Chapter 585: The Tarot Cards of Destiny, Sayaka's Excitement
Ren and Ichihara Yuko commanded absolute attention simply by existing in the same space. With their striking figures, elegant heights, and an aura of untouchable refinement, they were a rare sight of top-tier beauty. Everywhere they walked, the world seemed to quiet down just to watch them pass.
Yuko cooperatively linked her slender arm through Ren's, leaning in with a playful chuckle. "Tell me, don't you feel especially proud right now? Like a highly successful man parading his prize?"
Ren considered the question for a brief moment. "I feel like a successful man who brought his female secretary along for a stroll."
Yuko's teasing smile instantly froze. She shot Ren a thoroughly annoyed glare, pulling her arm back slightly before continuing their walk toward Private Hyakkaou Academy. They had taken a car for the majority of the trip, but the academy's location was highly exclusive and heavily gated, requiring them to walk the final stretch of the pristine, tree-lined avenue.
As the grand architecture of the school loomed in the distance, Yuko's playful demeanor faded. She looked down, her voice dropping to a fragile, uncharacteristic whisper. "Do you know what I am truly afraid of?"
Ren glanced at her, waiting in silence.
"I am afraid of forgetting what the shop looks like," she murmured, her crimson eyes reflecting a quiet melancholy. "Afraid of reaching for the door and finding myself unable to return. Afraid that all of this... that my time here... is nothing more than a fleeting dream."
Ren stopped walking. He looked at her, his expression softening just enough to show he was listening.
Yuko blinked, startled by her own sudden vulnerability. She quickly masked it with a faint, elegant nod. "You really do understand me, don't you? Do you treat me purely as a subject to study? If so, I feel like I might need to develop a few more unique traits to keep your attention."
"Your childishness has already maxed out your remaining skill slots," Ren replied dryly, resuming his pace. "You don't have the capacity to learn any new traits."
Yuko's refined facade shattered completely. "Eh?! No way! I am not childish in the slightest! And what on earth is a skill slot? Witches do not operate on video game mechanics!"
"You? A witch?" Ren arched an eyebrow, looking her up and down.
Yuko nodded with absolute, solemn conviction. She was, after all, the Dimensional Witch.
Ren let out a low chuckle. "At best, you are a little witch. Only your daily pranks are actually top-tier."
Yuko crossed her arms and let out a delicate huff, turning her head away haughtily. She refused to argue further, but the warm, satisfied gleam in her eyes betrayed how deeply pleased she was by his answer.
Meanwhile, deep within the opulent halls of Private Hyakkaou Academy, a very different atmosphere was brewing. Two stunning women sat across from one another at a grand gambling table. The air between them was dead calm, yet beneath that placid surface boiled a suffocating, intoxicating madness.
On one side sat Momobami Kirari, a vision of absolute authority with her silver braids and piercing, icy blue eyes. On the other side sat Jabami Yumeko, a woman of equal beauty with flowing black hair and glowing red eyes that practically bled with obsession.
Surrounding the table, a small group of spectators watched in agonizing suspense. Among them, Igarashi Sayaka stood completely rigid, her hands clenched tight. When she heard the conditions of this match—that Kirari was going to play a game with the chaotic anomaly known as Jabami Yumeko, where the loser would forfeit absolutely everything—Sayaka felt a cold dread grip her heart.
But she knew better than to intervene. Kirari would never back down from a challenge. The President was a madwoman in her own right, someone who only ever sought higher, more dangerous stakes. In fact, the condition of betting 'everything' had been Kirari's own addition.
"President..." Yumeko breathed heavily, her cheeks flushed with a feverish thrill. "Finally, this moment has arrived. Let us begin at once. I simply cannot wait to devour this feast..."
Yumeko leaned forward, her red eyes locked onto Kirari's blue ones. "From the very first moment I set foot in this academy, I have been dreaming of this. Perhaps, long before we even met, my very soul was yearning for this exact day..."
Standing on the sidelines, Sayaka was practically trembling with fury. How dare this woman speak to the President with such ravenous disrespect? How dare she look at Ren's President like a piece of meat? Sayaka wanted nothing more than to drag Jabami Yumeko away from the table by force.
"Good, good, good! Look over here!"
Just as Sayaka opened her mouth to object, a loud, cheerful voice echoed through the tense room. A petite girl wearing an oversized orange rabbit kigurumi spun into view, sliding across the polished floor on an office chair before coming to a smooth halt right between the two gamblers.
