“Yawn—”

Uh-oh, I read the books left by the great magus until late last night and now I'm feeling quite sleep-deprived. Hmm, I wonder if this skill can help?

Status Ailment Resistance Skill, on.

Whoa! Suddenly, my head feels clear. It seems that sleep deprivation counts as a status ailment. I might be able to keep going without sleep, but I don’t really have a reason to push myself like that, so from today onwards, I’ll make sure to get enough sleep.

Most of the books left by the great magus were about his magic or the weapons, armor, and magical tools he created as hobbies. However, I’m a complete novice when it comes to the workings of magic, so I have no idea what any of it means. Of course, there weren’t any beginner's guides that teach you how to use magic from scratch, so there’s not much I can do. But if I can use magic, I guess I don’t need to understand its mechanics.

It would have been nice if there were books that explained the maps, history, and current affairs of this other world, but there weren’t any. It seems the great magus didn’t care about anything that didn’t interest him. I guess I’ll have to step outside that forest after all.

“Hey, you’re Tachihara, right? Can I talk to you for a sec?”

During lunch break, after finishing my meal and thinking about what to do next, two boys from my class called out to me. They didn’t want to talk in the classroom, so we moved to a bench in the courtyard.

“Um, you really are Tachihara, right?”

“Yeah, that’s me.”

These two were good friends before I was targeted by the bullying group. We used to chat about the anime and manga we’d seen during breaks and compare test scores. After the bullying group took notice of me, both of them distanced themselves, and I tried to keep away from them to avoid dragging them in.

“But you look totally different now. Even your face has changed.”

Well, I lost weight, but my face hasn’t changed. It might be faster to prove who I am by talking about our shared experiences.

“Abe, you loved kunoichi stuff, right? You particularly liked them tied up tight, if I remember correctly? Watanabe was into cat ears and always talked excitedly about wanting a girlfriend with cat ears and a tail someday.”

““Whoa!!””

“Dude, what are you saying in a place like this?”

“Yeah, plus I like dog ears! Don’t lump me in with cat ears; I’ve always said that!”

I had checked that there weren’t any people around, so I figured it would be fine. Back when we were close, we used to have conversations like this quite a bit. It’s only natural for healthy high school boys, right? And Watanabe, I really can’t tell the difference between the appeal of cat ears and dog ears.

“Tachihara, I’m really sorry for not being able to do anything when you were bullied!”

“Tachihara-kun, I’m really sorry for pouring water on you and putting trash in your desk, even if it was at the order of those bullies!”

Both of them bowed their heads.

Ding! Dong! Ding! Dong!

The day’s classes finished without a hitch. Now, let’s head home quickly and check out the other world.

“See you later, Tachihara. Until tomorrow!”

“Tachihara-kun, see you tomorrow!”

Abe and Watanabe are heading to club activities, huh? See you tomorrow!

Just like during lunch break, Abe and Watanabe spoke to me before heading out of the classroom. Unlike me, both of them are part of clubs. I remember they often went home together on the days they had one or two days off.

When the two talked to me, the surrounding classmates were astonished and murmured among themselves. In the midst of this, I ignored them and gathered my things to leave the classroom. I hope this means that little by little, things will return to how they used to be.