Chapter 202: The Birth of NEET-Ryu 

The instructor originally responsible for Class 1-A’s magic studies had finally recovered and was officially cleared to return to work.

For Zex, the past week had felt like living inside a dream.

And now—

That dream had come to an end.

“As your homeroom teacher has probably already informed you,” Ryu said calmly from the front of the classroom, “starting next week, your regular instructor will return. I was only filling in temporarily, so today’s my last day.”

He closed the textbook in his hand with a soft thud.

“This week was enjoyable. Continue dedicating yourselves to your studies.”

“““““EHHHHH?!”””””

Cries of despair erupted throughout the classroom.

…Especially from the girls.

“I wish Ryu-sama could stay forever…”

“His teaching’s actually really good too. It’s practical and easy to understand because he teaches from real combat experience.”

“And besides, Ryu-sama’s just ridiculously handsome~”

“He’s young too, so he feels approachable.”

“I wanted to intentionally forget my homework so he’d scold me…”

“I wanted to talk with him more…”

Meanwhile, Ryu blinked in confusion.

(Come to think of it… why are all these students suddenly calling me ‘-sama’?)

The culprit behind that phenomenon was currently slumped over at the top row desk like a dying man—

The third son of House Mondo.

Over the course of the week, Zex had tirelessly spread the gospel of Ryu’s greatness until the entire class had unconsciously begun attaching honorific reverence to his name.

And now, the missionary himself was moments away from death.

“Uuugh… perhaps my life ends today…”

“You’ll be fine,” one classmate said dryly. “Humans don’t die that easily.”

“In that case…” Zex muttered darkly, “I must somehow force the original instructor to retire permanently…!!”

“If you do that, Ryu-sama will hate you, though.”

“THAT CANNOT HAPPEN!! Absolutely not!!”

“Well, at least you managed to establish some kind of connection with him, right? Isn’t that enough?”

“………………”

(It cannot be helped. In one month, I shall personally deliver the ores myself… and receive his praise once more.)

At the front of the room, Ryu gathered the teaching materials together before suddenly speaking.

“Zex.”

“Y-Yes!! What is it, sir?!”

“Despite everything, your grades in fire magic were the best in the class. If your classmates ever struggle with anything, teach them yourself.”

Ryu glanced around the room.

“I’m leaving everyone to you.”

“Leave it to me!! This Zex shall carry out the task without fail!!”

“As expected of the Mondo family,” Ryu said with a faint smile. “I’m counting on you.”

And with those final words, he left the classroom.

The moment the door closed behind him, the room somehow felt strangely empty—

As though a powerful presence had vanished along with him.

“Aaah… he’s gone…”

“This is depressing… I wonder if he’ll ever come back.”

“Well, if we don’t understand something, it sounds like Zex-kun will help teach us. So I guess that’s the one silver lining.”

“There are already tons of girls in class who are fans of Zex-kun anyway.”

“Haah… Ryu × Zex was so precious…”

Apparently, without either of the two boys realizing it, a faint scent of fujoshi energy had quietly begun spreading among the female students.

One of the male students turned toward Zex.

“Do you think he’ll ever agree to teach again?”

“…Unfortunately, no,” Zex answered solemnly. “That person is extremely busy. This only happened because he coincidentally had free time, and because it was limited to a single week. It was nothing short of a miracle.”

“Huh. Well, Ryu-sama’s real job is managing his territory, after all.”

“Exactly.” Zex folded his arms with grim determination. “From here onward, we must continue forward on our own.”

It sounded like the conclusion to some grand epic.

In reality, their temporary substitute instructor had merely stopped teaching after a week.

Still, Zex was probably correct.

Ryu would likely not accept another temporary lecturer position anytime soon.

Rena had already matured into a capable student council leader.

Esther was happily immersing herself in unrestricted pharmacological research.

There was no real reason for Ryu to remain at the academy anymore—

Unless something major occurred.

◇◇◇

Capital City — Arden Second Estate.

The following week, Stingray was approached by Sebas regarding a certain concern.

“…And that is the situation.”

“I understand.” Stingray nodded firmly. “I’ll handle it somehow.”

Having steeled her resolve, she immediately marched toward the scene of the problem.

Entering the lord’s bedroom, she threw open the curtains.

Instantly, brilliant sunlight flooded the previously dark room.

“Ryu-sama, it’s already noon!! How long are you planning to sleep like this?!”

“Oh. Stingray.” Ryu lazily opened one eye from the bed. “Morning.”

“It’s practically afternoon.”

Stingray let out a long sigh.

“What exactly happened to you? Normally you can’t sit still for even a moment—you’re always flying all over the continent doing something.”

“Yeah, well…” Ryu scratched his head lazily. “For the past week or two, I’d originally planned to head to Mondo and mine a bunch of ore personally. But thanks to my absurdly competent underling, those plans completely vanished.”

“Yes. And?”

“With nothing left to do, I started lounging around in bed…”

He stretched dramatically beneath the blankets.

“And before I realized it, this happened. Help me. I don’t want to move anymore. Long live the NEET lifestyle.”

“Honestly…” Stingray placed her hands on her hips. “Women dislike lazy men, you know?”

“It’s fine. You three like me anyway.”

“Ehehehehe…”

The instant he said that, Stingray’s expression melted completely.

She pressed her hands to her cheeks and smiled foolishly.

“Want to lie down with me, Stingray?”

“Hmmm… well, we are married now, after all~!”

Without hesitation, she climbed straight into the bed beside him and closed her eyes.

“Well then. Goodnight.”

“Yes… goodnight—”

Then suddenly—

“WAIT!!”

(That was close…! I almost got swept along again…!)

“This is not bedtime!! Come on, get up already!!”

With a dramatic flourish, Stingray ripped the blankets away from him.

Then, ignoring his protests, she forcibly dragged him upright, combed his messy hair, and made him wash his face and gargle properly.

“Have you eaten lunch yet?”

“Yeah. Sebas brought food earlier.”

“…You’re enjoying this NEET lifestyle way too much.”

“Food tastes better when you eat it lying down.”

“Yes, yes.” Stingray pushed firmly against his back. “For now, let’s at least leave the room. We can decide the rest afterward!!”

And so, with continuous shoving from behind, Ryu was finally forced outside.

“That said…” Ryu muttered lazily, “what should we even do?”

“What should we do…” Stingray echoed.

(Oh no… I didn’t actually think beyond getting him out of bed…!)

She quickly tried offering suggestions.

“What about paperwork?”

“Finished it yesterday.”

“Dungeon development?”

“Everything except the ore problem is already done.”

“Ah! Then maybe collecting alchemy books? You’ll need those eventually, right?”

“I’m planning to take Souchika to the Grand Library in the capital first. After that, I’ll just give her money so she can buy whatever books she wants herself.”

“………………”

“………………”

Finally, Stingray clapped her hands together.

“Then how about joining the Arden Knight Order’s training for once? Half the knights still don’t really know what kind of person you are.”

“No. I just woke up.”

“Yes yes, let’s go~”

Ignoring his refusal entirely, Stingray continued pushing him forward.

And so—

Ryu was forcibly dragged toward the underground dungeon chamber on the way to the Arden Knight Order training grounds.