Published: August 25, 2025
Today, four chapters are posted simultaneously.
This is the second chapter of the story.
It was the last night I stayed in Korumi Village...
“Ryoma! School! So many people!”
“School? Yeah, there were definitely a lot of people.”
“That’s nice—I want to become a school.”
“That’s the first time I’ve heard that... But if in the future, people start gathering here, maybe it wouldn’t be bad to do something like a school.”
“Really!?”
“Well, to make that happen, there’s a lot of preparation needed. But I think Korumi’s ability can be used to teach things, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea. Once the living environment is somewhat established, we could ask the Goblins to help and give it a try.”
“Okay!”
For a while after that, Korumi peeked into my memories from school days... but gradually, the atmosphere darkened and she asked,
“Ryoma...”
“What’s wrong?”
“Why does bullying happen?”
“Ah... I don’t really understand it well myself. It’s complicated, with various causes like the environment, situation, and reasons from the bully’s side all intertwined, so I can’t say for sure what the exact cause is…
I think what you saw was from my school days, but frankly, bullying isn’t just a kid’s problem. It’s not unusual even for adults working in companies, and it even happens in animal groups. So, unfortunately, I think bullying is just something that happens. You either act on that assumption or, if it’s too bothersome, you have to distance yourself from others... Actually, when I reincarnated, I cut ties with people once because of that...”
“Then, how do you solve bullying when it happens?”
“That’s another difficult question. I guess it depends on the case and requires appropriate responses...”
“The internet? They say harsher punishments are needed, but is that not right?”
“I think it depends on what ‘harsher punishments’ means... Oh, I’m not saying don’t look at internet info, but don’t swallow it whole—that’s important.”
Still, how should I answer... I wonder how parents in the world answer this kind of question? I really don’t know.
Hmm... I’ve had my share of harassment and I’m not trying to defend bullies. Early detection and response to bullying, and punishments for the perpetrators—that kind of ‘harsher punishments’ in the sense of building systems for that, I’m all for it. But simply making crimes and punishments heavier, I don’t think it really helps.
From my experience, bullies usually don’t recognize what they’re doing as wrong, or they think they won’t be caught if they hide it, or don’t think they’ll get punished. I rarely saw bullies who had a clear sense of right and wrong and risk calculation.
There are also types like those who can’t stop despite knowing the risks (like addictions) or bullied kids who join in bullying others so they won’t be bullied themselves. So it’s not that they don’t exist, but I don’t think making punishments heavier alone solves bullying.
If you think about deterrence, being sure to administer punishment is probably more effective than just having heavier penalties, as it makes risks clear to a wider range.
“Kids aren’t stupid... If teachers or parents don’t notice bullying, turn a blind eye, or just give a light warning, kids pick up on that somehow. Then they think ‘This level isn’t a big deal, so it’s okay.’ That’s what I saw mostly.
If they keep learning the wrong lesson, it will become harder to stop. Especially for kids who haven’t finished compulsory education, what they learn first will affect them later.”
Of course, teachers do keep an eye out, but teaching is known to be a tough job, and some parents leave education entirely to schools and teachers. So I don’t think teachers alone should be blamed. More than that, it feels meaningless.
If there aren’t enough hands, wouldn’t it be more constructive to work on measures assuming teachers alone can’t handle it?