Chapter 96

It's actually equipment recognized by the game!

"Thank you, I will pay you back."

Kazuma Hatori's eyes lit up slightly, and when he accepted the short stick that could enhance his attack power, his face showed an almost visible joy.

Once he gets the second piece of equipment, this one can be returned to Pretty Little Wu.

After all, he had just heard the long string of information the other party had given him, which included the fact that cursed tools were extremely expensive.

"return?"

Gojo Satoru frowned slightly, even pouting with obvious dissatisfaction—not particularly pouting, but judging by the look of it, he had suppressed it by a few pixels.

Compared to the way he immediately curled his lips into a "he" when facing the elders, this change was so subtle that it was almost indistinguishable.

"This is a gift for you... consider it an early birthday present, you are not allowed to return it."

He paused for a moment, then emphasized it again to this incredibly dull black Shiba Inu.

"Don't give it back to me, do you hear me?"

Kazuma Hatori blinked his dark eyes in surprise, looking at Satoru Gojo with an expression that seemed to say, "[But it's super expensive. If you just take it and give it to me, won't those old guys be angry?]"

So, Gojo Satoru's suppressed smile couldn't stay down any longer, and instantly he happily curled up again, even higher.

It's even higher than before.

"Oh dear, you're so worried about your senior?"

Even though Kazuma Hatori didn't say anything, and the emotional fluctuations on his face were always too slight, Mikoshiba always teased him as having a poker face, being a cool guy with a repressed white hair fetish, and having a normal guy with an ice-cold face that no one would believe if he said he was an otaku.

But Gojo Satoru was able to read his meaning accurately, and with a smile, he put his arm around the black mulberry tree's shoulder, telling him to put the short stick away.

"Alright, alright, those old guys can only talk a big game; they'll never actually do anything to me."

Gojo Satoru held up two fingers of his other hand, shook them in front of his eyes, and then poked the man's face.

Unbeknownst to him, he had already become closer to Kazumi Hatori than ever before.

"Didn't you tell me? I'm the [strongest]—"

Even his voice carried a smile, sounding happier than ever; he didn't need to hide his joy at all, because he knew the other person felt the same way.

Kazuma Hatori tilted his head back against Satoru Gojo's fingertips, completely unconcerned that his face was being poked by the other man, as if he were poking some fun, soft dough.

"Yes, if they dare to lay a hand on you,"

A faint, genuine smile played on his lips.

"I will kill them."

Just like the first playthrough.

In his first playthrough, he fulfilled his promise to Satoru and successfully killed the mastermind who wanted to scheme against Satoru.

If the save file hadn't crashed later, he could have gone back in and boasted to Wu about it...

Before Kazuma Hatake could even feel a pang of melancholy, he heard Satoru Gojo beside him answer, his tone earnest and resolute.

"I trust you."

Even his voice seemed to be deliberately lowered, deep and steady, almost instantly taking Kazuma Hatake back to the first timeline, as if he suddenly heard the beautiful Daigo saying those words to him.

Kazuma Hatori suddenly looked up.

He was still met with those big, round, beautiful blue eyes, which radiated a youthful arrogance and sharpness, as if nothing in the world could crush him.

Gojo Satoru didn't say things like, "How could you, a jutsu idiot, kill the other person?", "It would be more likely for me to kill them. You should just stay here and let me protect you, junior," or "You're supposed to be an upper-class jutsu practitioner. If you make a move, you'll be hunted down as a curse master."

Instead, he responded to Kazuma Hatake, who was only a level three sorcerer, with an almost instinctive reaction.

[I trust you].

He was as resolute as if he knew he had kept that promise.

Kazuma Hatori slowly closed his dark eyes, concealing the sudden surge of bitterness that welled up within him.

This is a game, and Satoru from the first playthrough can no longer return because the save file is corrupted.

"Um……"

Kazuma Hatori responded sullenly, which made Satoru Gojo, who was wondering why he had blurted out those words, raise his eyebrows and then say "Eh."

"Don't you actually have that kind of confidence in yourself?"

Why are you responding in such a listless tone?

Kazuma Hatori shook his head: "How could that be?"

