"Here, Lady Juraku is the rule."
Mikura gave her an indifferent glance and continued, "Alright, the second round is about to begin. I ask, does anyone want to withdraw?
Regardless of who withdraws, we will not stop them. We will replenish the members from other tables and continue.
For those who want to participate in the second round, you have ten minutes to consider and sign up. This is also your discussion time. The second round will begin directly shortly."
Mikura bowed slightly to the crowd and temporarily left, giving them ample time to consider.
The host on the stage also said similar words.
There was nothing for the boys to discuss. They won the last round, so of course, they wouldn't choose to withdraw this time.
As for the girls…
Kurume Laiwei raised her hand, "I'll participate!"
Inui Chitose then followed, "I'll participate too. I'm graduating this year, so I must make the most of my time at this school!"
With both of them confirmed to participate, the Saotome trio hadn't decided yet. They temporarily left Table 3 and went aside to discuss.
Saotome Meari said with a grim face, "I have no way out now. I will definitely participate in this game. Hanatemari, Togakushi, what about you two?"
"As long as Meari participates, I'll participate!" Hanatemari Kazura answered without hesitation.
"I…"
Togakushi Yukimi looked troubled, but she took a deep breath and still nodded, "I don't have much money left either. This is an excellent opportunity. As long as I save enough money, I can redeem the casino."
Currently, Togakushi Yukimi still harbored the thought of taking the casino back from Ayanokoji.
Saotome nodded, then suddenly said to Hanatemari, "Hanatemari, you should still withdraw. I only have 400,000 yen. Even if I use [Maiden's Promise] and bet my body, I can only allow two people to participate at most."
"Meari, it's fine. I still have 300,000 yen. I can participate at my own expense!" Hanatemari Kazura shook her head and insisted.
"Oh… is that so." Saotome nodded with cold eyes, "Alright, then you can participate by yourself later. You don't need to come over when we're discussing."
"Meari, what do you mean by that!?" Togakushi Yukimi's eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't expected Saotome to say such heartless words.
Hanatemari Kazura fell silent. She lowered her head, her voice filled with sadness.
"I know, Meari, you're doubting me. If I hadn't betrayed you, our tactic of swapping confession partners definitely wouldn't have failed… I don't know how to explain such a result! But…"
Hanatemari looked up, her face showing an ugly, half-crying, half-smiling expression, "I've always stood by Meari. I've always believed that you would win in the end!"
"..."
Saotome's expression was very unpleasant, but she didn't say anything more to Hanatemari. She turned coldly and called Inui Chitose and Kurume Laiwei over, "You two, come here for a moment. Let's have a quick meeting."
She glanced at Togakushi Yukimi, who was frantically comforting Hanatemari, "Don't mind her. Come over and listen to the plan. Hanatemari, you don't need to come."
The boys were unaware of the girls' discussion. Kuroki Ya asked in surprise, "What's going on? Why are those five separated?"
Kuonji Mamoru looked down at his phone, a smile forming on the corner of his lips, "It seems the other side has mistaken Hanatemari Kazura for the 'internal spy'."
"Huh? How could that be?"
Saotome suspecting Hanatemari? Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was immediately astonished and couldn't help but look over there.
Indeed, Hanatemari Kazura stood alone to the side, while Saotome and the other three were discussing with serious expressions. She was clearly being isolated.
"It's because Saotome Meari on the other side deliberately kept a trick up her sleeve in the first round and swapped confession targets with Hanatemari Kazura. What she didn't expect was that everyone still matched. So she thinks that Hanatemari betrayed her."
"Saotome really likes to be clever, doesn't she? Does she think that if she excludes Hanatemari, we won't be able to win?"
Kuonji Mamoru sneered, adjusting his glasses, "It was an open-card game last time. No matter who she confessed to, we could guess."
Saotome Meari thought that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and his group won the game by relying on an internal spy.
Indeed, they won the game with the help of an internal spy, but the process was completely different from what she imagined.
Before Mikura announced the results, she had specifically asked the girls this question: "Do you have any requests for the order of announcement?"
And Inui Chitose's answer was—"Just follow the order of confession, and I'll be last!"
The cards used by the men had five numbers in total, each number representing a number on the order list. Each time a woman confessed, the card was collected.
Before the girls confessed, they chose whether to accept the other party's confession, then submitted it to Mikura, and then it was the girls' turn to confess.
The confessions in this party game were based on the order submitted on the order list, not the order in which the girls confessed.
Combining the above clues, the answer actually emerged—the order on the list and the order of the girls' confessions were actually different.
Kurume Laiwei confessed first, followed by Togakushi Yukimi, Hanatemari Kazura, Saotome Meari, and Inui Chitose.
But what if… the first person on the order list was Inui Chitose?
Kurume Laiwei was the second person who should confess, followed by Togakushi Yukimi… Saotome Meari was the last person to confess.
Inui Chitose, as the internal spy, had already informed Ayanokoji and the others in advance that her confession target would be Kuonji Mamoru.
Before Kurume Laiwei's first confession, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and the others had all filled "reject" on the first card, and only Kuonji Mamoru filled "accept confession".
Knowing Kurume Laiwei's confession target, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka filled "accept" on the second card, while the other boys all filled "reject".
And so on…
Inui Chitose, who confessed last, was actually in the first position on the order list. Everyone already knew her confession target.
It didn't matter whether Saotome Meari and Hanatemari had swapped confession targets; it was useless.
This was a guaranteed win, and the outcome was already set when Inui Chitose submitted the order list.
The boys always filled out their cards after the girls confessed. The girls' confessions were all open cards to them.
Mikura, as the Dealer, knew exactly how the cheating was done when she saw the order list, but she didn't raise any objections and even cooperated with the other party.
As for the reason… that will be left for later.
P.S.:
Thanks again to Lord Yingmanqin for the reward.
I played Elden Ring until past 2 AM yesterday, and when I woke up this morning, I saw another reward from this lord. Tears streamed down my face. This person really doesn't want me to have time to play games.
Alright then, since that's the case, I'll start working hard to catch up on updates this month and stop slacking off. I currently owe 39 chapters.
Two updates this morning, and two more this afternoon.