Chapter 257: Gambling

"Dammit!"

One of the gamblers who had lost particularly badly slammed the table in rage and glared at the elegant girl sitting across from him.

"What kind of tricks are you pulling!?"

"I'm simply playing a game of chance with you," the girl replied with a composed smile.

"You must be cheating! There's no way you can win ten rounds in a row!"

"Anyone who loses ten rounds straight is undoubtedly just a weakling," she replied, glancing at the enraged gambler with eyes full of disdain.

"You bitch, you—!"

Driven half-mad after losing a huge amount of money, the gambler lunged forward to teach her a lesson. But at that moment, a hand tapped him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, sir, would you mind moving aside?"

"...Huh?"

"I said, you've lost most of your money anyway," Rinji said casually. "Why not let me have a turn?"

"You…"

"Whatever you've lost, I'll cover it."

"...Be my guest."

Hearing that, the furious gambler instantly gave up his seat.

Rinji sat down, pulled his hand out of his pocket, and slipped a ring onto his finger.

He glanced briefly at the cards on the table and quickly figured out the situation.

They were playing Five Card Stud, and judging by the mountain of chips on the table, the woman had clearly been dominating the game.

These chips were worth at least hundreds of millions of yen.

"You want to join this game too?"

"Yeah, though I was dragged here," Rinji replied, eyeing the girl.

She looked about the same age as him, but there was a commanding aura about her—something only people in power carried.

"Do all high schoolers enjoy gambling these days?"

"I'd say it's more of a hobby of mine."

The girl smiled and introduced herself.

"My name is Kirari Momobami, president of the student council at Hyakkaou Private Academy."

Hyakkaou Private Academy.

This was the second time Rinji had heard that name.

The first time had been a few months ago, when he gambled in this very casino with someone named Jabami Yumeko. She had lost tens of millions of U.S. dollars to him and still hadn't paid it back.

"Takamine Rinji, student council treasurer at Shuchiin Academy."

"Ah, so you're a student council member as well?"

"Yeah, but I'm from a proper student council. Yours, on the other hand, is from a school of degenerate gamblers—worlds apart."

Rinji chuckled as he slid his cards toward the dealer.

"Someone asked me to play you. But I'm short on time, so let's make this one round, winner takes all."

"That's fine by me."

Kirari didn't seem offended by Rinji's provocations. Every gesture she made radiated a refined aristocratic air.

At Momo's signal, the dealer began to deal cards to both of them. Karura stood at the front of the watching crowd, eyes sparkling with excitement as she stared at Rinji's covered hand.

"Takamine-kun, you may not know me, but I certainly know who you are."

Kirari said this as she laid her own cards down.

"Oh? From where?"

"During the summer, at the Kengan Annihilation Tournament. I didn't have a fighter competing, but I was still invited to attend," she said with a smile. "You were pretty active back then. I imagine most of Japan knows about you by now."

"They invited a high school student like you? That old man Katahara clearly has decent judgment."

Although he was teasing, Rinji understood that Katahara wouldn't randomly invite just anyone to his deadly tournament. The fact that she received an invitation meant she had significant influence in Japan—either economically or politically.

"You're not someone to be underestimated, Miss Momobami."

"Why, thank you for the compliment."

Because it was a one-on-one match, the dealer only dealt four cards so far.

The first two cards were placed face down as hole cards. Only the second cards in each hand were face up.

According to the rules, Rinji had the seven of spades showing, while Kirari had the three of hearts. That meant Rinji had to bet first.

"How much did you win?"

"1.4 billion yen."

"Then I'll bet 1.4 billion..."

"Hold on a sec."

Momo walked over to Rinji and whispered, "Right now, she holds 60% of all the chips in the casino. I can't afford to give you 1.4 billion yen to gamble."

"…Then what now? I didn't bring any cash."

Kirari overheard them.

She smiled lightly and said, "You don't need to put up chips, Rinji-kun. I know you once had assets in the trillions. 1.4 billion yen is a trivial amount to you. Just make the bet. I believe you can cover it."

"Fine, that makes it simple."

Rinji looked across the table.

"What's your call?"

"All in. 1.4 billion."

"Straight to the point."

They both decided to go all in right from the first hand.

So there were no further raises. All they had to do was wait for the dealer to finish dealing the cards.

Their four face-up cards were as follows:

Rinji: 7♠, 4♥, 4♦, 7♥

Kirari: 3♥, 9♦, 9♥, 9♠

As it stood, Rinji was clearly at a disadvantage. The opponent had at least three-of-a-kind, while he had only two pair.

Rinji didn't seem too worried. He gently tapped his facedown card with a finger.

"Still want to raise? I doubt you only won 1.4 billion. Anyone invited by that old guy from the Kengan Association must be a big shot. That amount probably means nothing to you."

"That's true, but I don't intend to raise."

Kirari gave Rinji a look of mild interest.

"Either way, I've achieved my purpose."

"Is that so? Then let's reveal our cards."

At that moment, both flipped over their hole cards.

Rinji had the four of spades, while Kirari had the ten of diamonds.

Kirari had three-of-a-kind, but Rinji had a full house. The win went to Rinji.

"Boring game. Hand over the chips."

"Of course."

Kirari pushed the small mountain of chips in front of her toward Rinji, handing over the entire 1.4 billion yen.

"Well then, now that the game's over, I'll be..."

"Rinji-kun."

Just as Rinji stood up to leave, Kirari suddenly called out.

"What is it?"

Kirari didn't say anything more. She simply walked up to him.

"Life at Shuchiin Academy must be dull. As the student council president of Hyakkaou Private Academy, I'm officially inviting you to transfer to our school."