Chapter 276: Chain Of Suspicion

"I spent all last night designing these flyers for the Anti-Gambling Club."

Rinji took out a stack of flyers from his bag and placed them on the desk.

Ayame and Midari picked one up and glanced at it.

Large text read:

[Still troubled by debt? Suffering because you can't pay tribute to the student council? Join the Anti-Gambling Club and reclaim your future! We'll clear your debts for free. For the sake of your future, the Anti-Gambling Club opens its doors to every student who wants to escape the abyss.]

In the bottom right corner was a chibi version of Rinji giving a thumbs-up.

"…For free?"

Midari was confused by the word 'free'. At the private Hyakkaou Academy, no one did charity work.

"It says free, but what it really means is, we'll find out who won money from the indebted student and get that money back with interest," Rinji said with a smile. "Say Nana won 10 million yen from Ayame. I give Ayame 10 million yen, then go make trouble for Nana."

"That sounds pretty roundabout…"

"Cut the chatter and start handing them out."

"Huh? Me?"

"You wanted to join the Anti-Gambling Club, right? Being a member means doing something. Go."

"Tch. I came to hang out with you, not work."

Midari clicked her tongue in annoyance but obediently took a stack of flyers and left.

"I'll help too."

Ayame took the remaining flyers and followed.

Outside, Midari walked down the school corridor and ran into Ayame.

"You're part of Rinji's club, right? Why'd you join?"

"Be-because Rinji helped pay off my debts, so I joined the Anti-Gambling Club," Ayame replied, blushing and pushing up her glasses nervously. "Also, I think what Rinji's doing is really right, so I wanted to help."

"I thought you joined just to be around him."

"…That too, maybe."

"Rinji's got some serious charm," Midari laughed.

"Um… Midari-san."

"Hm?"

"You used to be the Head of the Student Council's Beautification Council. Why did you leave and join the Anti-Gambling Club?" Ayame asked curiously.

At Hyakkaou Academy, student council members were essentially the ruling class—untouchable, privileged, and living off the students' tribute money.

At the bottom were the 'livestock'—stripped of rights and dignity, frequently bullied, punished for resisting.

Ordinary students could bully the livestock, but had to pay the council monthly or become livestock themselves.

The student council sat at the top—doing nothing but reaping the benefits of others.

So for someone like Midari to leave the council and join Rinji's club was puzzling.

"Me, huh…"

Midari touched the spot where she'd been shot. The bullet still inside gave her a lingering pain.

But the pain brought her joy.

"I want Takamine Rinji… to kill me."

"What?"

"He's not like the student council scum who only bully livestock, or the power-hungry cowards obsessed with status. I could see it in his eyes—he's killed before."

Her eyes lit up with excitement, bloodshot with obsession.

"If I stay close to him, someday that killing intent will explode—and I'll be there to witness it."

Midari was twisted.

After losing an eye to Kirari, the pain of gouging it out herself filled her with pleasure. That pleasure became a fetish—she got off on pain.

The bullet Rinji fired yesterday brought her face-to-face with death. That brush with mortality satisfied her deepest desires.

She wanted Rinji to torment her, abuse her, even kill her. That's why she joined his club.

She believed he was the only one in this school capable of doing it.

"I guess… I really don't understand you, Midari-san." Ayame instinctively put some distance between them.

She was now certain—Midari was a complete pervert.

"You don't need to understand me."

Midari lowered her head and looked at the flyer in her hand, muttering to herself.

"I don't even understand Takamine Rinji. With his personality, no way he'd do something for free."

At that moment, Ayame, who was walking not far behind her, suddenly stopped.

"Hm?"

Noticing this, Midari turned to see Ayame's eyes had turned sharp behind her glasses—as if she were a different person.

"I think I've figured out Rinji's plan."

"Huh?"

"It's a 'chain of suspicion'." Ayame adjusted her glasses and explained to the confused Midari. "If you were a student here, and heard there was a club that helped students pay off debts for free, what would you do?"

"Of course I'd find someone to gamble with big time—someone else will cover my losses anyway."

"And that's the problem."

Ayame continued.

"Nana ended up in a really bad spot. That means after Rinji clears the debts, he goes after the one who profited. So if someone challenges you to a gamble, would you still accept?"

"…"

The Anti-Gambling Club pays the loser's debt, then punishes the winner.

So students will become cautious. If someone challenges you and loses, they could run to the Anti-Gambling Club and sic Rinji on you. If you challenge someone and win, they might do the same.

In other words, losers benefit. Winners get screwed.

Soon, everyone would fear gambling altogether, worried the club might come for them.

And in this web of suspicion, Rinji could purge the school of gambling in record time