Chapter 174

Unlike the pure black uniforms of ordinary college students, Yuta Otsuko was asked before enrolling if there were any elements he wanted to add, but the color of his shirt was a striking pure white among the students.

This was the decision made after discussion by the supervisory department: no matter what unexpected situation occurs, the location of Yi Gu You Tai must be confirmed as soon as possible.

Gojo Satoru had thought he would use some special methods. He had originally planned to refuse all offers, but after thinking for a while, he realized that it wouldn't cause Yuta any loss.

Let's give these old men some face and not push them too hard.

As for the fact that Etotsu was immediately designated as a Special Grade Sorcerer upon enrollment, Gojo Satoru had no objection.

Objectively speaking, although he could not determine the exact extent of Rika's destructive power, it was only natural that Yuta was classified as a Special-Class based on this overwhelming amount of cursed power.

However, before Yi Gu You Tai left the Pan Xing Sect to go to college, Miguel was reluctant to part with him and even gave him a souvenir from his hometown.

Yigu Youtai held the exotic pendant, unable to suppress a smile—but still carefully put it away.

"I'll come back to see you guys whenever I have free time," he assured everyone.

Upon hearing that Yuta Etsu was about to go to college, those who often associated with him made a special trip to see him off.

Nanako and Mimiko, who are now 15 years old, are meeting sorcerers of similar age for the first time, and have even experienced malicious bullying.

Therefore, they deeply sympathized with Yuta's situation and often came to visit him to play together.

Although they also wanted to go to the spellcasting college with Yuta Etsu, their previous experiences delayed their studies by a year, and they would have to wait until they graduated from high school next year to continue their studies at the college.

"Remember to come back on your days off!" Nanako Kasaba waved to him.

Miguel was wearing sunglasses that blocked his view, so his expression couldn't be seen. But he had actually turned down business to come and deliver Yuta Eto. Hearing this, he crossed his arms and hummed along.

"Of course we have to come back, right? This bean sprout's physical skills are completely inadequate!"

It took him a lot of effort to finally make the kid a little bit stronger—compared to when he first arrived here six months ago.

Yi Gu You Tai chuckled: "There shouldn't be that many bean sprouts now..."

He did grow three centimeters taller... and gained some weight too.

Rika never came out—this statement is not entirely accurate. When Nanako and Mimiko first came to him, Rika actually showed hostility towards them.

However, ever since Yuta Etsukotsu learned that he was the one who prevented Rika's soul from attaining Buddhahood, his attitude towards "Rika the Vengeful Spirit" changed from rejection to guilt. He no longer resisted or feared her, but instead took the initiative to try to communicate with her in a gentle and tolerant manner.

It felt like coaxing a five or six-year-old child, but it was indeed effective—even in some of the subtle reactions, you could still find traces of his past interactions with Rika.

He's the one who caused Rika to become like this; he needs to take responsibility.

Otherwise, Professor Hagoromo would probably be the first to object.

Yuta breathed a sigh of relief and, as he pushed open the classroom door, inexplicably began to anticipate what kind of classmates he would meet.

Teacher Gojo said she wanted to surprise him, but she wouldn't tell him no matter how much he asked.

However, if they're both sorcerers, they should get along better...

"Kombu."

One of the boys, who was covering the lower half of his face with a high collar, greeted him.

"Kun...Kunbu?"

Having made a bad start, Yi Gu You Tai had absolutely no idea how to respond to the first sentence.

Eh, why did I say kelp to him...? Is it some kind of special term used only in the world of sorcery?

"Are you Otsuki Yuta? I'm Panda, nice to meet you. Ah, this is Maki, Zenin Maki. The one who mentioned kelp earlier was Inu-maki Toshi."

The other one was even more bizarre... no, he looked like a panda... uh, the panda was greeting him and could even speak human language.

At this moment, Yuta Otsuki didn't know what expression to make—even when the third girl with a ponytail and glasses acted as if she had no intention of paying attention to him at all, Yuta Otsuki only glanced at her briefly, and after confirming what she looked like, he didn't take her to heart.

Right now, he's more curious about why there's a panda in the classroom, why the panda can talk, and...

"You know me? I don't remember ever seeing you before."

Yi Gu You blinked in confusion, then found the fourth and only empty desk and sat down.

"You're quite famous, huh? You're known for that white uniform."

The panda raised its paw—which, unlike a regular bear paw, even had five fingers more like those of a primate for easy grasping—and aimed it at the white shirt worn by Yuta Eto.

"Before you arrived, the college had already sent us a notice saying that [the student in the white uniform is named Yuta Eto, a top-level problem child, and we should stay as far away as possible, especially to avoid causing conflict]."

Yi Gu You Tai: "..."

To call him a "top-level problem child" is really going too far.

"Bokuyu-hana." Goujuanji raised his hand.

"However, Ms. Gojo said not to worry about the notice and just treat you normally."

After adding, the panda continued, "When you came in just now, the aura of curse on you really startled us all. It was quite astonishing."

"Ah, I'm sorry," Yuta Otsuko said apologetically. "It's alright, Rika doesn't usually come out."

Panda: "Rika? Who's Rika?"

Seeing the eager eyes of his two new classmates, Inu-chan and Panda, Yuta could only give them a brief introduction—there was no need for a demonstration, as he was worried that Rika might accidentally demolish the school building.

"...That's it. One of the reasons I came here to study is that I wanted to liberate her soul."

Yuta Otsuku used this sentence as his final summary. Seeing their repeated nods, they seemed to understand at least for now... but whether they would truly be at ease in the future, he couldn't say for sure.

Only then did Gojo Satoru arrive late with the teaching materials—

"Huh, they didn't fight?"

