I'm a weird expert in Japan

"Huh?" An Yi's surprise was a little quieter this time.

"So, the young man who was introduced not only married Bill Gates' daughter, but also became the executive director of the World Bank."

"Is this true?"

"Of course it's fake." Kitahara Haruki said with a smile, "Takeya told me this story, and I looked up information after listening to it."

"What's the use..." An Yi was deeply disappointed and very confused.

Kitahara Haruki suddenly had a headache, so he could only hold his temper and continue, "What I want to say is the wisdom contained in this fictional story. That's why I asked you to put aside the four ripples for now and consider Kasumigaoka Utaha and Sawamura Spencer Eriri first."

"Oh oh..." An Yi continued to listen.

“Although this story is fake, the moral it conveys is not useless. Specifically, after you know what you want to achieve in the end, analyze the interests and demands of the relevant parties, find the dominoes that these relationships form, and then you only need to push gently to achieve your goal.”

Having said that, Kitahara Haruki felt that Aki Tomoya should understand.

But he still seemed confused, so Beiyuan simply gave him a chance to leave, since everyone was relying on him anyway.

"Applying this to the problem that Aki-san is facing now, the approach is actually similar." Kitahara continued, "You just need to tell Kasumigaoka-san that you have successfully invited Sawamura-san, and then tell Sawamura-san that you have successfully invited Kasumigaoka-san, and the problem will be solved."

"Is it that simple? Won't it be exposed?" An Yi looked worried.

"Because as you said, they don't know each other well, so there won't be any problem," Kitahara said.

Akitomo thought about it.

In his opinion, the relationship between Shiyu-senpai and Eriri is not very good. Anyway, before she broke up with Shiyu-senpai, she never had a happy expression when she mentioned Eriri.

It's probably similar with Eriri.

In this way, as Haruki Kitahara said, the possibility of communication between the two parties is avoided.

But this is only half the solution.

"That--"

"I know what Amaki-san wants to say." Kitahara raised his hand to stop her. "The most difficult part is still Shijo-san. If this part cannot be solved, the previous part is completely empty talk. After all, Kasumigaoka-san, who made the request, must know that the difficulty of this matter lies with Shijo-san."

"It still doesn't work..." An Yi lowered his head again.

"Since you want to invite him, at least try to find a point of contact first." Kitahara Haruki said, "If you don't know anything about Shijo-san, you won't be able to talk to him, right? He's a famous violinist, and I heard he doesn't socialize with other people."

“Haha… that’s all we can do for now.”

Kitahara's intention was to apply the wisdom of that story to convince three people at the same time.

You can imagine how difficult it is, but it's better than having no idea at all.

"This is all I can do for now. Please keep up the good work, Amaki-san." Kitahara smiled amiably. "If it's not urgent, maybe the answer will come out after some time. Please be patient."

"Yes." An Yi cheered up and bowed to Kitahara Haruki to express his gratitude, "Thank you very much for your guidance, Kitahara-senpai!"

His voice was too loud, attracting the attention of people around him. Beiyuan was a little uncomfortable and waved his hands with an awkward smile.

“Well… Anyway, let’s do this for now.”

?

Fast forward to the scene where Tomoya Aki and Haruki Kitahara are fencing... Ah, I'm the author, so that's fine. (laughs)

Chapter 34 Chapter 1: Four Ripples of Iron ()

In an unused classroom in the special building, Hanekawa Tsubasa untied the knot of the cloth bag, revealing two bento boxes stacked on top of each other.

"When I was still a high school student, Ms. Senjougahara told me that I didn't have a particular problem with the taste of food." She handed a lunch box to Lian, "But considering that I'm going to feed others, I'll try to change my usual style a little."

"Ah...colorless and tasteless food." Lian nodded.

He also mentioned this to Senjougahara.

For example, eating salad without adding salad dressing, eating poached eggs without adding seasoning, and serving the white bread directly on the table after it is cut.

For Ren, the lack of seasoning was a little hard to accept, but considering that it was a dish made by Mr. Hanekawa himself, he was able to eat it happily.

