Chapter 47
Volume 2 Chapter 3 part1
Airbike Race
It was the second day .
Now that I got a bit of payback against those idiots from the first day, my cafe was quite pleasant .
If I were to list a problem──
“Livia, that table over there has a request . ”
“R, right . ”
──it was that the two waitresses were working a bit clumsily .
When I was taking a cake from the kitchen, Raymond spoke to me .
“Are those two alright?”
“What happened yesterday had an effect . It would better if they hadn’t been misled by the words those people had said . ”
Both Livia and Anjie were conscious of each other, but were unable to speak to one another .
“Let’s just wait and see what happens for the moment . Things will probably revert to normal before long . ”
“I wonder about that . I think that differences in familial backgrounds are fatal when building friendships, though . ”
That was what Raymond, with a slightly uncooperative attitude, had said, but I indeed knew what was going on .
For example, suppose that there were a rich and a poor person .
If they were asked whether or not they shared the exact same set of values, then the answer would be no .
The difference in values between the two would be big .
I watched the clock .
“Perhaps the two should take a break . ”
Raymond pushed up his glasses with a finger .
“That might be good . There aren’t that many guests right now, after all . ”
Since the first day was way too cruel, I felt that handling this wouldn’t be a problem for me .
Raymond seemed seriously worried about me .
“You know, with this, we’re really in the red . ”
“It’s fine . Despite how it looks, I can make an earning on the final day using that . ”
“Aah, by that, you mean gambling?!”
The last day of the school festival .
There were some matches scheduled as part of an exhibit . The reason for it was to show how much the students were learning in the school .
However, it became one of the highlights of the school festival, and each event had quite splendid rewards .
In addition, people made bets on who would win, and the gambling riled everyone up .
I thought about whether or not it was okay for something like that to happen at a school festival, but it was also a time for profits . At any rate, since I had Luxon──my chances of winning a bet would increase .
That thing was able to gather information, and through close investigation, calculate who would win with a high probability .
Raymond looked at me in shock .
“You really like gambling, don’t you Leon?”
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How upsetting .
“On the contrary . I hate gambling . ”
I hated things like gambling . However, I loved winning!
Livia and Anjie walked around the hectic buildings in the school festival .
Normally, the two would be closer together, but today they were maintaining a subtle distance apart .
Livia didn’t understand Anjie’s feelings, and Anjie didn’t know how to address Livia . Until now, they hadn’t been that conscious about each other’s birth .
However, after the matter of yesterday, a gap had emerged between the two .
Anjie spoke up .
“These crepes are quite delicious . ”
Livia replied .
“R, right . ”
Their conversation didn’t continue .
There was a pause while the two both thought about what to do . In that timeframe, they both noticed a large bulletin board .
It was a chart for an airbike race tournament .
Each school year chose representatives, and only those who did well enough in one race would move on to challenge the next one . It would end with a final race between those who made it to the top .
There were also other events, but oddly enough, the airbike race was the only one that people watched with a special kind of excitement .
Livia looked up at the bulletin board .
“There are a lot of matches just for the airbike race . ”
Anjie, perhaps thinking that this was something she could at least explain, started being talkative .
“People get excited about it every year . There are many other events, but the airbike race is the most popular one . While it’s simple, the bets are also interesting . Others choose who they think would win, but people also make bets on predicting the order . There’s a lot of profit when winning . ”
Speaking in terms of the modern age, it was like horse racing or boat racing .
It caused a lot of money to circulate .
Livia was impressed .
“You know a lot about, Anjie . ”
Anjie continued while delighted .
“I came here several times before enrolling in the school . Furthermore, despite the fact that top candidates are participating, the representative for the first-year students is Jilk . He excels at handling airbikes, and there are many fans who are looking forward to seeing who will succeed . ”
“So Jilk’s skilled at an airbike . Ah, I see his name there . ”
Livia was happy to spot Jilk’s name, but asked Anjie something .
“Leon isn’t participating?”
“Leon? His ability isn’t bad, and he has the capacity to just barely make it in as a player, but since Jilk’s here this year, there was no other choice . ”
In the first place, Leon could do almost anything, and that naturally meant he could use an airbike .
However, he fell behind in ability compared to Jilk .
“If Leon participated, I would cheer for him, though . ”
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“Right . However, that guy would have no motivation . He’s been making a fuss about profiting through the bets . ”
“I’d prefer if he wasn’t that crazy about gambling . ”
“I agree . ”
As the two were having a cheerful conversation, Marie was behind them, looking up at the bulletin board .
Marie and Kyle went out to go shopping .
From behind the joyful Anjie and Livia, Marie looked at the airbike race tournament chart .
She also scanned the other events .
The names of Julian and the others were printed on each event .
“If everyone wins their tournament, we’ll soon be able to gather our target amount of money . With this, we won’t have to worry about living expenses . ”
Marie and Kyle were carrying luggage in both of their hands .
Kyle had an exhausted expression .
“Why don’t you make bets on who would win using the money we’ve earned? Everyone’s a winning candidate, right? The benefits to reap would be immense if you win . ”
However, Marie was surprised .
“That won’t do . Besides, I loathe gambling . ”
──Marie hated gambling .
(It’s the same as with my previous life . A boyfriend I went out with was a good-for-nothing who lost almost all of the bets he made and carried severe debt . I’ll steadily make my large earnings . )
Steadily or not, Marie had bad memories associated with gambling .
(It’s the same now . Furthermore, my family is in debt because of gambling──I miss my family from my previous life . Those days were nice . My childhood was fun back then . )
Marie’s current viscount household could not be called a splendid family by any standard .
Marie held her luggage under her arms and headed towards her cafe .
