Rimuru’s Elegant Escape Play – 24 END

Afterward.

The students were put on the airship that Diablo and Souei came in and sent off to the Kingdom of Ingracia.

While I was going to miss it, this was the end of the survival training.

Laplace stayed on the island and talked with the monsters about the plans for building Wonderland.

This was in order to listen to their requests and to insure habitat segregation.

In the future, this island would have a secret base for mysterious airships and an amusement park from hell for the training of the students.

We were also considering allowing civilians inside while accompanied by guards.

And—

Within the airship, I decided to listen to what Diablo and Souei had been doing up until now.

“This must be some kind of mistake!”

Screamed Jujilas as Souei escorted him. He was tied to what looked like a dirty log.

But on closer inspection, it wasn’t a log, but a person who had been turned into a tree.

“What’s this?”

“Ah! This guy had crawled into the NNU Magic and Science Investigation Academy, and so I punished him. As you commanded, I refrained from taking his life.”

Diablo answered proudly.

While it was true that he had not killed him, what did he intend to do now…?

“Hehehe. Once the questioning is finished, I intend to put him in the treant labyrinth town.”

“Uh, I don’t know if Trainee would like that?”

“Do you think so? Then what if I give him to you as a present, Lord Rimuru?”

“I don’t want him! This isn’t just a questionable hobby, you know? They will question my sanity!”

“That is true. I am very sorry. Shall I burn him now?”

“Hmm. Maybe…”

The conversation was like some kind of comedy sketch. Just then, the log–I mean, Godama, began to cry.

I felt a little sorry for him.

But upon further questioning, it turned out that he was causing the most mischief in regards to my plans for the school… I could not forgive him for that.

I had no reason to forgive him.

“Oh, well. After making him an example for other fools and enduring one hundred years of tree life, he can be released. He may even be able to start life again if his brain is fine. In the end, it is important to repent.”

“That’s wonderful, Lord Rimuru. You are always overflowing with mercy!”

Oh, really?

I felt like I was being rather harsh.

He was feeling a lot of pain but couldn’t die. He couldn’t faint or even go mad. Perhaps it would be better to just die.

However, he would be much more mentally stronger if he came out of this intact after a hundred years.

Depending on his attitude at that time, I may just hire him at Tempest.

It was not particularly pleasant, but it would work as an experiment.

And there was one other person.

Jujilas, who had been crying for quite some time now…

His heart certainly would not be able to survive turning into a tree…

Hmm. In fact, just like the small fry he was, he hadn’t actually committed that grave a crime.

On the other hand, he had affected the school and put meaningless status systems in place and shown open hostility towards me.

“What should we do with him?”

“I could kill him for you?”

Souei was quick to say.

Do you mean it? Diablo seemed to ask as he looked at Souei with surprise.

Wait a minute? I just remembered something.

“That’s it! This guy is fixated on class. We can strip him of his status and make him labor as a prisoner.”

“I see. He can help clean the labyrinth.”

“Hehehe. And there will be no worry of him dying if he wears the bracelet.”

It seemed like a very harsh punishment indeed.

The bracelet would cause him to resurrect every time that he died.

And cleaning the labyrinth was very dangerous work.

A certain number of the monsters had been dealt with, but there was still parts that needed work.

It was Trainee and the other labyrinth managers that went their periodically, but they would need people to help them.

Or course, it was all very dangerous.

There was a possibility of being killed by monsters repeatedly. So it was usually work for prison laborers.

The least popular job in Tempest.

However, this was not the kind of conversation we could have in front of the students.

It wasn’t just a matter of having a bad influence on them.

So all of these thoughts remained in my head as I decided on Godama and Jujilas’s fates.

After that, there was also Magnus, Rozari and Irina.

Irina would sometimes look at my face and shout.

“Tsk. Just kill me!”

Ah! How typical!

“Hehehe. Then without further ado!”

Diablo began to move, and so I stopped him frantically.

You can’t kill the person who begs to be killed.

It was against the rules.

“Um, I understand that you hate me and everything. But, it’s not exactly justified. The ruler cannot just stand by without resisting during a war. A country cannot exist without protecting its citizen’s safety and assets. It is fine if people want to sing about being pacifists, but the ruler cannot. Or else the country will fall. Can you understand that?”

“Yes… I understand that I am wrong. But! I cannot help but hate you…”

Well, she couldn’t help herself then.