Ririko leaned over the edge of the Castle and looked down.
Jerome's body was wedged in a pile of junk below the Castle: discarded linens, a broken sofa, and a heap of dead leaves that looked like the ones Butch had swept up yesterday.
His red hair stuck out through a gap in the junk like a smoking flame.
He stirred in the pile, then climbed out, dusted himself off, and looked up at Ririko on top of the Castle.
[Current infatuation value: 25/100]
His infatuation value had gone up. She had to keep it under control and couldn't lash out at him again so casually.
Once his infatuation value passed 80, it would reach the critical point. She couldn't even imagine what sort of unhinged stunt that damn redhead would pull.
She told the Clown Army members beside her, "What are you staring at? Lock those hostages back up and give them something decent to eat. If they starve to death, Jerome won't have anyone to play with, and he'll come after you."
The Clown Army members stared in shock, their painted red mouths forming circles.
When they came to their senses, they decided this woman was really something. She had even dared to shove Jerome off the building.
They hurriedly escorted the hostages back inside.
Ririko breathed a sigh of relief, figuring that should buy them some time.
Ever since she had kissed Jerome, he hadn't shown himself in front of her.
But he hadn't disappeared. He had simply found a stranger way to turn up.
At a bend in the corridor, half a red head poked out from behind the wall. The moment she turned around, it ducked back out of sight...
In the Recreation Room, a pair of amber eyes watched her through a crack in the door. When she rose from the sofa, those eyes vanished...
Behind the dining room door, a lanky shadow pressed against the frame. Every time she turned her head, he slipped away again...
Fed up with being watched, Ririko simply went back to her room.
At dinnertime, a Clown Army member came in carrying a tray.
It held the same three things as always: a burger, fries, and fried chicken.
Ririko stood in front of the mirror, examining the pink dress she wore. It was a princess dress used for displays in the park and had been left in the room. With no change of clothes, she had no choice but to wear it for now.
The waist was a little loose. Though the puffy tulle skirt was tacky, it had a striking beauty on her.
She glanced at the tray and said coldly, "I'm sick of burgers. Tell the cook to make some upscale Western food."
The Clown Army member kept her head lowered and said softly, "That cook only knows how to make burgers."
Ririko noticed that this person spoke normally, unlike the other Clown Army members, who never seemed to make any sense.
She walked over to the clown and looked down at the lowered face covered in white greasepaint.
Selina's blue eyes winked at her.
Ririko's expression didn't change. She deliberately raised her voice and addressed the Clown Army members outside the door:
"I don't believe that cook can't make a decent dinner. Go get some more ingredients. I'm having a proper French meal tonight!"
The two Clown Army members outside glanced into the room. Seeing someone still standing there, wearing the same shabby suit and white greasepaint as them...
They shrugged. Since someone was already inside, they figured there was no need to stand guard and headed for the kitchen with their guns.
Ririko closed the door, then turned to Selina. "Well? Did you find the secret passage?"
Selina set the tray on the table, pulled a crumpled sheet of paper from her suit pocket, and unfolded it.
A crooked map was drawn on the paper.
She pointed to the kitchen on the Castle's basement level and said:
"I found it. There's a boarded-up door behind here. Beyond it is a passage leading to the amusement park's back entrance."
Selina tapped the door's position on the map twice.
"But if Jerome stays here, it'll be hard to get the hostages out. He has too many people."
Ririko thought for a moment. He had driven out of the amusement park in the middle of the night yesterday...
"He might go out around midnight. I'll help you lure the Clown Army away then."
As she spoke, a system notification suddenly popped up-
[Core Character: Jerome Valeska has entered effective range]
Ririko's breath caught.
She quickly grabbed Selina's arm and pushed her toward the wardrobe.
The wardrobe door swung open, and Selina slipped inside without hesitation.
Ririko had only just closed the wardrobe when the room's door was pushed open from outside.
The gap widened little by little, as though someone wasn't sure whether he was welcome but desperately wanted to come in, so he had decided to test the waters with his head first...
Jerome's head was wedged in the gap, his red hair flattened between the door and its frame.
His eyes peered at Ririko through the gap, while she stood with her arms folded, staring coldly at the sneaky little mutt.
"If you're here, you're here. Can't you at least knock?"
With his head still wedged in the doorway, Jerome raised a hand and reluctantly knocked twice on the door.
"Come in," Ririko said irritably.
Jerome pushed the door a little farther open and squeezed through the gap.
His red hair was even messier than it had been that morning, like a puppy who had spent all day following Ririko around wagging his tail and hadn't had time to groom himself.
Jerome stood in the room, a blush coloring the freckles over his cheekbones, his hands tucked awkwardly behind his back.
"What are you holding?" she asked.
Smiling, he brought a bunch of brightly colored plastic flowers out from behind his back.
Ririko frowned. "Where did you find such ugly flowers?"
Jerome looked down at the flowers in his hand, raised his eyebrows, and said with simple confidence:
"I watched TV... girls all like flowers."
Ririko wanted to get rid of him as quickly as possible.
She reached out and plucked a slightly less ugly pink rose from the bunch.
"Thanks. I'll take this one."
Jerome's smile stretched even wider.
"Then... let's go on a date," he said in what he thought was a mysterious tone.
Ririko was a little surprised. "Do you know what a date is?"
"I watched TV," Jerome said, his cheeks growing redder. "It's when a guy and a girl go to an amusement park together... and this happens to be an amusement park."
Ririko hadn't expected Jerome to ask her out so bashfully at a run-down amusement park where even the powered rides didn't work.
The Ferris wheel outside the Castle was covered in moss, the carousel horses had broken heads, and rats crawled over the roller coaster...
She felt that although she wasn't exactly a good person, she didn't deserve this sort of karmic punishment.
But every extra second Jerome spent in this room increased the chance of Selina being discovered.
"All right. Let's go on a date," she said, looking into Jerome's eyes.
Jerome's eyes lit up.
[Current infatuation value: 32/100]
"Everything they say on TV really is true. Girls all like dates," he said in the old-fashioned tone of someone who had figured it all out.
Ririko held out her hand to him.
Jerome looked down at her outstretched hand and hopped half a step back.
"What are you doing?" A note of wariness crept into his voice.
"Aren't you supposed to hold hands on a date?" His strange reaction made Ririko suspect that everything he'd learned about dating on TV had come from cartoons.
"TV never taught me that." Jerome frowned.
Seeing him looking as flustered and red as a cooked shrimp, Ririko leaned forward slightly, bringing her lips close to his ear.
"Then do you know what a guy and a girl do after their date?"
Jerome even forgot to breathe.
"W-what is it..."
Other than knowing not to wander into the women's restroom or play tricks on the girl during a date, his knowledge was as barren as a desert.
"You're supposed to..." She whispered a few sentences into his ear.
Jerome staggered back several steps. "This date will involve no hand-holding and none of that!"
He made his declaration with absolute conviction.
Then he turned around and walked toward the door, moving the arm and leg on the same side together.
Ririko rolled her eyes.
She turned and said to the seemingly empty room, "I'm off on my date, then."
Then she followed him.
The room fell silent.
Selina emerged from the wardrobe.
She scratched her head. On TV, a guy and a girl hugged and kissed after a date, said "good night" to each other, and then went home separately...
What was Jerome afraid of?
She decided that once she got the hostages out, she would ask Ririko exactly what people were supposed to do after a date.
Before you continue