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"Veldora! It seems you still haven't learned your lesson!"
At the sound of that voice, Veldora and Enju froze on the spot. They turned their heads in slow, mechanical unison.
Shizu stood there staring directly at both of them, with Treyni at her side.
Kaito and the others wasted no time. They shuffled quietly away from Veldora and Enju, arranging their expressions into the picture of pure innocence.
"Do you have anything to say for yourself, Veldora? And Enju, these are not appropriate for children. I'm confiscating them."
Shizu plucked the manga from Enju's hands, flipped through a few pages, and then looked back at Veldora.
"Uh... uh..."
Just as Veldora was resigning himself to his fate, Treyni spoke up from beside Shizu.
"Chairwoman, I believe this is the last of Veldora-sama's remaining stock. He won't be acquiring any more after this."
Veldora looked at her with open, heartfelt gratitude.
"However..."
"Veldora-sama can't simply be let off the hook for his conduct. So I was thinking..."
Kaito watched Treyni's smile grow steadily brighter and began quietly mourning for Veldora.
"Why not have Veldora-sama take sole responsibility for the security of the entire Academy District for three months?"
"After all, we're not unreasonable, are we!"
Everyone present stared at Treyni in undisguised horror.
'And she says they're not unreasonable!'
The Academy City, counting faculty and students alike, had a population of no fewer than 5.5 million people. Security had always been handled by the Third Legion, a full fifteen thousand soldiers under Geld's command. To make Veldora solely responsible for all of that was not a punishment. It was an execution.
"Wow. As expected of Treyni. I'm glad I've never offended her. She makes Diablo look reasonable."
Rimuru muttered under her breath, watching Veldora slowly turn to stone beside them.
Treyni looked at the petrified Veldora, raised one hand gracefully to her lips, and smiled.
"It appears Veldora-sama accepts the arrangement, since he hasn't objected. Chairwoman?"
Shizu looked at Treyni with visible surprise. She had to admit this felt somewhat excessive.
Veldora hadn't done anything truly terrible, and she was fairly certain the group of bystanders enjoying the show weren't entirely uninvolved.
"This is a bit..."
Sensing her hesitation, Treyni leaned in and whispered in her ear.
"Hehe. Chairwoman, it's just to give him a scare. Let him do it for a day or two, then come up with any excuse to let him off the hook."
Shizu relaxed considerably at that.
Veldora was, after all, one of the true pillars of the entire Jura-Tempest Federation. These pillars were, admittedly, one more unreliable than the last, but there were limits to how far things could be taken.
"Ahem. Since Treyni has proposed it and Veldora has raised no objection, let's proceed on that basis."
Kaito, Rimuru, and their two fellow founding members of the organization watched Veldora's fate get sealed in a handful of sentences and made the sign of the cross in solemn unison.
May God bless you. Amen.
Veldora: Bless what ghost! My big brother died long ago!
"Honestly. The moment I take my eyes off you four, trouble starts."
Shizu looked at them with an expression caught somewhere between exasperation and fondness.
As an educator, she genuinely wanted to drag all of them back to school for a thorough remedial program.
"Hehe!"
"La la la!"
"Ehehe!"
Shizu-sensei watched the four of them playing completely dumb, sighed, and waved her hand.
"Alright, never mind. You won't change anyway." She paused, then turned to Kaito. "Oh, Kai-chan. I actually needed to speak with you."
Kaito dropped the act immediately.
"What is it?"
"The schools across the Academy District are planning to organize an off-campus life internship for the students. But after talking it over with Kagaya, we couldn't find anywhere in this world that would be considered safe. I was hoping you might have some ideas."
Kaito's eyes lit up at once. If she had asked a day ago, he would have had nothing. But now...
"Shizu, your timing is perfect. I just acquired coordinates to a new world."
"It would be ideal for the students. An off-campus internship in another world entirely."
Treyni's eyes brightened.
"Another world, like the one Kagaya and the children originally came from?"
"Exactly. And compared to this world, that one is considerably less dangerous."
"More importantly, it's full of all kinds of extraordinary islands. The students could experience completely different cultures and ways of life."
The more Shizu heard, the more convinced she became. Her expression shifted into a smile of genuine delight.
"That's wonderful! I'll bring it to the council right away and work out how to arrange things for each school."
She thought for a moment, then continued.
"For security, we'll deploy the Academy Guard this time."
The Academy Guard that Shizu was referring to was a security force that belonged to Academy City itself.
In practice, because most security work had been claimed by the Third Legion, the Academy Guard spent the majority of their time sweeping streets.
That said, no one should mistake street-sweepers for weaklings. The Academy Guard numbered three thousand in total. The weakest among them held B+ class strength, and A-class and Special A-class members were far from rare. Their Captain's strength alone ranked in the top ten across the entire Jura-Tempest Federation.
Add in the considerable number of powerful individuals serving as teachers throughout Academy City, and the total combat strength of the place was not one bit inferior to the Three Great Legions. Not surprising, given that Benimaru, Hakurou, and others all held positions there.
"I see. Then security is definitely not a concern."
Kaito nodded.
"Oh oh oh! The pool!"
Splash! Splash!
Several little girls came tearing through in their school swimsuits and launched themselves into the water one after another.
"Hehe! Careful, you little ones!"
Shizu called out to them with a warm smile.
"Got it, Shizu-sensei!"
"Understood, Commander!"
"Oh!!!"
Everyone watching the girls play in the water felt the tension of the day quietly dissolve.
Milim, assuming her natural role as the reigning child queen, leaped straight into the pool and immediately threw herself into the chaos with enthusiasm.
"Well then, I'll leave you to it. Head back early once you're done."
"Tomorrow we'll hold a meeting to discuss the new world properly. A crossing always needs to be planned."
With that, Shizu-sensei and Treyni turned and walked away from the poolside.
Rimuru watched them go, and the grin that had been quietly building on her face finally broke free.
"Hahahaha! We're free! La la la!"
"I'm coming in too!"
She announced, and hurled herself into the water with great enthusiasm.
Kaito and Veldora dragged a pair of lounge chairs to the edge of the pool and settled in comfortably.
They had somehow produced several more manga volumes from somewhere. They read happily in the sun.