Ten minutes later, on the temporary stage set up inside the indoor gym.
"And next, please welcome this year's freshman representative—First Year, Class A's Hōjō Yoru—to deliver the opening address."
At the principal's cue, Hōjō Yoru stepped out from behind the curtain and onto the podium. The moment he appeared, the freshmen below couldn't help reacting.
"Wow, that Hōjō guy is pretty handsome."
"'Pretty' handsome? That's ridiculously handsome. I wonder if he has a girlfriend."
"Freshman rep means he's an honor student, right? Smart and handsome… we need to move fast and lock him down."
...
"Hello, everyone. I'm Hōjō Yoru. The principal's speech was painfully boring, and I honestly don't care about Sōbu High's so-called history and glory, so I'll keep this short."
The gym went dead quiet.
Most of the freshmen wore expressions of pure disbelief.
Good grief—are you that bold?
Sure, the bald principal's speech really was dull, but for the freshman representative to publicly tear into him on the first day of school… this wasn't just "rebellious." This was practically declaring war.
"Nice, Hōjō~"
Unlike the students, Hiratsuka Shizuka—Asuna's homeroom teacher, seated right beside her—didn't look angry at all. If anything, she leaned in and whispered that line with approval.
"If he keeps droning on about boring nonsense, I'm going to fall asleep. And he even said my car 'isn't appropriate to appear at school,' so every time I park, I have to walk forever to get here. Somebody should roast that rigid old fossil."
Asuna was speechless.
Hiratsuka-sensei and Hōjō-kun really were a perfect match—both of them were kind of… offbeat.
And wow, so we even had a "personal vendetta" segment. For the first day of school, this plot was wildly eventful.
Meanwhile, after finishing his jab at the principal, Hōjō Yoru swept his gaze over the curious faces staring up at him and spoke in a deliberately profound tone.
"Once, a famous professional esports player said: your damage output can't stop for even one second. Life is charging forward without hesitation—an endless sprint."
Hiratsuka, Asuna, and the rest of the teachers and students all looked thoughtful.
It sounded motivational… but something about it felt oddly off.
"Okay. I'm done. One last line."
What shocked them even more was how absurdly short his 'representative speech' was—he'd basically ended it after a single sentence.
He looked down at the crowd and smiled.
"Let's spend a calm, wonderful high school life together."
...…
Ten minutes later, in First Year, Class A's classroom.
"A Devil showed up at a nearby train station, but luckily there were no casualties… thank goodness my commute doesn't pass through there."
"Seriously? That's terrifying."
"Look, it says right here—Anti-Demon Special Operations personnel responded and eliminated it before it could cause any harm."
"Public Safety really is something."
Listening to his classmates' chatter, Hōjō Yoru had no interest in joining in. He simply stared out the window, lost in thought.
Whenever Devils were involved, official reports were always sanitized.
Before he intervened, the Bat Devil had already killed dozens of innocent people—but the public statement claimed there were no casualties. It didn't even list the Devil's name. That was standard procedure for the Anti-Demon Special Operations Division.
Devils had physical bodies and could be killed by physical means, but at their core, their power was tied to belief and emotion.
If civilians learned the extent of the damage—and the true concept a Devil represented—fear would inevitably spread. The next time a Devil tied to that same concept descended, it would be stronger. So the cover-up wasn't wrong.
What Hōjō Yoru was thinking about was what happened at the station this morning.
It wasn't some post-fight analysis. It had been a Bat Devil, nothing more. He'd taken it down without a scratch; there was nothing worth reviewing.
The real issue was the thing that had been talking to Yuuki Asuna.
No matter what concept that thing embodied, its behavior had been bizarre. Based on the intelligence Yoru had gathered within the Division, the way Devil Hunters formed contracts was almost always the same:
A human seeks out a Devil's main body or an avatar. If the human matches the Devil's "tastes," the Devil agrees to a contract. The price the human pays isn't fixed—some people lose a body part every time they use the power, some only have to give up a small patch of skin, basically the equivalent of a minor scrape. It all depends on the Devil's preferences.
Humans go to Devils to make contracts.
It almost never worked the other way around.
But this morning, it had.
So… was that thing not a Devil?
Or were Devils in this world only similar to the ones he knew—matching in broad strokes, but different in individual details?
Or…
Was Yuuki Asuna someone special?
Right now, there simply wasn't enough information for him to be sure. At the end of the day, the number of supernatural creatures he'd personally encountered so far was limited—Devils, and ghouls.
His knowledge of this abnormal world was still far too thin.
Up front, Hiratsuka Shizuka sat behind the podium as their homeroom teacher. She didn't start teaching immediately. Instead, she announced that the first period would be free conversation time.
She loved slacking off, sure—but this time, she wasn't doing it just to laze around.
She wanted to use the opportunity to observe her students' personalities. Her educational philosophy wasn't "grades above all"—it was helping students find their own path in life. That, she believed, was what a good teacher should do.
Just then, the girl sitting in front of Hōjō Yoru—who hadn't spoken to anyone at all—finally gathered her courage. She turned around to face him.
She had long, pale flaxen hair with a faint pink tint that covered both ears. Even seated, it was obvious she was petite. Her looks were quiet and gentle, the kind of cute that felt soft rather than flashy.
Combined with her eyes—cautious, even timid—she resembled a lost little animal that made people want to protect her.
She held out an open notebook with both hands, offering it to him. Perhaps from nervousness, her slender, fair hands trembled slightly, and she didn't dare meet his eyes.
[Hello, Hōjō-kun. My name is Nishimiya Shoko.]
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 80)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 80)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 80)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter50)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter50)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter50)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter50)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 10
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 10
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