To say "together"... Ikishima Midari really dares to think big.
However, Ayanokouji Kiyohira was still somewhat expectant.
One must always have a small goal... What if Hanatemari really agreed?
After parting ways with Ikishima Midari, Ayanokoji returned to the casino in the Cooking Room.
Unlike the deserted state when he left, there were already some guests in the casino now.
Besides the few people gambling with the maids, the remaining dozen or so people seemed to be simply there to drink and listen to music, as if treating the place as a mere cafe.
It seemed the previous advertisements had worked, with some guests coming after seeing them.
This Cooking Room hadn't been heavily promoted before. Although it hosted the finals during the "Dou Di Zhu Competition," allowing the finalists to promote this cafe, due to Mibuomi Aoi's targeting, not many guests actually entered, and most people didn't know there was a cafe in the activity building.
At this Ryōran Festival, with Miharu Taki Sakura's banner advertisement for Ayanokoji, many people should have become aware of this place. Although Kurume and the others set high prices for cocktails, this school is never short of rich people.
Presumably, after the Ryōran Festival, the Cooking Room should gain many more customers.
Leaving aside the attracted customers for now, the main attraction of the cafe at this Ryōran Festival is "Maid Gambling," where Meari, Hanatemari, and others will participate in gambling with guests.
Among the maids, the person who earned the most money was, as Ayanokouji Kiyohira expected, Mary Saotome.
In just one morning, she had already earned 500,000, and by now she had defeated her opponent and pocketed another 50,000.
The customer sitting opposite her left the casino with a look of defeat, while Meari, conversely, put the money into her pocket with a smile.
Meari looked up and saw Ayanokouji Kiyohira return; her eyes lit up, and she immediately stood up, just about to call him over when a new customer suddenly entered through the door.
"Meari, so this is where you work, huh? It doesn't look like much, not even as good as the coffee shop downstairs from my house…"
The person walked in with a look of disdain, nitpicking as she went.
The person was an old acquaintance of Meari, a girl named Aiura Kokoro.
She was the first person Meari gambled with since she came to this school; at that time, Meari was naive and thought gambling was simple, and then Aiura Kokoro taught her a harsh lesson, scamming Meari out of hundreds of thousands of yen, once pushing her to the brink of despair.
It was Ayanokoji who lent her money, allowing her to make a comeback at the last minute.
Seeing her old friend, Meari's eyes immediately narrowed, and she said irritably, "Why are you here?"
"What, can't I come? I'm a customer, aren't your coffee shops supposed to serve customers?"
Aiura Kokoro walked into the room, looked at Meari's attire, and sneered, "Indeed, this kind of maid uniform suits you best."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Literally, this kind of work, serving others, is more suitable for you," Aiura Kokoro said sarcastically.
"Yes, I'm doing work that serves others now, but I'm earning much more than you are."
Meari wasn't angry; she took out a stack of money she had won, patted it in her hand, and instead smiled, "I can win 500,000 in half a day, and I won it by my own skill. Do you think everyone is like you, only knowing how to bully newcomers by exploiting information asymmetry, and once you can't cheat, you become an idiot?"
Meari had been her classmate for over two months, so she knew her well.
Everyone in the class were her classmates who had come up from junior high together, and Aiura Kokoro was considered a small leader, with some influence in the class.
Because she lost to her, Aiura Kokoro was very indignant and found many people to fight her in a series of continuous battles, wanting to win against her in gambling to thoroughly deflate her arrogance.
Unfortunately, her friends, one and all, were the kind of people who could only win in gambling by cheating and luck, to describe them in one word, they were a "motley crew." When they encountered Meari, who played "scientific gambling," they all fell one after another.
Not only did they not win against Meari, but they also sent her a sum of money.
So, in the end, Aiura Kokoro and her group had no choice; after discussing, they decided to collectively isolate Meari, making her receive cold treatment.
Unfortunately, Meari completely ignored them; in the classroom, she had her friend Hanatemari to accompany her, and after school, she would run off to the activity building, making their "isolation" useless, like a ridiculous game of children playing house.
This made Aiura Kokoro very displeased with Meari and she had always wanted to find an opportunity to get even.
Now, seeing Meari still mocking her, she couldn't bear it anymore: "Who are you looking down on? You only won against me before by luck. If you have the guts, let's gamble again!"
"Gamble then, I was waiting for you to say that!" Meari, hearing this, pulled Aiura Kokoro down without explanation and sat opposite her impatiently: "You said you wanted to gamble, I'm not forcing you!"
"…"
Aiura Kokoro had some regrets; she also knew that her hard skills were not as good as Meari's, but now that it had come to this, she could not back down.
After more than ten minutes.
"Thank you for the game, I won. I once said that I would never lose to you again…" Meari extended her hand with a smile: "100,000 yen, no credit."
Aiura Kokoro lost to her without any resistance, not even managing a single effective attack throughout the entire game.
Aiura Kokoro lost, but she still retorted, "Meari, I admit you're better than me at gambling, but if you hadn't happened to meet someone willing to lend you money when you first came to school, you would have become livestock by now, and you wouldn't be sitting here gambling with me!"
Aiura Kokoro was still very unwilling; if Meari hadn't met her two friends, Ayanokoji and Hanatemari, she would have been completely dominated by her when she first arrived at this school, without even the gambling money to turn the tables, she would have fallen into being livestock. How could she be showing off in front of her now!
"I have friends, are you unconvinced? But… you've got one thing wrong. Ayanokoji and Hanatemari lending me money only gave me the capital to turn the tables; the one who truly defeated you was myself."
Meari placed both hands on the ends of the table, her expression gradually becoming serious, her eyes sharply fixed on her: "You should be glad that I took my revenge then and there. If I had been reduced to livestock due to lack of money and had to struggle at the bottom for a few months, I would never have let you off easily. At that time, I would definitely make you experience what regret is!"
Aiura Kokoro was intimidated by Meari's imposing presence.
Fear appeared in her heart, but she still pretended to be nonchalant, stood up, threw down the 100,000 she lost, and sneered, "Anyone can talk big. You just enjoy your moment of triumph now; someone will take care of you sooner or later!"
With that, she glared angrily at Meari and walked away in a huff.
"I await your good news." Meari waved at her with a smile, completely disregarding her, not even thinking of seeing her off.
After Ayanokouji Kiyohira watched Aiura Kokoro leave, he walked over and sat in front of Meari: "Aren't you afraid? She said she's going to find someone to deal with you."
"Aiura Kokoro's friends' gambling skills are about the same as hers. If she calls people over, she's just giving me free money, what do I have to be afraid of?" Meari replied nonchalantly.
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