— — — — — —
"Uh… I—I'm just looking around. My granddaughter studies here too, so I came to take a look."
Ittosai's mind raced until he cobbled together an excuse. He forced a relaxed smile as he spoke.
Tohru stared at him for a long moment. When she noticed him sweating, she finally spoke. "Oh, the students all went to the hospital today, so classes are canceled. It's fine if you want to look around, just don't run off too far. Do you need me to show you around?"
"No, no, that's fine. I can walk on my own." Ittosai answered immediately.
"Alright then."
Tohru dropped the matter. She still had cleaning to do anyway. And even if someone tried to steal something? In this rundown school, the thieves would probably leave a few bags of food out of pity.
Ittosai let out a quiet breath of relief and walked off. Dragons weren't his concern. He was here to find demons.
...
After he left—
"Who was that?" Kanna tilted her head up at her.
"A student's grandpa. Pretty strange old guy. I don't think he was lying, but he was oddly cautious."
Tohru definitely felt something off about him, but there was no hostility, so she just chalked him up as a strange old man.
"Sooo Tohru, what's elementary school like? Do you think it'll be fun?"
Kanna squatted down with her face in her hands, looking forward to school life with a faint sparkle of anticipation.
"Hm… it should be, I guess." Tohru had never been to elementary school either. Surely it was similar to this place.
---
"This place really is weird. No students, and even the janitor is a dragon. Why didn't Aoi ever mention any of this?"
Ittosai grumbled to himself as he wandered about. Soon, he sensed a demonic presence.
He followed it.
"Dada-da, dada-da!"
Baby Beel had snuck out to do "special training." He stared down a caterpillar in front of him, mustered his courage, and pointed his finger at it.
"DaDA!"
He mimicked Kazuma's sharp stare and forced out a bit of magic. A tiny spark jumped from his fingertip and zapped the caterpillar.
But the bug didn't die. The spark was too weak.
"Wah… dada-da."
Beel wiped away his sweat. That took everything he had. He decided he deserved two bottles of milk today.
'What is this kid doing? With that tiny bit of exercise, how is he already looking like he's burned out?'
Ittosai, secretly hiding nearby for some reason, couldn't help complaining in his heart.
"Da-da!"
Suddenly, Beel dropped to his knees in despair and started crying. He'd worked so hard just now… but he'd forgotten to call Kazuma to watch. If Kazuma had seen it, he definitely would've praised him. What a huge mistake!
'Don't tell me he's crying because no one was around to compliment him…'
'Hahaha, weren't he all proud a moment ago?'
Ittosai wanted to jump out and show off, but he stopped himself. He was a grandmaster. He needed to stay composed.
"Dada…!"
Beel suddenly straightened up. He wiped his tears and muttered. "Dada-dada." (Crying won't make anyone pity me. No one will help me. A man shouldn't cry.)
"Dada-dada-da." (it's just a small thing. I'm not bothered. I'm strong!)
His eyes filled with determination. In less than five minutes, he had completely talked himself out of his sadness.
"Amazing." Ittosai couldn't hold back any longer. He leapt out and walked up to Beel, showering him with sincere praise. "What a tough little guy… Hurt because no one saw how hard he worked, but he comforted himself and bounced back. Incredible spirit. Even if you're a demon kid, I really like your attitude! Keep at it!"
"Your effort will be recognized one day. It won't go to waste!"
"Dada-dada!"
Beel looked up at the old man, overwhelmed by the sudden encouragement.
"Hmph, don't ask for my name. I'm just a passing old man. Ah, people get sentimental when they're old. My grandson is about your age. I couldn't help feeling emotional."
Ittosai turned away dramatically, giving Beel a mysterious silhouette before walking off. Becoming a grandpa really softened a man.
"Dada…?"
Beel watched him leave with his head tilted. "Dada-da?" (Who the hell was that?)
...