"So the taste is still in line with the general taste, please rest assured, Shijo-san." Hanekawa Tsubasa opened her own bento, "Yesterday was really hard."

"The teacher really knows everything."

"I don't know everything, I only know what I know." Teacher Hanekawa said kindly, "When I was preparing breakfast this morning, Senjougahara called me and we talked a little bit about what happened yesterday."

"Oh... I'm starting to eat." Lian said, holding the chopsticks and clasping her hands together.

The teacher and Ms. Senjougahara have known each other since high school, and both of them have been involved with the supernatural, so it's not surprising that they exchanged some related information.

"But I didn't expect that Kasumigaoka-san would encounter something strange. As a teacher, I didn't notice anything. Isn't that a dereliction of duty?" Teacher Hanekawa said regretfully.

"She didn't know who to talk to, so she ended up like this. And now the weirdness has been eliminated, there's no need to worry about it anymore."

"That's right. And seeing that Kasumigaoka-san, who doesn't interact with others very much, can chat so well with Shijo-san, I think it's a good thing."

"Hmm? You mean just now?" Lian swallowed the food. "That was just the final payment."

"The balance?" Teacher Hanekawa was a little surprised.

"It was the final payment for eliminating the monster. I received 500,000 yen." Lian admitted the fact generously.

"Not only did he take the money, but he also took 500,000 yen..."

"A lot? That crab broke my body. Even if it only took two seconds to recover, it still counts as an effort."

"Ahahaha..." Teacher Hanekawa's smile was full of helplessness.

Although I have heard the general facts once, it is still very... speechless to hear the undisguised truth from the person involved.

Judging from Senjougahara's description, after the retreat operation yesterday, Kasumigaoka Utaha, who woke up in the car, could be said to be very grateful for Ren's selfless help and expressed her willingness to make friends with him.

However, Lian unsociablely stretched out her hand to ask for money.

Rather than being obsessed with money, it is more accurate to say that he is unconsciously rejecting communication with others.

He is a hybrid with vampire blood, not an ordinary human.

This decisive difference makes it difficult for him to simply blend into the crowd.

Before this, the only people who could be called Lian's friends were Ying Lili and Shi Zhu, but he and those two rarely saw each other, so it was difficult to explain in just a few words how much they knew about Lian's identity.

A relationship of trust does exist, but it is still some distance away from being an intimate relationship.

"But it's probably because the way we eliminated it was too brutal, and it left some sequelae." Lian said this and added thoughtfully.

"Sequelae?"

"To put it simply, the extra weight did disappear, but the original weight was only halved."

"And the lost weight went to Shijo-san?"

"Yes." Lian nodded seriously. "Although I haven't weighed myself in the health room, I felt my body getting heavier when I woke up this morning, so the result shouldn't be too far off."

"So you were discussing this issue just now?"

"Yes, abnormal weight will always hinder daily life." Lian sighed, "Fortunately, I didn't lose only five kilograms like Ms. Senjougahara did back then."

"No matter how you look at it, this is a serious situation. What are you going to do, Shijo-san?"

"Let's ask other gods for now." Lian smiled, "I plan to take her to the North White Snake Shrine."

"Well... let the gods solve the problems left by the gods. I can't say that there is anything wrong with this idea." Hanekawa showed a slightly worried look, "But the Kitashiro Snake Shrine..."

"What's wrong, Mr. Hanekawa?"

"It's probably recently. Since before spring break, some strange rumors have started to spread among the students in school."

"What kind of rumors?"

"I'm not very clear. After all, when teachers ask about this kind of thing, students will avoid talking about it." Hanekawa said thoughtfully, "But I have heard some information."

"Mind letting me know?"

"Shijo-san really doesn't socialize with others." Teacher Hanekawa was not surprised at all.

Or maybe she had originally intended to let Lian know about this.

"In a sentence, 'If you pray to the snake, your love life will go smoothly.'"

"Eh? Snake? It's really not something else?" Lian was very surprised.

"I hope I heard it wrong, but the student did mention 'snake'."

Lian pinched her chin, "But there's no particularly obvious weird atmosphere in the school... Maybe it's just an unfounded rumor."

