— — — — — —
In the blink of an eye, Ishiyama High had been fully rebuilt. Kazuma's teaching term was down to its final day.
On that last day, all of Ishiyama's students gathered at the school. Kazuma was going to give them one final lesson.
On the newly rebuilt field of Ishiyama High, students from first, second, and third year were all gathered together.
They were loudly talking about everything that had happened lately, arguments breaking out every few seconds. A single wrong word and someone was already grabbing another by the collar, ready to throw hands.
But the moment Kazuma appeared, the noise died instantly.
All eyes turned to him, and the entire field went quiet.
Kazuma looked at the Ishiyama students, most of whom had spent a good chunk of their time in hospitals lately. He walked step by step to the front, stopped before them all, and smiled.
"Today is my last day teaching here... I'm leaving. You're happy about that, right?"
"Hell yeah!" xN
"…Hmm?"
"No! We're sad! Kazuma-sensei, don't go! We can't live without you!" xN
The crowd had been thrilled that their demon of a teacher was finally leaving. But the second they saw Kazuma frown, they instantly changed their tune.
"Hahaha," Kazuma laughed. "Even you don't believe what you just said, do you? But that's fine. If you're happy, I'm even happier."
"I've been waiting for this day for a long time. There's something I need to say to you all. Now stand up straight."
His expression turned serious. The moment he finished speaking, every student snapped to attention, obedient as kittens.
"You lot…"
The Ishiyama students held their breath, staring at him nervously. No one knew what their demon teacher was about to say.
"You are the worst class I've ever taught. You have zero sense of honor. You're bastards who would even turn on your own companions."
Everyone immediately turned to look at Kanzaki Hajime.
Kanzaki clicked his tongue, clearly annoyed, but said nothing. No matter the reason, what he had done back then really had been dishonorable.
"Kanzaki-san, you're the best big brother in my heart!" Shiroyama Takeshi shouted.
"Kanzaki's just a little awkward, that's all," Natsume Shintaro added with a smile.
"Shut up, I don't need your comfort," Kanzaki snorted. "I'm Kanzaki Hajime, damn it."
That was when Kazuma continued. "You think having money means you can have everything. In reality, you're just oversized babies with no friends."
The instant he said that, everyone turned toward Himekawa Tatsuya.
Yeah, that had to be him.
"What do you mean 'oversized baby'?" Himekawa snapped. "Sure, the money's my family's, but that's called luck, yeah. I was born lucky. If you don't like it, then go reincarnate as a rich kid yourselves."
He was clearly irritated, especially by Kazuma saying he had no friends.
"You're all idiots," Kazuma went on. "The kind of idiots who can't even scrape together sixty points across multiple subjects."
"Don't look around. Tojo, I'm talking about you. You're the dumbest one here."
This time, Kazuma named names. In the most recent exam, Tojo Hidetora had scored straight zeros.
"Getting zero in one subject is already impressive. But you got zero in several of them. And some were multiple choice! Even guessing randomly should get you a few points. But no, you somehow pulled off straight zeros."
"The principal thought you had some kind of protest against the school and dragged me in for an entire afternoon. I had to explain forever before he finally accepted that you're just genuinely stupid. Genma really hasn't seen enough of the world."
"He kept saying there's no way a high schooler could score zero. But at Ishiyama, that's normal."
Kazuma couldn't help ranting. When he'd first said Tojo was just an idiot, Genma hadn't believed him.
Surely a high school student couldn't be worse than an elementary schooler. Even blind guessing should earn points. Zero was impossible.
And yet, Tojo had made the impossible possible.
"Tojo-san is amazing!"
"He's strong in fights and in academics too! Zero points, that's insane!"
"That number is a level I'll never reach!"
The Ishiyama students stared at Tojo with pure admiration.
At this delinquent school, the lower your score, the stronger you were. High scores just meant you were a nerd, like Furuichi.
Delinquents despised nerds and worshipped people who failed exams but ruled in fights.
"Heh heh heh."
Tojo scratched his head, smiling proudly. "I just wrote whatever, Kazuma-sensei. It's nothing special. It's all thanks to your great teaching."
"Get the hell out of here."
Kazuma stepped forward and punched Tojo. "You think I was praising you?"
Then he glared at the rest.
"And you idiots are impressed too? Keep it up and I'll give each of you a punch."
The field went silent again.
