Unlike Saotome Meari and her classmates, who formed a shared destiny, Ayanokoji's class mostly kept to themselves, each fighting their own battles.
Ayanokoji's words would not stir up group conflict.
Being caught cheating in gambling is a very embarrassing thing. Although the punishment for gambling in this school is not severe, being caught cheating will still invite ridicule.
After Ayanokoji Kiyotaka left the casino, a burst of laughter erupted in the casino, mocking those who cheated and got caught.
"Ayanokoji, you really are merciless..."
Kuroki Ya also walked out of the casino, marveling, "It seems it was truly a mistake for my former opponent to seek you out."
Although Kuroki Ya had cheated in front of Ayanokoji Kiyotaka before, he was very sensible and apologized to Ayanokoji that very day. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was also happy to associate with him.
"I just don't like people cheating in front of me." Ayanokoji teased, "Speaking of which, have you saved enough to pay the Tribute System fee now? Want to gamble a few more rounds with me?"
Kuroki Ya quickly refused: "Forget it, if I gamble a few more rounds with you, I'll lose even my underwear."
He laughed: "I recently found a big spender, also a new student, whose family is particularly rich and whose card skills are terrible.
My friends and I teamed up to gamble with him, and he didn't care even when we took a million from him. He still happily gambled with us. If nothing unexpected happens, we can probably get a few more million from him. I'm not short on money now."
"What about Xiong Gu?"
"Xiong Gu is doing great now. He joined Zenshoukai, and because of his good gambling skills, he's even being given important tasks."
"Zenshoukai?" Ayanokoji Kiyotaka heard this name for the second time and was a bit curious: "What kind of organization is that?"
"It seems to be a mutual aid organization for students who don't have enough money to pay the Tribute System. They give their money to people with strong gambling skills, who then act as representatives to gamble with others. The representatives get the larger share of the winnings."
Kuroki Ya shrugged: "I'm not too sure either. Xiong Gu didn't say much."
"I see..."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly asked, "By the way, do you think anyone can challenge the Student Council President?"
"Challenge the Student Council President?"
Kuroki Ya was amused by Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's question. He slapped Ayanokoji's shoulder and laughed for a while before speaking.
"If someone could truly defeat the Student Council President, the Tribute System would have been abolished long ago. Why would it still be here now?"
"...You're right." Ayanokoji Kiyotaka agreed with what Kuroki Ya said.
If someone really wanted to challenge the Student Council President, they could just gamble directly with Momobami Kirari.
In this school, it's not about who has more people, but about deciding victory through gambling.
As long as she is defeated, the new challenger will become the Student Council President. With the power of the Student Council President, he can do anything. What's the point of gathering the lowest-tier students in this school?
Who is that person from the Student Council who secretly wants to challenge the Student Council President?
Forget it... It has nothing to do with him anyway, no need to care.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka didn't think much further. After chatting with Kuroki Ya for a while, it wasn't long before it was lunchtime.
"Ayanokoji, could you come out for a moment?"
Suddenly, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka heard a girl's voice calling him from the doorway. He looked up and saw it was Hanatemari Kazura.
"Ayanokoji, not bad. You've already hooked up with two girls after only two days at school..."
Kuroki Ya showed an ambiguous smile: "I didn't realize you liked the demure type. What about Saotome Meari? I thought you liked her type."
Saotome Meari had met Kuroki Ya yesterday when she came.
"What are you talking about? She and Saotome Meari are friends."
Ayanokoji rolled his eyes, then stood up. As he was about to go over, Kuroki Ya grabbed his arm.
"Hey, don't forget one thing." Kuroki Ya's expression became serious, "That girl is a 'Stray Cat', you need to be careful."
Hanatemari Kazura had a "Stray Cat" tag hanging conspicuously on her chest.
Kuroki Ya's implication was clear: be careful not to get framed.
Hanatemari Kazura is not that kind of person—Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was about to say this when he closed his mouth.
His interaction with Hanatemari Kazura wasn't very deep; his understanding of her was merely as Saotome Meari's friend. Although she hadn't shown any abnormalities so far, it was still necessary for him to be careful.
"...I understand." Ayanokoji Kiyotaka said goodbye to Kuroki Ya, picked up his backpack, and walked towards the door.
Besides Hanatemari Kazura, Saotome Meari was also waiting at the door.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka walked over and greeted Saotome: "Saotome, are you feeling alright?"
After all, she lost so badly yesterday, so it was within Ayanokoji's expectations even if she hadn't recovered.
"I'm fine." Saotome Meari shook her head. Although her expression was still a bit downcast, her spirits were clearly much better than when she had just lost yesterday.
"Ayanokoji, if you don't mind, I want to go to the casino now."
"Aren't you eating?"
"I bought bread, and I bought some for you too."
Saotome Meari handed Ayanokoji Kiyotaka a pineapple bun: "If you're very hungry, go eat at the restaurant. Just give me the casino key first, and I'll go check out the casino."
Saotome seemed very eager. Could it be that she had already thought of a way to make money from the casino?
She recovered too quickly... Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had expected her to be down for a couple of days.
"I'm not very hungry either. Since you said so, let's go to the casino first."
While gambling, Ayanokoji had been eating snacks materialized from the mailbox, so he wasn't very hungry. Since Saotome strongly requested it, going to the casino was fine.
After Ayanokoji Kiyotaka won ownership of the casino yesterday, he obtained the Literary Club key from Togakushi Yukimi.
The three arrived at the Club Building and found the second library, also the location of the Literary Club, in a secluded corner on the third floor.
However, to their surprise, the door to this room was open.
"Huh? Why is the casino door open? I remember closing it when I left." Saotome Meari said in surprise.
Even if she hadn't closed the door, a patrolling teacher would close the casino door every night.
Who was inside now?
Saotome pushed the door open and froze. Ayanokoji walked in from behind Saotome and also saw the person.
A black-haired girl with glasses, the former head of the Literary Club, Togakushi Yukimi.
She was currently holding a rag and cleaning the gambling table.
"Yo, why are you still here?" Ayanokoji greeted her, "This is my territory now. Are you here to gamble? You're very welcome."
"I'm not here to gamble."
The other party shook her head vigorously, showing a fawning smile to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and the two others, "As you can see, I'm cleaning the room. I thought this room might be forcibly taken back by the Student Council, so I didn't clean it diligently."
-----------------------------
I'm still fairly new to translating, but I genuinely love doing it. I've set up a Patreon as a small corner to share my work with everyone. There you'll find early access to chapters and some special content just for you.
I hope this Patreon can grow and become a place where I can connect with you all in the future. If you'd like to take a look or support me, you can visit:
[patreon.com/Greyhounds]