I, the mastermind behind the scenes at Soubu High, refuse to be caught in a bloodbath.

"..."

Himekoji now feels like she's reaping what she sowed.

"Well, never mind. Since the Service Club is another hiding place for Inspiration-kun's harem, I might as well take a look."

Kasumigaoka released Himekoji's shoulder, and only then did Himekoji realize that the hard object pressing against her back was actually a small comb.

Chapter 014 Reluctantly, [Himekoji Haruto] is always the one to put out fires.

"Since you know very well that I like older women, then you will naturally understand that even if there are girls in the Service Club, I am not very interested in them."

Himekoji tidied her hair, which had just been messed up by Kasumigaoka.

"There might be third-year girls in there, and maybe even some who have repeated a year and haven't graduated, so I definitely can't underestimate Inspiration."

Kasumigaoka said in a serious tone.

"..."

Without saying another word, Himekoji led Kasumigaoka to the sixth floor of the Special Building, the area where the Service Club was located. The original nameplate had nothing on it, but now someone had put a cute little skull sticker on the lower left corner.

Just standing at the door, you can feel the chuunibyou (delusional) atmosphere that fills the Service Club. Himekoji is very familiar with this atmosphere. In his previous life, he often did these boring things. But now that he has transmigrated, it would be too low-class to continue doing such immature things. How can he not make good use of the resources and environment that his parents have created for him to become a winner in life!

Otherwise, how could I possibly compete with these protagonists who suddenly start having a harem at the drop of a hat?!

"Is everything alright here?"

Kasumigaoka's face fell slightly, somewhat unsure of what kind of place Himekoji had brought her to.

"In short, if you don't want to talk, you can just watch from the sidelines," Himekoji knocked on the door and heard Yukinoshita say from inside, "Please come in." Then she pushed the door open and went in.

"Why is it you again?"

Yukinoshita said this with unusual rudeness.

"I already told you I have a name, right? Besides, I was called here by Ms. Hiratsuka Shizuka. Do you think I wanted to come? Utaha, come in."

Incidentally, Himekoji invited Kasumigaoka in. After she entered the room, Zaimokuza, who had just been spouting some chuunibyou (delusional) nonsense, became completely speechless. Indeed, compared to the title of Yukinoshita being the most beautiful girl in the school in the original work, Kasumigaoka and Osogi were obviously much more convincing. If Kazusa hadn't been so outwardly awful, she would have had the same title. Therefore, compared to Yukinoshita and Yuigahama, the destructive power of Kasumigaoka's gaze was undoubtedly equivalent to the atomic bomb dropped on Zaimokuza's heart.

"Did Hiratsuka Shizuka-sensei come to ask you to help him resolve his emotional distress?"

Yukinoshita simply and clearly interprets Hikigaya's "chuunibyou" as a real psychological illness.

"No, she just sent me to check on you so you don't cause any trouble."

Himekoji's cheerful reply annoyed Yukinoshita and Hikigaya, making them feel like they were babies in a daycare center needing to be cared for.

"Kasumi...Kasumi, Kasumi-no-oka-senpai...! It really is Kasumi-no-oka-senpai, right, Hachiman Daisatsu!"

After a long silence, Zaimokuza rushed to Hachiman's side. To be honest, if he had slipped, Himekoji would have taken out her phone to film Hachiman's embarrassing moment, just like Jasmine. Well, even though he didn't slip, he still scared Hachiman so much that he took a small step back and raised his left hand in a defensive posture.

"What brings you, third-year student Kasumigaoka Utaha, to the Service Club?"

Not to be outdone, Yukinoshita crossed her arms and questioned Kasumigaoka.

"It's just following the president on some routine inspections. For example, this place is called the Service Club, and there are two rather erotic high school girls and two boys who obviously don't have many friends or girlfriends. These strange names combined with this kind of combination inevitably make people think of some strange things, don't they?"

Kasumigaoka retorted with her usual long sentences.

"Unfortunately, this is a place that helps people solve their problems. If you've finished your inspection, you can leave now."