He was a few minutes late, and tilted his head, his voice filled with surprise.

Since last Christmas, Gojo Satoru has stopped wearing sunglasses while working, instead relying on a pure black eye mask given to him by Hato Kazuma to block his vision and reduce the amount of information [Six Eyes] can obtain.

"Huh, did the teacher arrive late on purpose?" Yi Guyou asked in surprise.

"Hey, I was thinking that you guys will be classmates from now on. Even if you don't like each other, you can at least have a fight when I'm not around to get to know each other better."

Gojo Satoru shook his index finger, his lips curving into a particularly cheerful expression.

The panda was immediately horrified. "What? They actually want us to fight a Special Grade fighter? That's terrifying! We'll be killed!"

Dog-curled Thorn: "Tuna mayonnaise!"

Zenin Maki: "Tsk."

Yuta Otsuko: "Ahem... I won't fight casually, teacher."

Having been specially trained by Miguel for half a year, he had gained some confidence in combat. He would no longer be like when he first picked up the wooden sword, unable to last long before running out of energy or being defeated outright.

“Yuta needs to continue improving his control over his curse power,” Gojo Satoru nodded with a smile. “Keep it up.”

"Now, let's begin the lesson—"

"Hey, over there," Zenin Maki, who had keenly sensed something amiss, pointed to the crack in the classroom door that wasn't fully closed, "It looked like there was a dog watching us just now."

She ran away the instant she looked over, only a fleeting glimpse of her dark brown fur.

"A dog!? Where's the dog??"

"salmon!"

The panda and the dog immediately looked around, staring intently at the crack in the door.

Everyone's attention was instantly drawn to it, but was pulled back by Gojo Satoru clapping his hands, his expression all smiles.

"Don't be too surprised, that's my pet coming to play."

"Huh, Ms. Gojo keeps dogs as pets?"

"I thought the teacher would definitely be a cat lover..."

"It should at least be a panda pie!"

"Hey you guys, do you have any issues with me being a dog lover? Come listen up!"

…………

Let's rewind a bit, to before Yi Gu You Tai came to the college to report for duty.

Hato Kazuma first received a call from Zenin Naoya, which was related to the [binding] he had set several years ago.

"I've finally found the pattern information you needed,"

Zenji Naoya breathed a sigh of relief and then began to complain to the Sirius fiend about how difficult the mission was, "You've been killing so many people these past few years that it's become inconvenient for me to go to the Kamo family's house. They always find some excuse to refuse outsiders entry..."

Listening to the long-winded complaints on the phone, Kazuma Hatori only asked one question.

Where is the data currently located?

"..." Zenji Naoya, realizing that the demon was not listening at all, choked for a long time before finally saying in despair, "In my hands."

Hagoromo Kazuma still doesn't understand these things related to incantation power, so he asked Zenin Naoya to bring the information with him to Tokyo College to find Gojo Satoru.

He then used the [Eight-Session Wheel Card] to mimic the black bean cicada, and was openly brought into the high school to audit classes by Gojo Satoru.

Zenji Naoya was only puzzled that Gojo Satoru was keeping a dog, without suspecting that its true identity was the demon who had exploited him for many years.

The two of them, along with a black mulberry tree, found an empty classroom. Zenji Naoya handed the documents to Gojo Satoru to review in order to confirm that the [binding] had been completed.

"Hmm... This is a simple remote linking spell that has existed for at least a thousand years. It's not difficult to activate."

Although it was unclear why Ichijin was looking for the principle behind this technique, Gojo Satoru still carefully read through the few pages of paper that Zenin Naoya had brought, which were copied from different ancient books, and gently traced the engraving on the table with his fingertips, which needed to be built from scratch.

"It's not complicated at all. I can use it after practicing a few times."

Gojo Satoru flipped to the last page and wrote, "The solution doesn't seem difficult; you can learn it easily with a little practice."

Zenji Naoya: "...You really do make everything sound incredibly simple, Gokun."

No wonder he was able to kill Shen Er, a powerful figure who stood alone at the top... No, perhaps it's not so much that he was alone.

This guy has a malevolent star orbiting him from above.

"Because it's really easy for me,"

Gojo Satoru shrugged, put away the few pages of paper, and urged Zenji Naoya to hurry back.

"I have class later, I'll try this spell again later... Oh no, I've already exceeded the time limit!"

He nudged Kazuma Hatake's head, indicating that he had already checked the information about the pattern and there was nothing to worry about.

Then hurry to the classroom assigned to the first-year students.

Today happens to be the day Yuta is supposed to report to the college. Although he has already told Panda and the others, if a fight still breaks out, he has to be there to keep an eye on things... Well, at least he can't call Rika out.

Watching Satoru rush off to class and disappear down the corridor, Kazuma Hatori glanced at Naoya Zenin with a slightly approving look, then jumped off the desk, intending to leave the high school.

Last time, Fushiguro Miki fell into a deep sleep around this time, so he had to make a phone call to remind her not to go to the Eighty-Eight Bridge recently.

However, since Lu Suo died prematurely in this playthrough, will she still be marked?

Kazuma Hatori was a little distracted when he passed by one of the classrooms and happened to hear a voice coming from inside—it was Satoru speaking.

He peeked through the crack in the door, but was immediately spotted by the people inside and quickly ran away.

The subsequent conversation was still picked up word for word by the dog's extremely sensitive hearing.

With its four paws interlaced on the floor, this black Shiba Inu visibly became more and more excited as it ran, even its fluffy tail stood up high and swayed left and right.

Meanwhile, Kazuma Hatori, who was becoming increasingly adept at controlling this body, was in high spirits and smugly retorted in his heart.

What dog faction, panda faction?

—Wu is now a Black Bean Chai faction.