The next morning, I was writhing in pain all over my body.
The first thing I noticed was a strange sensation running through my back and legs.
I thought it might be my imagination, but gradually a throbbing ache began to spread.
In the blink of an eye, the pain had spread throughout my entire body, and unable to bear it, my consciousness fully awakened.
—Hey
《No problem. It's simply muscle soreness.》 Ciel answered with perfect composure.
Huh? Mus-cle-sore-ness—!?
For a moment, I couldn't even process what she'd said.
Ever since I reincarnated as a slime, muscle soreness had been completely foreign to me.
Or rather, before that even, I had "
《In accordance with the order to not seem suspicious, I've brought your body closer to that of a human, but shall I turn off pain sensitivity?》 Once Ciel told me that, I finally caught up to understanding.
Ah, right. Of course — if you're human, muscle soreness is only natural. More than that, it's to be expected.
I'd been on my feet all day yesterday, my legs were stiff as boards, and resting in a tent without even a proper bed meant my body had no way to recover.
I wasn't the only one — Masha and Aina were both tossing and turning restlessly as well.
If I turned off pain sensitivity now, it would stick out unnaturally. After all, my acting skills were amateur at best.
I gave up on eliminating the pain and decided to simply endure it for a while.
Everyone woke up, and day two of the survival exercise began.
Breakfast was combat rations, and I filled empty packs with water to use as canteens.
The water we'd worked so hard to draw yesterday had come in handy after all.
The exploration squad was energetic today as well.
There wasn't a single person who seemed bothered by yesterday's fatigue.
They were trained differently from me.
Or rather, my body had become one that had never been trained at all, so I was in even worse shape...
Anyway, the exploration squad lined up in full gear before the magic circle, completed their roll call, and once the body-enhancing magic had taken effect, they set off.
Having seen them off, we who remained also got moving.
Today, the priority was figuring out the salt situation.
If there were any fruits that could substitute for pepper, we planned to gather those too.
With just salt and pepper, the flavor of meat would improve dramatically.
Honestly, I could put up with the pain, but eating tasteless food was where I drew the line.
I forced my aching body forward and headed over to the rest of my group.
"You look like you're in pain. Are you alright?"
Mondo asked with concern.
To be honest, feeling pain for the first time in over a decade was rough.
But I couldn't allow myself to be the only one to drop out — my pride wouldn't stand for it.
"Of course I'm alright. More importantly, where are we heading today?"
"Huh? Aren't we going fishing again today?"
I asked back through gritted teeth, and George looked at me in surprise.
"I thought we'd be fishing again today too."
"Me too~"
Masha and Aina had apparently also assumed they'd be heading out to fish.
Mondo was nodding vigorously, so he'd clearly been thinking the same thing.
"It's only been a day — the fish probably won't bite as much. I think we should skip it today. Besides, we ran out of salt yesterday. If we don't find a substitute, we won't be able to enjoy any game we manage to catch, no matter how much we get."
When I explained this, everyone nodded in understanding.
"The other groups seem to be heading to the water source too, so I'd like to explore in a different direction today, but..."
That would mean we'd be operating separately from the foraging group. There weren't enough teachers to serve as escorts either, and from a safety standpoint, it just wasn't practical. The most realistic option for us was to investigate the area around the water source.
"Then why don't we spend today gathering various plants and nuts?"
George declared enthusiastically, and we all nodded in agreement.
The students who'd been foraging yesterday had apparently only collected fruits that were clearly edible.
But today, we planned to search for herbs and nuts that could serve as spice substitutes. They would also help preserve the meat from any magical beasts we hunted, so obtaining plants with such properties held significant value.
Well, for a survival exercise lasting about a week, maybe it wasn't something we needed to worry about that much.
Then again, since we were acting with student education as a premise, I didn't think any of it was wasted effort.
And so, we began the day's foraging work.
◆◆◆ A section of the city, enclosed by enormous walls.
As someone who rarely left the Demon Nation's central administrative building and who could go anywhere at any time via Spatial Transfer, walking down a street was a novel experience for Diablo.
Walking beside him was
Rather than his usual attire, he wore civilian clothes like any other town resident.
Diablo was the same — a casual outfit of a black shirt and pants.
However.
Whether it was Souei or Diablo, the fabric of their clothes was top-quality goods woven with magical thread from Tempest — the kind of outfits that would make anyone who knew their worth turn pale imagining the price tag.
