47 - Hikigaya's academic performance is not ideal
[Wow—]
[Is this the collision of fate?! It's unbelievable that the draw turned out like this!]
[Aiura-san drew—Hikigaya-san!]
[Hikigaya-san drew—Saotome Mary-san!]
"The two of them had a brief confrontation in the first round of the exam battle gamble, and who would have thought they would meet again in the final round in such a way? This is truly astonishing!"
Mizuki's tone was a bit exaggerated as she tried her best to heighten the atmosphere for this final round.
This was also one of the conditions she had agreed upon with Aiura Kokoro: to make Hikigaya Hachiman win the "championship" in the most humiliating way possible, all under the watchful eyes of everyone.
"Heh—"
Aiura Kokoro's lips curled up slightly. Her plan was flawless; the only possible flaw was the draw for the seat number cards.
Drawing Hikigaya Hachiman's exam paper was an unexpected variable. This meant she couldn't swap out the paper in her hand. After all, even though she was cheating, she still had to handle the student council's scrutiny properly.
She couldn't just replace the paper in front of the person whose paper it was, because if the student council found out, there would be problems.
'But it doesn't matter, as long as Hikigaya Hachiman uses the normal Saotome Mary exam paper to compete.'
[Now, please, both contestants...]
"Wait a moment, I have a suggestion." Hikigaya Hachiman stared at Aiura Kokoro with burning eyes. "Aiura-san, do you dare to bet with me?"
"Ha?" Aiura Kokoro looked stunned, clearly not understanding what Hikigaya meant, her expression as though her CPU had overloaded.
Hikigaya's tone was calm and unhurried as he explained, "What I mean is, let's have a one-on-one duel. The terms are—"
"The winner must give the loser ten million yen, and the total score from all subjects will decide the winner."
Aiura Kokoro's pupils shrank. She was shocked by Hikigaya Hachiman's words.
Ten million yen... Forget the "total score from all subjects" condition for a moment, she couldn't even produce ten million right now. If she lost... since this was a private bet, losing would mean she would become the loser's private servant.
"What's wrong? Aiura-san, aren't you confident? You've managed to stir up the people outside to this point, so are you trying to back out?"
'But—'
Aiura Kokoro's lips curled up devilishly. Hikigaya Hachiman had taken the bait. She saw that he had misinterpreted her deliberately fake signs of fear, and couldn't help but take the initiative.
'Hikigaya Hachiman is an idiot!'
Aiura Kokoro turned her head, holding back laughter.
'You were so grateful to me for the 500,000 as compensation for being made a joke of, and now you want to hand over ten million to me.'
'What a hopeless idiot!'
'Changing the bet to the total score of all subjects... Does he think that Hikigaya Hachiman's score will surpass Saotome Mary's?'
'No way, no way, is there really such a naive fool in the world?'
Aiura Kokoro was about to burst into laughter. To her, this was like finding ten million yen lying around. She forced herself to control her expression, pretending to be reluctant and raising the stakes for this private bet:
"Then let's add one more condition. The loser has to be the other's private servant! But to preserve some dignity, you'll only address each other as 'master' when alone, okay?"
Her acting was excellent, almost making Hikigaya think that she was all show on the outside, but fragile on the inside.
"Fine." Hikigaya Hachiman nodded without hesitation.
'It's a sure win—' Aiura Kokoro thought to herself, feeling incredibly lucky, as if she were the chosen one by Lady Luck herself.
From the moment she saw Suzui Ryota reveal information to Hikigaya, and she immediately interrupted, everything was destined.
Hikigaya Hachiman is such an idiot, he doesn't know the true strength of Saotome Mary! Of course, what kind of information could a transfer student have? Anyway, this gambling game, the victory belongs to Aiura Kokoro.
Saotome Mary, Aiura Kokoro's trump card. Because she had revealed her loyalty to Mibuomi Aoi long ago, she knew the true strength of Saotome Mary.
This guy is an absolute monster.
She had demonstrated her incredible academic ability when she was at the middle school division of the prestigious Hyakkaou Academy. It was so extreme that as long as the second-place student made one mistake, they would lose the chance to compete for the top spot against her. She was an absolute academic genius, and it was thanks to such abilities that she could be admitted to both the middle school and high school divisions as a special student. Even if she went on to Tokyo University in the future, she would undoubtedly be among the top echelons.
There was no need to cheat, and there was no need for any tricks. Hikigaya Hachiman's score could never surpass Saotome Mary's.
Aiura Kokoro's family background was slightly below the average level of the elite children attending Hyakkaou Academy, just a wealthy merchant family, neither excessively privileged nor destitute. It was thanks to her scheming and her carefully crafted persona that she had managed to climb to where she was now.
Now, all her hard work was finally about to bear fruit.
She was going to earn ten million yen, as well as her very first personal servant. This was the prologue to her becoming the queen!
Although the man in front of her, Hikigaya Hachiman, didn't seem to be the kind of breathtakingly handsome guy at first glance, the more she looked at him, the more he became somewhat appealing.
The most important thing was that Hikigaya Hachiman's eyes had a spark in them.
This was the very thing she had once despised, but now, just thinking that Hikigaya Hachiman would soon become her personal servant, everything about him began to look more pleasing and outstanding.
She immediately made eye contact with Mizuka and, in front of everyone, declared the start of the special private bet, although Aiura Kokoro chose to conceal the additional small personal condition she had added.
[Final special arrangement, deciding the winner in front of everyone!]
[This is a private gambling game proposed by Hikigaya-san and accepted by Aiura-san—]
[Total score showdown across all subjects!]
Aiura Kokoro placed one hand on her hip and spoke kindly to Saotome Mary, who was standing in the corner of the crowd: "Saotome Mary, could you hand your exam paper to Mizuka?"
Saotome Mary's movements paused for a moment, as if recalling something, but she quickly followed Aiura Kokoro's instructions and handed over the exam paper.
"Now, let's begin the total score showdown—"
"First up is Chemistry. Hikigaya Hachiman's score is 95! Saotome Mary's score is 100!"
Mizuka turned and recorded the scores on the blackboard.
Aiura Kokoro looked at Hikigaya Hachiman with pity: "Both of you got A's, just as expected from special students. But I'm sorry, Hikigaya-san, it seems there's still a gap between you and Saotome Mary."
Aiura Kokoro became more and more certain of her judgment. Hikigaya Hachiman managed to score 95, which was clearly the source of his confidence. But unfortunately...
Saotome Mary was invincible, and Aiura Kokoro was invincible as well!