Rimuru POV
This sounds like it will be fun, but I can't just accept it outright. I can't have a repeat of that time I got totally fleeced by Baron Veryard in Blumund. I do have my rep as a Demon Lord and the ruler of Tempest to uphold.
"I will accept your proposal, although I do have a few conditions that I need you to agree to first," I say in a somewhat arrogant tone.
"Conditions?" Sullivan asks, sounding worried about what I might ask for.
"Yes. First, I want my personal expenses covered while I am staying here; that includes an allowance plus room and board. Second, I want full access to the school and all the knowledge it possesses. Third, I want permission to act freely, as long as I still fulfill my role. You have my word that I will not harm the school, staff, or students in the process, but I want to have a bit of fun while I am here. I don't want your staff interfering with my personal business. Fourth, since you are having me play the role of a student, I want to be able to opt-out of any school-related activities if I feel like it." I outline my demands with a smile.
Sullivan pauses for a moment, deep in thought.
"Those conditions are acceptable. The first one was a given, and the other three don't seem too unreasonable. Do we have a deal then, Demon Lord Rimuru?" Sullivan asks, extending his hand to me.
"I believe we do." I agree, shaking Sullivan's hand with a smile on my face.
Sullivan suddenly changes back to his warm, friendly-looking-grandpa face and looks to me. His abrupt change in demeanor is a bit jarring, to be honest.
"Wonderful! I've always wanted a granddaughter!" Sullivan exclaims with excitement, his smile hidden behind his mustache.
"Wait, what!?" I question, completely dumfounded at the words that just came out of Sullivan's mouth.
What the hell is this old man talking about!?
[[*giggles*]]
This isn't funny, Ciel!
"Since you will be staying here at my mansion while in the Netherworld, it only makes sense to pretend you are my grandchild, just like Iruma. You can play the role of his twin sister!"
Seriously?!
"You understand I'm a guy, right?" I say, trying to clear up this confusion about my gender.
"What?"
"I'm not a woman, or a man technically, but I prefer to be considered the latter," I explain to him.
"But…I already have a grandson…" Sullivan whines with a pout on his face.
What's wrong with this guy!? One minute he's all serious and imposing and the next he's pouting like a little kid! I can't get a good read on him.
[[He is fairly similar to you, Master. You act casual and carefree most of the time but put on a serious face when the situation requires it.]]
Yeah, but this dude takes it to a whole other level…
"So…? What does that have to do with anything?" I ask, feeling exasperated.
Sullivan is now looking down at his feet with an expression of great disappointment and sadness.
Goddammit…why does this matter so much to him?
[[You should let him treat you as female, Master. It would not make any impact on our plans or cause you too much inconvenience.]]
Are you sure you aren't just saying that so other women stay away from me? I know how possessive you are with me, Ciel!
[[That is just your imagination. *wink*]]
*rolls eyes* Oh, don't give me that line for the millionth time! I know how you are! Although, I do feel guilty for what I've put him through today so I guess it wouldn't be a big deal for me to play along this one time.
*sigh* "Fine…I will pretend to be your granddaughter, or whatever. I'm fairly accustomed to people assuming I'm female, after all." I give into him begrudgingly.
"Oh, goodie! Thank you so much, Rimuruuuuu!" He squeals, abruptly bear-hugging me. I let him get away with it since I really don't care. He's squeezing me with a surprising amount of strength, not that I can feel pain or be hurt by him. I hope he never hugs Iruma like this, at best the kid would end up with broken ribs.
Damn, how strong is this old geezer!? I guess he is a demon.
[[Analyzing. The individual Sullivan is comparable to Testarossa, Ultima, or Carrera before naming. His strength is estimated to be approximately 20% weaker.]]
So, this guy's almost on the level of the primordial demons (before my influence)!? Wow, he's no joke, then!
Even after around a minute, the old man hasn't let go of me, so I speak up, not wanting to have to force him off me.
"Hey, can you let go of me now? I need to let Diablo know about our deal. Also, I need to make a quick trip back to Tempest to arrange some things since I'll be gone from home for a while."
"Alright," Sullivan says, opening the door to our right and gesturing for me to walk through it. Despite the fact we've been walking in a straight line down the hallway, this door to the side of us leads back to the room we started in. I'm not fazed by this though, since I know spatial magic is involved. Seeing a familiar demon waiting on the other side, I walk through the doorway and straight up to Diablo.