Not long after Ittosai left, he sensed another demonic presence and headed toward it.
Through a window, he spotted a blonde demon woman watching TV—a ridiculously melodramatic human soap opera.
"Demons… watch this stuff too?"
He stared in disbelief. He thought only his granddaughter liked this nonsense. Even demons watched it?
What was even entertaining about plotlines like that? Real shows should be about fierce battles or maybe something warm and peaceful. But this melodramatic junk?
Inside, Hilda tensed up as the story hit its climax.
Just as the leads were about to run away together, the male lead's father appeared and announced that the girl was actually his illegitimate daughter. In other words, the male lead's biological sister. The moment the reveal hit, thunder boomed and rain poured in the scene.
Ittosai finally exploded.
"You've got time to watch this garbage, but not to check on your demon kid who's working his heart out? What kind of parent are you? So irresponsible!"
"Who's there?!"
Hilda grabbed her sword and slashed. The wall split open. Outside stood Ittosai, who had narrowly dodged the strike.
"Human, why are you here? And what were you just saying?"
Hilda frowned. She hadn't sensed him at all before he spoke. That meant he was strong.
"I said you're a lousy parent!"
"Do you know your kid is training his hardest alone?"
"Do you know he cried because no one saw him trying?"
"Do you know he wiped his own tears and fired himself up again?"
"Kids grow up when you're not looking. Then they get married, then they… leave you. They run off with some crazy martial-arts-obsessed husband and go traveling. They don't even come home for holidays…"
"Uuugh… Why did you leave your daughter?"
Ittosai's voice cracked. He'd made himself cry. He thought of his own daughter, Aoi's mother.
If he hadn't buried himself in sword training back then… If he'd cared more about his daughter…
She wouldn't have been tricked away by that useless brat. She would've stayed with him.
"I don't have a child. I only have my baby master. And it's not that I don't care. I left him in his father's care."
Hilda looked at Kazuma, who had rushed there after hearing the commotion. Her brows knit even tighter.
"Um… Beel said he wanted to go play by himself, so I let him. It wasn't negligence. Probably."
Kazuma listened to the old man's speech and felt something was off. Why did it feel like that rant wasn't aimed at Hilda… but at him?
And what was that nonsense about a daughter? Beel was a boy! Was this old man projecting his personal drama?!
"Dada-da."
Right then, Beel crawled out after finishing his training. The moment he saw Kazuma, he sprinted over with excited dada noises and scrambled onto Kazuma's back.
"Dada!"
Only once he was up high did he spot the grandpa who had praised him earlier. He pointed at the old man and made more frantic sounds.
"Master, I'm so glad you're safe."
Hilda immediately stepped forward and plucked Beel off Kazuma's back. "This man is unbelievably irresponsible!"
"What do you mean irresponsible? Beel came back, didn't he?" Kazuma protested.
"You need to give kids personal space," Kazuma declared with absolute confidence. "You can't smother them. You have to let them explore freely!"
Kazuma quickly shifted the topic and looked at the old man. "Anyway, who are you, old-timer? You got business at my school?"
"Oh, me? I'm Ittosai Kunieda. My granddaughter is Aoi Kunieda. I happened to pass by, so I figured I'd take a look at her school."
Ittosai cleared his throat and restored his mature-grandfather composure.
"Aoi Kunieda… oh right, that truant. Honestly, since I've never seen any girls here, I was starting to think Ishiyama was actually an all-boys school."
Kazuma remembered her. She was a second-year student, but she really never showed up to class.
"Ahem. My Aoi has been sick these past few days. She'll come once she recovers."
"Sure, sure, old man. Well, I'll introduce myself. I'm the principal of this school—"
"Hold it. Isn't the principal here an old geezer? I know him. Don't try to fool me." Ittosai cut him off. How had the principal changed in the blink of an eye?
"He's sick and in the hospital. While he's gone, I'm acting principal. Any issues with that?"