He's already been very restrained this time around. If it were the previous timeline where he could go back in time, he would have gone on a killing spree long ago, and the first targets would have been this group of scheming directors who were plotting against him.

Don't tell him that the management department hasn't taken any obvious actions against him; passive rebellion is also a form of rebellion.

Gojo Satoru thought for a moment and comforted the black Shiba Inu that had suddenly become depressed for some reason.

"Don't worry, don't worry, you'll definitely become very strong in the future."

Gojo Satoru patted him on the head and led the group out of the forbidden area.

"Then I can say [we are the strongest]!"

"good."

"So don't be discouraged. Come on, give me another smile with your eyes, just like you usually do?"

"..."

………

Not long after Gojo Satoru and Hatake Kazuma stole a cursed tool from the forbidden store, Gojo Tatsuo received the news.

Gojo Satoru didn't expect to be able to fool the elders; he was just waiting for them to come to him demanding an explanation.

Even if someone normally disapproves of a person's words or actions, they no longer reprimand them.

But since he did take away a very valuable magical artifact, they will definitely come over and give him a long lecture, expressing their dissatisfaction with his actions.

As a result, Gojo Satoru waited and waited, and the sister school exchange meeting was almost here, but Gojo Tatsuo still didn't respond to the matter.

Moreover, when they ate together, she still smiled at him kindly and amiably, chatting about everyday things like what they did that day, without any intention of questioning him about the forbidden magic items he had taken.

Gojo Satoru blinked his azure eyes, completely astonished.

...Really?!

In other words, these old guys not only didn't blame him for doing this, but actually tacitly approved of it?

Did that black shiba really not undergo any brainwashing or similar techniques?

Or it could be used to frighten the elderly, making their minds suddenly sharp...

Oh dear, if I had known that threatening someone would be so effective, I would have done it sooner!

As Gojo Satoru sat on his way to the Kyoto Academy of Sorcery, he clicked his tongue in amazement and nudged Hagoromo Kazuma, who was sitting next to him, with his elbow.

How did you find out they were falling for intimidation?

To avoid being overheard by the driver, he turned to the side and whispered in Kazuma Hatake's ear.

Kazuma Hatori paused for a moment, then thought about it seriously.

The old NPC from the Gojo family had never actually eaten Infinite Rotten Rice. Their fear of him stemmed from the fact that when they were in the Director's Office, he had activated [Taboo], which allowed people to taste their anus. It's likely that that frightened them.

Well, with Wu's permission, let's take over their mansion and grow vegetables.

Perhaps, we should also add the feeling of empathy for the experiences of the Kamo and Zenin families?

In short, that long string of negative favorability ratings, which could only be displayed as 100, is the most powerful evidence that he is the living Yama of the sorcery world.

These examples not only demonstrate their deep-seated fear and aversion to him in this playthrough, but also prove that these old NPCs are extremely protective of their lives.

At the very least, they couldn't bring themselves to die rather than submit.

Otherwise, there would have been many more high-ranking NPCs killed by him in the first playthrough.

This is why Kazuma Hatori dared to directly threaten Tatsuo Gojo in the second playthrough, demanding either death or obedience.

Because he knew these people would fall for that.

But I can't explain this reason to Gojo Satoru...

Kazuma Hatori pondered for a moment before slowly speaking.

"I have seen people do this before, and it worked very well."

Gojo Satoru's eyes widened: "..."

He's an orphan, skilled with revolvers, and has even seen people use intimidation to force others to comply.

What exactly did Kazuma Hatori go through before enrolling in the junior college?

Is this why he looks more mature than his actual age?

No matter how you look at it, that couldn't possibly have been a beautiful and happy period...

"Oh, I see. Hmm."

Gojo Satoru silently looked away, even regretting asking the question a little—he just liked to joke around, not that he was truly oblivious to the atmosphere.

How about we take Kazuma Hatori to eat something nice after we finish watching that conference... What's the most expensive restaurant in Kyoto again?

In just a couple of short sentences, Gojo Satoru had already imagined the tragic and dark childhood of this black Shiba Inu, even with melancholic background music.

Kazuma Hatori tilted his head slightly.

"...?"