Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Kanemochiru House
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The next day, I headed to a 100-yen shop.
This place was like a Daiso back home—a discount store crammed with every random thing imaginable. The item I had in mind was probably here somewhere.
I pushed open the door and made a beeline for the stationery and sundries section.
[Stationery]
Nope.
[Office Supplies]
Not needed.
One more aisle over.
[Crafts / DIY Supplies]
- Wool Felt Doll-Making Kit
- 300 yen
"Found it!"
A fluffy wool felt kit complete with doll eyes.
My plan was to use this as an excuse to put Harumi to work.
The classic "doll eye-gluing gig." Of course, it wasn't just slapping on eyes—this meant crafting an entire doll from wool felt, but close enough.
Considering material costs, buying these kits to hand out as work was a ridiculous loss. But I didn't care about that.
I'd look into wholesalers later if needed, but right now, the priority was keeping Harumi from despair.
Giving her a glimpse of hope.
While designing it so she earned honest pay for honest work, without any free rides.
Beep—beep—beep—beep—beep…
"Uh…?"
The lady at the register raised an eyebrow as laser scanner after laser scanner beeped over the endless conveyor belt of wool felt doll kits.
"Excuse me, sir! You're buying all of these?"
Easily over twenty at a glance.
Of course— I'd swept the entire display shelf clean.
"Yes, all of them. And ring up these pens and paper too, please."
"R-Right, sure…"
The massive, hulking woman who nearly blocked out the ceiling fluorescents was buying twenty units of "CUTE♥ Wool Felt Doll-Making Kit-☆," and the cashier wore the look of someone who'd seen it all. She resumed scanning.
"That'll be 6,550 yen~"
"Here you go. Cash."
"Receipt…?"
"No need."
I took the bags, gave a quick bow, and hurried out.
Had to move fast.
Dump the work at her doorstep before she woke up and checked outside.
"Ugh?"
Harumi, dragging her weary feet up the rusty stairs, spotted the wool felt doll kits I'd left.
"What's that?"
Harumi arrives home and finds the protagonist's doll kits and flyer.
Rustle
If you skillfully craft the wool felt dolls in this bag, I'll pay 5,000 yen each. Materials for doll-making will be delivered to your door every two days.
※ Sincerity is key in this process.
If you're capable of delicate work, please proceed.
After finishing the doll, give it a blessing kiss on the forehead. (❀❛ ֊ ❛„)♡
- If you decline, leave it as is, and we'll collect it later.
- Package completed dolls in the included pickup bag and leave outside; our team will handle retrieval.
"Whoa!? Th-Three, no, five thousand yen!!"
The girl who used to blow her nose with three thousand yen back in her mansion days jumped in shock.
"One, two, three, four… tw-twenty of them!! Th-that's 100,000 yen!!"
Stunned, Harumi read the fine print at the bottom of my handmade flyer.
Anyone who's ever browsed a job site would snort at this nonsense.
The title said "job posting," but no such employment existed.
What lunatic employer dumps product materials on a stranger's doorstep?
And ordering work without a contract? Straight violation of labor laws—business suspension at minimum if caught.
But for a naive girl like Harumi, who knew nothing of the world, it seemed legit enough. The kid who'd shown up at a restaurant with just a crumpled flyer instead of a resume. No reason to report a boss handing out cash when you're broke.
"Ab-absolutely!"
Harumi dove right in.
- "Hehe… I'll make 'em super cute, sis~"
Harumi humming while crafting dolls.
"Stretch stretch, fluffy fluffy~♬ Poke on the finger~♪
Fluffy poofy wool the sheep left behind~♪
Twirl twirl, round round~ Slick little nose♬"
I had no clue what song it was, but the onomatopoeia screamed Japanese nursery rhyme.
…A reinforced wave of that cute aggression I'd felt with Ren hit me hard. The kind of cuteness that could make you cream your pants without even getting hard! Harumi was adorable to begin with, but her gap moe packed a killer punch. The contrast between her usual haughty rich-girl vibe and this poor struggling crafter… pure catnip.
I wasn't some voyeur with a fetish, but watching her tiny, delicate hands fidget away at the doll made my chest itch with electric thrill.
Was peeping on a girl half my size while thinking this turning me into a voyeur? Fine, call me one. If I couldn't savor the heroines to the fullest, might as well die. I'd be the craziest perv they ever saw. Keh heh heh…
- "Ow…!"
Harumi pricked her finger on the needle and sucked on it.
Ah! Heroine fingers taste so good.
Couldn't I suck it for her?
Before she got too absorbed, I fired off a quick message. Didn't want her forgetting our dinner plans.
She never used lol emojis usually—must be in a great mood. Felt good.
Sharing her joy with me—she must think we're buddies now.
Looking back, Harumi always acted prickly and superior on the surface, but she never pushed people away. Probably lonely deep down.
A few hours later.
I showered clean and arrived at the meetup spot ten minutes early.
This was right by that bus stop where I'd roughed up the paparazzi creep last time.
Screech—
Thud!
Right on cue, the paparazzi who'd DM'd Harumi showed exactly as predicted—same time, same pattern as before. Eerily identical.
Definitely orchestrated. Someone's pulling strings.
"Heh heh heh… Look at that cutie. This uncle's gonna make you a real woman…"
The creep leering at Harumi's photos, grinning like an idiot.
No more recon needed.
Crack!
Crunch!
Just like last time, I dragged the potbellied middle-aged pig into the blind-alley CCTV dead zone and turned both his legs into kangaroo stumps.
"Gaaaargh—!?"
Thwack!
Knocked him out cold with a nape strike before he could scream.
Click, click.
Snapping pics of his unconscious mug, hooker evidence, and business card for wallpaper? Easy pickings. Unconscious meant fingerprints, iris, face—all mine to use freely. No hitches. Guess practice makes perfect.
"What, National Paparazzi Association or something?"
Why do all these creeps look the same? Adult mags sometimes feature slick salarymen seducing ojou girls… Total fantasy, huh?
- Home screen memo set -
Didn't forget the fake yakuza threat memo.
"This'll do."
Short of actual murder and becoming a killer, I couldn't escalate further. Sure, more academy trust or big-money business status later… Options aplenty. But not now. And I'm no psycho itching for random kills.
Truth is, even this was risky.
Turning both legs to mush? Heinous crime. Consecutive similar attacks on similar guys in the same neighborhood? Too coincidental.
Bludgeoning paparazzi piecemeal wasn't sustainable.
There had to be a mastermind directing them.
For Ren, the NTR punks had motive—thugs eyeing her beauty since freshman year, now hating me too.
But Harumi? No grudges came to mind. My scenario knowledge didn't flag anyone.
"Tch… Need a solid lead."
Off-academy incident during her absence—a blank scenario period. My academy intel was useless here.
I scoured his SNS, phone gallery, messages—no trace of any "mystery paparazzi client X."
As I shook my head and went to pocket the phone, an app caught my eye on the screen.
[Kinpay]
This was that popular Japanese fintech app, right?
Might as well check it out.
Expenses? Nothing special. Typical spending.
"All predictable…"
Child allowance? Even this trash had kids.
Checked his cash flow—modern man's deepest secret—and nada. Strikeout?
As I sighed and scrolled absently,
a line flashed by that made me doubt my eyes.
.
.
.
¥400,000 | Kanemochiru Kenji
"Huh?"
Wait.
Did I misread?