In the afternoon, Ayanokouji Kiyohira also didn't go out. He found a spot in the corner of the Cooking Room and sat down, looking at a tablet with the documents Togakushi Yukimi had sent him.
Ayanokouji Kiyohira was very interested in the Chaotic Award, so he asked Togakushi Yukimi to help him find information about past Ryōran Festivals.
Ririka would know this best, but she didn't appear here in the afternoon, so he could only ask Togakushi Yukimi.
Togakushi Yukimi had been at the school for several years and had her own network. The Ryōran Festival was not a secret. She went to the newspaper club, found a friend, and spent tens of thousands of yen to buy the newspaper club's reports on previous Ryōran Festivals.
This Private Hyakkaou Academy had been an aristocratic school from the beginning. Since its establishment, it had held the Ryōran Festival every year, and it had now been held two hundred and twenty-seven times, with a history of over two hundred years.
Initially, this aristocratic school was simply a place for these noble children to receive higher education and learn knowledge.
Privately, although these noble children also gambled, this gambling trend was not prevalent. The school remained a place for teaching knowledge, and the Ryōran Festival was merely a festival held for these wealthy children.
After the war, the politicians behind the scenes felt that merely teaching these future pillars of the nation dead knowledge was not enough; they had to learn how to make decisions. Thus, the theme of 'gambling' was introduced to this school, and the Ryōran Festival activities gradually transformed into a large casino.
"Gambling on national fortunes" was also a daily occurrence in Japan, and Ayanokouji Kiyohira was not surprised.
What he wanted to see was not this, but who would win the "Chaotic Award" each year.
When the rules of the Ryōran Festival were not yet perfected, there were seven or eight "dark horses" that emerged, causing the management at the time to resign due to their inability to pay the huge debts, and a new management team took over.
However, that was back when the rules were not yet perfected.
In the last three or four decades, it has been very rare for the Chaotic Award to have an upset, with the final winner always coming from the top ten favorites with the lowest odds.
The Student Council has basically never lost, and even if some "upset" incidents occasionally occurred, the losses were generally not too much and would not result in losses the Student Council could not afford.
Due to the long passage of time and the writer's limited knowledge, the specific details of those "dark horse incidents" were only briefly mentioned, so Ayanokouji Kiyohira could not glean any useful information from them.
Time quickly passed as Ayanokouji Kiyohira continued his research, and soon it was time for school to end in the afternoon.
At this time, the number of customers in the casino gradually decreased, and there was hardly anyone left.
Kurume Kurumi sat opposite Meari, resting her chin on her hands, silently staring at Ayanokoji.
Ayanokoji couldn't get any more useful information, so he put down his tablet, looked up, and asked with a smile, "Kurume, how was your day? Did you earn or lose money?"
"It was alright, I earned around 100,000. Although it's not a lot, I'm satisfied."
Kurume Kurumi spent half of her day not gambling, but helping people mix drinks behind the counter.
She didn't have Meari's ambition to make a fortune in the casino; even without counting her gambling winnings, her commission from mixing drinks alone was a considerable amount. So, she wasn't too concerned about how much money she won, as long as it wasn't a negative number, she was content.
Compared to that, she was more concerned about something else.
She stared at Ayanokoji and suddenly asked, "Hey, Ayanokoji, did you go on a date with Miharu Taki Sakura today?"
"It wasn't a date, we just went to look for suitable gambling games, but we didn't find any," Ayanokoji explained.
"Really...?" Kurume Kurumi snorted lightly, raising her phone. On the screen was a picture of Ayanokouji Kiyohira performing a magic trick, with Miharu Taki Sakura standing beside him, reaching out to receive an orchid.
Although the gambling game Ayanokouji Kiyohira participated in didn't cause much of a stir at the Ryōran Festival, some people took photos and posted them on the school's internal forum, excitedly recounting the "magic gambling" experience and praising Ayanokouji Kiyohira's superb magic.
Kurume accidentally stumbled upon this post and immediately felt a bit unbalanced.
She and Meari were busy working in the Cooking Room, while he was showing off at the Ryōran Festival and even had time to flirt with girls!
Kurume Kurumi sneered, her tone firm, "You have time to play magic, but you don't have time to gamble with her? You definitely deliberately tried to prolong the time to go on a date with her!"
"Since you think that way... I have nothing to refute," Ayanokoji shrugged.
Since he accompanied Miharu Taki Sakura on a date, he wasn't afraid of others seeing them. He had a legitimate reason, and even if Meari questioned him, he could explain.
However, he didn't try to explain himself in front of Kurume.
He and Kurume Kurumi shared a common "secret," and it could be said that Kurume was his confidante. He trusted Kurume completely, so even if he confessed to her, it wouldn't matter.
He didn't even explain... Did he trust her that much?
Kurume felt a mix of emotions in her heart. She was happy that Ayanokoji trusted her and didn't lie to her, but also frustrated that he wasn't even willing to lie, seemingly not considering her as a romantic interest at all...
Kurume took a deep breath and suddenly asked, "Hey, Ayanokoji... are you free during the Ryōran Festival?"
"What's wrong?"
"The Ryōran Festival is an annual event, and I don't want to miss it. I just want to find someone to stroll around the festival with. Meari and the others are all very busy, and you're idle all day, so..."
Ayanokoji was a bit puzzled at first, but as she spoke, a look of understanding appeared on his face, and he nodded seriously, "I understand, you want to go on a date with me."
Kurume's heart skipped a beat, but she still shook her head, saying with a look of disdain, "It's not a date! I told you, I just want to find someone to carry things for me!"
"In that case, then forget it. I'd rather read a couple more books with that time," Ayanokoji shook his head and refused.
Kurume could sense that Ayanokouji Kiyohira's attitude towards her was completely different from his attitude towards Meari. Towards her, it was the feeling of a friend, very straightforward and direct, just like with Togakushi Yukimi.
But towards Meari, there was that ambiguous feeling of "more than friends, less than lovers."
She felt a bit annoyed.
It was her fault for being unwilling to commit back then, and as a result, Ayanokoji really thought she didn't like him, completely ignored her, and treated her as just a normal friend!
She had tried to confess before, but Meari had interrupted her.
This Ryōran Festival was the best time to confess. If she missed this opportunity again, and Meari confessed before her, then she would truly be relegated to being just Friend A!
"That's right, I want to go on a date with you!" Kurume steeled herself, and in a moment of urgency, she grabbed Ayanokouji Kiyohira's collar directly, lowering her voice to his ear, "You can go on a date with Miharu Taki Sakura, so why can't you go on a date with me? Just tell me if you're willing or not!"
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