Finally, the crying mess on the floor was dragged away by their classmates. Daichi Yayahara held that forced smile on his face for five whole minutes.
That guy was a total eyesore—crying nonstop, ugly face, annoying voice.
"Phew, finally over. I don't have to waste this expression anymore." He let the smile on his face drop.
Holding that expression had been more exhausting than casting two spells back to back.
Damn frostbite aftereffects—this facial paralysis was convenient, sure, but never intentional.
After the nerves in his face were damaged from frostbite and he left it untreated, it just… stuck. But now wasn't the time to fix it—he still needed this expression to hide some things.
"But… did I go too far?" Daichi thought back on what he'd done: first, using a Level 2 Wind Blade to slice Karizaka's chair, then waiting at the door to let him know—I know who you are, and everything that's happened to you today is my doing.
While Karizaka was distracted, he used Levitation Magic to snatch his homework and erase everything in it.
As expected, Karizaka was punished. Daichi stepped out again, wore that same fake smile, and once more used levitation to tuck the homework beneath the kid's butt.
Then when Karizaka went to the bathroom, he loosened his waistband, making both his privacy and his homework fall out in front of everyone.
After that, Karizaka charged into the room screaming, trying to take him down. Daichi kept that faint smile on his face until the boy was dragged away.
"Okay… maybe it was a bit much… but fine, let's call it a lesson. Someone that petty and prideful is useless. Talent without virtue is dangerous." With that thought, he decided to let it go.
Soon class ended, and it was time for lunch. Today, it was Daichi's turn to fetch the meals.
Just then, Dekisugi and his lunch partner exchanged a few words, and then Dekisugi approached Daichi alone.
"Did you do all that today?" That was the first thing Dekisugi said as he got close.
Of course, Daichi wasn't surprised. Dekisugi had always had a strong sense of justice—no wonder he often helped Nobita out of tough spots.
But to Daichi, that kind of justice was too idealistic, too naïve, rarely rooted in reality.
Still, he didn't plan to lie. "Yeah, all of today's bad luck was my doing."
He'd never planned to hide it from Dekisugi—after all, one day, he'd have to reveal that he could use magic. It just wasn't the right time yet.
When that day came, Dekisugi would be able to figure it out anyway. Lying now might break their bond entirely.
Not that coming clean now would necessarily help.
"All this… just because he prank-called you at night?" Dekisugi's face was shadowed with disapproval—clearly unhappy about what had happened.
But Daichi didn't regret his actions.
"That's right. That was enough."
Daichi was slightly surprised—Dekisugi knew about the late-night calls? Fortunately, his expressionless face made it easy to hide his surprise.
Dekisugi was silent for a moment, then said, "I don't like this side of you. I hate solving problems with violence. You went too far." Then he picked up his pace and walked off.
Daichi stood still, watching Dekisugi's back, sighing before slowly following.
When that brat charged into the classroom earlier, he'd already known this would be the outcome.
Sure enough, for the rest of the day, Dekisugi didn't say a single word to him. Both of them knew—this was the start of a cold war.
That night, Dekisugi didn't kick him out of bed, but the space between them on the mattress was clearly wider. Dekisugi, who usually slept on his back, now slept on his side, turned away.
The next day, Dekisugi went to visit that kid's parents again and told them he had time to resume tutoring.
And just like that, he avoided Daichi every afternoon.
Their cold war lasted a week. The only good news? Daichi successfully condensed his third sigil.
But even that didn't make him happy—he felt unsettled, suffocated, every day.
He didn't know how to talk to Dekisugi anymore, and that weighed on his mood the whole week. He needed to vent.
That afternoon, Daichi finished his homework. The house was empty.
He wasn't like Dekisugi—he couldn't relax by reading, and there was no way he could sit at a desk all day. So he went out for a walk.
Wandering the streets aimlessly, he passed a shop window with pretty little trinkets.
He thought about buying one but quickly remembered—he had no allowance. So he walked on toward the park.
Just as he turned a corner, a few high-school-age delinquents walked up and grabbed him by the collar.
"Hey kid, we're a little short on cash. Mind helping us out?"
To most people, this would've been terrifying. To Daichi, it was almost comical.
Perfect, he thought. Right when I needed to vent, these idiots show up to be my punching bags.
Just as he was about to cast Level 2 Strength Enhancement, a kid suddenly leapt out beside him and shouted, "You can't do that! You can't just take money by bullying people! Let him go!"
Tch. That's not going to work… Daichi thought. If they'd back off just because of that, I'd—
But before he could finish the thought, the three punks actually let him go and fell to their knees, apologizing.
"We're sorry! We shouldn't try to take what we didn't earn! Please forgive us!"
Daichi choked on his own thoughts. Good thing he hadn't said anything out loud.
He looked over—of course. It was Nobita.
With Nobita around, even nonsense made sense.
After successfully "converting" the delinquents, Nobita finally got a good look at the person he'd "rescued."
Oh, it's him… Honestly, whether I saved him or not doesn't really matter… No wait, maybe it does—at least those guys didn't get hurt…
Thinking that, Nobita walked over and greeted him. "Hey, Daichi! What a coincidence seeing you here. You okay?"
Daichi nodded while quietly sizing him up.
He'd just lost his outlet for frustration—but suddenly, an idea hit him.
If Dekisugi could make money tutoring kids… then so could he.
He wasn't quite as polished as a real teacher, but teaching Nobita? Piece of cake. Hehe…
With that thought, a strange gleam appeared in Daichi's eyes—like he was staring at a priceless treasure.
Nobita felt a chill from that stare and said quickly, "Well, uh, Daichi, guess I'll see you around!" Then he turned to bolt.
But a hand clamped down on his shoulder.
"Nobita, why are you in such a hurry? I've got so much to talk to you about… hehehe…" Daichi said, dragging him back toward Dekisugi's house.
Sensing danger, Nobita quickly used a gadget Doraemon had given him—the Supervisor Armband.
The tool could stop someone in their tracks if they misbehaved, and the user would never be interrupted.
"Daichi, how can you treat your classmate like this?" Nobita declared.
Those words rippled through Daichi's soul, and for a moment, he felt a strong urge to apologize.
The gadget clearly worked on the soul level—but Daichi's soul had long since outgrown the reach of mere tools. Naturally, it had no effect.
He turned to face Nobita, still holding his shoulder, and smiled. "I'm so sorry for treating you that way…"
Nobita quickly said, "I don't need an apology—just let me go!"
"Hehe, I'm afraid I can't do that… because…" Daichi grinned brightly, "It's for your own good."
Then he dragged Nobita off again.
Even Nobita wasn't dumb enough to miss what had happened—his gadget had failed.
He didn't have time to figure out why it failed. He could only scream for help from passersby—except no sound came out.
His voice wasn't broken. Daichi had used a spell: Soul Disruption – Mute.
Everyone knows the brain controls most human functions—and this Level 2 spell disrupted a small part of it by targeting the soul directly.
At his current power, Daichi couldn't yet cast the stronger Level 2 spells—but with two more sigils, he'd be able to.
Then he could cause complete soul shock—turn someone into a vegetable or even kill their brain.
Still, for now, he found Soul Disruption far more useful.
And so, Daichi dragged Nobita back to Dekisugi's house, grabbed his own schoolbag and a stack of recent perfect-score tests, then hauled him off again—this time to Nobita's house.
It wasn't until they arrived that Nobita found he could speak again.
"Daichi, what are you doing?!"
"What am I doing?" Daichi scoffed. "I'm going to be your tutor, of course."
(End of Chapter)