Songs in the Void: A Multiversal Score

Arifureta Universe, Tortus, Heiligh Kingdom, Ur Village.

"I think you all need to take a step back." Tatsuo said solemnly as he approached Shea and wrapped an arm around her before pulling her into his embrace. "Because you really don't want the problems you're about to bring upon yourselves. Shea is mine. And I'll be damned if I'm gonna let any of you racist assholes do anything to her."

The atmosphere grew tense after Tatsuo's words. The diners in the dining hall watched with rapt attention while simultaneously preparing to run if things go out of hand. Meanwhile, the Templars looked as if they were ready to attack. And everyone knew if something went wrong, this inn would turn into a battlefield.

David, after hearing what Tatsuo said, tightened his grip on his sword's hilt while gritting his teeth in anger. Anger that his god's edicts were being questioned. But it was clear that Tatsuo, Sumire, James, Aletia, Aiko, and the students other than Yukitoshi, could not have cared less.

"Seriously, man." Tatsuo continued, breaking the tense silence. "If you really wanna fuck around, you'll definitely find out why that's such a bad idea."

"*Whistle* That's right, fuck around and find out." James said in a mocking tone.

Gritting his teeth even tighter, David was just about to give the order to attack. However, before he could, Aiko finally snapped back to her senses and stepped between him and Tatsuo with her arms spread wide.

"Stop this right now!" Aiko ordered trying to sound as authoritative as possible. But to everyone listening, she just sounded cute. "I will not allow you to harm my students or anyone here, for that matter."

"But Aiko…" David shot back, though almost all the anger in his tone was gone. "He's blatantly disrespecting the Church's edicts."

"And you have to remember, neither he nor we are followers of your faith." Aiko shot back without hesitation. "

Then, Aiko turned around and put her hands on her hips while glaring at Tatsuo and James, trying her best to look intimidating, and failing miserably.

"And the two of you, stop antagonizing them." Aiko ordered. "I know slavery is wrong, and it should definitely be brought to an end. But this won't help your cases."

Seeing the expression on Aiko's face, Tatsuo, Sumire, and James could not help smiling at her, thinking it was cute how hard she was trying.

"Fine." Tatsuo said with a smile while making eye contact with Aiko. "I'm willing to let this go if they are. But I don't let anyone hurt the people I care about. And there's nothing you can do to change that."

It should be noted that other than Aiko, all the females in the dining room were staring at Tatsuo with lovestruck expressions after that declaration. Meanwhile, Shea, who was in Tatsuo's arms, was looking up at him like she was ready to pounce on her prey.

'He said I was his.' Shea thought to herself, the same words on repeat in her head.

Aiko, on the other hand, after hearing Tatsuo's willingness to take a step back, nodded her head in approval. Then, she once again turned to face the Templars.

"Well?" Aiko asked as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

After hesitating for a moment at the censuring look in Aiko's eyes, David eventually released his hilt. Then, he waved his hand, signaling for his squad to be at ease.

"Good." Aiko said as she nodded her head once again, this time with satisfaction written all over her face

"Well, I guess that's over." James said with a shrug as he released the tension in his body. "I wouldn't have minded teaching Ai-Chan-Sensei's simps a lesson, though."

In response, the other students all nodded their heads as they moved to join Tatsuo, Sumire, Aletia, and shea at the table with James. However, before they could get comfortable and start asking Tatsuo and Sumire questions about where they've been, a middle-aged man dressed in a smart set of clothing approached the table.

"Excuse me, esteemed guests, perhaps we could better serve a group of your size in a private room." The middle-aged man, most likely the manager of the Water Spirit Inn, asked once he was close enough to the table.

Although he seemed as if he was offering better accommodations for the large group of guests, which he was, it was clear to anyone with a bit of common sense that he was asking the group to relocate in case things got out of hand again, like they almost did. That way, they would be able to keep material damage down to a minimum, as it was clear that the inn's staff would not be able to stop the conflict.

"That sounds lovely." Aiko replied with a friendly smile. "We haven't been able to see our friends in quite some time. So, it would be nice to catch up in a private setting."

Of course, Aiko, who could not even tell that the Templars were interested in her, was the only person present that could not see the manager's obvious intentions. Even so, she spoke on behalf of the entire group to accept his offer.

With that, the manager led the group to a private room on the second floor of the dining hall. Then, he personally took all the new arrival's orders. And after he left, Aiko and the students started asking Tatsuo and Sumire what happened after they fell off the bridge back then.

Tatsuo and Sumire explained everything they encountered in great detail. Though, they left the truth about the Liberators and Aletia's circumstances out of their retelling because of the Templars, who would more than likely report it to the Church after they returned to the Royal Capital. They also neglected the fact that they had eaten monster meat to gorow in strength and learn skills.

And during their explanation, they introduced Aletia and Shea. And to Shea's surprise, she was actually quite popular with most of the students, as they thought her ears were cute. Plus, several of the boys thought Shea was quite beautiful. And those boys ended up glaring at Tatsuo a little because of the way Shea was hanging on to him while shooting starry-eyed glances in his direction.