"Hey, Diablo! I have something I need to inform you about." I say cheerfully.
"What is it, My Lord?" Diablo says, raising one eyebrow.
"After we take a quick trip back to Tempest, I'll be staying in the Netherworld for a while with your friend here," I say, pointing at Sullivan with my thumb. "This place seems pretty interesting, so I'm gonna spend some time learning about it. To put it in short, I'll be attending school here with that Iruma kid!" I inform him with a smile on my face, striking a confident pose with my hands on my hips as I make my declaration.
"Are you sure about this, My Lord? How will you rule Tempest from the Netherworld?"
"Did you forget? I can create parallel existences. I'll just leave one in Tempest in case of an emergency while I'm away." I say with a smirk. "I was planning on going alone, but I think I will bring Ranga with me since he can hide in my shadow. You can come along too since you're familiar with this place."
"That is a splendid plan, as expected from you, Lord Rimuru!" Diablo says with vigor.
"You're going to stay here and go to school with me?" Iruma interrupts.
Oh yeah, I guess he's been listening too. I kinda forgot he was in the room.
"Yup! I'll be staying here in Sullivan's mansion and going to school with you. Your grandpa asked me to pose as a student and your sister. I'll be watching over you to make sure you are safe here in the Netherworld." I say as I change the age of my body to 14 to match Iruma's.
"S-sister!? I thought you said you preferred to be seen as a guy?!"
"Yeah, trust me, that part wasn't my idea. Your grandpa said he 'already has a grandson' and insisted I play the role of 'granddaughter'. It isn't that bothersome, so I went along with it." I say, coolly.
Iruma POV
I watch Rimuru emerge from a doorway, followed by Grandpa. Rimuru is in adult form again, but he's dressed differently than when I last saw him. He's wearing a mostly black outfit with a long coat.
He looks so cool in that! It definitely makes Rimuru look more like the Demon Lord he is.
He first addresses Diablo about the plans he worked out with my grandpa. (At some point during Rimuru's explanation, Grandpa exits the room without me noticing.) I listen in on their conversation for a few minutes before I interrupt them, unable to contain my excitement for any longer.
"You're going to stay here and go to school with me?" I ask excitedly, thrilled at the idea.
"Yup! I'll be staying here in Sullivan's mansion and going to school with you. Your grandpa asked me to pose as a student and your sister. I'll be watching over you to make sure you are safe here in the Netherworld." He says with a smile.
"S-sister!? I thought you said you preferred to be seen as a guy?!" I sputter out.
"Yeah, trust me, that part wasn't my idea. Your grandpa said he 'already has a grandson' and insisted I play the role of 'granddaughter'. It isn't that bothersome, so I went along with it." he explains to me.
Knowing someone who isn't a guy or girl is really confusing! I guess if he's going to pass himself off as a girl at school, I'll need to go back to thinking of him as one. I wouldn't want to slip up and accidentally call him a guy in front of other students, that would be hard to explain.
"So, you don't mind doing all of that for me? I'm not used to people doing things for my sake." I ask, feeling uncomfortable about someone I just met going through so much trouble to help me.
"I'm fine with it. You shouldn't think of this as charity work though, I'm getting stuff out of this deal too. I've been incredibly bored lately, that's part of the reason I came with Diablo today. This finally gives me something fun to do! I think of it as a distraction, a vacation from my job leading my nation, Tempest." She says casually.
"You're the leader of a nation?" I say, a bit surprised.
"Yeah…I am a Demon Lord, after all, but Tempest practically runs itself at this point without much intervention on my part. My subordinates handle most issues by themselves, so I'm left with only a few boring tasks like paperwork and making public appearances at events. I've been looking for a new hobby for a while now."
So, she just thinks of this as a hobby? It's weird that she thinks of something as involved as moving into a new place, attending school, and protecting me as just a 'hobby'. Once again, I am reminded of how bizarre this person is...
"Well…um…I look forward to spending more time with you Rimuru, with how powerful you are, having you come to school with me is very reassuring!" I say, trying my best to sound grateful.
"I look forward to it too! I have lots of things I want to learn more about while I'm here, one of those being you, Iruma." Rimuru says with a smile that's a little too evil-looking for my tastes, a hint of darkness in her golden eyes.