"No issues. Go on." Ittosai thought it over. Well, anyone could get sick. Understandable.
"I'm the principal of this school—"
"Acting principal." Ittosai corrected.
"I don't like saying 'acting.' What, is it bothering you? Keep it up and I'll hit you."
"Young people these days really don't know how to respect their elders…" Ittosai sighed. "Fine, fine, go ahead."
"There's nothing to go ahead with," Kazuma grumbled. "The school's exactly what you see. A mess. Nothing worth introducing."
"The only valuable thing here is me."
Ittosai narrowed his eyes as he examined Kazuma. He looked fully human, but the pressure around him was unmistakable. With the Moonflow heart-sight, it was clear as day. "You've got quite the temper, kid."
The boy had a massive aura.
Just then, Tohru and Kanna arrived.
"What happened here?" Tohru walked over and stared at the wall Hilda had destroyed.
"Nothing. Hilda smashed the wall," Kazuma said.
"Oh." Tohru nodded. "By the way, I got a great idea while I was cleaning. Let's have a barbecue tonight."
"I found a whole pile of wood!"
She was practically glowing with excitement.
"Sure. Barbecue it is. We'll go buy meat later."
So the dragons and demons gathered around this school… all because of this boy.
Ittosai looked at Kazuma with growing curiosity. "Kid, you've trained, haven't you? Want to trade a few blows with me? I'll go easy on you."
He wanted to test the boy's abilities. He stood casually, relaxed, as if this were nothing more than a warmup.
"No idea what you're thinking, but if you challenge me and I refuse, won't that make it look like I'm scared? And just so you know, I'm not holding back just because you're old. If you wind up in the hospital, that's on you."
Kazuma walked up to him and threw the first punch.
"Good speed and good power, but unfortunately your movement is too big and your intentions are too obvious."
Ittosai leaned back the slightest bit, dodging with minimal effort. His expression sharpened.
The calm aura around him suddenly grew sharp and fierce, like a blade unsheathed.
"Shingetsu-ryu, No-Blade Style…."
Ittosai spotted an opening and moved to settle the match with one decisive strike.
But in the next instant—
He watched with disbelief as the "opening" Kazuma had shown twisted unnaturally. Kazuma snapped around in a way no human body should manage. His eyes glowed faintly red and his presence surged like some ancient beast awakening. The air itself grew thick and heavy.
The next moment, his fist crashed straight into Ittosai.
The ground ripped open into a massive trench. The impact turned the entire school into rubble.
Ittosai lay flat on his back.
"Cough… truly a hero rising from youth. I underestimated you. Guess this round is yours."
He pushed himself up, spat blood, and sighed. "Please take care of my granddaughter when she comes."
He muttered under his breath, 'That kid's strength is strange. I definitely dissipated the force… so why am I still injured?'
He had no idea about Kazuma's ten percent energy penetration, the noble power of true damage. Couldn't dodge it, couldn't block it, only tank it. And even ten percent packed a punch.
"This old guy's pretty tough. He took a punch with natural energy behind it and only spit blood."
Kazuma had reacted purely on instinct. His spider-haki kicked in whenever danger struck.
And it had just gone off.
"Strong or not, I don't care. What matters is that you destroyed the school," Hilda said, holding Beel while staring at the ruins. "Utterly destroyed."
They had finally secured a base in Ishiyama, only for the boss to obliterate it in one punch.
"Dada-dada-da!"
Beel was thrilled. His eyes sparkled as he punched the air, mimicking Kazuma's move. Kids loved copying adults.
"Hahaha—"
Kazuma laughed… then suddenly stopped. He bolted after Ittosai, who was already running for his life.
"Old man! Get back here and pay for my school or I'll beat you to death!"
Ittosai pretended not to hear a thing and sprinted harder. Pay? As if he had that kind of money. He couldn't even afford to repair a shrine, let alone a whole school.
He gotta run.
.
.
.