Sitting back in his chair, Inari looked straight ahead, his index finger tapping rhythmically on the table following the pattern of his leg shaking.
The petite girl with twin pigtails before him had her eyes lowered and head bowed, her hands nervously clutching a corner of her skirt.
Reason told him that Haruko was faking it.
And it was an obvious act!
But his perception told him that acting wasn't usually this convincing; he had only seen such a drastic difference before and after in some veteran actors in the entertainment industry.
Furthermore, that slightly weary yet cute little face made people not want to think in a negative direction.
Did she really become a different person after removing her makeup?
Why hadn't he noticed before that this person was actually quite nice when she was well-behaved?
Even he himself hadn't realized that his original feeling of disgust towards Haruko had significantly lessened at this moment.
He pointed to the seat opposite him and said in a deep voice, "Sit."
Haruko nodded timidly, smoothed the corner of her skirt, and moved to the seat.
Her persona today was that of a timid, shy little cutie.
Makeup was just her protective coloring.
The increase in emotional value in her mind hadn't stopped; although it was only two or three points, not as much as before, Haruko knew.
Inari was being influenced by her.
She behaved like a flustered little white rabbit, restless and fidgeting. After a while, she decided to speak first and bowed her head to Master Oriental, saying, "Master Oriental, please... please scold me!"
Inari was amused by her audacity. He rested his chin on one hand and looked at Haruko, asking, "Why would I scold you?"
"Because... because I've been bothering you before and caused you trouble. I'm here to apologize, so you can scold me however you want!"
Inari raised an eyebrow. "Really, anything goes?"
Haruko raised one eye and glanced at him worriedly. "If... if it could be a little lighter, that would be good."
Heh, an interesting woman.
To be honest, Inari couldn't tell that Haruko was acting, but in his perception, the difference in her before and after was too great.
He simply asked directly, "You said Ichiko enlightened you in the basement, and so you genuinely repented. I even feel like you've become a different person. Tell me, how did Ichiko persuade you?"
Haruko nodded timidly. "Actually, I kidnapped Ichiko... well, it counts as kidnapping, I guess. I locked her in the basement mainly to warn her, telling her not to get so close to you."
"Master Oriental, you also understand that Ichiko is very reasonable and gentle. Even when I threatened her, she didn't get angry. Instead, she told me that I was just being misled by Yoko and the others."
"Yoko?" Inari interjected curiously.
Haruko quickly threw out the scapegoat she had prepared. "She's a friend of mine. My makeup and targeting Ichiko were all taught by her. She said that whether it was you, Master Oriental, or Young Master Sento, you actually liked me at first, but Ichiko stole you away."
"So... so..."
Haruko didn't continue, lowering her head in shame.
Inari followed the suspense Haruko left and continued, "So you actually believed that?"
"Yes." Haruko quickly explained again, "But in the basement, Ichiko explained everything to me little by little. She was like moonlight within reach, shining on me and dispelling the darkness. I... I actually did such terrible things to her before!"
"I'm truly not human!"
Haruko looked like she was about to slap herself.
Then she rattled off a long list of Ichiko's good qualities.
Inari enjoyed listening.
Because he also felt Ichiko was perfect, and what Haruko said praised her right to his heart.
After a resonance was produced, he subconsciously believed a bit of what this little loli said.
However, the words that came out of his mouth were still dismissive, "You really are incredibly stupid."
"I... I'm sorry!"
"Lift your head."
Hearing that commanding voice, Haruko lifted her little head high again, but her eyes scanned the surroundings uneasily.
Her delicate little face was fully revealed before Inari.
Although this Young Master had seen countless beauties, he still found the completely bare-faced Haruko quite pleasant to look at now.
However, she still couldn't compare to Ichiko!
He added a sentence in his heart, and said to Haruko, "I'll believe you for now, but if I find out you're lying to me, you're dead!"
"N-no, I won't!" Haruko appeared very flustered. "I know I'm not worthy of Master Oriental, and I won't bother you anymore in the future!"
"Mm."
Inari nodded deeply, then asked about the specific events that happened in the basement, and only then prepared to send Haruko away.
But then he saw this little loli fidgeting as if she had something to say.
He asked, "Is there anything else?"
Haruko nodded gently, took out her phone, and clicked into her Moments.
That was the post where she had shared her bare-faced photo.
With a very serious little face, she said to Inari, "Um, this photo, it's bare-faced!"
Inari's mouth twitched.
More than an hour ago, he had replied that if the photo wasn't photoshopped, he'd eat 3 jin of shit.
Are you trying to pick a fight?
Just as he was about to curse, Inari noticed that his reply on the post had disappeared.
Did she delete it first?
That's quite thoughtful.
He rubbed his nose and didn't say much more.
As for Haruko, after beautifully harvesting the last wave of emotional value, she left the cafe in a hurry.
From beginning to end, she maintained a cute persona.
It wasn't until her petite figure disappeared at the end of the road that Inari let out a soft snort, "Putting on an act."
He withdrew his thoughts and snapped his fingers again.
A man in black at another table who was drinking coffee respectfully stood up and asked, "Young Master, what are your orders?"
"Investigate the relationship between Haruko and that Yoko. You heard what she said just now, right? See how many lies she told."
"Yes, Young Master."
After Haruko left, she walked out of the school gate with a happy expression. "System, how much emotional value did I gain this time?"
[During this period, Inari provided the host with 214 points of emotional value]
[The female lead Ichiko provided the host with 32 points of emotional value]
[The host now has a total of 271 points of emotional value]
"Very good, purchase the content of chapters 140-160 in the novel!"
These chapters are precisely the content where she, this cannon fodder female supporting character, goes offline. But according to the normal plot progression in novels, when one villain goes offline, another villain needs to come online and set the stage.
Contradiction and conflict are the biggest drivers of emotion in a novel.
Only with these can the protagonist actively or passively participate in events.
Haruko needed a way to secretly approach Ichiko in order to complete her plan.
As the novel's content integrated into her mind, Haruko stood at the school gate, her eyes gradually filling with delight.
Among these twenty chapters, the first ten describe the plot where the original Haruko scratched Ichiko's face, stabbed her chest, and was then killed by Sento.
And the latter ten chapters...