Isekai No Gakusei: Students From Another World
The Exclusion of Friendship

They are now in Vertrag. The crowds there are very abnormal, even more crowded than in Veronheim. You could say, Vertrag is very similar to New York which is nicknamed city never sleep.

It was still early morning and the crowd had already filled the streets of the city. Fortunately, Darren did not walk on the main road. In order to minimize the possibility that someone would recognize him, he chose to walk down the dark and lonely alleys.

"Where are we actually going, Remi?" Darren followed Remi who was walking in front. He said that he wanted to take Darren somewhere that might help him find Tora.

"We're going to my secret place" Remi replied enthusiastically. This made Darren curious.

They walked from the alley to another alley. Passing through lonely, dark, and also seedy places. If you look around, actually a place like this can be found everywhere in Indonesia.

They stopped at an old building. The building is abandoned. The place was right in the middle of the city, but because the entrance of the building had to go through a dark alley, so there was rarely anyone who went in and out of it.

Tora shows Darren a door. He opened it and brought them in. Inside, there were already some people who were sitting around and also sleeping on the floor.

The situation was initially calm, but Remi broke the atmosphere. "Everyone, look!" He showed his hand towards Darren who had just entered the door.

Those people look over. They number about six. A man, and four women. After being noticed, Darren realized that they were all not human.

The big ones have horns, a sign that they are from the demon race. Some also have unique ears, a sign that they are animal humans.

When they saw Darren, their faces instantly pale. They immediately ran to the corner of the room and raised their hands as if they were about to be caught.

"I beg you, do not arrest us" said one man. They all looked trembling and frightened.

They thought that Darren was a police officer who had come to arrest the runaway slaves. But Darren calmly explained that.

"Don't be afraid. I'm not here to arrest you, " said Darren softly. He knows how to calm them.

Remi went forward. "Friends, relax. He's not a cop" He calms them down. "He is Darren. Our hero."

Darren felt a little strange when Remi said that. "Hero... us?" His inner.

Remi turned to Darren, as if he understood Darren's feelings. "Ah, sorry, Darren-sama. I haven't explained it yet" he said. "They are slaves on the run. Their employers treated them badly, so they couldn't stand it and ran away."

"Because they can't get out of this city easily, so we're hiding in this old building. Although seedy, but only this place that we can use," he said.

"Like you?" Darren said, intending to talk about Remi's horn.

Remi nodded. "They may accept even worse" he said slowly. "Wounds, both physical and mental, cannot be easily healed. The treatment of these humans is very cruel. I wish they were dead."

Although Darren had only met Remi, but from hearing her words, he could understand how difficult Remi's life was. Having an employer who has no heart and likes to vent anger on subordinates.

Even Tora who is a human is not spared from the rotten ego of lowly humans. Sometimes humans are worse than animals.

Remi immediately realized his words. "Eh, I'm sorry, Darren-sama. I don't mean to talk bad about humans, it's just-"

Darren cut while smiling. "I agree with you. Some humans behave like animals" he replied. "But that doesn't mean all humans are evil."

Darren walked slowly to the corner of the room where the slaves had been living in fear.

"Just calm down" he smiled softly. "I'm not a bad man."

Shiro stood beside him. He also smiled, making the slaves feel at ease looking at him.

"Everyone" Shiro said with a smile. "Not to be afraid."

Their eyes were immediately open. They started to stand up and their fears started to subside.

"Darren-sama. Are you the real Darren?" Said a slave.

Darren nodded slowly. "Yes, I'm Darren. The fugitive who slaughtered the Erobernesian army to save the Animal Man."

Tomatsu is in the mood. "Yes, it's Darren. And I'm.." He introduced himself. "I am the Demon King, the absolute ruler of the Erfroren Kingdom. Whoever dares to humble my people will not escape this cold anger."

Hearing Tomatsu's words made them even more amazed.

"Demon King?" Say one to another. "Really?"