"So, you made it out of that abyss, as you called it." Aiko said after things started to wind down. "By any chance, did you see Hayama-Kun, Soramoto-Kun, Minami-Sensei?"

"We did." Tatsuo replied with a nod and a stern expression on his face. "But when we did, we were too late to save him."

"Good, he was the one who shot that magic spell that made you fall in the first place." James said in a disgusted tone.

"what!?" Tatsuo exclaimed in mock anger.

"Yeah, he shot it because he wanted to get rid of Nagumo." James continued. "He didn't like how close Nagumo was to Shirasaki. So, he wanted to get rid of him to have her all to himself."

In a great display of his acting ability, Tatsuo looked around at everyone with disbelief on his face. And as he slowly made eye contact with the other students, they all looked away. Their silence an unspoken answer to Tatsuo's unasked question.

{[Notifications]

[Skill], [Acting], has ranked up from D- to D.}

In fact, Tatsuo's act was so believable that his [Acting Skill], even ranked up. However, when the [Notification] popped in his head, he almost broke character because of how badly he wanted to smile.

"*Sigh* Still, I'd like to know what happened to him?" Aiko asked in a saddened tone.

"By the time we ran into him, his throat had been torn out by the Lightning Wolves we told you about and his corpse was being eaten." Sumire said while rubbing Tatsuo on the back soothingly, playing along with his act. She was even wearing her own sad expression while doing so. "We killed all the wolves, but we were just too late to save him."

"*Sigh* I see." Aiko replied while lowering her own head in sadness. "I feel like I failed as a teacher. How could I not see all the darkness that was in Hayama-Kun's heart. If I had, maybe I could have spoken to him. Then, maybe none of this would have happened."

Aiko's somber mood affected everyone in the private room. Meanwhile, Tatsuo, Sumire, and James were all thinking the same thing.

'If she's this broken up about Hayama's obsession over Kaori, what will she think when she finds out about Nakamura?'

"Anyway, I think you guys should probably book your rooms for the night." Tatsuo said, trying his best to break the somber atmosphere. "It would suck if you didn't have anywhere to stay for the night, wouldn't it?"

"He's right, Aiko." David, feeling heartache at Aiko's sadness, said in an attempt to cheer her up. "I'll go book enough rooms for everyone. After that, I think it would be best for all of us to get some rest. It has been a long journey, after all."

After receiving a nod of agreement, David and Chase quickly stood up to get the best available room in the inn for Aiko while booking enough rooms for everyone else, as well.

"By the way, Soramoto-Kun, what are you all doing in this village?" Nana asked curiously in her usually bubbly and friendly tone.

"Oh, we're just on our way back to the Royal Capital." Tatsuo replied with a shrug. "Along the way, we were doing some quests as Adventurers to make some traveling money."

"In fact, we were going to stick around for a few more days to gather enough money to move to the next town or village. Then, get moving." Sumire added.

"Then, why don't you come with us?" Tamai Atsushi, a young man with short, spiky dark brown hair and purple eyes, asked.

"Yeah, everyone would love to know you guys are still alive." Yuka added in a cheerful tone. "It might even quell some of the tension between Alaverus-Kun and Amanogawa-Kun, too."

"The princess would like to hear the good news, too." Nana added in her usual bubbly tone. "She's been real heart broken ever since she found out what happened to you, Soramoto-Kun."

"Yeah, right." James said in a disdainful tone. "That self-righteous ass hat would have to get his head out of his ass first."

Because of Tatsuo's and James' presence in the class, not everyone hung off Kouki's every word like in the canon. And this group of students were some of the ones who were on James' side when he was arguing against going to war for the sake of the people of this world when they had just been kidnapped from their own world. So, no one spoke up in Kouki's defense.

"Still, Sonobe-San is right." Aiko said while looking at Tatsuo pleadingly. "I'm sure Nagumo-Kun would be overjoyed to see that you're alright. Ever since you disappeared, he's really been pushing himself too hard."

"And we will return… at some point, Hatayama-Sensei." Sumire said with a smile. "But since we have the chance to explore this world and the means to do so. We plan to take advantage of that. At least until we complete our route back to the Royal Capital.'

"I see." Aiko replied in a somewhat downcast tone. "If it were just Soramoto-Kun alone, I would be firmly against this. But since you're with him, Minami-Sensei, I can rest at ease."

Sumire only smiled in response. At the same time, she wondered what Aiko would think if she knew that Tatsuo was the actual leader of their party.

"That sounds sick." James said, inserting himself into the conversation. "Hey, got enough room for one more in that truck of yours, Tatsuo?"

"Sure… Why not?" Tatsuo replied with a smile while shrugging his shoulders. "It's pretty big, after all."

"Oh, is it now?" James asked while waggling his eyebrows. "I'm sure the ladies must be pretty happy to ride something so big, huh?"

Hearing that, Tatsuo could feel his eyebrows twitching while the boys in the group stifled laughter. Meanwhile, the girls turned away in embarrassment while blushing. Aiko, on the other hand, looked at James with disapproval.