"What's even more unfortunate is that I also know that to establish a club at the department level, at least five people need to submit applications at the same time. But when I checked the files before, the Service Club only had three members, including the crickets. Even with the advisor, Ms. Hiratsuka Shizuka, there were only four people. I really want to know how your club of three people was established."

"Then you should ask him. Isn't the one who single-handedly established the Service Club the person standing next to you, Himekoji Haruto?"

"Oh dear, Haruto-kun is a perfectly developed high school boy. A young lady like you, who is both talented and beautiful, would agree to anything if you just made a little seduction, hint, or promise. So the problem lies with you, Miss Yukinoshita~."

Kasumigaoka and Yukinoshita are locked in a fierce battle of wits.

"Are you saying it's my fault that I'm cute?"

"So you're implying that you've done something to seduce, hint at, or promise Haruto-kun, right? Something like that..."

Kasumigaoka wore a confident smile.

"I didn't do that!"

Yukinoshita blushed and argued loudly.

Himekoji, who thought Kasumigaoka would shut up, was completely defeated. However, in the battle between women, it was Yukinoshita who lost. Her overly strong sense of self ruined her victory. When she could not use logic and reason to argue, she lost.

Coincidentally, Hachiman thought about the same thing, while Zaimokuza and Yuihama beside Yukinoshita didn't even dare to breathe, completely unexpected that the two girls who had hardly met would cause such a storm as soon as they met.

"Alright, you two, that's enough for now. I suppose Hiratsuka-sensei called me here today because of Zaimokuza from Class 2-C. So, Zaimokuza, what exactly happened to you? Hiratsuka-sensei bought me a drink and it's waiting for me."

Himekoji helped Kasumigaoka move a chair, then moved one for herself. Yukinoshita's chest heaved violently, clearly still recovering from the argument, while Kasumigaoka herself remained calm and composed, as if taking a leisurely stroll. Ah, that's right, it's always easy for a normal person to win against someone with a personality defect, provided that your level of normalcy is higher than her level of defect.

After a few minutes of calm...

"Light novels—?"

Upon hearing Zaimokuza's words, Kasumigaoka understood why Himekoji had brought him along. However, according to Himekoji, if she didn't want to get involved, she didn't have to. But if she wanted to give some pointers to her juniors, she was welcome to ask. Kasumigaoka understood Himekoji's arrangement.

"...Are you...interested in Kasumigaoka-senpai?!"

Cai Muzuo presented the manuscript with both hands, bowed ninety degrees to her, and dared not raise his head or steal a glance at her.

"Well... since you've offered it up like this, I'll take a look anyway."

Kasumigaoka casually accepted it, while Hachiman visibly breathed a sigh of relief, as if he had just experienced a war and signed a peace treaty.

Chapter 015 It's over, [Himekoji Haruto] is a professional troll.

Just like when Himekoji came before, Kasumigaoka and Himekoji sat side by side against the wall, Hikigaya sat alone in the middle, Zaimokuza stood next to him, and Yukinoshita and Yuihama sat by the window. It seems that Kasumigaoka has a higher status in Zaimokuza's eyes than the extremely mean Yukinoshita.

So everyone remained quiet and waited for Kasumigaoka to casually browse through the pages, until—

"Excuse me for interrupting, but Kasumigaoka-senpai, do you have any basic manners as a reader? When reading other people's works, you should at least read them in order."

Yukinoshita simply couldn't stand it. As someone who almost always had to follow the rules in everything she did, she couldn't accept Kasumigaoka's reading method.

“I’m sorry, I’m not reading his work as a reader, but rather…” Kasumigaoka paused here, then handed the manuscript back to Zaimokuza and said, “My suggestion is that you make a few more copies now and show them to everyone. My comments might make you cry.”

Although Kasumigaoka was smiling, for some reason her smile was enough to make Zaimokuza cry.

"Excuse me, is it because you have such a high opinion of her work that you say that?"

Some of the children, not quite understanding, deliberately raised their hands in a cute manner and asked a question.