"Even though you're bastards, idiots, or losers with no friends…"
"…I won't tell you to become good, obedient students like other teachers would. What I want to tell you is this."
"If you choose your own path, don't regret it. Walk it all the way to the end. As for what other people think…"
"Tell them to fuck off."
Kazuma smiled as he said his final words. "This is the last lesson I'll ever give you. I don't really teach anyway, but this is enough."
"Class dismissed."
The moment he finished speaking, a clear chime rang in his mind. His mission in the Beelzebub world was complete.
He turned and started to leave.
"Kazuma-sensei, thank you for everything!" x99
The students spoke in unison, looking at his back.
This teacher had been strange. Like a demon, really. Every day he either beat them up or scared them half to death. But when he looked at them, there was never any disgust in his eyes.
Later, when the students from Saint Ishiyama tried to provoke them, it was this teacher who stood up for them. He even gave them "social practice classes," which looked suspiciously like part-time labor.
Still, they found those classes far more interesting.
Since Kazuma arrived, they rarely stayed in classrooms, yet somehow they had learned far more than before.
Kazuma didn't turn around or say anything. Everything that needed to be said had already been said.
...
At the school gate, he ran into Ishiyama's old principal.
"Kazuma-san, thank you for your hard work during this time. This is your payment." The principal remembered his promise and handed over the reward with both hands.
"No need," Kazuma said. "I wrecked the school. Consider this compensation instead."
He believed effort should always be rewarded, but in the end he had caused plenty of damage. Letting the school keep the money felt fair.
"Kazuma-san, you rebuilt the school exactly as it was. No, it's far better than before," the principal said firmly. "You don't owe me anything. This reward is yours by right."
The old man had his own principles. He pressed the reward into Kazuma's hand.
"Alright, then I'll take it," Kazuma said. "If you ever need help in the future, find Fairy Tail."
"Demons, dragons, gods. Whatever it is, I'll handle it for you."
He stored the reward in his Treasury and smiled.
"Understood." The principal watched him leave with a smile.
Kazuma's life as a teacher at Ishiyama High was over. Next, he would return to life as a mage.
Before that, though, he still had to say goodbye.
"Beel, I'm heading to another world to conquer it," Kazuma said seriously while holding him. "And you've grown up."
"You're not a baby anymore. You'll be going to daycare soon. You'll make friends there. You'll conquer them and make them your subordinates."
He painted a glorious picture of the future for Baby Beel.
"This is your first step toward becoming a Demon King."
"Da-da-da!" Baby Beel waved his little fists like he was saying, Leave it to me, I'll do it!
"Don't worry, you won't be going alone," Kazuma added. "Kanna and your little follower Elim will go with you."
There were too many kids at home, so Kazuma decided they should all go to school together. Kanna's elementary school had a daycare attached, so the three of them could attend at the same time.
"Oh, and Ittosai's kid, Kota, will be going too."
"Dada!"
The moment Beel heard the name Kota, he got fired up. His rival was going? Then he absolutely had to go too.
He had to defeat him.
"Beel's all set. Tohru, I'll leave the dragons to you. You're the number two of the Fairy faction now."
Kazuma handed responsibility for the dragons and Fairy Tail to Tohru.
"Got it. Leave it to me," Tohru said without hesitation.
"Hilda, I'll leave the 34 Division to you. You understand that place best."
"Yes. I'll make sure our forces grow properly, Kazuma-sama," Hilda replied seriously.
The road to conquest had truly begun. She would build a solid foundation and guard their core strength.
"As for human affairs, I'll leave them to Tojo," Kazuma continued. "Though that guy's dumb, so he probably won't understand how to run a guild."
"Tohru, Hilda, keep an eye on him. If anything needs doing, just let him punch it. Anything complicated is beyond him."
"Understood. Don't worry. We'll take care of everything," Tohru and Hilda said together.
"With that, I'm at ease." Kazuma smiled and stepped outside.
"Goodbye~" Tohru, Hilda, Beel, and Kanna all stood at the door, calling out to him.
Seeing them, Kazuma wanted to say he would visit daily, as he was doing in the Black Bullet world, but he decided to keep it a surprise.
He walked away from the house, found an empty spot, and chose to return to the Fairy Tail world.
.
.
.
A/N: The Beelzebub World Arc is finally finished. Now it's time to return to Fairy Tail. From here on out, there will be no more world-hopping—at least, Fairy Tail is finished first.