Yves held my face with his hands and pressed down on my cheeks. My cheeks smushed together and I looked more like a koi fish than a person. Yves brought his face closer to mine and smiled.
"Should I help you? I can make you filthy rich."
At Yves' words, I briefly rolled my eyes in deep thought before nodding. If Yves helped, it'd be a surefire way to success.
"But you have to dance with me."
Yves pointed at a corner of the party hall. That particular dance hall was almost exclusively for lovers. It seemed like it was a separate section that was for people who wanted to have a romantic dance party with their lovers.
There was a magic circle surrounding that area to ensure that none of the mess outside got inside. It blocked any sounds from coming in and made it seem like they were in a completely separate place. They couldn't see outside, but everyone could see what was happening inside.
Couples were embracing each other and dancing to the blues. When the atmosphere grew steamy, they just started making out right there. It looked like most of them were making out. It was a completely different world from the absolute chaos out here.
I stared at the scene in front of me before turning to stare at Yves. Yves had a stubborn expression on his face.
"Maybe the dart game would be a safer bet….."
When I was just about to turn around and figure it out for myself, Yves grabbed my arm and said that it had been a joke.
He casually slung his arm around my shoulders and got up from the snack bar. He was just about to whisper a few tips that he knew as one of the game MCs into my ear.
"Yvnes! Come over here plea....."
Right when I was about to listen to Yves' advice, the current student body president called him. Yves' smile wiped itself off of his face. Yves curtly told the student body president not to bother him, but when the president just stared to blankly stare at me, he clicked his tongue and turned his body away from mine.
And that was how I lost another partner and was left alone.
I was wondering how to increase the money and roaming the halls when I saw a familiar head of blond hair from a distance. They were squatting in front of a game booth with their formal black jacket hanging from their shoulders.
Seeing that casual position and style, that had to be Cory.
There was nobody else in the game booth that Cory was in. It was almost completely deserted because of how unpopular it was. Seeing how he had just gotten comfortable there, it seemed like he had been staying at the booth for quite a while.
Cory was sitting across from someone else and was focused on something.
"Rock paper scissors."
Cory was playing rock paper scissors.
My interest was piqued. I headed over. I checked the rules and was immediately able to see why this particular booth was was so unpopular.
Every time you won, you received a measly sum of 100 Augrans. The other booths were handing over thousands at once, but they only gave a hundred.
When you won consecutively you won another 100 Augrans. So, in other words, you received 100 Augrans for one win, 200 Augrans for two wins, 300 Augrans for three wins, and so on so forth.
However, you lost everything when you lost. The risk was too big for what you earned.
I took a seat next to Cory. Cory was focused on playing rock paper scissors until I sat next to him, whence he looked shocked.
Cory's ears went red as he stared at the presenter in front of him. Then, he continued playing.
"You're earning money like this?"
Cory slowly nodded at my question. Cory, for some reason, was trying not to look my way. He just responded with his head turned away.
"….yeah. I won a consecutive 213 times."
Cory played another round of rock paper scissors. He won again.
"Now 214 times…."
I was genuinely awed as I looked at Cory, shyly murmuring this statement.
You could genuinely earn money like this... Even though he was just using a basic time spell....
When I went closer to him, Cory fidgeted his body as he was aware of my gaze. What, did he need to go use the restroom? He looked anxious.
He looked kind of uncomfortable as he glanced at me and frowned.
"Cory, do you want to go to the restroom? I'll play the game instead for you. Can we do that?"
"Just finish the game quickly~ Please...."
The game presenter muttered, voice watery. They seemed so bored with the game that they were literally lying on the ground.
They played rock paper scissors without looking at Cory, and just yelled out the number whenever Cory won.
Cory didn't respond to my insistence to use the restroom and continued playing.
For some strange reason, his shoulders were hunched over. Seeing how his eyebrows were scrunched together, I was genuinely wondering if something was wrong...
I sat next to Cory until his 216th win. I just kept staring at him as he concentrated on the game. It was amazing how focused he was on such a boring game.
He seemed a bit nervous, so I rested my hand on his back and smiled.
When I pulled up the corners of my lips and curved the corners of my eyes, Cory bodily flinched.
Rock, paper, scissors.
"....!"
In the next round, Cory put out a rock and the presenter put out paper. He had suddenly lost.
He lost on the 217th round.
He had lost twenty one thousand, seven hundred Augrans in one go!
With twenty one thousand, seven hundred Augrans, he could buy the Dark Past Removal Coupon and so much more.
My eyes grew wide in surprise.
I didn't know if he was tired or he was busy thinking something else, but he didn't use any magic. No, I think he couldn't.
I frowned, disappointed and regretful for him.
"Oh..."
Cory just blankly stared at his fist. His clenched fist was shaking, just like his pupils.
He had labored until the 217th match to earn money but had lost it all at once. I could do nothing but frown from right next to him.
