"Bastard!"
Furious, the delinquent swung a punch at Haruto's face.
Seeing no more amusement to be had, Haruto lost interest in humoring them.
He effortlessly caught the fist, twisted it, and drove his knee upward.
"Guh—"
Doubled over from the pain, the delinquent dry-heaved.
Noticing he was still standing, Haruto raised his elbow and slammed it into the delinquent's temple.
The delinquent hadn't expected the seemingly harmless Haruto to strike so decisively. Without a chance to resist, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed unconscious.
The other delinquents in the alley, witnessing how swiftly Haruto ended the fight, began hesitating.
"Boss, what now? Should we pick another target?"
The pompadour-wearing leader glared at the underling who spoke. "There's seven or eight of us. You scared of just one guy?"
The underlings: "..."
Weren't you the one who said we should back off if things looked bad? Whatever, you're the boss.
"You lot, follow me." The pompadour delinquent motioned to his lackeys. "Remember, we're not fighting. We're just helping a friend who passed out on the street get to the hospital. Not running away."
The underlings: "..."
"Boss, you're a genius!!!"
Haruto nudged the unconscious delinquent with his foot, relieved to confirm he was only knocked out.
"Guess I still need to hold back a bit more..."
Under the astonished gazes of passersby, Haruto muttered to himself.
With so many witnesses around, he was genuinely worried that something might happen to the other party, leading to endless trouble. Just the thought of it gave him a headache.
The delinquent with a pompadour hairstyle and his gang surrounded Haruto. Seeing this, the onlookers quickly scattered like startled birds.
Compared to yakuza, ordinary people were even more reluctant to get involved with delinquents.
Legally registered yakuza at least followed some rules, but delinquents were minors. The police couldn't do much about them—just a few days in detention and a verbal warning at most.
Because of this, some yakuza groups specifically kept delinquents around to handle dirty work like arson and kidnapping.
The boss had arrived. Haruto narrowed his eyes—unexpectedly, it was someone he knew.
"Bro, it's all a misunderstanding," the pompadour guy said, signaling his underlings to help the fallen delinquent up, acting as if both sides should just back off.
"Look, my buddy's face is all swollen. How about you cover some medical expenses, and we'll call it even?"
Haruto chuckled. "What if I say I don't have any money?"
"No money? No problem. I'll front it for you—consider it a gesture of friendship." The pompadour guy flashed a grin, revealing a set of yellowed teeth. "I think you've got potential. How about joining me?"
The underlings looked at their boss in admiration. No wonder he was the leader—his ability to talk tough was something they could never match.
"Join you?" Haruto laughed. This was actually amusing. Back when he'd dyed his hair and tried to join voluntarily, they'd refused him—even extorted a hefty "membership fee" from him. And now, they were inviting him?
Haruto wasn't in a hurry to fight. He decided to chat a bit.
"Boss, you really have a short memory. Forgotten me already?"
"Huh?" The pompadour guy looked confused. "We've met?"
"Two months ago. Haruto Seishu," Haruto reminded him helpfully. "You even took a big 'membership fee' from me back then."
The boss couldn't remember the exact time or name, but the mention of money jogged his memory a little.
"Oh, so we're on the same side! I knew this whole thing was just a misunderstanding."
The pompadour guy forced a laugh, sensing trouble and trying to make an exit. "Anyway, let's catch up properly next time, Haruto. Right now, I gotta take my guys to the hospital."
"Wait." Haruto stepped on his shoe, smiling. "Since we're 'on the same side,' how about returning that 'membership fee' you took from me?"
The tables had turned—the extortionist was now the one being extorted. The pompadour guy was at a loss for words.
He should've just bolted instead of trying to act tough.
"Uh… Haruto, we really gotta get to the hospital. How about I pay you back next time?"
As he spoke, he tried to pull his foot free.
"Sure. But I'll take some interest first."
Haruto suddenly stomped down hard. The pompadour guy's face twisted in pain.
"Damn it, you're pushing your luck!"
The sharp pain shattered his act. He hadn't wanted to escalate things, but with someone stepping on his face like this, if he didn't retaliate, he might as well quit being a delinquent.
"Get him! Break his damn leg today!"
The underlings hesitated but eventually rushed forward.
The boss had given the order. If anything went wrong, he'd take the fall. What was there to fear?
"Should've done this from the start. Wasted my time."
Haruto sent the pompadour guy flying with a whip kick. "I was almost about to forget scum like you, but you had to come knocking on your own."
With Eyes of Insight fully activated and combined with Basic Body Mastery, Haruto moved like someone who had trained in martial arts for years.
The delinquents' attacks were either dodged or blocked.
In contrast, every time Haruto struck, someone went down.
For these kinds of people, Haruto naturally aimed for the most painful spots—as long as they didn't die, it was fine.
The pompadour guy received special attention. Even as he rolled on the ground in pain, Haruto didn't let up, occasionally stamping a shoe print on his face.
Five minutes later, Haruto brushed off his wrinkled uniform and walked away coolly, leaving only a field of unconscious delinquents behind.
This gang had been entrenched in the area for a long time. Aside from the "membership fees," Haruto had been cornered by them multiple times.
All in all, he had handed over no less than 300,000 yen—though he hadn't suffered any other losses.
Now that he'd taught them a lesson, they were even.
Consider that 300,000 yen their medical expenses.
Meanwhile—
Reina and the other three had finally completed all their tests.
The results were outstanding. The four of them had gone from being at the bottom of the class to dark horses with immense potential.
It had only been two months since the entrance exams.
Two months ago, aside from Yuki—who was half-human, half-devil—the other three had been teetering on the edge of expulsion.
Even Yuki wasn't particularly strong; she was just exempt from expulsion due to her mixed heritage.
This rate of improvement naturally aroused a lot of curiosity.
If it were just one person, it might have been chalked up to natural talent. But all four of them?
Even if the heavens themselves descended, no one would believe there wasn't a secret behind it.
Curious as they were, no one was foolish enough to stir up trouble here.
Having escaped the threat of expulsion, Reina and the others were overjoyed.
Now that they had glimpsed the hidden world, they had no intention of returning to being ordinary.
"Should we report Haruto's situation?"
"There's no hiding it anyway. Too many people are watching us."
Feeling the greedy, inquisitive gazes around them, the four decisively reported Haruto's circumstances to the student council president present.
Sona Sitri adjusted her glasses and glanced at the four. "Understood. I'll send someone to verify. If confirmed, someone will contact you."
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