I could only guess Takeshi’s reaction if he saw my 2 new followers, but it was a relatively small risk, which I would take if I could save time with it. It had been about 1 hour since I left my room. We entered the dormitory and headed upstairs.

“Will you finally tell me why we have to go to your room? Moreover, now of all times?”(Takeshi)

“If I let them be they won’t live until tomorrow, probably.”(Me)

“What?”(Takeshi)

I opened the door to my room. Both Sarah and Nala had a weak physical body and they were still desperately trying to stand up. Sweat all over their body.

“Master!”(Nala)

“Teacher!”(Sarah)

They were both happy that I finally returned.

“You should dispel your gravity rune. They won’t last long for sure.”(Takeshi)

I did as he said. Sarah and Nala still remained on the floor and took heavy breathes.

“You have new slaves?”(Takeshi)

“Kind of.”(Me)

“Where do you always get them?”(Takeshi)

“I don’t buy them. Sarah was saved by me and I promised Nala to train him.”(Me)

“So it’s Sarah and Nala?”(Takeshi)

“Ha…Yes…Ha.”(Nala)

“Ha…and…who is he…ha?”(Sarah)

With her last strength she lifted her arm and pointed at Takeshi.

“My name is Takeshi.”(Takeshi)

“Is he the 1 you were talking about, Master?”(Nala)

“Yes. And stop being lazy and lying on the floor. We are going back to the city.”(Me)

I would keep my promise to treat them to whatever they wanted, but their happy grins went on my nerves.

“But because you 2 failed the 1st step of training, you will be punished. I’ll cast an even weaker rune on you and you have to bear with it until the end of this day.”(Me)

As fast as their happiness came, it went away and despair overcome their faces.

“You surely are a devil.”(Takeshi)

“Shut up, they wanted me to train them, so I train them.”(Me)

“I wanted to train magic and not my body.”(Sarah)

“Hoho, do you want to say my methods of teaching are bad?”(Me)

Takeshi grabbed my shoulder.

“Let me handle this.”(Takeshi)

“Fine, but finish fast.”(Me)

He turned to face Sarah and Nala.

“You want to learn magic?”(Takeshi)

“Yes!”(Sarah)

“For what purpose?”(Takeshi)

“In order to become strong and to be able to defend myself.”(Sarah)

“Then what would happen if you go against a beastman and he uses zero magic?”(Takeshi)

“T…Then I’ll still be able to run away somehow.”(Sarah)

“From a beastman?”(Takeshi)

“Y…Yes.”(Sarah)

Takeshi got all fired up. I have never seen him like that. Then again I have never seen him teaching someone anything, perhaps it was his kind of style of teaching.

“Hahaha. Ok, ok. The physically weak you, who is going up against a beastman with zero magic, then running away, what if he catches up?”(Takeshi)

“I.”(Sarah)

“Wait I know. You’ll talk it out? Ok then what happens if you’d have to go up against someone of an even higher level? Would you still dare to talk? No you’d be getting beaten up, perhaps lose an arm or both of your legs or something like that, before you even get the chance to start talking.”(Takeshi)

“I.”(Sarah)

“It’s better to always be prepared for as many different situations as possible.”(Takeshi)

Silence filled the room. Sarah and Nala were too scared to say anything, while I was waiting for Takeshi to finish.

“Good, let’s go to the city now.”(Takeshi)

His sudden change of attitude from a devil back to a normal human was fascinating.

“Talk about being a devil.”(Me)

“Hahaha.”(Takeshi)

I drew another 2 runes on their clothes and Takeshi and I left my room again. This time Sarah and Nala were still able to stand. It looked like they were carrying a heavy burden, but it seemed like they wouldn’t be kissing the ground again.

“Both of them are evil.”(Sarah)

“I prefer Master though.”(Nala)

I could hear from the outside.

“What are the 2 of you doing? Get moving.”(Me)

Perhaps I was a bit harsh, but they wanted to get strong. And if I bring them to their limits, perhaps I could even use them later.

