[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-stealing-spree":3,"chapter-stealing-spree-stealing-spree-chapter-1996":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Stealing Spree",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1762171,2333,"Chapter 1996 Seed for the Flies","stealing-spree-chapter-1996",1996,"\u003Cp>Without any other issues encountered along the way, I successfully escorted Yae, Akane, and her group of friends near their school gate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eri and Futaba’s boyfriends also joined us halfway but well, that detail was pretty much irrelevant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if they acted friendly with me like I was some sort of comrade for dating Akane, I have no intention of becoming friends with them. Or at least, I could only act amiable at the surface. In fact, I already forgot their names. Eri and Futaba often mentioned them but I guess it's a ‘me’ problem why their names wouldn't stick.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the very least, I know they won't have any designs for Akane or Fuyu. They're the type of guys who are loyal to their girl.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Anyway, to avoid attention and getting spotted by the guy from the newspaper club, I quickly left the area to go somewhere I could wait for one of my girls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was confident to mislead that guy if he ever got his interview. It’s just… there wasn’t any benefit to be gained from that. Not to mention, it would be a troublesome affair and a complete waste of time to answer his questions. My time would be better spent studying if I couldn’t use it to spend time with my girls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nevertheless, even if I was actively avoiding that newspaper club, I had other things to accomplish here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One such thing was my intention to swat away those persistent flies buzzing around some of my girls. Those who couldn’t accept the fact that they’re already taken.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No matter how insignificant they are, they annoyed my girls. That’s enough reason for me to deal with them, no?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I have yet to finish collecting vital information about all of them. Planting a seed of their ruin was already possible though. All I needed was the opportunity to put them into action.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unfortunately, because of the insufficient time and my location – I’m not attending the same school as them – it became quite difficult to find that window. Especially when my first priority remained to be spending time with my girls at every opportunity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s why I had to improvise. Or rather, take even the slightest opening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For example, at this very moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon leaving the vicinity of their school gates after going against the wave of students rushing in, I selected my targets by staking out from the narrow street that we've been using recently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those targets weren't necessarily the ‘flies’ I singled out but classmates or other students close to them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Approaching them was proven to be easy thanks to my improved presence. Girls just couldn’t ignore me while boys were mostly envious or wary of me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nevertheless, planting those seeds that could harm those flies would be tricky.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back when I was still the desire-driven idiot, whenever I encountered a situation where I had to remove someone or take the focus out from the girl I was planning, I would often rely on manipulating the public sentiment by sowing discord.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They’re not always successful because of two reasons. One, I lack the drive to thoroughly prepare for it by researching. And two, my presence is so low that it won't take flight even if I start gossiping.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, however, no one could actively ignore me if I approached them. They would at least spare me a glance and more often, they’d also be interested in me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And thanks to that, it looked like I would be able to pull this off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I only have at most fifteen minutes. Ten minutes later, I’d already planted three seeds that would germinate soon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’m confident it will be successful because that’s just how absurd the power of gossip is. It can paint a person in either black or white exaggeratedly after being spread and passed around.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Anyway, I still have time to plant another one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I kept an eye out and immediately moved out after identifying my target;\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A second-year student who’s supposed to be the older sister of the ‘fly’ buzzing around Hiyori. From a quick glance, I could pretty much understand why that guy chose Hiyori among other girls…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His type of girl is shaped around his own older sister.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Right. This girl looked to be the shy type. But whether she also had things that she would be excited about like the idol stuff or not, I had no idea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In any case, I don’t think I need to know that. I’m only going to plant a seed. Something that can be pivotal if I want to fly out of Hiyori’s vicinity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like the previous instances, I timed my approach to match her pace to walk alongside her. It’s a lot better than blocking their way as it would make them more guarded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Noticing me by her side, the girl curiously glanced at me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And timing that to glance at her, I put on an amiable smile, catching her in surprise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I could imagine question marks popping on top of her head. Nevertheless, she also exhibited the same reaction as the others. She immediately slowed down and put some distance between us.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, upon noticing that I continued to match her pace without showing obvious signs that I was doing it intentionally from the outside perspective, the girl opened her mouth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“... E-excuse me. Do I know you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m afraid not. But I know you, nee-san.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Nee-san??? W-who are you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mhm. How should I say it? A friend of your little brother?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the way I delivered that with confidence, the girl only took a moment before accepting it as the truth. Sure, she could still be skeptical but she probably knows her brother more than me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides, this would be the only time I would interact with her. After the seed of doubt was planted, it would only be up to luck whether we encounter each other again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“... Tetsu-kun’s friend? W-wha…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Relax, nee-san. I don’t mean to scare you. I recognized you from afar so I thought I should say hi.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I kept my amiable smile to put her at ease. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy to dispel her doubt considering how shy she is.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I should already be thankful that she prompted the conversation because if not, it would be troublesome how I could get her attention.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this point, with our pace slowed down to a crawl, the remaining time I allocated should be enough to do what I intended.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I… I’m not scared. It’s just… You came out of nowhere. You also look like you’re not from our school… Are you really Tetsu-kun’s friend?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I understand the skepticism, nee-san. I’m sorry to startle you. You can contact Tetsu and confirm it with him but can I say something first?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“... Sure.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Like you said, I’m not from the same school but I’m concerned for him.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Concerned? How?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I heard this from one of our mutual friends, he seems to be getting involved with a bad bunch. Although it’s only hearsay, you know it’s not impossible, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Y-yeah… If you’re hoping I should talk to him, I think you’ll be disappointed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No. This isn’t actually about him. It’s about you, nee-san.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Eh?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Be careful.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon saying that, I abruptly stopped walking and blended quickly into the crowd behind us.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since she was not expecting that, it took her a few steps before she also stopped to search for my figure. Her face was filled with confusion, most likely not knowing how to interpret what I meant by telling her to be careful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Little did she know, that’s what I was intending to happen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In that fly’s case, that’s how I designed the seed. Dropping those hints about him to his sister and then getting her involved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With this, she’d either ask him directly or dig about it on her own. Whichever she chose, it would lead her to a discovery.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ah. Right. I’m telling the truth about his brother becoming involved with a bad bunch. Not delinquents but bullies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Naturally, it’s uncertain whether it will be enough to swat that fly off of Hiyori’s surroundings. At least, I got her sister moving for me. Even if he denied knowing me to her, his reaction would give him out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After failing to find me in the crowd, the girl eventually gave up searching for me. Likewise, I left the area after she disappeared from my sight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I returned to the narrow street and started traversing it to reach the cafe where I could meet my girl.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or so that’s what I was hoping for.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But halfway through it, I ran into someone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ohori-senpai.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Onoda-kun… Good morning.”\u003C\u002Fp>",1447,"2026-06-08T09:44:01.644Z",1,"novelbin.me","f99246b14882cfdbaa9f5e3ba42b6c83944fcb4b2eedb5e498116e726abc958a","stealing-spree-chapter-1997","stealing-spree-chapter-1995",2873,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fstealing-spree-cover.jpg"]