“Yuigahama-kun, this isn’t a classroom and I’m not the teacher, so you don’t need to raise your hand. As for the evaluation, ha—” Kasumigaoka’s expression immediately turned cold, and she looked at Himekoji, who hadn’t said much, and said, “This professional troll should be the one to speak.”

"...You're really too kind, Shiyu."

"Humph~"

She crossed her arms, put her legs up, and turned her face to the other side.

"To be honest, I haven't even seen it yet, so it's not good to start criticizing right away. Let's go through the procedures first. Timber base, listen to her, go make copies."

"Ah, yes..."

Cai Muzuo nodded, then lowered his head and dejectedly headed out with the manuscript.

“Wait a moment,” Yukinoshita stood up and pointed at Kasumigaoka to Zaimokuza, saying, “This is still the Service Club’s place. Although I respect Kasumigaoka-senpai, she doesn’t have the authority to order you around. Are you really going to listen to her and just make copies?”

"Um, Yukinoshita..." Hachiman whispered to her, "I suggest you listen to Kasumigaoka-senpai's advice for now..."

"Even your pets aren't listening to you anymore, Yukinoshita."

Himekoji, who was completely aligned with Kasumigaoka, continued to make sarcastic remarks.

"Who are you calling a 'spoiled' person... Fine, never mind."

The momentum that Hikigaya had just gathered was completely annihilated by Kasumigaoka with just a glance, without Himekoji needing to suppress it.

Alright, from this moment forward, Himekoji and her student council leadership team officially announce that they will temporarily take over the normal production and daily operations of the Service Club!

Of course, I'm just kidding, but it would be quite fun to support Yukinoshita as a puppet regime of the Service Department, but this is something that would be very difficult to do.

So, Cai Muzuo brought the original manuscript and made five copies in total. It seemed to have cost him quite a bit of pocket money, mainly because he had written too much in the original manuscript. Even though photocopying was cheap at school, making so many copies would still be expensive.

"I'm sorry to have troubled you. I'll cover the photocopying fee for you, consider it as training a new person."

Himekoji's words were rather vague. He had long known that Kasumigaoka was a promising talent, so he had given her a good outline. If he could see even the slightest brilliance in Zaimokuza's work, he felt that giving her a little guidance wouldn't be difficult.

After all, it was something Hiratsuka Shizuka asked me to do!

"Why don't you submit the manuscript to Hedgehog Cat? You know, Hedgehog Cat is not only a highly regarded light novel website in Japan, but it also has a good influence in China."

Having received the photocopy, Kasumigaoka laid it flat on his lap and said...

"Ah... I don't want to! Those editors are so ruthless. I'm afraid if they give me a really harsh review, I'll really kill myself."

"Your mental resilience is too weak. Judging from this point alone, you are not suitable for creative work."

Kasumigaoka, who had been driven to depression by the online trolls, clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.

"Huh?"

"It's nothing, you don't need to worry about it."

Himekoji chimed in from the side.

"So, I'd like to ask everyone to read this over the weekend, and I'll be back at the Service Club on Monday. I want to hear your thoughts. A true Dark Knight cannot be defeated by a cricket's evaluation!"

"My chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) is acting up again..."

Kasumigaoka offered a succinct comment from the side.

Thus, the incident involving the woodblock was temporarily put to rest. Himekoji helped Kasumigaoka take the original manuscript downstairs to the shop, bought a notepad and a bag, packed them separately, and handed them to her.

"Oh right, the outline we talked about before."

As they were about to part, Kasumigaoka hugged Himekoji's neck and whispered something in his ear.

"What's wrong with that outline? By the way, is it okay for you to hug me like this? Everyone's watching at this hour."

"It's okay, it's okay. Anyway, I've already publicly announced in the student council that I'm the woman you dumped, right? In that case, as a loser, I should at least think of a way to win back the heartless man, right?"

"...I can't even begin to criticize it in any way. You should just talk about the outline."

"You can give me that outline a little later. There's no need to rush it for a month. I know Inspiration is busy too."

Of course, she was very busy. During the day, she had to attend classes, and at night she had to do various exercises and combat physical training. In order to meet these requirements, Himeko had to use the Da Vinci sleep method to maintain her energy.