Rimuru- “Right, kids, meet Shizu.”

I say as I hold Shizu up like fucking Simba.

Shizu- “Mew…”

.

.

.

Alice- “SO CUUUUTE!”

Chloe- “Kawaii…”

Alice and Chloe, the females of the students, immediately fall in love with Hellcat Shizu and stare at her with sparkling eyes.

Kenya- “What is this… I feel something in my heart…”

Ryota- “Y-Yeah…”

Kenya and Ryota get hit by a wave of cuteness and clutch their heart as they try to recover.

Gale- “Sir! Is this really Shizu-sensei?”

Gale shouts while raising his hand, staring at Shizu intensely.

It’s a stare that says “I want to pet you”.

This statement snaps everyone else out of their Charm Status Effect.

Rimuru- “Right, I guess we should explain…”

Illya snatches Shizu out of my hands and walks over to the other kids with her in her arms. The other kids surround Illya and begin to pamper Shizu along with her while absentmindedly listening to Mikoto and I’s story.

It’s the same story, nothing changed. Shizue arrived at my village with three other adventurers. I realised she was ‘dying’ very soon so Mikoto and I did our best to give her the best time of her life. That was the watered-down version, but that’s basically how it went.

I then told the kids about what happened afterwards.

In the end, after I consumed her body, I reincarnated her soul with sealed memories into an egg and the current Shizu hatched out of that egg.

Yes, I told them about Shizu’s rebirth. It just feels right, I don’t want to hide it from them.

Chloe- “So… reincarnation?”

Gale- “Is that even possible!?”

Rimuru- “With me around, people won't die even if they are killed.”

I just shrug.

Mikoto- “He’s good with souls.”

Mikoto says with a “you get used to it” smile.

I'm not JUST “Good” with souls, I'm the very best like no one ever was.

Illya- “*Cough*”

Sorry, second best.

In terms of control, Illya is 4 parallel universes ahead of me. She’s the manifestation of the [Manas] skill after all…

Thankfully, they easily accept that I can casually reincarnate people which is… a bit worrying, to be honest, but I'm not complaining.

They still look at me with slight distrust, but that’s acceptable. You can't get them to get rid of that deep distrust for adults they have in just an hour.

Ryota- “So… this is Shizu-sensei?”

Kenya- “But you said she doesn’t have any memories…”

I scratch my head, thinking about how to explain it.

Rimuru- “It’s… complicated. She is, under no circumstances, the Shizu that you know. Shizue died and Shizu was born. Although they have the same soul, you have to remember that your teacher and this Hellcat here are two different beings.”

I say to them with a serious tone and face.

I have to get them to understand that Shizu and Shizue are different people. I don’t want to see this Shizu that is playing with the kids right now as their teacher. Seeing her as someone she’s not just seems… wrong. And I feel like that would disrespect both Shizu’s.

*Clap!*

Rimuru- “Anyway! That’s what happened. Shizue had some regrets that I promised to solve and saving your lives is one of them.”

Punching Leon is the other.

My words cause the students to lose their smiles. A sense of depression settles between them.

Illya- “… What’s wrong?”

Illya asks her new friends.

(A/N: That’s some insane friend-making skills you got there, Illya.)

I fold my arms and Mikoto leans against the blackboard the teacher’s podium where we are standing.

The students nervously look between themselves before Alice starts speaking.

Alice- “… Can you?”

Simply saying those words, I understand what she’s trying to say.

Kenya- “So many people tried to find a way to solve the issue and prolong our lives. Yet…”

Chloe- “… We’re still here.”

Gale closes his eyes and Ryota looks towards the ground, clenching his fist.

Illya, on the other hand, smiles brightly.

Illya- “What, just that? Onii-chan can do it! He can do lots of things after all!”

Illya puffs out her chest in pride as if she’s talking about herself.