"Today, I, Yomotsuki Runa, will be the official witness!" Runa announced, popping a lollipop out of her mouth. "Both of you are so full of energy, that's just great! So, let's quickly complete the formalities and get this bloodbath started! First, the stakes... you both agreed to bet everything! So, what exactly does that entail?"
Kirari rested her chin on her intertwined fingers, a serene smile gracing her pale lips. "Yumeko... you have been at this school for a while now, haven't you? Tell me, are you happy here?"
"Yes! So very happy!" Yumeko gasped, clutching her own shoulders. "Victory is heaven, and defeat is hell. Everyone involved lives constantly teetering on the edge of that risk. I do not think there is another place like this in the entire world. This academy is my absolute utopia!"
Kirari's expression remained perfectly detached. "It is wonderful that you appreciate my work. A garden completely isolated from the tedious constraints of the mundane world. A place where winning is the only truth, where the strong devour the weak. Everyone gives their all, scheming, strategizing, bleeding for their desires. A school where true wisdom and courage are put on full display. I deeply love it..."
Kirari slowly swept her gaze across the room. "This is my creation. My own personal aquarium."
"Excellent," Yumeko purred, her smile widening into something terrifying. "Thank you for creating such a beautiful aquarium. I didn't expect you to harbor such sentimental feelings for this place. It is truly wonderful."
Runa clapped her hands together, breaking the heavy tension. "In that case, the terms are set! The loser of this match will never be able to step foot inside this school again!"
As both women nodded in agreement, Sayaka looked at Kirari, her eyes wide with desperate anxiety. Kirari merely shifted her gaze to her secretary, her voice soft but absolute. "Sayaka... I will not lose."
When pressed by the sheer weight of the moment, Kirari delivered a chillingly calm speech about embracing absolute risk and savoring the thrill of the unknown. Her words left everyone in the room—save for Yumeko and Runa—looking utterly terrified. They were watching two monsters prepare to tear each other apart.
Finally, ignoring the stunned expressions of the audience, Kirari gestured for Runa to proceed. Smiling brightly, Runa accepted a deck of freshly unsealed, completely untampered tarot cards from Sumeragi Itsuki.
The name of the game was the 'Tarot of Destiny'. The rules were elegantly simple. Based on the upright or reversed position of the drawn major arcana cards, positive or negative numerical values would be assigned. Each participant represented a faction, divided into the Past, Present, and Future. They would have three chances to draw, and in the end, the total sum of their numbers would determine the ultimate victor.
"Let us divine," Runa chanted playfully, spreading the cards across the velvet table. "How do we perceive the truth? What is the meaning behind our actions? What outcome awaits us at the end of this road? Let us all entrust our very souls to these cards of destiny..."
The draws began. Finally, through a stroke of both fortune and misfortune, a boy standing nervously on the sidelines was chosen to draw the card representing the Future.
Just as his trembling hand hovered over the deck, a sharp, sudden notification chime shattered the silence of the room.
Kirari paused, glancing toward her secretary with a knowing smile. "Oh, Sayaka. It seems you have some urgent business to attend to."
Sayaka flinched, quickly pulling out her phone to silence it. She was about to apologize for the interruption, but the moment her eyes registered the name on the screen, she froze completely. The suffocating anxiety that had been crushing her chest vanished in an instant, replaced by a brilliant, obvious spark of joy.
She looked up, her voice trembling not with fear, but with sheer excitement. She turned to Runa. "A guest... a guest has arrived. And he wishes to increase the stakes."
Kirari remained perfectly still, her face an unreadable mask of calm. Yumeko, however, gasped, her eyes widening in pure delight. "Eh?! Someone is raising the stakes? That is fantastic! Something beyond what a mere two-person game can decide! President, what do you think?"
Kirari smiled, a genuine warmth finally reaching her icy eyes. "Alright, Sayaka. Go and bring our guest inside."
Kirari watched Sayaka practically sprint toward the grand double doors, her usual strict composure completely abandoned. The President let out a soft, amused chuckle. "It seems this sudden increase in stakes is quite significant. Sayaka is practically vibrating with excitement. Wouldn't you agree, Runa?"
"This is my very first time seeing Sayaka so fired up!" Runa giggled, kicking her legs back and forth on the office chair.
"Indeed..." Kirari murmured, her gaze fixed intently on the doorway, waiting for the man who could make her stoic secretary run.
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