CH 48

“Are you feeling sick?”

I asked as soon as I met up with Saijo.

“Eh? Ah, no, I’m fine!”

Saijo was surprised for a moment by my question, but she immediately smiled.

However, the smile was awkward.

I could tell that he was in low spirits.

Did something happen to you while you were separated from me…?

However, from the looks of it, Saijo wouldn’t be able to give me an answer even if I asked her.

If that’s the case, I’ll have to wait for Saijo to tell me.

Besides, there are other things to worry about right now.

I moved my gaze from Saijo to my phone.

There was a message on it.

“I want to see you again today because I have something to tell you.”

Just before I met up with Saijo, I had received a message from Alice.

She hadn’t shown any signs of it earlier, so I wondered what was going on all of a sudden.

And if she just wanted to talk, she could have called me.

Why should I bother to meet her…

“Kaito…”

“Hmm?”

“…Sorry, actually it’s nothing….”

Saijo shook her head when she looked at me as she called my name.

This can’t be nothing…

From Saijo’s expression, I knew that she was hiding something…

Her face seemed to be pondering about something.

It’s frustrating…

I was bothered by the fact that Saijo didn’t talk to me about it.

It’s funny because not too long ago I thought it was depressing and even annoying…

“If ever― you’re in trouble, I want you to rely on me.”

I found myself muttering that.

“Eh…?”

Saijo looked up at my face with a surprised expression when I said that.

But… Even I was surprised, just like her…

I’ve said something similar to this to Sakihime, but just now I was completely unaware of it.

However, I thought about it again when I said it out loud.

Saijo is already an important friend to me.

If a friend is in trouble, it’s natural to want to help.

That’s why I decided to close the distance between myself and Saijo, who was wondering if she should talk to me or not.

“You know, if you’re looking at me like that, something really bad is going on, right?”

“Ah, Kirara…”

When I called her by name, she looked surprised― But above all, she was happy.

But she quickly turned her head.

She’s probably thinking about whether or not to tell me.

I decided to wait for Kirara’s words.

If Kirara doesn’t tell me, I won’t force her to say so.

“…Do you know Byodoin Aria…?”

I nodded to Kirara, who asked in a small voice.

However, just from her words, I could tell that something had happened with Aria-san.

This is the first time I’ve ever seen Aria-san and the others face to face.

She was the daughter of the same major conglomerate, so she must have known them.

“I-I’m competing in a match against her…”

Eh…?

“A match?”

“Yeah… Actually―”

With that, Kirara told me about the incident that had just occurred between her and Aria-san.

I nodded at her words and continued to organize the story in my head.

“I understand now… You can’t just drop out of the match now that you’ve been recorded with a voice recorder…”

At my words, Kirara gave a small nod.

I tilt my head at her gesture.

No matter how much of an unbelievable reward you’ve been offered, you can’t accept a match like this…

But is that really the only reason she accepted the match?

It seems that the total amount of Kirara’s stock price that she put on the line in this match is about 100 million yen.

If they were to lose that, the Saijo Corporation would really give up on Kirara, who is getting one last chance from them.

…In addition, the company will have to pay compensation for the lost stock and take responsibility for handing over the Saijo Corporation stock to a rival company…

There’s no way that Kirara doesn’t know that.

She’s a smart girl.

That’s why I don’t think Kirara will accept the match, no matter how much money is offered.

However, I can’t undo what’s already decided.

The priority now was to think of a way to get out of this situation.

“Does Kirara know anything about stocks?”

“Yes… I’ve studied for quite a bit, and I’ve actually done it a few times.”

“And then, you said Byodoin-san has no knowledge about stocks?”

I couldn’t bring myself to call her Aria-san, so I called her by her last name, since Alice wasn’t there either.

“Yes… But, I don’t know if that’s true or not… She plays dirty…”

Kirara replied to my words with a frown.

I understand…

As far as I can tell, this match is in Kirara’s favor.

In addition to using a voice recorder, Aria-san has offered to play the game because she has no knowledge of stocks.

If that’s the case, she must really have no knowledge of stocks.

Otherwise, what Aria-san did would be a fraud.

For us, that would be more gratifying.