The students look between themselves, seemingly still having doubts. I mean, this is something the greatest researchers have no clue on how to solve. Even if I’m incredibly knowledgeable in this subject, which I'm not, I'm just a single person. Entire groups failed, what can I do?

Mikoto- “… Let’s do this then.”

Mikoto walks forward with a mysterious smile on her face.

Mikoto- “We are going to have a test.”

Disgust and unwillingness pass through the students’ faces.

Illya’s face doesn’t look any better.

Mine is probably the worst.

Mikoto- “… You guys overreact too much… Well, although I said ‘Test’, it’s more of a competition.”

The disgust disappears from our faces and the students show intrigue. I already have an idea of what Mikoto’s trying to do and Illya seemingly already knows.

Mikoto- “You five will fight Rimuru and me in a 5 on 2 mock battle. That should convince you of our abilities, right?”

I knew it.

These kids are strong, regardless of their condition. They can kick any high ranking adventurer in their ass quite comfortably. I mean, how else do you think they could chase off every teacher? Some of those teachers were B Rank.

Granted, it’s not like they could just attack a child, but still…

In any case, we have to prove ourselves, saying that we’re different from everyone else. That we can actually save them.

This “competition” should do just that.

Later…

All 9 of us are outside. The 5 students are facing Mikoto and myself while Illya is standing off to the side as the referee with Shizu sleeping on her head.

Illya- “This will be a mock battle, so don’t do anything stupid, Onii-chan!”

Why is she specifically singling me out!? I know my limits!

Illya- “The time limit is 10 minutes! The S Class will have to land a single hit on either of their opponents to win! Onii-chan and Mikoto have to avoid getting hit by their opponents’ attacks for the time limit!”

She instantly came up with the rules on the spot. It’s a bit unfair though.

Those little brats can only dream to touch me if I so wished. Mikoto is in the same boat.

Of course, they don’t know that, and they begin to argue.

Kenya- “Hey! Aren’t you looking down on us too much!?”

Gale- “That’s right, we’re pretty strong ourselves!”

Alice- “I can probably beat them myself!”

The two quietest of the class Chloe and Ryota don’t say anything, but you can see the fighting spirit burning in their eyes. They all feel a bit wronged.

Illya- “No, I mean… They’re really strong…”

Illya tries to explain to them gently that they honestly have no hope of victory, even with these “unfair” conditions.

Rimuru- “Oy you brats! Lemme just say this right now, I can beat Shizu in a battle of pure techniques!

I boldly proclaim that statement. The kids think I'm talking about the Hero Shizue, the Conquerer of Flames and not our resident little kitty Shizu, but it’s actually the opposite.

In pure techniques, I probably can't compete with Shizue. But Shizu on the other hand…

Heh.

Students- “Haah!?”

They all shout at the same time.

Right, that got them riled.

They respect Shizu and see her as some kind of unbeatable existence. Saying that I could beat her in techniques…

They didn’t take that well.

Tee hee~

-----

Name: Rimuru

Race: Origin Slime

Protection: Crest of Space

Title: Highest Tier Spirit, Leader of the Monsters, Onii-chan, King of Avalon, Master of Headpats, Procrastinator King, The Nutcracker, socially awkward cringe slightly chuuni slime

Manas: [Manas: Illyasviel]

Ultimate Skills: [Belzebuth, Lord of Gluttony] [Ahura Mazda, Lord of Creation] [Scathach, Lord of Runes]

Unique Skills: [Spatial Ruler]

Intrinsic Skills: [Infinite Regeneration] [Universal Shapeshift] [Universal Sense] [Enhanced Replication] [Universal Thread]

Extra Skills: [Lord's Ambition] [Thought Communication] [Control Natural Elements] [Control Magic] [Control Gravity]

Resistances: [Cancel Pain] [Resist Melee Attack] [Cancel Natural Elements] [Cancel Ailments] [Cancel Spiritual Attack] [Resist Holy/Demonic Attack]

Equipment: Yamato, [Raphael] Skill Orb, Limiter Ring