Chapter 31 - Recruitment Period and Strange Group [4] (1/2)

31. Recruitment Period and Strange Group [4]

The day after the club budget war.

After the morning class, while I was eating lunch with Ria and Rose as usual – an in-house broadcast flowed.

「Year 1 Class A, Allen Rodore-kun, please come to the student council room asap. I repeat. Year 1 Class A-」

That voice undoubtedly belongs to the president, whom I fought yesterday.

Even if she says『asap』……

It’s clear as day, that it wasn’t going to be anything decent.

However, I can’t possibly ignore her after being called through the broadcast.

I dragged my heavy feet to the student council room.

■

And currently,

「Nee, Allen.」

「…What is it, president?」

In the student council room, I was being bombarded with questions by the president, who was grinning creepily..

There were four people in the room – me, the president, the secretary Lilim-senpai, and the accountant Ferris-senpai.

Lilim-senpai was doing maintenance on her sword, and Ferris-senpai was eating sweets and reading fashion magazines.

It seems that neither of them intend to stop the president’s reckless behaviour.

「That thing yesterday, what was it?」

The president, while sitting in a fine chair, asked me who was standing across her desk.

「…What do you mean by『that thing』?」

「Fuun, so you’re gonna feign ignorance…? Well, I’ll change the question. At the beginning, you were clearly going easy on me, right?」

「No, not at all.」

In yesterday’s General match, I fought with all my might from beginning to end.

And then,

「Lie! If so, what was that slash yesterday? What exactly was that strike which snapped my sword in half!?」

She promptly stood up while hitting the desk with her palm, and asked questions in rapid succession.

「No, that’s…」

Honestly, even now I don’t know what that slash was.

(It probably doesn’t have anything to do with that guy…)

It is a little different from the strange feeling of being hijacked.

Above all, there was no feeling of the soul being strung up.

「The great come back play after being cornered – I’m sure it must have felt good! Although, I was humiliated!」

「E-Even if you say that…」

…Although she seems to emit『onee-san』-like vibes, she seems to be a little childish on the inside.

The president then sits down on her chair, with a sullen face.

「…Nee, is it fun to tease a girl?」

「N-No, that’s not my intention…」

「……」

「……」

She fell silent at once.

Don’t glare at me with such scornful eyes…

「…I see. So you have no intention of apologizing.」

Apparently, she was waiting for my apology this time.

Of course I wouldn’t understand, if you don’t say it out loud.

「For being so stubborn, Allen-kun – I will have you accept this next match.」

「A m-match?」

As I asked in return,

「Dekudekudekudekudekudekudeku — Deden!」

The president, who suddenly made a poor drum roll sound with her mouth, took out a set of trump cards.

「…Are we going to have a match with trump cards?」

「Exactly! Do you know『Poker』, Allen-kun?」

「Yes, I know the rules at least…」

「I see, that’s good.」

Saying that, she took twenty coins out of the desk drawer – and handed half of them to me.

「This is…?」

「Fufu, this is『life』」

She began to explain with a suspicious smile.

「From now on, I and Allen-kun will play poker by betting this life. The rules are very simple, so just listen to them smoothly.」

Saying that, she continued the explanation.

「First of all, we’ll bet each other’s life one by one. Then draw 5 cards and get into the first betting time. You can bet additional life, or continue with the same number of life as is. -But if your opponent bets additional life, you must also bet the same number of life.」

There is nothing particularly unusual.

It’s a common flow of poker.

「After that, we exchange cards only once – and we enter the last betting time. If it’s a good hand, you can bet additional life. On the contrary, if it is a bad hand, you can fold.」

「What happens if we fold?」

「You will lose half of the life you bet. Round up the fraction.」

I see…

「If we both don’t fold, we open each other’s hand – the holder of the『stronger hand』wins. The winner takes all the life bet on the match.」

After finishing the rough explanation of the rules,

「Well, to put it simply – play poker normally and if your life goes to zero first, you lose.」

Finally, it was summarized briefly as so.

「Understood.」

There was nothing peculiar about the rules.

It’s just plain poker.

(Yoshi, let’s lose at the right place…)

If I win poorly here, I will get involved in some troublesome matter again.

(In order not to leave a grudge, while winning moderately – I will try to lose at the very end.)

When thinking about that, the president finally said something very bothersome.

「And the loser have to listen to『any one thing』that the winner says!」

「…Are you for real, president?」

「I’m really serious. No matter what kind of order it may be, the loser must definitely abide by it… You understand, right?」

「Haa, understood…」

It’s not like she’s going to back down, even if I were to say『no』.

If that’s the case, it’s better to play a good game and finish early.