"Uh…sure…" I say, not knowing how to respond to a statement like that. I'm pretty unsettled by her words and that look she just gave me. Seeing my expression change to one of discomfort, Rimuru changes her tone.
"There's no need to be nervous about that, I just find you intriguing. For a boy who has gone through what you have, you're surprisingly stable. I like people with strong wills like that, they're not very common. I'm like that myself; someone who never gives up. Regardless of what the world throws at me, I push through and make my goals and dreams a reality. I see a bit of myself in you, that's why you've grabbed my attention. I'm also curious about how such a unique boy in an equally unique environment will grow as a person over time." She explains to me.
Am I really that special? I still can't quite understand why she thinks so highly of me. Even though I've had a rough life, I'm just a normal human teen.
She suddenly changes the subject.
"Well…it's about time I get back to Tempest, I need to go get ready for school! Let Grandpa know I'll be home soon, I wouldn't want him to worry. See ya later…bro." Rimuru says with a wink and a chuckle, looking very amused with herself. She waves goodbye to me before casually conjuring up an impressive-looking gate and stepping through it; followed by Diablo.
Opera POV
Lord Sullivan walks into the room, he appears to be done with his conversation with Demon Lord Rimuru. He seems rather cheerful for having just negotiated with the scariest individual I have ever encountered.
"I have successfully come to an agreement with Demon Lord Rimuru," Sullivan states.
"What does that agreement entail, Lord Sullivan?" I ask, not knowing the purpose of his conversation with Rimuru.
"She will be staying here in the mansion and will attend school with Iruma, playing the role of his sister and protector!" Sullivan says, cheerfully.
I am completely mortified by this news. The thought of living under the same roof as that creature terrifies me to no end! I am not only worried for my own, but the safety of both Lord Sullivan and Iruma.
I can't believe Lord Sullivan would come up with such a plan, what am I going to do!?
"Lord Sullivan, are you sure that girl is safe to have around!?"
"Of course, Opera. I would never invite a dangerous individual to live in the same house as my precious Iruma! She may be immensely powerful, but I do not think she will bring harm to anyone here. I've got her word on that, and she doesn't seem to be the type of person who breaks their promises." Lord Sullivan assures me.
"B-but Lord Sullivan, she-"
"Not another word from you, Opera! You will treat her with the same kindness and respect as you do to Iruma. I'm having her live here under the premise that she is my granddaughter after all."
"Yes, Lord Sullivan," I say, feeling defeated.
I must keep a close eye on her to protect Lord Sullivan and Master Iruma!
Rimuru POV
I return to Tempest to prepare for my exciting new adventure in the Netherworld. It has been a long time since I've been in a school, even longer since I have as a student. I spend some time enjoying Tempest (especially its food) since I don't know how long it will be before I return. The morning of the day I'm due to depart, I hold a meeting with all my top subordinates and inform them of my plans. Most of them weren't very pleased about this (especially a certain purple-haired oni whose name starts with 'S') but I was firm in my decision.
"Don't worry guys! I'll have Diablo and Ranga with me, you have nothing to worry about!" I assure them.
Also, since I am leaving a parallel existence of myself behind, even if something did happen, I wouldn't be gone or anything. What am I gonna do about Diablo though? I can't have him following me around all the time at school…that would make people suspicious. Maybe he can stay back at Sullivan's mansion and help that Opera guy take care of the place? I'll have to figure out something for him to do while I'm busy at Babyls.
I open up a gate to the Netherworld, turning back to wave goodbye to my people before stepping through with Diablo (Ranga was already in my shadow).
I can't wait to see what kind of stuff goes on in a demon school! I haven't been this pumped to go somewhere in a long time!
Again, standing in front of the large doors of Sullivan's mansion, I politely knock. Opera opens the doors, just like before. As soon as he sees me, he averts his eyes, looking at the ground, refusing to make eye contact. He maintains a blank expression on his face, but I can tell from his eyes that he's very scared. I activate thought acceleration so I can figure this out.
What is wrong with this Opera guy? He seemed so polite when we first met, but ever since he zonked out while staring at me, he has refused to even look in my direction! Do you have any ideas, Ciel? I am completely puzzled.
[[…]]
Cieeeeel…? Why are you giving me the cold shoulder? Are you responsible for his weird behavior?
