"Eh?" Meari was stunned. She didn't expect Ayanokoji to tell her to find a new employee.
What kind of punishment was this? Wasn't it a very simple task?
Could it be that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka didn't want to punish her at all, but just wanted to give her a way out?
Ayanokoji saw Meari's confused expression and explained, "You are currently the manager of the casino, so it's fine if you're not here, but you must hand over your work properly and not increase your colleagues' burden.
So, my punishment for you is to recruit another employee."
"That simple?"
"How could it be that simple?"
Ayanokoji deliberately curved his lips into a smile: "I have requirements. This employee must be a beautiful girl, have a good figure, not be bad at gambling, preferably not require much salary, be very obedient, and be able to start working at the casino immediately without training…"
Ayanokoji directly put forward a bunch of demands, each one more stringent than the last.
"Are you recruiting an employee or a girlfriend? Why so many demands!" Meari protested.
The benefits here with Ayanokoji are very good. Compared to "work-study," it's easier to earn a salary here, and the work is very relaxed. It shouldn't be difficult to recruit a new employee.
But with Ayanokoji's added requirements, it becomes very difficult to find someone.
Just the "excellent gambling skills" point alone would filter out ninety percent of students. And Ayanokoji also has so many strict requirements for employees: the person must be beautiful, have a good figure, and not demand a high salary…
If the person is highly skilled in gambling, they would directly earn money through gambling; it's impossible for them to come to such a small casino to work part-time!
Meari understood now; Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was deliberately making things difficult for her.
She said angrily, "Ayanokoji, if you want to make things difficult for me, just say so. I know I made a mistake this time, and I'll be obedient. You don't need to beat around the bush to warn me!"
"Meari, why do you think I'm making things difficult for you?"
Ayanokoji deliberately clutched his chest, as if his good intentions had been misunderstood, and sighed deeply with great sadness: "There's nothing I can do. In my heart, your image is just so perfect. If you leave, how can I find a waiter who can replace you?"
Tall, beautiful, intelligent, excellent gambling skills... So, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's adjectives were all describing himself!?
Meari didn't expect to have such a high evaluation in Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's eyes; her face instantly flushed.
If she were to compare herself, it seemed these conditions weren't that strict… Kurume Laiwei and Togakushi Yukimi fit these requirements.
As for why Hanatemari didn't fit… her gambling ability was simply too poor, a point Meari, as her best friend, had to admit.
Meari was even thankful that she had transferred to this school; otherwise, how would Hanatemari Kazura, who was terrible at gambling, survive in this gambling-crazed school?
Sometimes Meari even wanted to speak up for Hanatemari.
She wondered what Hanatemari Kazura's father was thinking. Their family was wealthy and didn't need to work hard to easily obtain a life that others envied, yet he sent his daughter to this survival-of-the-fittest school to endure hardships.
Didn't he know that his daughter was too kind and simply not suited for this school?
Meari couldn't help but look at Hanatemari Kazura. At this moment, she was wearing a maid uniform, as if to make up for her previous mistakes, holding a towel and bending over to diligently wipe the tabletop.
It seemed she felt Meari's gaze, and Hanatemari Kazura looked up, returning a brilliant smile.
Seeing that brilliant smile only deepened Meari's animosity towards this "father."
Sending Hanatemari Kazura to this school was one thing, but he also didn't give her enough money to live, insisting she engage in gambling, making a young lady who had never lifted a finger wear a maid uniform and work in a casino…
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka also noticed Meari's gaze, and he added a sentence.
"Oh, and one more thing: the recruited employee must not mind wearing a maid uniform, like Hanatemari Kazura."
Meari didn't mind wearing a maid uniform, but she was very shy and would quickly take it off as soon as she left the casino.
Hanatemari Kazura, whether due to her natural innocence or having long been accustomed to being watched, didn't mind running around the school in her maid uniform, and she attracted quite a few regular customers for the casino.
"I've given you the requirements. Good luck."
Ayanokoji smiled at Meari, "Until you find an employee who can replace you, you can't skip work to gamble anymore, otherwise…"
"I know, I won't skip work again!" Meari snorted lightly, turning her face away and downing the drink in her cup to hide her shyness.
Feeling uncomfortable under Ayanokoji's half-smiling gaze, Meari saw that it was already after school hours, so she lightly jumped off her chair, walked to Hanatemari's side, and pulled her: "Hanatemari, it's time to go. School's out."
"But I haven't finished cleaning…"
"Anyway, there's hardly anyone in this casino. It'll be the same if we clean it tomorrow!"
After saying goodbye to Ayanokoji, Meari pulled Hanatemari Kazura away. Kurume Laiwei also said goodbye to Ayanokoji and left with Togakushi Yukimi.
Now, only Ayanokoji remained in the Cooking Room. He took a sip of his cocktail, looking at this seemingly elegant, but in fact, completely deserted bar-casino, and sighed softly.
Just as Meari had inadvertently said, Ayanokoji had indeed spent a lot of money to build this "bar," but customers had rarely come.
The casino next door, which wasn't decorated much, was doing booming business, with large numbers of customers coming every day.
However, most of those who gambled next door were "commoners" with little money, and their bets per round were small. For a casino that relied on "taxes," the revenue wasn't impressive.
Ayanokoji didn't care much about the revenue; a month's operation was less profitable than a single game he might play.
However, without those "rich second-generations" coming to get membership cards, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka couldn't obtain their identity information, which prevented him from finding the potentially existing "insider" who was monitoring him.
A large part of the reason was Mibuomi Aoi's covert sabotage.
He used his connections to prevent the young masters and ladies with disposable income, who were interested in "Landlord," from gambling here, causing Ayanokoji's advertising expenses to go to waste.
However, Ayanokoji wasn't in a hurry. He knew in his heart that these days wouldn't last much longer.
Mibuomi Aoi was already impatient and would soon come to him to reveal his "true purpose."
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