Arisu finally revealed her main purpose for coming there.
"I want to bet with you, Akasaka-kun."
"The stake is all the points I currently have. I want to determine the winner through this special exam!"
Arisu's eyes were full of fighting spirit. She was determined to take "the first" from Ryunosuke—what was meant here was his first defeat, nothing more.
As soon as he heard there was an opportunity to make money, Ryunosuke instantly changed his attitude. Without further ado, he immediately took out the best tea leaves, brewed a pot of fresh Longjing tea for Arisu, and personally delivered it before the girl.
The corner of Arisu's mouth twitched slightly seeing that drastic change, but she didn't take it to heart. She already knew very well this man's nature. Her father had once shown her data about Ryunosuke, so she knew this man desperately needed money. She considered such materialistic behavior natural.
Arisu sipped tea from her cup, but she tasted a slight bitterness that shouldn't be there. "Do you know how to brew tea? Brew a new one."
She was clearly not satisfied with that first cup. Growing up in luxury made her highly sensitive to tea quality. The man in front of her clearly didn't understand much; he didn't even do the basic step of discarding the first brew.
Actually Ryunosuke knew, it's just that he felt it was a waste to throw away quality tea water like that. However, for the sake of the bet, he brewed a new cup again, and this time Arisu felt satisfied.
Arisu returned to the main topic. "Are you willing to accept my challenge? My total points are 2.8 million, that's all the assets I have so far."
"I want to bet everything to see which of us gets the most points in this exam."
Ryunosuke didn't answer immediately, but seemed to think for a moment. "Sakayanagi, aren't you setting aside money for your own living expenses?"
Arisu smiled sweetly. "No need. If it runs out, I'll just find more."
She said it very casually. After all, with her abilities, she only needed to play chess a few times with seniors. All this time, to collect points to bet with Ryunosuke, she had swept clean the points of second and third-year seniors through international chess games.
Considering her physical condition, Arisu couldn't earn points through physical means. So, she used her intelligence to compete strategically with seniors. Although she had won many matches, she only collected 2.8 million points because she had drained the seniors' wallets in a short time.
Those seniors were clearly "heated up." As soon as next month's points were distributed, they would definitely look for her again to challenge for revenge.
Arisu didn't even need to go to them; they themselves would come to give her points. That was actually advantageous because it didn't burden her weak legs.
Arisu sat on the bed while swinging her small feet, waiting for an answer.
Without thinking too long, Ryunosuke agreed to the challenge but changed the bet value to 2.7 million points. He left 100,000 points for Arisu so this young lady wouldn't have trouble with living expenses if she lost later.
Arisu showed a beautiful smile. "Akasaka-kun is really a good person. Even to your enemy you give a way out."
"If it were me, I wouldn't stop until my opponent was completely destroyed without a trace."
Ryunosuke didn't respond to that statement. He took two sheets of paper, wrote identical draft contracts, signed them, and handed them to Arisu.
Arisu received them with both hands, read them briefly, then signed and stamped her thumbprint as a sign the official contract was in effect.
After business was finished, Arisu breathed a sigh of relief. She raised her hand and looked at it.
"Can you escort me? My dorm room is quite far... my legs are also uncomfortable. You won't just leave me like this, right?"
Ryunosuke was slightly surprised. "You came alone?"
"Where's your assistant? Didn't she come?"
Arisu shook her head. "I came alone, didn't bring anyone."
Ryunosuke felt incredulous, but he still held Arisu's hand and scolded, "You're really reckless. Aren't you afraid an innocent girl like you will meet bad people on the road? With such a weak body, you dare to wander around alone."
Receiving that reprimand, Arisu wasn't angry but smiled instead. She knew this man spoke like that because he cared about her safety.
Ryunosuke, seeing her smile instead, felt confused, but he still held the young lady's small hand and escorted her home slowly.
"Aren't you afraid people will see us like this? Be careful, unpleasant gossip might appear later."
With one hand leaning on her cane and the other holding Ryunosuke's hand, Arisu answered indifferently. "Let them talk, I don't care."
"You don't care, but I do... I already have a girlfriend."
"Oh? You mean Morishita-san?"
"Eh? You already know?!"
"Of course, I'm not an idiot." Arisu raised her chin proudly. "I've long been aware of your relationship. When did you start dating her?"
Ryunosuke scratched his head. "About two months ago, I think after I got too enthusiastic accompanying her playing Yu-Gi-Oh!. After that she confessed her feelings to me very enthusiastically, and I didn't refuse..."
Arisu nodded in agreement. "That's good... at least you don't need to worry about your debt anymore. The Morishita family can solve it easily. For them, your debt is only equivalent to a few meals' worth."
Ryunosuke shook his head. "I don't want to live off a woman's wealth..."
Arisu's steps stopped, she turned to look at the man. "Until now you still talk like that? Don't you know how lucky you are to have a 'shortcut' in life? Yet you don't take advantage of it."
Ryunosuke looked toward the sea, feeling the sea breeze. He remembered his previous life when he was exploited to the bone by a cruel boss.
He exhaled a long breath. In this life, he didn't want to live without dignity. He wanted to live as a complete human being.
He said softly to Arisu beside him: "I want to live with dignity. Even though I have to bear a large debt, I don't want to bow my head..."
Arisu looked at the boy in front of her. She was moved by his words and smiled faintly. She didn't say anything, but she already understood this man's principles.
This man would not bow to anyone... even if his opponent could destroy him with one finger, he would never surrender.
Arisu felt she liked this man even more. Her interest was no longer just curiosity, but a different emotion that began to grow in the depths of her heart.
At this time, she hadn't realized that strangeness because the seed of that feeling was still too small to be noticed. Perhaps when that seed grew large later, she would realize that she had fallen in love with this man.
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