[[#Sorry…Master…#]]
What was that? What are you sorry for, Ciel? Tell me, now.
[[I may have conducted a little 'experiment' on this individual last time you were here.]]
Ciel! Don't do stuff like that without asking me first! Is he okay?
[[The individual Opera does not bear any physical side effects from the manipulation I attempted. Despite this, he seems to be quite mentally traumatized by it, causing fear of making eye contact with you. This is because that was the medium used to perform the mental manipulation.]]
So, you used my eyes to screw with his mind? The poor guy's acting like making eye contact with me would be a death sentence! Why the hell would you even try something like that anyway, I don't want the power to manipulate people's minds!
[[Sorry, Master, I just wanted to see if it was possible. At the time, in order to use the right amount of pressure, I made a prediction about his resistance to mental attacks. This was based on data from demons of similar strength back home. Unfortunately, this caused me to greatly overestimate his resistances and I ended up overdoing it because of that miscalculation.]]
So, you did it for fun? This better not turn into a new hobby of yours like messing with peoples' skills while I'm not looking! Ugh, Everything will be fine, but I need to fix this; right now. I'm gonna be living under the same roof as him after all, so I can't have him cowering at the sight of me.
I disable thought acceleration and approach Opera, he begins shaking, clearly terrified of me.
"Opera, you don't need to be scared of me. What you went through last time we met was caused by a mistake I made; one I'm deeply sorry for. One of my skills went out of control and you were caught up in it. I swear it will never happen again, and I promise it is completely safe for you to look me in the eyes." I say with a comforting smile.
[[I did not go out of control!]]
Yes, you most definitely did! You performed a dangerous experiment without permission. I'm not upset about it going wrong but about the fact, you did it without informing me. You should at least have admitted what happened when it all went sideways. Instead, you came up with some BS excuse about his 'instincts'. I forgive you, but please keep me in the loop with stuff like this from now on. I understand that you're a perfectionist, but you don't need to be ashamed and cover your tracks if you make a mistake occasionally.
[[Yes, Master. I just didn't want you to lose faith in me, but instead, I made things worse…please forgive me.]]
I forgive you, Ciel. We're partners, I'll always trust you. We've been through a lot together!
[[Thank you!]]
Opera still hasn't looked up yet, so I push him a bit more.
"C'mon, Opera, look me in the eyes. Please trust me, just this once."
He hesitantly looks up at my face and our gazes meet. "See? Nothing to worry about!" I say cheerfully.
"Y-yes. You seem...different now. Thank you…for apologizing."
Opera is clearly still scared of me, but not as much as before. I will just have to try my best to make him warm up to me, somehow.
He leads us into the mansion and into the dining area where Iruma and Sullivan are waiting for us. Laid out on the long dining table is an assortment of strange-looking food(?). To be honest, most of it looks just as horrifying as Shion's cooking. Even after years of experience, she still can't cook! Her food may taste good (because of her 'master chef' skill), but every other aspect of it is just plain disturbing. The texture, the appearance, all of it is just wrong!
I hope this stuff tastes better than it looks…
"Hello, Sullivan, Iruma." I greet both of them.
"Greetings to the both of you," says Diablo.
"Welcome back Rimuru! You too, Diablo." Iruma greets us cheerfully.
"Hello Diablo, and welcome back, my sweet granddaughter!" Sullivan says.
Oh geez, is he gonna make me keep up the granddaughter act outside of school too!?
"I thought the whole granddaughter thing was just for when we're at the school?"
"Oh, of course not! That would be too confusing! You will be my granddaughter at home too! Just how like Iruma is my grandson! So, call me 'Grandpa' from now on, ok?"
Damn, what did I get myself into…?
[[You should just play along; this is not a problem.]]
Fine, I guess I did agree to play the role and I can't go back on my word.
"O-okay…Grand…pa."I force those words out, feeling awkward.
I walk over to the dining table, about to sit down in one of the chairs. This time there are enough for everybody, thankfully. Diablo sits down before I do, turns to me, and pats his lap.
"Would you like to sit upon my lap again, My Lord?" he asks with a look of excitement in his eyes.
Still upset about the whole 'granddaughter' thing, I snap at him. "No, Diablo, I do not! We only did that last time since there weren't enough chairs!" I firmly refuse, annoyed and embarrassed that he would ask me that out loud. Diablo looks really disappointed that I refused his offer.