"At laaaaaast!"
As soon as Cory lost, the presenter's face broke into a smile as they hugged Cory. Cory just blankly allowed himself to be hugged.
As soon as Cory lost, the presenter immediately closed their booth. They seemed incredibly bored. And they couldn't quit when they had Cory, a customer, at their booth.
I stared at the retreating back of the elated presenter before turning to look at Cory.
Cory just continued to blankly stare at his fist. I quietly raised my arm and gently patted Cory's back.
I swapped a candy and ten Augrans and placed the Augrans in his mouth.
"…..Thanks."
"It's nothing."
I helped Cory stand up. He was completely crushed.
"I have a bit of money left, so let's go do something with it."
Cory shook his head no, but I nodded at him as I told him to cheer up.
I held Cory's hand and walked towards the store.
I was checking to see if the Dark Past Removal Coupon was still in stock. Everyone was busy trying to scrounge up money to save their image, and the coupons were selling like hotcakes. Hylli always seemed to roam near the coupon, but he didn't have a single coupon in his hand.
"The principal was dragging Hylli around and taking his money here and there."
Cory smiled sheepishly as he looked at Hylli, who was just grabbing the edge of the clerk's clothes or staring at the coupon longingly.
"So that he could never afford the coupon."
I genuinely started to pity Hylli. I walked towards Hylli, who was just standing around looking pitiful. He weakly turned his head towards us. Seeing how desperate it was, a bit of guilt started to seep into my soul as I remembered turning in every single embarrassing thing I had of Hylli that I had saved up until now.
I opened my mouth to speak as I looked at the downtrodden Hylli.
"…..how much did you earn?"
"One thousand three hundred….."
"You're better off than I am!"
Out of guilt, I spoke loudly as I tried to cheer Hylli up, patting his back.
But Hylli shook his head.
"Negative..."
Hylli said, tears in the corners of his eyes as he laughed hollowly.
"N, negative….. One thousand three hundred?"
I was so surprised that I asked him again. Hylli nodded. He said negative one thousand three hundred. He had used up all the money he had and had even accumulated debt. He slowly walked towards me and clutched my shoulders. His hands were shaking.
"It's okay. Hylli. Calm down, relax. It's okay."
I patted his back and gently shushed him. He was emotionally delicate in front of such hardship. Hylli seemed like he was about to turn evil again, so I tried to think about what I could to prevent it.
First, in order to take care of the massive problem that was Hylli's debt, I introduced Hylli to Yves.
"I guess your highness is also bankrupt. Oh my."
"...."
"Negative one thousand three hundred? Being extorted like that is also a skill. That's quite impressive, you're highness."
"…..just hand over the 10 Augran."
When Hylli declared bankruptcy, Yves accepted that and, like the rules said, handed him 10 Augrans.
Yves was already well aware of the principal's plans to bully Hylli, so he was pretty lenient towards Hylli. According to the rules, students who declared bankruptcy weren't able to play games anymore–but he especially let that rule go just this once and allowed him to play games again. This was only possible because Yves found the whole thing amusing.
But Hylli, who was resigned to his fate, didn't think about earning more money and swapped his entire fortune of 10 Augrans for a candy. Hylli had a dead look in his eyes as he chomped on the candy.
"Hylli, don't give up. I still have 500 Augrans left."
I took the bankrupt Cory and Hylli and showed them my money. I just felt bad, seeing how dejected they were.
Cory and Hylli said that they were okay and shook their heads with a dejected expression. They told me to keep my money and put my money back in my pocket.
"I have a plan to earn money. But I need your help. Don't be sad, you'll earn the money back. Hylli, you and I can earn the coupons. Cory, you need it too?"
When I asked Cory, Cory blankly stared at me before nodding. It looked like it was just a physical reaction, but I would take it. Good. We all had the same goal. If we all wanted the same thing, it would be easier to work together.
"Don't be so down. Just follow me."
"You think you can earn twenty thousand Augrans? I already lost ten thousand."
"That's just because you just invested willy nilly."
I said, slightly emphatic. Hylli seemed dejected still, but his eyes were shining in hope. Cory just seemed crushed from his previous defeat, but he seemed to come back to his senses slightly when I handed him a candy.
"You can follow, right?"
When I asked with a trustworthy smile on my face, the two of them, both blankly staring at me, slowly nodded. Anyway, there were quite a few people here who were out of it. Were they all okay?
I made a circle with Cory and Hylli. I grabbed them by their ties and dragged their heads towards mine.
I began the meeting with the two who would become my workers.
"Good. First, Cory, do some work like you were doing earlier and earn some money for us. Then, when Hylli and I earn money from other games, you can keep the money safe for us."
It could sound a bit mean for me to ask them to start over. But Cory's magic was effective when it came to those slow games that required intensive labor, so it couldn't be helped. Cory soon agreed and accepted his fate.