"If the Demon King is with him, he must be the real Darren" the other replied. "I believe him."

Then they started bowing before Darren with grateful faces. They continued to adore him like a hero descending from heaven.

"Then, Darren-sama," said a woman. "Why did you come to this place?"

Darren retaliated. "One of my friends disappeared, and I couldn't find him. I want to find him, but this kingdom can catch me if I'm careless."

"Ah, so you want to stay in the shadows?" Saying someone else.

"You can say that" Darren said. "I want to ask you guys for help. Not as a master or a hero, but as a fellow human being."

They were touched by Darren's words. This was the first time they had met a human being who was being nice to them. Not imposing will and consider average everyone.

Remi went ahead and tried to introduce everyone there to Darren.

"This is Mia," He showed a woman of the Devil race. It appears to have only one small horn on the left. Darren won't ask why, because maybe it's a bad thing.

Remi moved to the man beside her. It has animal human ears and it looks like it comes from the weasel race. "He is Robert."

Then Remi showed two women who were twins. They also come from the animal race. Their ears are brown and semicircular, similar to bears. "They are twins. The old one's called Sella, and the sister's Selly."

Just as Remi was about to introduce the man beside her, the man advanced suddenly and bowed. "I'm Rendi. I was born with the blood of half-demons and half-humans" he said. "It's an honor for me to be in front of you, Darren-sama."

Darren was surprised to hear that. That meant that cross-breeding between two different races could happen in this world. Knowing that alone was enough for Darren, as he might encounter more mixed beings in the future.

After all, Rendi had a very polite manners. Has she been a royal servant before?

Remi continued his introduction. He showed a woman lying in the corner of the room with a pale face. It was like he was sick and his eyes were empty.

"What's up with him, Remi?" Darren whispers.

"Name's Katherine. He is from the demon race" he replied in a whisper. "I don't know for sure what happened to him, but the point is that he had a deadly disease."

Darren scrunched his forehead. "Deadly disease? Likewhat?"

Remi shakes. "I don't know the details. Every time I asked, she just shook her head with a smile and said: I'm fine" Remi turned her face sadly to Katherine. "Now it's almost like an undead. He could no longer smile, and just remained motionless all day."

Hearing Remi's explanation makes Darren curious about what really happened. What kind of illness suffered by Katherine that could threaten his life. And if he's capable, Darren's desperate to help him.

He walked up to Katherine who was silent. He didn't even react when Darren approached him. He only glanced for a moment and looked back at the room.

"You're Katherine, right?" Darren's trying to be friendly. She hoped Katherine would talk to her. "My name is Darren, nice to meet you. I heard you were sick, right? Is there something strange you're feeling?"

Katherine was silent. Not a word came out of his mouth. His eyes did not move a bit either. But he started moving his fingers. He was trying to show something.

"Can you talk?" Darren asked, but again Katherine was silent. It looks like this disease is more severe than Darren imagined.

Slowly Katherine's fingers began to touch Darren's wrists. With a slow energy, he tried to pull it.

Darren nodded and then began to slowly touch Katherine's stomach. He did not want to rush and instead made him in pain.

"Sorry Katherine, I'm not being polite" Darren said, groping his clothes.

"What'sthis? It's..sticky!" Darren found a strange texture in his hand. "It feels like this texture is not foreign."

It feels sticky at once slippery. This feeling Darren had felt before. Right, this is the same feeling as when he met Ravenna's sister.

Darren needs to go further. "Katherine, I'm sorry," Darren undid half Katherine's clothes until her belly was open enough.

Sure enough, Katherine's stomach is rotting. Sticky bubbles that can burst at any time are everywhere. Even this looks worse than the one his sister Ravenna suffered.

"Do I have to use magic like that time again?" Darren Mumbled. "Looks yes. But I'm gonna faint right away."

Before Darren used the spell, he turned around and turned to Remi.

"Remi, I have a request" he said, standing up.

"Yes?"