"S-sorry, My Lord…" Diablo apologizes.
I can see that Iruma is holding in laughter. Now sitting in the chair next to him, I nudge him with my elbow.
"Hey, it isn't funny!" I scold him in a not-so-serious tone.
"Yes, it is! The dynamic between you two is hilarious!" Iruma says with a chuckle.
"You wouldn't be laughing if you were in my position! Having someone obsess over 'serving' you is nice sometimes but can also get very annoying! Some of the things Diablo offers to do for me border on absolute insanity." I vent to Iruma. "Also, don't get upset, Diablo. You help me out a lot, but you just go too far sometimes. Don't take my complaining personally."
"I guess that would get pretty annoying. Sorry, I laughed at you." Iruma apologizes.
"It's ok ki-…Iruma. It probably was funny to someone from the outside. I'm not mad at you or anything." I reassure him.
"Good," Iruma says, smiling.
Diablo is sitting next to me looking sorry for himself, so I decide to give him a little something to cheer him up. I can't have him acting all mopey, he's making me feel like the bad guy right now.
{{Hey, Diablo. I'll sit on your lap later in slime form, ok? Don't act so sad.}}
{{Really!? Thank you, Lord Rimuru! This wonderful gift from you will be treasured forever!}}
{{Yeah, yeah. Calm down.}}
{{Yes, of course!}}
Yeesh, he's so dramatic! He acts like I'm giving him a priceless heirloom or something.
"Try the food Rimuru! I know it looks a bit weird, but it tastes really good!" Iruma urges me.
"Okay." I grab my fork and give one of the 'dishes' a taste. It's surprisingly delicious; the texture isn't bad either!
"See? I told you!"
"Yup, you're right. This is good stuff, and I'm pretty hard to please when it comes to food!" I say as I pile a large amount on my plate like the glutton I am, much more than the average person could eat in one sitting. To my surprise, Iruma is grabbing a similar amount.
How the hell is a scrawny kid like him gonna eat all that!?
"Are you sure you can eat all of that?" I ask him, skeptical.
"I could say the same to you, Rimuru!" Iruma retorts.
"No, you can't! My appetite is infinite!" I say in response to his taunt, a smug look on my face.
"I bet mine's bigger!" He says, challengingly.
"I highly doubt that," I say in a dismissive tone, smiling arrogantly.
"Oh yeah?" Iruma taunts playfully.
"Yeah! You can't beat me when it comes to eating! I could consume the whole universe if I wanted to!" I say proudly, grinning. The grin melts away when I realize what just came out of my mouth. I can see Opera off to the side, looking like he's gonna be sick after hearing that.
Shit! I got carried away again!
[[*shakes head*]]
"Wait, whaaaat?!" He asks, a shocked look on his face.
"Ummm…uuuuuuhhhh…"
"Y-you didn't mean that l-literally, d-did you!?"
Time to bullshit my way out of this…
"…It was just a joke…hehehe…" I say, trying to play it off like I was just kidding.
"Um…okay…" he says, looking not quite convinced and very unsettled.
Well, that just killed the mood…
We eat the rest of our dinner quietly. Sullivan discussed how there will be an entrance ceremony at the school tomorrow that we will attend. After eating our fill, Diablo and I are shown to our rooms. Mine is directly across the hallway from Iruma's. It is essentially an exact copy of his, furnishings and all, but with a different color scheme. I don't know why someone would give such a large bed to a being that doesn't even need to sleep, but I'm not complaining. I don't need food either and I just finished pigging out anyway. I fulfill my 'promise' to Diablo in the privacy of my new bedroom after everyone else has gone to bed. Once he leaves, I lie down on my oversized bed for a while, staring at the ceiling. When I grew bored of that, I roamed around my room aimlessly before finally settling on enjoying the view out my window.
I gaze out this portal to another world, the Netherworld, pondering about the experiences I will have in this new realm. The night sky stretching out above me is different from the one I am familiar with, but is still beautiful, nonetheless. My faint reflection's golden eyes are staring back at me once again, this time not with a look of boredom, but instead one of anticipation for the days to come. I sit there; deep in thought until the sun peeks over the horizon, signaling the start of a new day, and a new adventure.