"That was highly inappropriate, Alaverus-Kun." Aiko said in a reprimanding tone.

"Sorry, Ai-Chan-Sensei." James said in an in sincere tone while waving dismissively. "That's just the way I joke around with my cousin. And I doubt I could break the habit after so long."

"*Sigh* Lici was right, you're a degenerate." Tatsuo muttered while shaking his head.

James only smiled brightly in return.

Like that, the group continued to chat and talk about what has happened since they all last met. Then, after a few minutes, David and Chase returned to let everyone know that their rooms had been booked.

Not long after that, all the meals arrived and the group ate before heading to their respective rooms. However, Luckily, Tatsuo, Sumire, Aletia, and Shea were sharing a room on a different floor than the others. Otherwise, explaining to Aiko why Tatsuo was sharing a single room with three females, one of which was one of his teachers, would have been a pain.

Not long after everyone was settled in their rooms, Tatsuo [Blinked] into James' room before [Blinking ] the two of them back into his shared room so that they could speak in private.

"Hey, I wanted to ask you this earlier, Tatsuo." James said as soon as he and Tatsuo appeared in Tatsuo's room. "But, what happened to you? Why is your dragon aura so much stronger now?"

Actually, that was another thing Tatsuo and Sumire left out when they were telling their story. Neither of them knew how anyone would react when they found out that Tatsuo was not completely human, after all.

"Well, apparently, I have a dragon bloodline." Tatsuo replied with a shrug. "and before you ask, no, I have no idea where the hell it came from. But it awakened after I ate magical beast meat for the first time. And now, I can turn into a Half-Dragon with scales and claws and all that. I get the feeling that when I'm strong enough, I'll even get wings and a tail, too."

"Seriously?" James asked, his eyes open wide in disbelief. "I had to exchange my heart, lungs, and wings to get dragon parts of my own. But at least I should be able to help you understand your dragon aspect, though."

"You have wingds?" shea asked in a tone filled with wonder.

In response, James nodded before standing up. Then, a pair of large, red, bat-like wings sprouted from his soulder blades. He then flapped them a couple of times before retracting them and sitting down, leaving both Aletia and Shea shocked into silence.

"I think I wanna talk to my mom about it first." Tatsuo replied with a smile that showed he was grateful for James' offer. "But if she has no idea, I'll take you up on that."

"Sure, just let me know. " James said while waving away Tatsuo's gratitude. "Anyway, are you gonna tell Ai-Chan-Sensei what you know about the Liberators and that hack of a god? I mean, she's probably one of the few people in this world we could actually trust with that information."

"I don't think so." Tatsuo replied while shaking his head. "If I know her like I think I do, she'll try to do something about it. And that will just lead to her being labeled a heretic and captured."

"Yeah, I could see that exact thing happening." Sumire said in an exasperated tone. "Hatayama-Sensei is a really good person. And a great teacher. But… She tries too hard."

"Yeah." James said with a nod. "If I had a teacher or two like her when I was in high school, maybe it wouldn't have been so boring."

"Huh?" Shea exclaimed in confusion. "what do you mean, 'when you were'?"

The room froze at Shea's question. Then, Tatsuo and Sumire face palmed simultaneously.

"We forgot to tell her, didn't we?" Sumire muttered.

"We sure did." Tatsuo added while shaking his head.

"Huh? Huh?" Shea exclaimed in even more confusion. "forgot to tell me what?"

"Uh… Hey, I'll leave the explanation to you guys." James said as he stood up and started walking towards the window. "Shimizu is moving. On top of that there's a huge source of mana approaching the area, too."

"Alright, we'll explain everything to Shea." Tatsuo replied with a nod. "Just don't let Shimizu do anything we'll have to kill him for."

"I'll do my best." James said with a grin as he opened the window.

With that said, James jumped out of the window, disappearing into the darkness. And with his inherent night vision as a Half-Devil, keeping track of Shimizu was no problem for him.

Tatsuo and Sumire, on the other hand, spent a good part of the night explaining their origins to Shea. And by the time they were done, she was clinging onto Tatsuo, hoping that she would be able to go with him when he leaves to return to his home world.

"Honestly, I don't even know if that would work." Tatsuo said while shaking his head. "I mean, the last time I looked, the [World Travel Tickets] only worked for the person who bought them."

"besides, even if it does work, it would be better for you to come to my world, Shea-San." Sumire added.

Sumire said that while thinking of her world. But that was not the only reason. Instead, it was partially because her world was facing a crisis and partially because she did not want Shea to have so much time to be with Tatsuo alone.

Although she had accepted the fac that Tatsuo would more than likely have more than one lover, she did not want any of them getting ahead of her if she could help it.

Unfortunately, they were unable to come to a conclusion. So, they decided to think about it later. As for now, they would all get some sleep so they could be well rested. That way, they would be ready to deal with Shimizu, the masochist dragon, and, possibly, a demon if they had to in the coming days.