— — — — — —
When the ambulance arrived, the paramedics pushed a stretcher down the five-hundred-meter stretch of road littered with bodies, looking like they were walking into a warzone.
"Um… excuse me, who called the ambulance? Which one is the actual patient?"
They approached the only group still standing, speaking carefully as if afraid they'd trigger something.
"I called. The patient is this kid. The rest have nothing to do with us." Kazuma pointed at Tojo.
"Understood."
The medics took one look and recognized him instantly. You couldn't work in this district and not know Tojo Hidetora, Ishiyama's strongest delinquent. They picked up enough of his victims to memorize his face.
Then, with great experience, they checked Tojo's condition with practiced ease, loaded him onto the stretcher, and rushed him into the ambulance as fast as the wheels would go.
The siren echoed down the street, fading as it sped away. Kazuma told Tohru and the others to head back to school while he stopped by the hospital to pay the fees. After that, he returned to Ishiyama.
---
In the familiar hospital room—
Himekawa and Kanzaki were still arguing, puffing up at each other like angry parrots.
"Sorry to bother you again, but we're adding one more patient," a nurse said. "He's from your school too, so I guess it's fine."
She pushed Tojo's bed inside and parked him by the window.
"Wha— Tojo Hidetora?!"
"Tojo, hey! Can you hear us? Who the hell did this to you?!"
Himekawa and Kanzaki stared at Tojo, who was covered head to toe in bandages and casts, looking worse than both of them combined.
"Oh, the new guy. Kazuma-san. That guy's really strong. He got serious for one second and knocked me out with one punch. When I'm healed, I'm definitely challenging him again."
Tojo didn't care about winning or losing. All he wanted was a good fight. As long as he got that, everything else was irrelevant.
"So the strongest in Ishiyama, Tojo Hidetora, got flattened by that teacher in a single hit?"
"Damn it… that means our whole school's been conquered by that demon teacher!"
"The four Tōhōshinki… Tojo, Himekawa, Kanzaki—three down. Only Aoi Kunieda is left!"
Himekawa and Kanzaki groaned in despair. They had tried to resist, but now? What resistance? The school's top fighters had already fallen, and the last one standing was a girl. No matter who won the upcoming fight, the result felt like bad news.
"Aoi Kunieda, huh? She's a girl, but she's definitely strong," Tojo said. "In her first year she beat the second years and third years, unified all the girls in Ishiyama. Total prodigy."
He'd only heard the rumors, but they matched her reputation.
Tojo had never fought her, and neither had the other two. They could just feel she was powerful.
"Tojo, why aren't you the slightest bit worried?! If that teacher wins, he'll rule the whole school! We'll be bullied to death every day!"
"If Aoi wins, all the girls will step on us! How are we supposed to show our faces again?!"
"No matter who wins, it's bad! I need to heal right now. I need special training. I'm gonna get stronger! Three days! I'll be fully healed in three days! Just wait, Ishiyama won't fall that easily!"
Kanzaki and Himekawa were yelling themselves into motivation when Natsume walked in carrying get-well gifts.
"You guys sure are fired up."
"Huh, another one from our school. Another idiot." Natsume sighed when he saw Tojo in the room. "In just a few days, Ishiyama's turning upside down."
---
Half a day later, back at Ishiyama High…
"Did you hear? Tojo, the Legend of Ishiyama, got beaten by the new teacher!"
"Natsume said he saw him lying in the hospital himself! So from today on, our school's basically taken over by that Kazuma guy!"
"So… does that mean we have to become good students now?"
"A good student? With him? Are you serious?"
Students tried imagining Kazuma teaching them math, or English, or anything.
Nothing came to mind.
They could picture him punching them through a wall. But teaching? Impossible. Their brains rejected the concept.
"No way. That guy's an even bigger delinquent than we are. There's no chance he'll actually teach anything."
"So basically… everything's the same as before, except the boss is way stronger and calling himself a teacher. So uh… should we start sucking up to him?"