This way, Kirara can claim that she accepted the bet because Aria-san said she didn’t know anything about stocks.

Even though it may look embarrassing to others, protecting Kirara is the priority.

However, the fact that Aria-san has no knowledge of the stock market, and yet she offered me this game, means that she has a strategy that will surely win.

She is known to be a very successful president, and above all, she doesn’t take things too far.

It’s hard to believe that she would take such a risky gamble.

This is the reason why Kirara had a thoughtful expression on her face.

But still… What’s that all about?

How on earth can you expect to win when you don’t even know anything about stocks?

What would I do if I were in Aria-san’s shoes?

I know a lot about stocks, but I’ve never actually dabbled in them.

So, I would be no different from Aria-san, who says she has no knowledge.

Maybe the clue is in the rules that Aria-san explained to us.

If I were in the same position, I would definitely be careful not to let the other person notice, and make conditions that would give me an advantage.

Besides, there’s something tricky about the rules that Aria-san gave us.

Why is there only 100,000 yen for the amount of funds?

It’s a game of stocks― and it’s a game between Aria-san and Kirara.

No matter how you look at it, the amount of money is too small.

The more money you have, the more strategies you can use, so why bother with 100,000 yen only?

And I’m also curious about the way you say that you’re not simply competing with the money you’ve made in the stock market, but that you’re only offering the total value of the stock price.

Why are you stating that you are going to compete on the basis of total stock price?

In fact, other information besides the amount of money is also reflected on the same screen, so it should be presented together.

Moreover, she said at the end that there were no other restrictions.

In other words, they are binding.

The situation that can be considered― and also the strategy that Aria, who has no knowledge of stocks, can definitely win is…

…I see, so it’s that huh…

A strategy came to my mind.

It is true that knowledge of the stock market is irrelevant in this case.

And I also understood the reason why Aria said that only the total amount of the stock price should be presented.

It’s not that it’s important.

She’s going to make her strategy work by deciding in such detail and not restricting other things.

If Aria-san had done it in a normal way, she would have been charged with a crime.

But in this match, she is trying to prevent that from happening.

If this prediction is correct― Then there’s no way Kirara can win.

“This is not good…”

“Eh…?”

“You should bow out of this game.”

When I said that, Kirara lowered her head and spoke up.

“But… I don’t want to run away from this competition…”

“No, you don’t have to worry about running away or anything like that. This is a match that the other side originally forced upon us. There’s no need to go to the trouble of fighting in their ring.”

“That’s not good enough…”

What are you so obsessed with? Do you really want the money?”

“…Yeah.”

Kirara nodded her head in response to my question.

To be honest, I didn’t think Kirara was trying to compete by being obsessed with money.

That’s why I asked her about it… But I didn’t expect her to affirm it…

“I’m sorry… But, don’t worry. I didn’t mean to bother Kaito from the beginning. I’m going to beat him by myself. I’ve been studying a lot for that reason.”

“…I see, in that case, let’s go home for the day.”

“Eh…?”

“We’re about to compete against Byodoin-san and we don’t have time for this, do we?”

“…That’s right.”

When I threw her off, Kirara looked up at me, but then responded by turning her head down again.

It would be useless to try to persuade Kirara now that she refuses to retreat.

Then, we’ll just have to change our ways.

I felt bad for Kirara, but I wanted to see Alice-san right away.

I don’t know why she called me, but I’m going to take advantage of it.

I’ll have to ask Alice-san to stop Aria-san― Or worse, I’ll have to negotiate with her even if I have to reveal myself as KAI.

No matter what strategy I use, this game must not be allowed to go ahead.

I would have liked to do something with my own hands, but there is no room for me to intervene in this game.

…… No, it’s not that there isn’t, exactly.

I’m almost certain that Aria’s strategy is what I’m expecting.

Which means, it is not completely impossible to make a move.

I just don’t know which one it is.

I have an idea… But I’m pretty sure it’s not going to be announced until then.

In other words, it’s not the key to the strategy that Aria has in mind.

As long as I don’t know that for sure, there’s nothing I can do.

Therefore, the only way to protect Kirara is to not let this game go ahead.

After that, I took Kirara home, and then headed back to meet Alice-san―.