Upon saying those words, Nishinotouin's attitude turned from mild annoyance to abject fear.

"Yomozuki," Kirari snapped her fingers. "You know what to do."

Yomozuki waddles over to Kamagusu and grabs the swords from her, playing with the magnet in the board. "Oooh, you guys are in trouble, Nya-ha-ha! I order you to replace the swords with the original ones at once!

Kamagusu hangs her head as she reaches underneath the board and grabs some identical looking swords, putting the magnetized ones back. Yomozuki plays with these swords on the magnet as I notice that these swords aren't attracted to the magnet. "I will be taking over as the dealer," Yomozuki announces to Kamagusu's and Nishinotouin's shock. "You two don't know how to behave," Yomozuki points at Kamagusu and Nishinotouin, "and as a purveyor of absolute neutrality, I will make sure this game runs smoothly! Let Round 5 begin! Kokoro-san, I believe it's your turn to choose the betting amount."

I return to a normal countenance, despite my anger. "Thank you, Yomozuki-san. Let's bet 300 million yen. I'm tired of playing. Also, I wish to exchange my one-million yen chips with ten-million yen chips. I no longer have a use for them."

Nishinotouin has a mix of shock and anger on her face. Kamagusu takes my one-million yen chips and gives me the appropriate amount of ten-million chips, leaving me with 73.

"Now that we got that settled," Yomozuki announces in a child-like voice, "let's begin!" She throws her swords in the pot and slams the cup on the board, similarly to the manner in which Kamagusu does it.

I place a chip on each space. Even though Kamagusu isn't the dealer anymore, I don't necessarily trust Yomozuki either. As a member of the student council herself, she's bound to have a bias towards Nishinotouin.

"Let's see what we have!" Yomozuki announces cheerfully as she lifts the cup. I gasp as I see the result before she even says it. "Life on 1!"

I look at Nishinotouin's board. She had chips concentrated on certain spots, but not 1. I just won 300 million yen.

"Oh dear," Kirari says smugly at Nishinotouin. "It looks like you owe 330 million yen to Kokoro-san. Let me remind you that your former balance was a mere 1.08 billion."

"Ooh! You're face is paler than usual, Nishinotouin-san! You're so busted!" Yomozuki pipes up.

Mary and I exchange blank stares. I didn't think the student council would actually be neutral. Props to Yomozuki.

"Let Round 6 begin! Nishinotouin, what do you bet?"

"Th-three hundred million. Kokoro-san is right. Let's do this."

After Yomozuki throws the swords in the cup and slams it on the board, I put one chip on each spot. Mary asks me why I'm doing this, and I respond that I still think this is the best strategy.

Yomozuki lifts up the cup to find that it is Life on 3 and Death on 13 and 19. Nishinotouin didn't have anything that matched, so this puts us at 730 million to 670 million.

"Nya-ha-ha! It's time for Round 7! Kokoro, what is your bet?"

"600 million." Nishinotouin sighs as I announce my bet. This may well be the final round.

"Excellent choice, Kokoro," Yomozuki said cheerfully. "Let's begin!" Like always, she throws the swords into the cup and puts it on the board. I put two chips on each spot, while Nishinotouin put chips seemingly at random amounts on random places on the board.

"It's time for the bet! Let's see if the odds are in your favor!" Yomozuki lifts the cup. "Death on 1!"

Nishinotouin had 6 chips on 1.

"H-how..." she murmurs, her eyes affixed onto the sword. "We were supposed to win. It was made to win."

"That marks the end of the game! I will now announce the result," Yomozuki exclaims. "Nishinotouin-san owes Kokoro-san 1.23 billion yen!"

I look back at Mary to see that she's just as shocked as Nishinotouin.

"I think we're done here," Kirari replies.

Yomozuki gets up from her sitting position and waddles behind Kirari, but before she leaves, she looks at her straight at Nishinotouin, who is still staring at the single sword at the center of the board. "You're fired."

Nishinotouin doesn't react. She still remains transfixed at the sword in the "Death" position. Kamagusu, who is at the corner of the room, starts sobbing quietly.

I get up with Mary and I leave the room. Some of the other club members, trying not to burst into tears at their leader's defeat, lead me to the exit of the room.

Mary and I approach the gambling dens and gather up the "council" members. "Hey guys," I announce to my friends. "We're closing up early. Let's go to Shinoki, my treat."