Rimuru Tempest and the World of Morons with Magic Sticks

Arc 2: Chapter 7

The only notable thing that happened in those intervening months I mentioned in the last chapter... Wait, chapter?! Where did that come from!?

[[Don't dwell on it, Dear.]]

Moving on... my point is that there was some improvement with that Malfoy boy.

So, I think it's worth mentioning.

It all happened during one of our classic 'seat arguments,' which happened on an at least weekly basis.

"How is Luci doin' anyway?" I asked to derail a tirade he was going on about some nonsense. 'Luci' was the nickname I'd given his dad, short for Lucius, of course.

"How would I know that? It is neither my business nor yours, Tempest!" Now, that wasn't a normal thing to say, it really set off the red alarm in my mind.

"Because he's your dad...?" It seemed blatantly obvious that a kid should know how their parents are doing, even if they are estranged. After all, they are in a school far away and talk by letter. Wouldn't that be the first thing they see in the letters?

"If you're so confident in that, how is your father doing, Tempest?"

Considering I was a parentless being that just manifested out of magicules, I didn't know how to answer that question.

So instead, I decided to ask my Cardinal World body how he was doing. He wasn't really my dad, but he did create this body for me, technically. So he was as close to a dad as I had at that moment.

{{Yo, other me. What're you up to right now?}}

{{Please shut up, I'm talking to Gazel, but Aoki and Milim are here! I can't deal with you too.}}

"I think he has an important meeting today. He's a government official back home." I answered Draco with a grin.

"You know that much? I think you are lying!"

"Why would I lie about something so stupid? It's the right time of day over there for meetings and stuff. He sent me a letter not too long ago."

"And he... sends you letters... often?" Draco looked at the coffee table with a bit of a thousand-meter stare. I didn't think he was okay.

"Of course. He loves me."

{{You love me, right, other me?}}

{{I will send you to the true void for six years if you don't shut up.}}

See? Self-love is a beautiful thing, isn't it?

Back to the outside world.

Maybe I was half lying, but when I'm away I do send telepathy net messages to Aoki and some of my subordinates. That's just being responsible.

Draco wasn't doing too well. Was he about to cry? I thought so. For once, I felt a bit bad for the kid.

I was going to chuckle at first, or I guess it would've been a giggle, but I decided against it after noticing that. "Hey, you alright over there, Draco?"

"What makes you think I'm not!?" he snapped, then sniffled.

I sighed, expecting something along those lines. "Well, I don't know what goes on at home for you. But you really should talk to someone about it if it leaves you crying like you are right now."

"There is something wrong with your head, Tempest."

"And what makes you say that?"

"What makes you think that you have the right to patronize me?"