"There's a chance that I'll pass out after this. So, I need you to look for Tora's whereabouts," she said. "This may sound selfish, but please."

Remi nodded. "alright. I get it."

Then Darren turned to Shiro and Tomatsu. "Shiro, Tomatsu," he called. They both looked.

"As long as I pass out, I want you two to stand guard. Someone could've seen me here, and an attack could have come at any time" he said. "If something really bad happens, take everyone away. Even if you have to, leave me."

Shiro became somewhat anxious while Tomatsu replied, "Alright. You asked for it."

Darren turned back, now in front of him there was only Katherine who had begun to close her eyes.

"Katherine's condition may be worse. It's possible that the disease had already gnawed away some of his internal organs, so he couldn't do much anymore."

"It's the only thing I can do. I'm sure it's gonna work."

Darren crouched down and started closing his eyes. He extended his hand to Katherine and his mouth began to mutter

"Non-elemental Spell: Total Purification."

A golden-yellow light shone down the entire room. Everyone there immediately blocked their view because of the light.

The moment the light disappeared, the rotten wound in Katherine's stomach had already disappeared. His stomach was smooth again and there was no scar.

Darren felt his energy shrinking profusely. His mana was drained and now his body became extremely limp. His eyes began to twitch and his head was dizzy.

Shortly after, he fell to the floor and fainted. Everyone there went straight to Katherine to check on her condition, while Shiro and Tomatsu ran towards Darren.

"Darren-sama!" Shouted Shiro hysterically.

"Don't worry, he just fainted. There's still Mana left on his body, so he'll be fine" Tomatsu said. "Maybe he'll pass out for a while."

Shiro looked at Darren who was asleep. Tears slowly fell on his cheeks.

"Darren-sama..." Small talk. "You even got this far..."

Darren was immediately lifted up and moved to a bed made from a pile of newspapers. While Shiro and Tomatsu guard it in the old building, Remi and the others go on their mission to find information about Tora.

"Everyone, don't let down our hero. Let's fight as much as possible!" Shouted Remi cheering her friends.

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Meanwhile...

Tora stepped her feet heavily. He had not eaten before and was now walking around without direction on an empty stomach.

"Ugh..hunger," he said, holding his stomach. He looked up at the sky and muttered, "Is this the right choice?"

Suddenly someone appeared from a small alley and answered him. "certainly true. He's a killer, why hesitate to leave him?"

Tora was surprised and immediately put on standby. As he turned his head, a man suddenly appeared with a robe covering his head.

"Who are you?" Tora became alert.

"You're talking about the fugitive, right?" Reply to the man. "I've been humiliated by him once, so there's no way I've forgotten him."

"Your answer doesn't fit my question" Tora said.

"Ah, sorry-sorry," The man showed his face. "I'm Accel."

Tora was shocked. "A-Accel!? The sorcerer from Europe?" He's wide-eyed. "What are you doing here? And also, how do you know about me?"

Accel laughs. "Just calm down, Tora-kun. I'm here to help you" he said. "You and I have the same thought, that a dangerous human being should be wiped out from this world."

"Do you know how dangerous your employer is?" Reciprocity. "You were scared when you were with him. He can kill you at any time, or even kill everyone you love."

Tora glares. He still could not believe that the European sorcerer had actually appeared before him.

"You want to be free and live peacefully without problems, right?" Accel approached Tora and touched. "I can help you reach it."

"Help me?" Repeated Tora with a doubtful look.

"Yes, of course. That's the easy thing. Don't you forget who you're talking to?" Accel looked at Tora with a big smile on his face. It was a sly smile. "But you also have to help me first."

Tora said slowly. "Help, how?"

Accel is smiling a lot. "Let me go to your master. Then everything you crave will be realized. Wealth, office, and self-esteem, all you want."

Tora returned Accel's gaze in seriousness. He was silent for a moment, then replied.

"Alright" he answered. "Then do you have a plan?"

Accel grinned. "Of course there is. That's why I need your help."

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~To be Continued~