— — — — — —
The Guild's Cinema.
"No way. I'm supposed to marry that idiot Ron?" Hermione stared in disbelief at the movie's ending.
"Someone like me, who's smart and hardworking, ends up with him? Ugh! Don't let me find out who wrote this, or I swear I'll test out an Unforgivable Curse on them."
In the guild hall, a massive crystal stood at the center, glowing as it projected a full-scale magical hologram of a movie. Rimuru and the others were gathered around it, watching intently while sipping sodas and munching popcorn.
"That's just how your world originally played out," Rimuru said, trying to comfort her. "But now? You get to decide for yourself. If you want, we can bring that Voldemort guy back, pin him down, and grind him into the dirt until he's begging for death. Sound good?" Rimuru growled fiercely, though with his cute face it came off as anything but threatening.
"Wait, we can really do that?" Hermione's eyes lit up with excitement. The idea sounded… pretty good.
"Of course we can." Whitebeard gave a hearty wave of his massive hand. "Little Hermione, if you want, I'll step in anytime. I'll have a chat with that guy myself." His grin looked a little too twisted and menacing for comfort.
"Thank you, Grandpa Whitebeard," Hermione said politely.
"Gurarara!" Whitebeard laughed, delighted by her courtesy. "Say, how about becoming my daughter?"
"Eh?" Hermione froze. Wait—was this the price of asking for help? Panicking, she waved her hands frantically. "N-no, no no no, I already have a dad! I don't need another one!"
"What a shame." Whitebeard drooped his head, then glanced around at his sons with open disappointment. All of them could only look back at him, exasperated.
Whitebeard Crew: "..."
"Hermione, don't worry," Rimuru quickly stepped in. "That old man's just like that. He likes gathering family. He doesn't mean anything bad by it. No need to take it the wrong way."
As guild master, it was Rimuru's job to smooth over misunderstandings between members.
"Hermione, watch One Piece when you are free to understand."
"Oh, I see." Hermione smiled, relieved. "For a second I thought it was some weird guild rule."
"I should be thanking Grandpa Whitebeard for offering to help me. Why would I take offense?"
"Gurarara! What a good girl. Smart, polite, and knows how to handle people." Whitebeard nodded, clearly impressed.
"So, what's your plan?" Milim suddenly leaned in. "If you're going after Voldemort, I can help too! Guys like that don't even deserve to be called Dark Lord. It's so close to Demon Lord that I feel furious."
Hermione lowered her head, thinking deeply before replying, "Thank you, Milim-chan. But if possible, I want to defeat Voldemort with my own hands. His existence pushes me to keep getting stronger. That's why I want to face him myself, when the time comes."
"Is that so?" Rimuru smiled softly. "Then be careful. If anything goes wrong, or if there's something you can't handle, just come to the guild. We'll always have your back."
"Mm. I understand. Thank you, everyone." Hermione's eyes grew misty. She hadn't been here long, but she could already feel it—the warmth of a real family. Everyone genuinely cared about each other. That feeling couldn't be faked.
"Well then, I'll head back for now. I'll come visit again when I can." Hermione walked toward the dimensional gate, giving everyone a small wave.
"Relax! You can drop by anytime," Rimuru said, a bit exasperated. "And don't forget we have the guild chat channel. You can always talk to us there. It's not like this is a permanent farewell."
"Really?" Hermione looked surprised, then suddenly turned beet red, covered her face with both hands, and bolted through the gate.
"Bwahahahaha!" The guild burst out laughing at her embarrassed retreat.
"Don't tell me little Hermione's been hanging around you idiots too long and it's lowering her IQ," Rimuru muttered worriedly.
"Hey! We can hear you, you know!" the others protested, groaning.
"Please. Tell me I'm wrong." Rimuru shot them a disdainful look. "All you ever think about is fighting and smashing stuff. Meatheads, the lot of you."
Milim's ahoge drooped. "Aw, I was really looking forward to crushing Voldemort…"
"Don't be sad." Rimuru patted her head. "There'll be plenty more worlds joining the guild. Who knows—maybe you'll find lots of Lords waiting to be beaten."
"Bestie…" Milim's eyes went soft, but then she perked up as something clicked in her head. "Wait, bestie! Does this mean we can visit Hermione's world?"
"You just want to go play there." Rimuru saw straight through her. "Not impossible, but first we should ask if Hermione's okay with it."
"Got it! I'll ask right now!" Milim lit up with energy and darted off like she'd been injected with pure sugar.
『Milim』: @Hermione "Hermione, are you online?!"
『Hermione』: "What is it?"
『Milim』: "Can we visit your world?"
『Hermione』: "Of course. You're always welcome."
『Milim』: "Yes! Oh, and by the way, is your school hiring teachers? Or, you know, even students?"
『Hermione』: "…Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"
『Rimuru』: "Yeah… me too."
『Milim』: "Hehehehehe~."
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