In just a few hours, the delinquent mindset evolved from "let's beat him up," to "we can't beat him," to "maybe we should join him."
When class started, Kazuma walked in, and before he could say anything, the students jumped to their feet.
"Good morning, Kazuma-sensei!"
"Hm? What's this? Acting weak so I'll let my guard down and you can sucker-punch me?" Kazuma looked at the sudden change in attitude and laughed. These idiots were definitely up to something.
"No, no! Kazuma-sensei, we realized we were wrong! We want to repent and follow your lead, make Ishiyama stronger and more glorious!"
"Kazuma-sensei, this is your chalk. We're ready!"
"Kazuma-sensei, I bought you juice, yogurt, and cola. Didn't know what you liked, so I bought everything."
"Kazuma-sensei… I like you the most… let me have your—"
"STOP. You. Get out. Why is a grown man batting his eyelashes at me? Absolutely disgusting." Kazuma kicked the last guy straight out the window.
Claps exploded instantly.
"Sensei is amazing!"
"I always hated that creep! Good job, Sensei!"
Compliments poured out like a broken faucet. Zero shame. Zero sincerity.
"Humans are always like this," Tohru sighed behind him. "They either tremble and try to destroy what scares them, or they try to flatter it. Truly a foolish species."
The students instantly switched targets when they noticed Tohru entering.
"Tohru-sensei, hello! You look even prettier today!"
"Kazuma-sensei is so lucky to have such a beautiful girlfriend!"
They exchanged quick glances, quickly agreeing she was someone important to butter up.
Tohru lit up immediately, her tail wagging.
Ok, she changed her mind. They really did look good together. Smart humans.
"Hmph. Dragons, such arrogant fools. A few fake compliments from humans and you're already puffed up," Hilda said as she walked in.
The students glanced around again. Okay, this one too. They couldn't tell who was the main girlfriend, so better flatter both.
"Hilda-sensei is absolutely right!"
"And Baby Lord Beel looks so dignified today! Those eyes are terrifying!"
"Yeah, yeah! As expected of Kazuma-sensei's kid. Just looking at him, you can feel that overwhelming aura! Makes me want to kneel down on the spot!"
Being a delinquent took skill. At the very least, you had to know how to flatter your boss. Otherwise, how were you supposed to survive this chaotic ecosystem?
"Hmph. You humans are idiots, but at least your eyes work. If you can see the master's greatness, maybe you're not completely hopeless."
Hilda hugged Baby Beel a little tighter, satisfaction written all over her face. This was how they should have treated him. Respect, respect, and more respect.
"Da-dada... da!"
Baby Beel flailed his arms and legs excitedly, yelling like he was giving orders to his new underlings.
And then Kanna walked in.
The delinquents looked at each other again and… paused.
"Um… who's this?"
They wanted to open their mouths to praise her, but froze halfway. They didn't even know who this tiny girl was.
"Kanna. This is Kanna," Kazuma said as he walked over. His hand naturally dropped onto her head, ruffling her hair.
"Kanna-chan is super cute!"
"And that outfit is adorable! Walk outside like that and you'd melt everyone who sees you!"
"Kanna-chan is the best."
Their flattery flowed easily, but Kanna didn't respond the way Tohru and Hilda did.
Kanna peeked at them from behind Kazuma, gripping his clothes tightly, eyes full of suspicion.
"Kanna knows these are human lies. Empty praise. Deception. Kanna won't trust them."
"It's fine, Kanna. No need to be tense," Kazuma said. "These guys are weak. Once you've eaten and recharged, none of them could beat you even if they tried."
Then he remembered something. Kanna's power source was lightning. The human world didn't have much magic, but electricity worked just as well. Like charging a phone. Convenient, actually.
He found an outlet and taught her how to recharge.
"Humans are amazing!"
Kanna sat beside the outlet, her round tail shifting into something like a plug before clicking into place. Electricity hummed through her as she stared at Kazuma in awe. So much free lightning, just sitting in the wall. Humans really were incredible.