“Now, let’s work hard to earn money . Lend me a hand, Kyle . ”
“I have no other choice, do I? I’ll do my best to earn a salary . ”
The two separated from Anjie and Livia to return to the cafe filled with women who created a commotion and surrounded Julian and the others .
It was the third day .
It was the day for all kinds of matches to be held, the centerpiece of the school festival .
I looked down at the field from a lounge that costed money to enter .
I sat on a sofa while gazing at the pointlessly large field .
Gold coins, silver coins, and bills were piled on top of a low table .
I grinned while counting the rolls of banknotes . I couldn’t stop smiling .
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[Master, it seems that in the next race, several people are taking action in order to ensure that a specific player wins . So, my prediction for the next game has moved from twelve to four . ]
I heard Luxon’s voice .
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Luxon had concealed itself and gathered information on players in the field, the waiting rooms, and other such locations .
Due to that, I had been continuing to win bets .
“Waiter, I’ll change my bet for the next race from number twelve to number four . Just this amount of money . ”
I handed rolls of banknotes to the waiter, and bought a ticket .
While seeing off the waiter who hurriedly left to process my purchase, I laughed while resting both of my arms on the back of the sofa .
“Winning is fun!”
Anjie and Livia were looking at me with cold eyes . The two were sitting next to each other, sipping juice while spectating the matches .
“You really do like to agitate the people around you . ”
“Leon, you’re going to get hurt betting too much some day . ”
There were some people around that lost a lot of money from gambling .
Such people could only look at me in hate as I continued to win .
“It’s fine, I won’t lose . Even if I did lose once or twice, it’s fine since I’ve been winning without a hitch . ”
The gold and silver coins piling up were glittering brightly .
As Luxon had predicted, number twelve took first place, and number four took second .
A large amount of money once again found its way into my hands .
“I can’t stop smiling!”
I had already earned money to laugh off my losses from the cafe .
In the next race, Jilk had finally appeared .
Jilk──Jilk Fier Memoria was from a noble viscount household of the royal court .
He was Julian’s foster brother, and the character that played the role of being his best friend . He had long green hair and a gentle smile, but in reality he was black-hearted .
This guy handled airbikes skillfully .
He had enough skill to be the only candidate named by the first-year students .
So, make some profit for me, Jilk .
[Master, a minor setback has arisen . ]
However, as Luxon gave a report, the situation started becoming ominous .
I pressed my fingers against my temples to continue listening to Luxon .
[The representative who appeared for the first-years is Jilk, but it seems that he’s being targeted . ]
──Jilk was being targeted?
When I made a serious expression and looked down at the venue, Livia noticed and asked something .
“U, um, did you want to participate as well, Leon?”
“Huh?”
When I tilted my head to the side, Anjie made an apologetic expression .
“…Sorry . The decision for who would participate was a majority vote by the executive committee . It was difficult for me to hold back my opinion . ”
“Hmm?”
It seemed that the two believed I wanted to participate . I definitely tried becoming a candidate, but it was just that the boy candidates had already been decided for even the least popular event .
I didn’t particularly want to be out there, so I had no problem with scheming for profits through betting .
However, this convention was a great opportunity to appeal to ordinary boys .
If one played an active role, the girls’ opinions of them would change . In other words, obtaining a victory was very beneficial for getting married .
Due to that, each event had many boys that were participating seriously .
There were occasionally those that were obsessed with winning and resorted to underhanded tactics .
However, it was different with Jilk .
The situation was strange from the start .
It seemed that Anjie soon noticed it .
“Jilk’s being marked . ”
If a first-year student was a good player, it wasn’t strange for them to be marked, but the way he was being targeted was thorough .
He was being surrounded and clashed against others──it was obvious that some kind of attack had been launched against him .
Livia seemed gloomy when seeing that .
“W, why is something like that happening? I feel bad for Jilk . ”
It was as Livia had said .
I had placed bets on Jilk, and I would be troubled if I lost .
Leaving my troubles aside, could it be that Livia’s worry for Jilk was based on some kind of instinct that Jilk might potentially be her lover?
──It didn’t concern me, I suppose .
Anjie muttered something .
“I see . Those guys are the followers of an earl household’s daughter, Claris . ”
Livia tilted her head to the side .
“Clarice? Um, who’s that?”
As the race was transitioning from the middle stage to the final stage, Jilk broke through the upperclassmen surrounding him in the match . He forcibly slipped through using some acrobatic movements, and he passed each player one after the other .
“It kind of seems like that guy’s bike was illegally modified . ”
Didn’t it seem like the performance of the bike was quite different from that of the others? As I was thinking about it, there was a great clamor in the venue from his massive overtaking .
I was happy as well, since if Jilk won the match, I would win the bet .
Luxon informed me of something .
[Jilk cannot qualify for the finals even if he does win . ]
When Luxon heard me reply “There’s no chance?” in a whisper, he reported an injury Jilk had .
[He has a bone fracture . Him being attacked by the surrounding people injured a bone, and the excessive movements he was forced to make fractured it . Even in a world where handy things like healing magic exist, there wouldn’t be enough time for him to make it to the next race . ]
Jilk just barely took the lead and reached the goal .
Once Jilk returned his airbike to an airship, he collapsed and medical personnel gathered to place him onto a stretcher .
When Anjie was about to leave the lounge, I asked about her intentions .
“Where are you going?”
“The first-year class needs a troubleshooter . We need to check the state of Jilk’s injury and prepare a substitute for him if necessary . I’m going to talk with the executive committee . ”
Since Livia accompanied her as well, I decided to tuck the banknotes and coins into my bag and ran after them .