To top it off, they wore accessories imbued with super-high-level magic, making their appearance the very definition of luxury.
But the reason they drew attention wasn't the clothes.
That was made obvious by the ratio of men to women among those staring at them, heavily skewed toward the women.
It was simply because two stunningly handsome men were walking side by side.
"They're staring. How rude."
Normally, there wasn't a single soul in the central administrative building reckless enough to look Diablo directly in the eye.
Let alone the civil officials — even the military officers would lower their gaze and kneel the moment they passed him in a hallway.
Outside of the executive class, there were only a handful of people who could act casually around Diablo.
"Don't mind it. Your clothes are just too eye-catching."
"What are you saying? They're perfectly plain black outfits—"
Souei brushed off Diablo's complaint, but Diablo wasn't satisfied.
He'd specifically asked for the most inconspicuous outfits available for their covert trip to town. Being told he stood out was understandably hard to accept.
(When we get back, there will be consequences,) he thought, mentally sentencing the wardrobe attendant whose face he could barely remember to punishment — though even that wouldn't fully quell his irritation.
"That's it! How about we eliminate those staring at us under the pretext of hostile actions—"
"Stop. This is exactly why I didn't want to bring you along."
Diablo had proposed this with visible enthusiasm, but Souei shot him down without hesitation.
And so, exposed to the stares of the townspeople all the while, Diablo and Souei arrived at their destination.
The Tempest Human Resource Development Academy — The comprehensive educational institution of the Demon Nation, built at Rimuru's personal behest.
And this place was the pinnacle of education, one of the three great academies that the world took pride in.
Souei had been ordered by Rimuru to investigate these academies, and Diablo had tagged along.
Before the gate, Souei was communicating with someone.
Diablo casually glanced around and spotted an inexplicable group.
They were clad in matching white sacred vestments, their faces hidden beneath hoods.
They seemed to possess some kind of recognition-hindering effect — the race and abilities of the wearers were impossible to discern.
If it were Demon Lord Milim with her Dragon Eye, she'd see through it without issue, but Diablo's Demon Eye couldn't achieve a complete scan.
(Hmm, how unsatisfying.)
Diablo felt a twinge of displeasure.
Diablo wasn't a perfectionist, and he'd delegated intelligence gathering to his subordinate
Because Rimuru had been making information public, this nation's magical technology had advanced dramatically.
As a result, anti-demon equipment had also become more robust, and even for the most powerful race — the Demons — they could no longer feel secure.
In this day and age, if you had the money, you could potentially obtain equipment rivaling legendary-class gear.
That in itself was trivial to Diablo, but the fact that concealment capabilities exceeding even his own abilities were available on the open market was not something he could dismiss.
That said, the current Diablo was suppressing his magic power to one percent while disguised as a human. Accordingly, his abilities had also declined, and he possessed power far below his original capabilities...
Diablo's Demon Eye received magical power-based enhancement, so comparing him to Rimuru or Milim, whose abilities weren't derived from magic power, wasn't exactly fair.
But that was no excuse for Diablo, and unpleasant was still unpleasant.
(The wearers are estimated to be Holy Knight-level. And if they've obtained legendary-class equipment, their power would increase dramatically — something along those lines, perhaps—) Not worth the effort of caution, combat-wise.
Even in his current state, Diablo could slaughter them all in under a minute in a head-on fight.
And yet, there was something irritating about them — the atmosphere they gave off was grating.
Diablo was about to take a step forward when a hand on his shoulder stopped him cold.
"The moment I look away, you try to start trouble."
Souei said with exasperation.
"Fufufufu. No, nothing of the sort. Those people were making me uncomfortable, so I merely thought I'd have a little chat—"
"That's what I call starting trouble."
Souei shook his head, finding the conversation pointless.
But he'd anticipated this would happen the moment Diablo insisted on accompanying him, so while exasperated, he didn't bother complaining.
Souei glanced at the group that had caught Diablo's attention, his expression unchanged, and calmly continued with his report.
"Moss has contacted us. He's arrived safely and made contact with William Loers, a magic teacher at the Inglassia Comprehensive Academy, who was an intelligence asset."
"Oh, that's excellent."
Diablo nodded at Souei's words.
He'd already lost interest in the group in white sacred vestments.
The only thing that mattered to Diablo was the movements of his master, Rimuru.
Souei understood this, which was exactly why he'd brought it up.
After
He'd then ordered Moss to move a Split Body — the smallest unit he could separate from himself — as close to Rimuru's vicinity as possible without anyone noticing.
