Mockery!

Fukuda Tsukasa knew this tournament had attracted considerable attention.

Ordinary people rarely got the chance to compete alongside professional players.

So quite a few regular people had entered the tournament for that very reason.

For people like them, winning was naturally out of the question.

Still, the participation of these clueless people could increase the final prize pool for this new kind of tournament.

In ordinary Shogi tournaments, players received a match fee simply for participating.

But that fee was determined by the player's registered rank.

The stronger the player, the more substantial their match fee would be even if they lost.

For low-ranked players, however, the match fee was extremely meager regardless of whether they won or lost.

Many players kept working hard at Shogi, yet their income never improved.

But in this tournament, the more consecutive wins one achieved, the larger the prize money would become.

Most players had come because they could earn prize money for every game they won.

They planned to win a few games and get some prize money.

With good luck, they might even walk away with over a hundred thousand yen before encountering a professional player!

Not to mention professional players and titleholders.

They had come for even greater prize money, or to raise their own profiles.

Even Reward Association players with some modest reputation like him would probably be crushed within a few rounds against them.

Let alone an ordinary person like Natsume Chikage.

Still, someone was basically handing over money.

Why not take it?

He even wished there were more idiots like that. That would give him a better chance of earning even more prize money in this tournament!

He was even looking forward to facing Natsume Chikage. The guy was practically a walking pile of cash!

Fukuda Tsukasa smiled and urged her on.

"Come on, Horikawa-san. The rules never said ordinary people aren't allowed to participate. Can you hurry up and register him?"

"And there are people waiting behind us. If you keep dragging this out, they're going to start cursing at you!"

Horikawa Kaori had no right to stop an ordinary person from entering the tournament.

But in the end, she could not help offering a hint.

"If you're certain you wish to participate, Natsume-kun, please pay the 20,000-yen registration fee here."

For an ordinary student, 20,000 yen was truly a lot of money!

A typical high school student's weekly allowance was really only two or three thousand yen.

She hoped a student like Natsume Chikage would not waste money on something like this.

Because this tournament was truly, incredibly difficult!

There were no exceptions for any players. Everyone had to start from zero and fight their way step by step to the end.

In the early stages, a single loss meant immediate elimination, with no exceptions!

Only from the round of sixteen onward would matches use a best-of-three format.

So even Reward Association players like Fukuda Tsukasa had a certain chance of facing a professional player in the first round, or even one of the strongest titleholders in the Shogi world!

Natsume Chikage said nothing more. He directly took 20,000 yen from his flat wallet and handed it to Horikawa Kaori.

Horikawa Kaori sighed inwardly, but she could only accept it.

"I have received your registration fee and application form. Tournament information will be sent to your phone or email later, so please check it and arrive at the venue on time..."

Natsume Chikage thanked her.

"Thank you."

With that, he left.

Fukuda Tsukasa knew Horikawa Kaori. He had played several games against her at the Shogi Association before.

They could be considered old acquaintances.

He stepped forward and spoke to Horikawa Kaori behind the counter in a sarcastic tone.

"I could tell at a glance that Natsume-kun was an extraordinary talent!"

"He's definitely going to take first place in this tournament!"

"If any more people like him come to register, remember not to say so much. Just hurry up and get them signed in."

"Don't interfere with other people winning the grand prize, got it?"

Horikawa Kaori knew Fukuda Tsukasa, and she disliked him immensely. Her face immediately turned cold, utterly devoid of the warmth she had shown while speaking with Natsume Chikage.

"Please fill out your information here. When you are done, pay the 20,000-yen registration fee."

Seeing that she ignored him, Fukuda Tsukasa did not get angry. He merely smiled.

He took the form and began filling it out.

After paying the registration fee, he looked in the direction Natsume Chikage had left and could not help praying that he would really run into that fool.

That way, he could secure an easy win!

The Coffee Shop shift started at five o'clock.

Natsume Chikage checked the time on his phone and discovered it was already 4:58. He had nearly been late.

He hurried back to the shop, quickly took out his time card, and placed it against the time clock.

Beep—

The clock displayed exactly 4:59. Perfect timing!

Natsume Chikage let out a long breath, relieved that he had made it back in time.

At that moment.

Fujiwara Aoi, who had just come out, let her gaze settle on Natsume Chikage.

Moonlight Academy's summer uniform consisted of a shirt, tie, and slacks.

Such a simple outfit looked remarkably distinctive on Natsume Chikage.

It could be said that among all the students Fujiwara Aoi had seen today, Natsume Chikage wore it the best.

Even Yamaguchi Hirota, the freshman representative she had seen today, did not look as good in it as Natsume Chikage did.

"That's impressive, Natsume-kun. You still weren't late!"

Hearing her voice, Natsume Chikage turned around.

The lively Fujiwara Aoi came into view.

She had already changed into her work uniform and was standing with her hands on her hips, smiling at him.

Natsume Chikage gave a lucky smile. "Thankfully, the train back wasn't delayed, or I really would have been late. By the way, I heard from my classmates that someone came to the classroom looking for me at noon. Was that you?"

Fujiwara Aoi's face reddened slightly, and she nodded. "Yes..."

"Did you come looking for me because something happened?" Natsume Chikage asked.

Fujiwara Aoi unconsciously twirled a strand of her hair around her finger, looking rather shy.

She thought his classmates had also told him about how she had brought a bento over, so she explained it along the way.

"Actually... I had something I wanted to talk to you about. I thought there would be more time during lunch break, so I could come find you, have lunch together, and talk a little..."

Natsume Chikage suddenly understood.

"I see. So what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

Fujiwara Aoi's eyes flickered, and she cleared her throat.

"It's about the work schedule..."

"Look, it's April now, and school has started, but we still haven't sorted out the shifts."

"So the manager asked me to find out when you can work and when you can't..."

Natsume Chikage nodded.

"I see. Where is the manager? I'll tell him now."

Fujiwara Aoi's eyes flickered as she stammered.

"The manager has the day off today."

"It's just us employees here."

"I haven't filled mine in either... How about, around closing time, we go to the computer together and enter the hours we want to work into the schedule?"

Natsume Chikage agreed. "Sure. Let's do it tonight."

"Mm-hm." Fujiwara Aoi responded happily.

Very soon.

It was nearing ten o'clock.

It was almost time to clock out.

After finishing the cleaning, most of the employees had already left.

In the spacious Coffee Shop, only Natsume Chikage and Fujiwara Aoi remained.