- Silas -
I reopened my shop the next day.
Last night the training with the Masters of Ryozanpaku had been extremely exhausting.
Those people wanted to see how far they could push my body and they were not the kind of people who ever held back.
I lost my consciousness thrice and was brought back by Akisame-sensei.
And perhaps the strangest thing in all this was that I was feeling fine after a good night's sleep.
Is this because of my Demon Heritage?
Who knows?
The first was as usual Saitama.
I noticed that he looked particularly glum today.
"What's up Saitama?"
"Ah Silas…." he sat down in his usual seat and sighed. "I…sigh."
"Did something happen?" I asked.
"I….I lost the last strand of hair on my head."
….
….
I could have laughed….but I didn't. No.
Saitama was my friend….so I forced my laugh in an awkward snort.
I patted his shoulder. "Don't mind. There are several people who spend so much time keeping their heads waxed. You are getting all that for free." I reassured him.
"But I don't want to!"
"Hahahaha don't mind the details. You know what? I will bring you your favourite, all on the house."
"Really!"
"Promise."
At this time the door to the Restaurant opened and a blue haired girl entered, staring at us and as soon as the door closed, it opened again, revealing a large man in a black suit of plate armour.
"Silas, Saitama."
"Silas, Saitama."
Both of them said at the same time.
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
Both of us were surprised at the same time too.
"It's me, Mikami." The girl said.
"I am Suzuki." The man spoke at the same time.
Even the two were stunned and looked at each other in surprise.
….
….
After a full hour of explanation, I found myself staring at my familiarly unfamiliar friends.
"So you got into a game and were transported into a whole other world….in your game character? Damn that's wild." Mikami or rather Rimuru said.
"And you were stabbed and transported to another world, how is that any different?" Suzuki or rather as he is called now, Ainz complained.
"I mean I kinda died and was reincarnated….well you get the difference."
"No no, I don't get the difference."
"Still, three of us four suddenly became something else. Only Saitama is a normal human now."
"It doesn't matter. We are friends." Mikami cheered everyone by bouncing on the chair in his slime form.
All of us smiled at this.
Yes.
We are friends.
"By the way Suzuki….I mean Ainz. I have a question." Saitama raised his hand.
"Hmm."
"Now that you are a skeleton, what do you eat? Also, if you eat Bone Soup, will it be cannibalism? And do you poop?" Saitama asked, curious, making Ainz facepalm while both Rimuru and I burst out laughing.
"I do not need to eat anything. And what do you mean by cannibalism?"
"And poop?"
"Obviously I don't need to poop either! What would I even poop, bone powder?" He bristled before a green light flashed around him and he calmed down.
"Alright alright calm down." Rimuru placated Ainz and looked at me. "By the way how did your world suddenly turn into a Supernatural one?" Rimuru asked me, diverting the topic quickly.
I shrugged. "The hell do I know. As far as it looks, the supernatural world always existed, they just kept it hidden from normal humans….or maybe it was just me due to my….well you know."
"But still, it's crazy. You were chased by pokemon and pokemon trainers." Rimuru spoke seriously.
"They were not pokemon. He didn't keep them in pokeballs." I interrupted.
"That doesn't prove anything. Ash doesn't keep his Pikachu in the Pokeball. Still a pokemon. And you said it was a dog which came from an egg. Only Pokemon do that." Rimuru countered and I was completely speechless.
He did make a fair point.
"He might not have a pokeball." Ainz pointed out.
"Ohh. I mean what's the possibility of him not knowing how to use a Pokeball?"
"Nah….Nobody can be such a noob."
"Agreed."
"Agreed."
"Agreed."
Well yeah.
"Well not Pokemon then. Thankfully you had learned magic. Still, it was quite dangerous. You should be more careful. Who knows what else is there in the outside world." He put a hand on top of a jug of water and blue liquid poured and filled the whole thing. "This is a Full Restore Potion. It can heal any injuries, even regenerate limbs and damaged souls. You should keep this with you in vials. We never know when we might need something like this."
I stared at the liquid in front of me with my mouth wide open.
"Rimuru is not wrong, Silas." Raising a hand, Ainz spoke as several armour and weapons appeared on the table, creating a large stack. "You shouldn't go around unprepared. Before this, your heritage was under a seal and you were not recognised by anyone but you said that that girl recognised you as a devil in a single glance and was cautious, even a bit aggressive. Thankfully you were inside the Restaurant and not outside so you should take measures when you go out next time. These are some weapons and armour for you. Later I will send some Pleiades as guards here."
