Saotome Meari sat on the other side of the gambling table, took a deep breath, and looked intently at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, asking, "What do you want to gamble with me?"
No matter what Ayanokoji Kiyotaka wanted to gamble with her, no matter how small the odds of winning, Saotome Meari would choose to accept. For her, as long as there was a glimmer of hope, it was worth going all out.
"Let's gamble on what you and Togakushi Yukimi just gambled on." Ayanokoji crossed his arms, pointing his thumb at Togakushi Yukimi, and said with a smile, "Three-Hit Dice."
Huh? Are we gambling on this?
Saotome Meari was stunned. She had never expected Ayanokoji Kiyotaka to say that. After all, she had a secret weapon in her hand…
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka looked at Mikura: "Mikura, can you be the Dealer for our next game?"
"Hmph… You didn't call me just now, and now you want me to be the Dealer. Do you really think I'm at your beck and call?"
Mikura rolled her eyes and lazily refused: "Why don't you just let Luna help you? Why call me?"
"What's wrong? Did I not do well?" Huangquan Luna tilted her head, asking puzzled.
"No, precisely because you did too well, I don't want you to be the Dealer next."
Ayanokoji smiled and shook his head, conjuring a bag of beef jerky from his pocket and handing it to Huangquan Luna: "You were a great help just now. Thank you for your hard work."
"You really do have snacks in your pocket!"
Huangquan Luna's eyes lit up, and she no longer dwelled on why Ayanokoji wanted to change the Dealer. She snatched the snack and sat on a chair in the corner of the room, happily eating it.
Indeed… The snacks Ayanokoji Kiyotaka took out tasted much better than the ones she bought herself, like the difference between food from a street restaurant and a Michelin-starred one, a world apart.
Although the beef jerky this time didn't taste as good as the previous potato chips, it was still roughly at the level of an authentic century-old shop, making Huangquan Luna very happy to eat it.
Where did this guy buy these? I must ask him! Huangquan Luna thought selfishly.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka stood up and beckoned to Mikura: "Mikura, can I have a word with you?"
"Who are you? I'm not coming over." Mikura crossed her arms and snorted disdainfully.
But suddenly, she felt someone tugging on the chain of her collar, pulling her backward. She turned her head and saw Sachiko Juraku had just released the iron chain.
"Go on, I want to see what he's up to." Sachiko Juraku waved her hand, saying with interest.
Sachiko Juraku had come to the casino precisely because she heard Saotome Meari was there. She wanted to see how interesting this girl, who had won against her classmate in her "debut match," truly was.
As for collecting the overdue casino usage fees from Togakushi Yukimi, it was merely a detour.
But now, her interest had shifted from Saotome Meari to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. She wanted to see what else Ayanokoji could pull off.
In Mikura's eyes, Sachiko Juraku was her "master," so even if unwilling, she had to listen to her master's tasks.
Mikura reluctantly followed Ayanokoji out of the room. She crossed her arms, adopting a repulsive posture, and reluctantly urged, "Hurry up and tell me what you want to say. Be quick, my master is waiting for me."
"Actually, I just want you to do me a favor."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka smiled, but what he said shocked Mikura.
"When you're the Dealer later, secretly help me switch the written numbers. You should know which one has a higher chance of winning, right?"
"You want to cheat!?"
Mikura looked at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka in surprise, then shook her head vigorously. The collar around her neck and the attached silver chain also moved with her, making a pleasant "ding-ding-dong" sound.
"No, I'm a good Dealer, and I won't help you cheat! If Senior Juraku finds out, she'll definitely abandon me!"
"Are you very afraid of Sachiko Juraku finding out you cheated? Then why did you help Togakushi Yukimi cheat?"
Ayanokoji said, grabbing the end of her iron chain and subconsciously tugging it a few times.
The chain felt good to the touch. No wonder Sachiko Juraku liked to lead her around when she had nothing to do.
A beautiful girl with a collar around her neck being led by him—a ridiculous sense of satisfaction emerged in Ayanokoji's heart, as if he and Mikura were playing some special master-servant role-play.
Mikura froze for a moment, her cheeks suddenly flushed, and she angrily pulled the iron chain out of Ayanokoji's hand: "I didn't help her cheat, what are you talking about? I don't understand!"
"Did you really not cheat? This isn't something you can deny…"
Ayanokoji revealed a "sinister" smile, cornering Mikura against the wall, placing one hand on the wall in a kabedon pose, blocking Mikura's escape route, leaving her nowhere to run.
Then, he squeezed Mikura's right wrist and pulled out a transparent pocket sewn into the inside of her sleeve, containing several slips of paper with letters written on them.
The dice game Saotome Meari and Togakushi Yukimi played used paper and pens provided by Mikura. The type of paper and the pen marks were exactly the same as those in the secret pocket in her sleeve.
Now the evidence was conclusive, leaving her no room to deny it.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka released her arm, his smile gentle but with an underlying threat: "Mikura. If you don't help me, I might tell Senior Juraku about your cheating, you know?"
"It's fine, anyway, with my cheating skills, Senior Juraku would have already noticed!" Although Mikura was very stubborn, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka still saw a hint of panic flash in her eyes.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka chuckled: "Hehe… Is it really fine? If it gets out that someone from the Student Council secretly favored one side while acting as a Dealer and arbitrator…"
"This was my doing, it has nothing to do with Senior Juraku!" Mikura quickly covered Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's mouth, anxiously trying to clear Sachiko Juraku's name, not wanting her to be implicated.
Seeing her agitated, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka worried that she might, in her haste, wrap the iron chain around his neck and try to take him down with her. He pushed Mikura's hand away and quickly appeased her.
"Don't worry, as long as you help me, this rumor will definitely not spread…"
In fact, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka also knew full well that this matter was eighty percent Mikura's own initiative, and even if it spread, it would have no impact on Sachiko Juraku.
After she calmed down, Ayanokoji asked, "Since you know that this kind of thing spreading would affect Sachiko Juraku's reputation, why were you so insistent on helping Togakushi Yukimi target Saotome before?"
"That's because…!"
Mikura almost blurted it out, but suddenly stopped, looking at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka warily: "Why are you asking that? I won't tell you!"
"I'm not interested in that. I'm actually on your side."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka tried to persuade Mikura with his "silver tongue."
"Look, you have animosity towards Saotome Meari and want her to lose. I'm the same as you; I also want her to lose.
As long as she loses, I'll have a free laborer who can work for me for free. This is a good thing for both of us, isn't it?"
"What you said does make sense…" Mikura lowered her guard, looking at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka with a disdainful gaze.
This guy is truly a scumbag. Meari is currently in a dangerous situation, penniless and only able to use her body as collateral.
He, who claims to be Meari's friend, is actually colluding with himself to cheat, to strip away Saotome Meari's last bit of value, and make her work for free in the casino…
While Mikura was thinking about these things, she seemed to have completely forgotten—if she hadn't cheated, Saotome wouldn't have lost in gambling and lost her 1,000,000 fortune.
...
When I woke up, I was completely dazed.
Thank you to Wufang Shaohao for the tips.
I didn't expect anyone to actually tip me, and it was three silver chests. I already owe fifteen chapters before even being put on shelves.
My current mood is like a Young Man who just started working and hasn't even received his first salary yet, but is already burdened with a mortgage; it's complicated.
I've been sitting in front of the computer all day today, let's see how many chapters I can write.
I hope everyone will not hesitate to subscribe.
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