And so the day passed peacefully. The students were happy. Kazuma was happy. Everyone was happy, even baby Beel.
— — —
The next morning…
"Kazuma-san! Let's fight!"
Tojo appeared at the school gates bright and early, still wrapped in a few bandages but mostly healed. With his stamina back, the first thing he did was track Kazuma down for another match.
"How are you almost healed after getting beaten that badly yesterday? That recovery is terrifying," Hilda said, watching him from the window. "You're basically not human."
"This brat has good endurance," Kazuma muttered as he hopped out the window and landed in front of Tojo. "Didn't expect you to actually be almost fine after one night."
"Hahaha! I've always slept well and eaten plenty since I was a kid. Makes you strong!" Tojo sounded completely serious. To him, it was all thanks to not being a picky eater.
"Alright. Don't rush to fight. I'll teach you a few techniques to get stronger. Want to learn? After you master them, we'll fight again."
"Yes! Please teach me!"
Tojo didn't hesitate. Fighting was for getting stronger, and learning was also for getting stronger.
"I'll teach you the Six Powers, techniques that push the human body to its limits. Iron Body, Paper Art, Finger Pistol, Moon Step, Shave, and Tempest Kick."
Kazuma demonstrated each move.
"If you don't understand something, just ask me."
"Uh… yeah… so... I didn't understand any of it. Sorry, Kazuma-san. I'm bad at studying. Didn't catch a single word. I saw the moves, but your words? What did you say again?"
"What was it? Iron… plate? And kick something… yeah, didn't get a thing."
Scratching his head and laughing, Tojo looked totally unashamed.
"I see."
Kazuma stepped up, pulled back his fist, and punched him.
"You're a complete idiot! I explained all that and you didn't get one sentence? Just go back to the hospital and lie down!"
"No wait. Sending you to the hospital is a waste of money. Just stay on the ground!"
He dropped Tojo with a single punch. Honestly, he should have expected this. If Tojo were smart, he wouldn't be a student at Ishiyama.
No one at Ishiyama understood studying. The students here were all idiots.
"Your punches… stronger… Kazuma-san… I… still admire you…" Tojo groaned before collapsing fully, still giving a shaky thumbs up.
"Truly an idiot," Hilda muttered from the window.
Students arriving for class looked at Tojo lying at the door.
"Isn't that Tojo? Wasn't he in the hospital?"
"Got discharged, challenged Kazuma-sensei, got knocked out again. RIP."
"Call an ambulance?"
They shrugged and walked inside. Someone lying on the ground at Ishiyama was too normal to care about.
— — —
The Next Day
"Kazuma-san! I'm healed! Let's fight!"
Bang!
"Lie down."
Tojo was on the ground again, giving another wobbly thumbs up.
"Idiot," Tohru said from the window.
The students barely reacted anymore.
"Yep. Tojo again."
"He got beat yesterday too."
"I bet he will come tomorrow."
— — —
The next day, marking Kazuma's Fourth day in this world
"Kazuma-san! I'm—"
Bang!
"What's wrong with him?" Kanna asked, standing on her toes to peek out the window.
"Tojo is down again."
"Feels normal now."
"Let's go to class."
"Wait... I win the bet. Give me my money."
— — —
Fifth day
"Kazuma-san—"
SWISHH!
Kazuma was about to punch the idiot again, but he stopped at the last second.
"Kazuma-san... did… did I offend you somehow…?"
The principal stared at Kazuma's fist, the size of a sandbag, and felt his heart skip a beat.
"Ah. Sorry, Principal. Habit. What did you need?"
Kazuma lowered his fist. After several days of Tojo showing up and shouting "Kazuma-san!", he had developed a reflex.
"Ahem… it's just a small thing. I hired a new teacher, and I was hoping you could meet your new colleague. If… if you have time, that is."
The principal swallowed hard, trying not to tremble.
.
.
.