn't see anything wrong with tagging her along with us, so I just agreed. Some newly arrived priests and important Ur figures attempted to stop us, but Hajime simply unleashed his intimidation.
We passed through the portal quietly. Aside from that, however, I had a task to complete. As I previously stated, I would not allow anyone to harm my students and get away with it.
Raphael, how's it going?
<<Confirmed. Target specified. Distance is approximately 104 kilometers south-east.>>
The reason I let her get away was that I wanted no one else around. I put on a sadistic smile at Raphael's report...
Word Count: 4242
(I initially made Chapter 9 and 10 as the same chapter, but the total word count went over 9,500, so I decided to split them in two)