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Chapter 7 - Interlude

Nina Fortner spends her morning paying attention to classes and observing the transfer student suspected of being the anonymous sender of the e-mail she received. Other than his name being Otto Huberman, she still knows next to nothing about him. Just as last week, he kept staring at her when he thought she wouldn't notice.

At lunch break, Peter is still trying to get some information from Otto to confirm the suspicion. So Nina sits only with Clara and Beate.

"Were you able to clear up the misunderstanding with your manager regarding that coworker you said was hot?" Beate asks.

"Yes, I asked Giuseppe not to talk in a way that may make the atmosphere at work awkward. He had even arranged our shifts so that they were all together. If I hadn't stepped in soon, who knows what kind of rumors would be flying around?"

"Your manager tried to play cupid for both of you?" Clara is a little shocked.

"He had no evil intentions. The manager knew I had no interest in boys until now, and seeing my state last time, with the blush and all, he thought he could help me out. You could say it was kind of a cute gesture, even though it was a misunderstanding."

"So did you just ignore this guy from then on?"

"No, I still observed him a little between my delivery drives. Ryu never took the initiative to speak to me. On Friday evening, I just complimented him a bit about his hairstyle. After observing a bit more, I came to understand that Ryu is quite a reliable, hardworking, and sincere person. I started talking to him a bit more yesterday and learned that he is an orphan who only graduated from Hauptschule. He took the job as a cleaner because he had no more money left to feed himself and no friends or family to refer him to a better-paying position. You could say he is all alone, trying to soldier through life somehow."

"Ouch, did not expect the sudden sad backstory there. No wonder you did not want misunderstandings to spread. A lonely person like him will probably latch onto every bit of kindness he can get."

"I think you have a point, but I was always the one who approached him first, so I don't think it is that much of a problem. I even invited him to come with me to Aikido practice on Wednesday, because he seemed interested in how I kept myself fit."

Clara can not believe what she is hearing.

"You invited him on a date?!"

"What do you mean by a date? He thought it was interesting, and I told him to just come to the lessons with me. How is that supposed to be a date?" Nina feels like Clara is overreacting.

"Girl, do you even listen to yourself? When have you ever commented on a guy as, and I quote, "really hot"? Describing him as reliable, honest, and empathetic with his background? Even going as far as to invite him to practice together casually. Think carefully, Nina. Did you ever ask a guy out for an activity without another girl present?"

Beate laughs at the dumbfounded look on Nina's face, "Clara, maybe your plan of having them act as a couple on campus to snatch Peter yourself still has some hope!"

"Beate! I understand why you might think this way, but I just invited him because he seemed genuinely interested. As I mentioned earlier, he is athletic and in good physical shape. It's just a normal sports recommendation; stop reading so much into it because I told you he's attractive! Also, I am sure he is mature enough to understand the situation and not have such thoughts about it."

"Okay, I am just teasing you. Objectively speaking, someone like Ryu is no match for you. He may be attractive now, but that is all he has to his name. What about in 10 or 15 years? Will he still be attractive? Unlikely. And his future prospects? No family, no connections, no money, and the worst educational standard. In contrast, the girl who consistently ranked top of her class every year and excelled in university exams, while also being equally attractive. There is no hope for him, and I suppose he knows it."

Nina looks at Beate in shock and thinks to herself, 'Is Ryu that undesirable? No, they don't know what he really is like from the diary as I do.'

"Beate, that is enough, look how shocked Nina is. She definitely never thought of dating Ryu and thus didn't analyze the situation as you just did. Even if this is the case, if you befriend him, bring him around on campus to let us have a look."

"I think I can do that. You threw me in for a wild goose chase here. First, insisting I invited someone on a date without intending to, then shooting Ryu down to the bottom of the dating pool. I am just happy I did not get any whiplash from how fast the change was!"

Laughing, they start revising their studies after finishing their food.

[Another day of work at the construction site is done. Compared to my first time last Wednesday, I already feel a little stronger. The training seems to be working well. It's good to know that I can still improve on my own without relying on System rewards. My goal is to enhance my strength, dexterity, and constitution by +0.1 each before the next step of my plan in early March. I would also like to get a cooking skill on my status page.

As I try to save up enough money to join Nina's Aikido lessons in the long term, I've only bought some necessary cooking ingredients and a new book. Luckily, preparing ingredients and eating the food I've made myself calms me a little. Between exercising, construction work, cleaning at the restaurant, and Aikido, I feel like I am using my body to the maximum extent it can withstand. The mental pressure in the back of my mind is also always building up. However, the cooking process seems to work a little like a meditation practice, which is beneficial.

Currently, I am considering how to contact Inspector Lunge and, more importantly, how to persuade him to assist me. I can't give out too much information because this man is an absolute fanatic at solving cases. He famously claims that no case he works on will stay unsolved. This means I can only provide him with the exact amount of information needed to assist me with the Fortner situation. Too little, and he won't care; too much, and the future becomes uncertain. As of yet, I don't have a clear understanding of how to accomplish this.

