The weather was getting colder in the late afternoon as clouds covered the sky.
In the mansion's courtyard, Grayfia, who created a dark shield with her new skill [Protector], used the skill [Discipline], reflecting all the damage caused to the shield.
When the damage was reflected, it hit Zaydas squarely with double the actual damage dealt.
"Boom!"
Extending his hand and defending himself, a loud explosion echoed.
However, even though the damage had been reflected with double the value, Zaydas, who swung his hand, felt only a slight pain.
But... being able to break through his defense and cause him pain showed just how ridiculous the combination of those two skills Grayfia had received was.
In fact, even when the defense is broken, the result is actually even worse, since the reflected damage varies from 1 to 10. In other words, if you're very unlucky, you can even receive 10 times the amount of damage inflicted on the shield.
The only disadvantage was that, when using [Protector], a Dome is created and the user cannot leave the 3-cubic-meter Dome.
But, although it has this disadvantage, the user—namely, Grayfia—can still attack from inside the "Dome."
...
The next morning, Zaydas, Grayfia, and Shizue got into a luxurious carriage created by Zaydas toward the Kingdom of Englassia.
This time, Shizue wanted to see her students and, if possible, wanted Zaydas' help to save them. That's why she asked him to come with her. This is also the reason she decided to come to the TSSDK dimension this time.
And the reason he didn't bring everyone with him was simple. After meeting Shizue's students, he planned to spend a few days in the city with Grayfia and have some time just for them while Shizue stayed with her students.
By the way, on Earth, Shizue no longer wore her mask, but now that she had returned, although she no longer needed it, she went back to wearing the mask.
"Shizue." Zaydas thought of something: "Can I borrow your mask for a moment?"
"Sure." She replied, taking it off.
After taking it, Zaydas had 'Fenrir' swallow the mask while the [Great Scholar Sage] began analyzing the mask.
Although curious about Zaydas' actions, Shizue didn't seem worried. She trusted him and knew that if he were going to do something risky enough to damage the mask, he would warn her first.
Minutes later, the analysis was complete and Zaydas handed the mask back: "Here, thank you."
"You're welcome~" She smiled as she took it.
Instead of putting it on her face, Shizue placed it to the side of her face.
By the way, a small detail—using the [Flight] skill, Zaydas managed to make the carriage fly through the [Program] skill. The fusion was perfectly executed together with [Modeling].
Pulling the carriage, he created some reindeer that were programmed to go to the destination he had set. Through various commands using [Program], something like this was easy to do. He just needed to merge some skills with the reindeer, and the result was satisfactory.
Of course, he could simply teleport to the designated place. If he were alone, he would've done that.
...
It didn't take long for the Kingdom of Englassia to become visible to the naked eye.
"Let's land," Zaydas said. "We're almost there."
With his words, the carriage pulled by the 'reindeer' began to descend until it landed on the dirt road.
When the "Reindeer" touched the ground, they continued forward, heading toward the privileged entrance. Shizue, with a totem in hand, went to the front side of the carriage.
When they arrived and the guards tried to stop them, Shizue showed the totem in her hand, which glowed gold.
Soon, they stood at attention, becoming respectful: "Your Excellency, you may enter!"
It was commonly recognized that those who possessed such totems were by no means ordinary. Therefore, they didn't dare act indifferent as they would with others and treated them as if they were receiving the royal family itself.
With a simple smile, Shizue nodded. Soon, the carriage advanced, passing through the gates, entering the Kingdom of Englassia.
...
[Freedom Academy]
The carriage stopped in front of the school.
After getting out, Zaydas simply stored the carriage with the 'reindeer' in his personal subspace.
Although with few students, the school itself was huge, full of glass windows with two floors. The school entrance was wide with green grass.
Passing along the dirt road, they walked up to the school entrance.
...
After going through the basic procedure and with the presence of Shizue—or as everyone here knew her, Shizu... They were now in a classroom in front of five students. Two girls and three boys.
When the children saw Shizue, especially the girls, they ran up to her and hugged her with longing.
"Shizu-sensei!!"
Feeling the children's enthusiasm and receiving a warm hug, Shizue smiled and returned the hug by crouching down and embracing the two.
The boys were more reserved and seemed to care about the gender distinction.
Although happy with Shizue's arrival, they stood wriggling in front of her, shyly.
The scene was a little funny and cute.
Even Grayfia had a smile on her face at this scene.
It was clear how loved Shizue was by these few students.
After socializing with the children, Shizue remembered the real purpose and pretended to cough.
"Okay, kids, settle down a bit." Saying that, she looked in the direction of Zaydas and Grayfia, and the children did the same.
"Let me introduce these two who came with me." She gestured her hand toward Zaydas, then to Grayfia, saying in sequence: "This is Zaydas Gremory. He's basically my Lord employer. And next to him is Grayfia, his future wife."
The way she introduced them was direct, but not too blunt. Although hiding several things, it was enough to explain their connection.
""""Hello!""""
After hearing this, they all said "Hello" in unison.
With that done, Shizue wanted to introduce the children, but Zaydas interrupted her.
He looked at the spiky-haired boy and said: "This must be Kenya Misaki, right?" Then, he looked at the more emo-looking boy: "And this must be Ryota Sekiguchi." Looking at the last boy, he said: "And this is Gale Gibson, yes?" Without needing to look at Shizue for confirmation, he looked at the girl with black hair: "You must be Chloe Aubert and you, Alice Rondo, right?" He finished looking at Alice.
When everyone nodded in confirmation, he smiled: "Pleasure to meet you all. As Shizue said, my name is Zaydas Gremory. Feel free to call me directly by name." Placing his hand on Grayfia's waist, he kept smiling as he said: "And this is my fiancée, Grayfia."
With introductions finished, the children said in unison:
""""The pleasure is ours!""""
There was a stark difference in their behavior upon meeting them compared to the original storyline when they met Rimuru. Well, there's the fact that they were directly introduced by Shizue, among other reasons.
Setting aside formalities or any tedious words, Zaydas brought the attention to himself by saying: "Children, do you wish to live?"
When they heard that, the children obviously looked in his direction while Shizue's eyes sparkled like stars in the night sky.
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