"Umm….thank you?" I said looking at the armour. How would I act lowkey when I walk around in these?
"What are these Pleiades you talk about?" Rimuru asked the question which I was meaning to ask.
"They are the battle maids who protect Nazarick."
"Maids! Ainz, you have maids?" Rimuru asked, surprised.
"Umu. I am the King of Nazarick now. Obviously I will have maids." He nodded proudly.
"So… are you rich now?"
I believe I saw a smirk on his bony face if that was even possible. "I have more gold than everyone in the room and the room itself… together.
"Holy fuck! And here I was living in huts made by dwarves. Ainz is paying for everyone today."
"Hmm, hmm. Ainz pay." Saitama nodded as well.
"Very well. Today's bill shall be paid by me… Ainz Ooal Gown."
I smiled. "Well, today's food was on the house as we were celebrating Saitama going completely bald today."
"Hey! That's not something to celebrate." The man in question bristled.
"Umm….then we can celebrate you saving all that shampoo cost from now on." Rimuru suggested.
"Well….that does sound goo….no hold up a bit!"
We all burst out in laughter at his reaction.
It was a strange scene. A bald hero, a talking skeleton, a slime and a devil walked into a restaurant… I can make a fucking joke out of it.
And yet, even in this strange scene, I felt strangely normal again.
I got up to prepare everyone's orders and looked at the three of them, especially the annoyed looking Saitama and the two who were teasing him. "Well look on the bright side, Saitama. Now all three of you are bald." I laughed and ran away, leaving all three annoyed and shouting.
Ainz showed everyone the pictures of the maids. He had even programmed those maids for us. It was only to shoot a promotional video but talk about a coincidence.
Rimuru was fanboying over the maids while Saitama seemed almost interested but was keeping them company nonetheless.
Sakura was out to do some shopping as it was still early so I carried over the food to them.
"Ahhh, I missed this taste." Mikami or rather as we know him as Rimuru cheered. It was hard to know where his eyes were but his voice conveyed his emotions quite clearly.
"Oi, Suzuki… ah, I mean Ainz, can I take your share?" Saitama said, eying his plate.
Ainz in reply picked up the plate and we saw in wonder as he cut the meat and took a bite and the food just disappeared in his mouth. It didn't just fall down on the chair.
"You liar! You said you couldn't eat." Saitama shouted pointing fingers at him.
I don't know why but that bony face seemed a little smug at the moment. "Correction. I said I don't need to eat. I never said that I couldn't. How do you think I use potions?"
….
Rimuru and I burst out in laughter looking at Saitama's dumbfounded face.
It was a strange scene.
We sat there and ate together as the door to the Restaurant opened again.
It was Miu and Naruto. They were going to school and I had offered to cook them a bento each as Naruto was hesitating to go to school.
Safe to say both of them agreed. In fact, I was going to prepare some for Touma and Cid too as they made it a habit of taking bentos from my Restaurant everyday.
It was a good prospect so I agreed too.
Generally Tobio would be included in this group as well but I don't think he would come today.
But there was something which all of us ignored.
"Aghhh! Ghost. Miu Nee-chan, Nii-san, there is a ghost in the Restaurant." Naruto jumped and hid behind Miu.
The girl herself looked scared.
I facepalmed while Ainz looked a bit abashed while Rimuru was rolling and laughing in his place.
Saitama had a look of schadenfreude.
"He is not a ghost, Naruto. Don't be afraid. Also, you are learning to be a Jujutsu Sorcerer, how can you be afraid of these things?" I tried to calm him down.
It took several minutes of explanations to make them believe who he was.
"Eh! Suzuki-san and Mikami-san?" Miu quickly bowed and apologised and made Naruto do the same.
Finally, assured that Ainz was not a ghost, Naruto pranced around looking at him from all angles.
"Hey hey Ainz-ojisan, are you really a skeleton now?" He asked, curiously.
….I had a weird sense of deja vu.
"Then do you eat? And can you poop?"
"Naruto!" Miu scolded.
"Pfft ahahahaha I can't take this anymore." Rimuru burst out once more.
I cracked up too.
If a skeleton had lips and they could twitch then it would have looked exactly like Ainz's look right now.
A green light washed over him and he relaxed and patted Naruto's head with his skeletal fingers.
"Yes, I can eat and no I don't need to poop. Everything is taken care of by magic."
….huh.
Well well, would you look at that?
Ainz can be a softie too.