But there are still almost two weeks to contemplate it. Time to head to bed.]

Eva: "So… Did I get the skill Poison Resistance Lv. 1, because I drank such a huge amount of alcohol that I built up resistance? This is really depressing. However, I am already doing my best to cut back. It will get better eventually."

Lotte: "No case goes unsolved by Inspector Lunge? But isn't the case around Eva Heinemann, her father, and Dr. Tenma still not closed? Or is he still working on this case even now? I am somewhat interested in learning about the methods someone like this uses to investigate. Maybe I will be able to meet up with the people mentioned in the diary or even Ryu himself in the future."

Elsa: "I've been working out for only two days, and my body feels like giving out already. I don't know how Ryu does it."

[I realized now that it is not easy to write in the diary when nothing changes from the previous day. Luckily, Nina spoke to me again in the evening, when there were no delivery orders to attend to. It is interesting to hear about her daily life; after all, such things are not covered in the original work. It also helps me further integrate into this world and not just fall into the trap of thinking that everyone around me is just a predetermined character.

A good example came from Nina today. She told me about the anonymous e-mail she received. In the original, she only told Beate and Clara after receiving the second one, which read "I will come for you soon," and thinks it is a very romantic message. The three even go so far as to speculate about the "prince on a white steed" who will pick up Nina. The other two suspect Otto Huberman, a transfer student to be the sender. They even set up a date between him and Nina without her knowledge. As it turns out, Otto is not the one who sent the e-mail.

However, in reality, they tasked Peter to investigate whether Otto had sent the mail, while being concerned. Is the change because she already likes me and has no more use for an anonymous writer to sweep her off her feet? The change is not too significant, but I still need to be mindful of my passive influence on the world. You can even say, I am so handsome it changed the world! On a more serious note, I look forward to the first training lesson tomorrow.]

Nina: "Who likes you?! Isn't it all because I read in your diary that the message is from a killer? Just thinking about it, "I will come for you soon". Knowing the context, it's quite scary! Still with my former innocent mindset, not knowing what was happening, I probably would have been fooled for real. I am fortunate that Ryu somehow came to this world, and I can read his diary. Still so stubbornly believing that I like him. Maybe I should find the excuse of teaching him the basics tomorrow, to vent some of my anger on him?"

Rung: "So handsome, it changed the world. Reading this is so funny, knowing she just read the real story behind the e-mail in your diary. I bet Nina is lying in bed, sighing in frustration about being misunderstood. Still, she can't reveal the truth; this is hilarious."

On Wednesday afternoon, Ryu is waiting at the university parking lot, like Nina told him to. He looks around and finds her scooter, which she often drives to work. While leisurely waiting for Nina to get him, he takes his new book "Vegetables for Beginners" from his backpack and starts reading.

He is so engrossed in his reading that Nina stands at his side with an amused look while listening to him mumble.

"So you have to immediately cook asparagus after peeling it, else it will dry out fast. Alternatively, wrap in a wet towel. Makes sense. But will I ever cook with asparagus? Those things are costly!"

"Ryu, are you ready?"

Shocked by the sudden voice beside him, Ryu almost jumped in place, fumbling with the book he nearly dropped.

Meanwhile, Nina laughs at his reaction, her blue eyes sparkling in the afternoon sun.

"You should pay more attention to your surroundings when outside."

"Yeah, sorry, didn't notice you there. Had a close shave with a heart attack just now." Ryu holds one hand to his chest and breathes heavily.

Nina pats him on the back while grinning, "If Mr. Scaredy Cat is ready, let's go to the studio now. I was already a little late because Professor Kronecker kept pestering for more detailed answers, and Peter just wasn't able to answer correctly. So the whole class was delayed."

"Lead the way, then. Your friend Peter? The one you sent to scout out this Otto Huberman, who supposedly sent you the anonymous e-mail?"

"Yes, that Peter. But he is still trying to get information from Otto without being too direct."

"It does make sense, you can't be too careful with potential stalkers after all. It is unpredictable if they are going to lash out."

"Exactly, but we're already here. Told you it's not far from my university, right? Time to blow off some steam!"

Nina stops in front of a three-story building, pointing to the second floor with a big poster at the window.

"Self-defense classes! Aikido with Suzumoto-sensei, a professional from Japan!"

While reading the poster, a chorus of kids' voices came from behind them.

"Good afternoon, Nina-senpai!"

"How are you, my little kohais?"

"Good!"

"Very nice, look, I brought you this big guy today. He is new to Aikido, so give him a good beating for me, okay?"

Nina winks at the three boys, who start laughing.

Ryu gives Nina an exaggerated look of shock.

"Gasp! You brought me here as a punching bag! Can I still run away now?"

"No running! Kids get him!"

She takes him by his sleeve and drags him into the building with the three boys pushing from behind.

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