We reached the gate and Vincent was confused as soon as he saw us. We explained to him that we scratched together some money to go shopping. He was fine with that. He almost let us pass with no further ado, but he saw the discomfort in my 2 follower’s faces and made a stern look.

“It’s training.”(Me)

“It can’t be called training if they look like they’ll fall down every second.”(Vincent)

“I only used a small and weak gravity rune a few minutes ago. They still have to get used to it.”(Me)

“Let me warn you, if I hear that 2 slaves collapsed on the streets, you’ll be the 1st person I’ll interrogate.”(Vincent)

“Haha. Ok. Have a nice day and see you later Vincent.”(Me)

“Sigh. Go as long as I won’t change my mind.”(Vincent)

He had an honest heart. It didn’t really bother me, I was only sorry for him. If he ever lost his job as a city guard, or would have to leave this city, he wouldn’t be able to survive in the outside world.

“You can both buy whatever you want with this money. We’ll meet up again here at the gate in 3 hours.”(Me)

I said after we passed the gate. I gave each of them 10 gold coins, which was an enormous amount of money for a slave to have. In the end I kept my promise and they happily departed into the crowded city.

“Are you sure that they’ll be ok? 10 gold coins is a bit much they could become targets of robbery.”(Takeshi)

“Don’t worry, in human standards, Nala should be quite strong when it comes to magic.”(Me)

“If you say so.”(Takeshi)

“Let’s go eat something at a restaurant.”(Me)

“Sure.”(Takeshi)

We went to the nearest restaurant. It was called “The goat’s hut”. I didn’t mind about the name as long as the food was ok. We received a relatively remote table in the corner of the restaurant. Probably because we were only kids and they didn’t take us serious, but for a secret talk it was perfect.

“I’ll say it beforehand, I don’t know anything about this festival. I heard about it for the 1st time when I came back.”(Me)

“It’s ok, I know a little bit more. I cleared a dungeon near the capital, so I came across a lot of things.”(Takeshi)

“Do you have any information about the new court magician?”(Me)

“He’s young. Extremely young. Some say he’s under 16.”(Takeshi)

“That’s pretty good I guess.”(Me)

He leaned over the table and started whispering.

“That’s not all. The important thing comes next.”(Takeshi)

“There’s more?”(Me)

“Apparently, people say that he comes from the Dark Continent.”(Takeshi)

“Is there any proof to that?”(Me)

“Not at the moment. But we’ll find out tomorrow.”(Takeshi)

I more or less understood the situation. If what I predicted were to come true, I would have a save entrance at the tournament in 2 weeks. Everything depended on how I’d use this new opportunity.

Afterwards, we ate and talked about other things. Like how our dungeon exploration went, how I came across Sarah and Nala, and so on. Obviously, I skipped every part where my identity as Nightmare would come up.

We finished after about 2 hours and strolled through the city for the last hour. Meeting up with a happy Sarah and Nala at the school’s gate and going back to the dormitory together.

Sarah, Nala and me entered my room and I closed the door behind us.

“I hope you guys enjoyed the city.”(Me)

“Yes.”(Sarah & Nala)

“Good to hear that. I need you 2 to do something for me.”(Me)

“Huh?”(Sarah)

“I’ll send you to my continent with a message.”(Me)

“Why are we no good anymore, Master?”(Nala)

“That’s not the issue. I sent you back because I have to change my plans a little bit and for that, I need you to deliver this message.”(Me)

“I’m listening Master.”(Nala)

I looked at Sarah with a questioning gaze.

“Fine, I’ll go too. I said I wanted to visit the Dark Continent, so why not now?”(Sarah)

“Good. They’ll know that I sent you, so just deliver this message.”(Me)

I made a dramatic pause.

“There’s a change of plans, I’ll come back in 1 week and discuss it with you.”(Me)

“That’s all?”(Sarah)

“That’s all.”(Me)

I activated the teleportation circle and sent the both of them away.

“Sigh. Now that the unforeseen risks are cleared away, let’s think of a way to communicate with Sepp, while not receiving any unnecessary attention.”(Me)