Moss's Split Body had traveled along the Sticky Steel Thread that Souei had connected to Rimuru, executing its mission via Shadow Movement.
Using Spatial Transfer would allow instantaneous travel, but that would be far too conspicuous.
And now, Moss, who had been moving through shadow space at ultra-high speeds, had successfully landed on Maldorand Island — that was the report they'd received.
It would be preferable if Rimuru didn't notice, but frankly, it didn't matter much either way.
Just like Diablo, Rimuru had suppressed his power.
Or rather, he'd dropped it down to roughly human level, meaning his reduction ratio was even greater than Diablo's.
So he might not notice after all, but Diablo had resigned himself to the fact that he couldn't count on that.
(Ideally, I'd be watching over him from the shadows, but... I can't exactly keep secrets from Lord Rimuru, now can I?)
That was what Diablo had been thinking.
The Moss who had landed on the island apparently made contact with this William fellow right away.
He handed over a new Sticky Steel Thread entrusted by Souei and communicated via Thought Communication.
To avoid any risk of interception, even if infinitesimally small, they'd conducted the communication directly.
Diablo found this level of caution very much in character for Souei and was satisfied enough to leave the operational details to him.
"So, what did Moss have to say?"
"Don't rush me. According to the contact — William — Laplace seems to be managing well. The combat instructors are performing better than expected, apparently putting up resistance."
"As expected. Lord Rimuru's personally invested academy — there's no room for incompetents among its staff."
"However—"
"However?"
Souei let Diablo's words pass and relayed the report from William.
He understood full well that what he was about to say would enrage Diablo.
"There were teachers who didn't move to protect the students."
Diablo's rage was instantaneous.
"Tell Moss to kill them all,"
Diablo said with a smile.
There was no intent of selectivity in that statement — it meant to eliminate everyone other than Rimuru and the students.
Souei let out a soft sigh, then continued without changing his expression.
"I told you not to rush. Lord Rimuru himself has gone to the island specifically to root out such wrongdoers. He's not the kind of man who'd throw out the entire box just because one fruit has gone rotten."
Hidden within those words was the implication: Lord Rimuru would never permit such a thing, you fool.
Realizing this, Diablo retorted to Souei with a displeased expression.
"—That is true, but troubling Lord Rimuru with such petty matters..."
"I agree. That's precisely why we'll eliminate those who mixed the rotten fruit into the batch during this operation. Make it brutal enough that they'll never dare harbor such foolish thoughts again."
"Oh? In other words, you're suggesting there's a possibility that someone's intentions are interfering with the academy?"
"Precisely. Though whether it's someone from inside or outside, the investigation is still ongoing."
Hearing Souei's words, Diablo narrowed his eyes and a smile crept onto his lips.
The expression was gentle on the surface, yet utterly cold.
Among the women walking past, some were so affected by his appearance that they actually fainted.
Diablo was satisfied with this explanation and calmed down. He urged Souei to continue.
Until the time came to select those who would be eliminated and exact punishment, he would hold his anger in reserve.
In the first place, Souei's reasoning was correct from the start.
When you thought about it calmly, it was something even Diablo could immediately understand — Rimuru would never permit throwing away all the personnel he'd been nurturing.
Devoting their efforts to removing the root cause was the most natural course of action.
Having confirmed Diablo's acceptance, Souei continued his explanation.
Currently, only the teachers that this contact William deemed trustworthy had been informed of Rimuru's true identity.
This had been approved by Souei as well, judged to be beneficial for Rimuru in re-educating the students.
"Hmm. But what if William's judgment is flawed?"
"Then we simply eliminate William along with them."
Souei said this matter-of-factly.
Souei considered the fact that he hadn't noticed the academy's current state until Rimuru pointed it out to be his own failing. Therefore, unlike Diablo who acted without discrimination, Souei intended to carry out a purge regardless.
Diablo was satisfied with that answer and gave his consent.
It would be wrong to disturb Rimuru's enjoyment on the island — that was a sentiment shared by both Diablo and Souei, and on the point of avoiding excessive interference, their thinking was aligned.
That was precisely why the judgment of the local teachers should also be respected, and the rest should be left to Rimuru.
They would execute the orders they'd been given.
That was the conclusion the two of them had reached.
Diablo and Souei exchanged glances, nodded to each other, and passed through the gates of the Tempest Human Resource Development Academy.