Perhaps realizing that Shalltear was not as harmless as she had speculated, Chika Fujiwara was very well-behaved on the way from the entrance to the drawing room, just keeping her head down and tugging at Kaguya Shinomiya's sleeve as she followed behind her.
Even Ai Hayasaka was shocked to see her in this state.
Kaguya Shinomiya, however, was used to it.
After all, whenever she was struck in her mental weak points by Junior Yu Ishigami, she would behave just like this.
"So, Shalltear-chan, are you a scary person?" Sitting on the sofa in the drawing room, Chika Fujiwara cautiously asked while sizing up Shalltear with a new perspective.
"...You really are bold enough to ask anything, Master." Shalltear looked at Chika Fujiwara with cold eyes, "Because Master requested that I try to maintain the appearance of an ordinary girl in school, I chose Chika Fujiwara—that is, you—as a subject for study, since you maintain a basic balance between praise and disparagement in school."
"Eh? Shalltear has actually started using her brain!" Aura, who had just walked in from the side, looked at Shalltear in astonishment.
"Aura! Do you want to provoke me and have a fight right here?!" Shalltear glared at Aura and scolded her.
It was rare that she had the chance to show off her authority, only for this shrimp to jump out and ruin it.
"Ears, ears, ears—" Chika Fujiwara looked at Aura's lifelike ears in surprise, even eager to pounce and tug at them.
Fortunately, Ai Hayasaka noticed this and, coordinating with Kaguya Shinomiya, pressed her down.
"You don't need to be so nervous," Aura waved her hands and looked at Kaguya Shinomiya and Ai Hayasaka with a grin, "It's rare for Shalltear to use her brain, so even for the sake of that girl still being useful to Shalltear, I can tolerate her impolite behavior towards me."
"As I thought, you shrimp, come outside and fight me." Shalltear's forehead was already covered with '#' marks.
"Sorry, Miss Chika Fujiwara, for letting you see such a rude side of them." Daniel, who was watching these people clowning around from the side, sighed helplessly.
"Although their words and behavior are a bit rough, they are good children at heart."
Well, having had their attributes modified by him, they were now Undead with neutral-to-good alignments and positive karma values.
Even if their karma value was positive, Undead inevitably still held a certain amount of malice toward the living, but this malice would not extend to a desire for slaughter.
Specifically... even though Albedo had been angered by people from the Shinomiya Conglomerate to the point of making ugly faces several times, she still hadn't killed anyone.
She just smashed quite a few people's rice bowls.
This was a very good change.
"Master." Shalltear and Aura both looked at Daniel with moved expressions.
Among them, Shalltear even wanted to tear open her Gothic outfit.
"Since I was praised by Master, could it be that tonight I can finally climb the ladder to adulthood?"
"Idiot! Don't lose decorum in front of outsiders and embarrass Master!" Aura was struggling desperately to stop her.
The light faded from Chika Fujiwara's eyes as she looked at Shalltear.
She hadn't expected that the first disciple she took on as a Love Detective would be a pervert... of this caliber!
Did she really lack the aptitude to be a Love Detective!
For the first time, Chika Fujiwara doubted herself.
"Miss Shinomiya and Miss Hayasaka, you don't need to be so nervous. Although I don't want us to expose our existence, even if we were exposed, we wouldn't take any extreme reactions. For example, we would absolutely never engage in behavior like making certain people disappear from this world (in the physical sense)." Daniel continued.
But they seemed to have misunderstood Daniel's meaning, and their bodies shook even more violently.
"Besides, who would really hate Chika Fujiwara?" Daniel said with a smile.
"Ah, Master, that accountant from the Student Council seems to hate her quite a bit," Shalltear answered from the side, "He always makes her cry with his biting words."
"No, that's not hate." Daniel's mouth twitched slightly, and then he looked at Shalltear to explain, "If anything, the degree to which Yu Ishigami hates himself far exceeds his hatred for others... except for that guy named Ogino? Is that right?"
He finally turned his head to ask Kaguya Shinomiya.
"Yes, the surname is Ogino." Kaguya Shinomiya replied, nodding as a bead of cold sweat slid down her forehead.
"Is that so? Self-loathing; the creature known as human is truly incomprehensible." Shalltear shook her head and sighed.
"Hmm... for example, Shalltear, if you were manipulated and decided to betray me of your own volition, and then launched an assassination attempt against me, nearly succeeding." Daniel stroked his chin and then looked at Shalltear to ask, "After the manipulation was lifted, would you feel loathing toward yourself?"
Shalltear only fantasized about Daniel's scenario for a moment, and her face instantly turned ghastly pale, with even the background becoming gloomy.
"Master, I want to go die for a bit." Shalltear said with a dazed expression as she walked to the door and turned her head to look at Daniel.
"Hmm, but don't actually die. Aura, please follow her and keep an eye on her."
"...Really, just now Shalltear... student became so much like Student Ishigami!" Chika Fujiwara exclaimed, looking in astonishment at the door that had been closed.
After Shalltear and Aura left, the originally heavy atmosphere immediately dissipated.
Kaguya Shinomiya and Ai Hayasaka looked at each other.
Having lived together for so long, they had long since discovered it.
As long as Albedo, Shalltear, and Aura—the three of them from Daniel's team—were absent, the atmosphere would immediately change from waiting in line at the entrance of a grave to being solemn and respectful, like a church.
And when Artoria was also absent, leaving only Daniel, the atmosphere would immediately change back to the one they were familiar with.
It was simply like blatantly saying that the weakest person in Daniel's team was Daniel.
However, that was what an ordinary person would think.
To people like Kaguya Shinomiya and Ai Hayasaka, who were accustomed to the dark side of society, Daniel, who gave them the most ordinary feeling among the group, was actually the most terrifying.
Because when facing Daniel, they couldn't even muster up a sense of vigilance.
Even their fighting spirit had been reduced to zero; wasn't that terrifying!
"So, you are Student Shalltear's... Master? Sorry, is it the kind of Master I understand?" Chika Fujiwara's face returned to its usual smile.
"In a stricter sense, it's a superior-subordinate relationship." Daniel answered, stroking his chin, "But if understood in a familial sense, I am like an older brother to them."
Then your sisters are all quite rebellious. Ai Hayasaka muttered to herself.
Speaking of which, Secretary Fujiwara, how did you immediately revert to your true colors!
Can't you have a little more of the sense of crisis you had just a moment ago!
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