"If we go to the arcade, big brother will win a plushie for you~"
"No cheating!"
"Persuading normally counts as cheating? Then you shouldn't have told me what attractions the amusement park has in the first place!"
Iori watched as Hakuto and Nao bickered. Her pretty little face curved into a smile before she tugged at Hakuto's sleeve.
"Shiratori-nii, let's go to the arcade!"
"Yoshi! A perfect decision!"
Hearing Iori agree to his suggestion, Hakuto couldn't help but ruffle her hair again.
[Ha~? What's this? A special weapon against chibis?]
[It's just that my sincerity moved little Iori.]
[Do you even believe that yourself?]
[Hahaha~ I do, and so what?]
Ignoring Nao's thoughts, Hakuto picked up Iori and headed toward the arcade.
"Let's go, let's go, let's go!"
"Oh~ Let's go!"
Nao rolled her eyes at Hakuto's smug expression. Though she was reluctant, she still silently followed along.
Before long, the three of them arrived at the arcade. Iori's eyes sparkled with curiosity as she took in the dazzling array of machines.
After all, she was still a child. It was normal for her to have never been to a place like this... So why did they go to the amusement park first instead of here?
"As expected of a weekday! So few people! It's practically like having the whole place to ourselves!"
[Could it be that Hakuto is afraid of the giant swinging ride?]
[?? What nonsense? If I use my ability, it's way more thrilling than some giant swinging ride!]
[?? How are you even making this expression in your mind?]
[Damn it, aren't you doing it too!?]
Meanwhile, Iori obediently followed the two, using her ability to create a private space for their banter.
Of course, Hakuto didn't forget his promise. He took Iori's hand and led her to the claw machines.
"President, feel free to do whatever you want."
"As if you actually booked the whole place..."
Nao twitched at his words. Just as she was about to follow them, a particular game machine caught her attention.
Even Nao rarely visited arcades, so it was natural for her to be intrigued by these things.
Curious, she exchanged some money for game tokens and sat in front of the machine to give it a try.
Meanwhile, Hakuto, relying on his superb skills, successfully won a plushie for Iori.
"Shiratori-nii... spending a thousand yen to get this tiny plushie—was it really worth it...?"
Iori stared at the palm-sized plushie in her hands, looking troubled.
"It's fine, it's fine. Totally worth it..."
Even Hakuto himself didn't believe what he just said! What kind of nonsense was this?
He practically had to hit the payout guarantee to finally get one!
He felt like he was about to go berserk. He was so pissed off that he considered using his computational ability to teach the owner a lesson!
"Shiratori-nii... you're saying your inner thoughts out loud..."
"It's fine, just venting..."
Hakuto patted Iori's head. It wasn't that he minded spending the 1,000 yen; he just felt like it wasn't worth it at all.
"Come to think of it... isn't someone missing?"
Only then did Hakuto realize that Nao was nowhere to be seen. No wonder something felt off.
"Shiratori-nii, didn't you tell Tomori-nee to do whatever she wanted?"
"Huh? She really took that seriously?"
Hakuto was incredulous. It was work hours right now, yet Nao had wandered off on her own?
Outrageous! She should get a salary deduction!
With that thought, Hakuto carried Iori and retraced his steps, searching for Nao.
However, before they even found her, they heard her furious shout.
[Damn it! Are you kidding me!!]
Hakuto turned his head toward the source of the voice.
There, Nao was kneeling on the ground in despair, pounding her fists against the floor as if she had made the biggest mistake of her life.
[Huh? When did you become a shonen protagonist?]
Hearing Hakuto's thoughts, Nao slowly raised her head. But the moment she did, she saw the mocking expression on his face.
[What happened? Did the game difficulty break your spirit?]
[N-no... that's not it...]
[Let me see what kind of game could make my dear president react like this.]
[Shiratori-nii... it looks like Tomori-nee was playing a pachinko machine...]
[Oh~ so it was just a pachinko machine... Wait, a pachinko machine!?]
Hearing Iori's thoughts, Hakuto shuddered and almost lost his balance.
Just as she said, behind Nao stood a brightly lit pachinko machine, playing its cheery tunes as if nothing had happened.
"How much did you lose?"
Hearing his question, Nao, who had just gotten up, nearly collapsed again.
"Why are you so sure I lost money?"
"? Come on, you just had that classic shonen protagonist despair face. What else could it be?"
Pachinko in Japan was utterly ridiculous. Every year, countless people went bankrupt because of it.
Men ended up in debt slavery, women had to sell themselves on the streets—gambling addiction was no joke!
And yet, the Japanese government never restricted the spread of pachinko. In fact, more people worked in pachinko-related jobs than in the car manufacturing industry.
Of course, the government was fully aware of its dangers. But they couldn't do anything about it—pachinko generated too much tax revenue, just like the tobacco industry in China.
"Aren't you only 16? I thought the age limit for pachinko was 21..."
"So, how much did you lose?"
"Not that much..."
Nao's pride was strong. Even though Hakuto had mind-reading abilities, he still had no idea how much she had actually lost.
"Alright then, Iori and I will go check out some other games."
[Wait...]
[Wait for what?]
[Aren't you going to try the pachinko machine? It's actually kind of fun...]
[Nope. I don't play gambling games. That'd be ill-gotten gains.]
[It's not ill-gotten, just reclaiming what was lost.]
Hearing Nao's argument, Hakuto almost burst out laughing.
[So you want me to win your money back for you?]
[That's exactly what I mean.]
[But I don't feel like moving right now... What should we do about that?]
[??]
[Oh dear~ What should we do indeed?]
Nao glared at Hakuto's smug face, itching to tear him apart on the spot.
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