"There is no smoke without fire. If necessary, it is better to investigate a little." Teacher Hanekawa said, "Sijo-san is going to the Kitashiroja Shrine, so why not ask Hachikuji-san if there is anything unusual at the shrine."

"But it takes at least an hour and a half to get from Naoetsu to Tokyo. The 'snake' that gave you teachers a headache before should have been sealed a long time ago." Lian pinched her chin, "It's impossible that the seal was broken and it ran to Tokyo, right?"

"It may be a new type that was born or derived. Although no one can say for sure whether it is 'believed because of its strangeness' or 'believed and turned into a strangeness'." Teacher Hanekawa said with a little seriousness, "But it has not officially appeared yet, so maybe it is a good thing to be thankful."

"After all, since I'm a student who grew up in Tokyo, it's possible that 'weird' will be considered unscientific."

"But for Japan, which believes in Shintoism, this belief is both 'weird' and reasonable."

"That's true. Since the teacher thinks it's necessary, I'll just ask about it." Lian nodded seriously.

"You agreed so readily." Teacher Hanekawa looked at Lian with a smile, "So you are still interested in weird things? Or maybe you can't just sit back and watch this unstable situation?"

Chapter 35 Chapter 2: Four Ripples of Iron ()

Lian shook her head. "No, it just happened to be suitable for me to do it, or it should be said that I am the most suitable person to do it. After all, I am very free."

"That's true." Teacher Hanekawa sighed, "I hope I don't make you feel troubled."

"No, no, no, I won't be bothered by what the teacher asks me to do, no matter what." Lian smiled flatteringly.

"Really? Don't say such weird things. The teacher doesn't think of you as an easy-to-use student."

“I know, I know—” Lian certainly knew.

Because this is something that we really can't ask other students to do.

However, Lian felt very happy to be able to help the respected teacher Hanekawa share his worries, especially when they were having lunch together.

Thinking of this, he felt that his lunch tasted even better.

"That being said, I do have another matter that I would like to discuss with Shijo-san, or rather, I would like to ask you for a favor." Teacher Hanekawa continued without picking up his chopsticks.

"Hmm? Is there anything else?" Lian put down the lunch box again.

"Before the start of the school year, the school held a meeting with several teachers who were in charge of our daily life guidance." Teacher Hanekawa said, "Because of the problems with attendance and learning attitude, and considering the relationship with her mother, the school transferred Fuuma Kazusa from the music department to the general department."

"What?" Lian's hand holding the lunch box and chopsticks froze there.

It’s not that the teacher’s explanation was too vague and he didn’t understand.

On the contrary, because the teacher’s second topic was too realistic, Lian’s train of thought was still a little off.

During the school festival, after winning the piano competition in the third music room, he got the key to the second music room.

Although at the beginning, Touma, Sawa and him could be said to be in a "kings-not-meeting-kings" situation.

She would not come over when Lian was practicing in the second music room.

On the contrary, Lian is actually not too sensitive about these things.

Music is different from language. Even if you don’t speak and just play it by yourself, it can unconsciously resonate with others.

Especially with Kazusa's rapidly improving piano skills, there was room for him, a violinist who also studied piano, to point out the problems, which became one of the few forms of communication between the two.

As for when Lian was practicing the violin, she would open the piano lid and start to make notes to interfere, which would happen every now and then.

If Lian didn't have to perform outside and ask for leave frequently, the struggle would probably be more intense.

After all, the other party seemed to be determined to drive him out of the second music room - in the form of a piano duel.

"Isn't it too far-fetched to transfer a student out of the music department just because of his attendance rate and study attitude?" Lian found it incomprehensible.

According to Mr. Hanekawa, Kazusa won a prize in the National Piano Competition when she entered high school.

No matter how you look at it, they are the people that the school should focus on training.

"I know what Shijo-san wants to say." Teacher Hanekawa smiled bitterly, "But Touma-san's performance is indeed too bad. Whether it is her mother's identity or the fact that she has donated materials to the school, it is not enough to keep Touma-san, who has no performance, in the music department. Especially if she continues to be treated specially like this, it will cause a lot of complaints from other music students who are also promoted to the third grade."