Looking around, there was not a single table that was set up, two drinks connected with heart-shaped straws, or a so-called "support group" that was constantly making noise.

After Sister Glasses confirmed that none of the aforementioned people or items were present, she let out a sigh of relief.

"Great, I didn't come to the wrong place. This is still a place for showdowns, not some kind of blind date for a legal loli..." Sister Glasses muttered to herself, still in shock from Curyl's sudden confession. She had almost mistaken the location.

Her reaction was relatively normal, but what was abnormal was the crowded audience.

People who were always craving for gossip were searching in the direction of Curyl's voice, hoping to catch a glimpse of their "senior" and see what they looked like.

Children under the age of ten were searching, as well as elderly grandmothers over seventy. Lucia, who was covering her cheeks with a fan, was also searching.

The first two groups of people were generally sincere in their search.

Only the last mentioned person had mixed into the crowd during the chaos, pretending to be unaware and indifferent.

After personally heating up the atmosphere on the scene, Curyl seemed to feel unsatisfied and turned to look at his perceived rival.

Wang Xiaole was somewhat worried about Lucia's situation and was too busy scanning the crowd with his eyes, not paying much attention to what was in front of him.

When Curyl's shout entered his ears, Wang Xiaole reflexively turned around, realizing the heavily charged statement:

"Let's have a duel without regrets, with the stakes being the 'right to stay by the senior's side'! If you lose, you must permanently disappear from the senior's life."

"What if I win?"

"If you win this time, I will continue to work hard until the day I completely defeat you."

"That's a surefire bet... What are you thinking? Do you really think there's something that good? Come up with a more substantial punishment."

Wang Xiaole didn't want to argue with Curyl, but he was simply not interested in a bet that yielded no rewards. A bet without rewards was like a galgame without any perks, always leaving a sense of something missing.

However, Curyl did not agree with this perspective. Instead, he raised his little nose and asked in a confident manner, "Why should I follow the orders of my rival?"

"With your love, Curyl. Do you really only have this much love for Xiya?" Wang Xiaole retorted.

Curyl choked, resembling a pufferfish being pinched. A bitter groan escaped from his mouth.

Clearly, Wang Xiaole couldn't overlook this reaction from the other party and immediately launched an "onslaught".

"Well, I thought you were a rival worthy of consideration, but it seems that I was mistaken."

"I'm not like you said."

"No, you are exactly as I said. Although you emphasize how much you care for the senior, in reality..."

After finishing the metaphorical statement, Wang Xiaole belched as if he had just finished eating, and his gaze turned cold.

Taking this facial expression as a sign, the young man raised a finger (of course not the middle finger), pointing it towards the girl from a distance.

"Curyl, your love is still not enough!"

A gust of wind accompanied the raising of the finger, rushing in along with the sound of the shout, engulfing the surroundings.

The girl's pink twin tails immediately swung high in the wind, along with her endless fighting spirit.

Controlling the wind element to show off, that's the correct way to use magic... Let's not discuss that for now.

In any case, Curyl's fighting spirit was further revealed in her words:

"You want me to make a bet? Alright, I agree to it right here: if I lose the duel later, you can propose a condition."

"The word 'any' equals 'anything', can the condition be anything?" Wang Xiaole's attention immediately focused due to similar wording.

He didn't mean anything else, he just wanted to confirm and repeated the question:

"Anything I propose? Can the condition be anything at all?"

If someone who didn't understand Wang Xiaole saw him, they would think he was showing a sinister smile, a smile that could frighten any lolita creatures.

Curyl trembled and began to regret her rash promise just now.

But since she had said those words in front of so many people, not fulfilling it would inevitably damage her pride as a member of the magic race.

She could only bear the consequences of her own impulsiveness. The girl clenched her teeth and repeated her promise with all her might:

"If you win, I'll follow whatever condition you propose...But you can't win against me!"

The last part was mainly Curyl reminding herself, otherwise she didn't dare to imagine the consequences of losing.

Provocation or provocation, with Wang Xiaole's proper guidance, this bet finally became interesting.

Both sides of the duel were ready, and Curyl's expression was particularly heavy.

Three, two, one.

After a few even breaths, the magic power in her body was about to burst out as she lightly ran forward.

To Curyl, the target she needed to defeat was right in front of her, and the other party was motionless, standing still.

This opportunity was too good to miss.

With this thought, her speed suddenly increased, and her figure rushed forward like a flowing light, getting closer and closer to the target.

Thump!

In an instant when they faced each other, Curyl jumped up and her palm swept down, attempting to grasp Wang Xiaole.

"Stop!"

Wang Xiaole raised his face and calmly called a halt according to the predetermined arrangement.

It has to be said that Curyl wasn't a completely unreasonable person.

She heard Wang Xiaole saying something strange, so her body instinctively stopped; the hand that was about to sweep down came to a sudden halt before hitting the opponent.

"What are you doing? Can't we fight properly?"

"Hey, calm down. We naturally have to determine the winner; but must we use a way that hurts each other to decide the outcome?"

"Then do you have a better way?"

"Of course I do! The duel method I'm about to tell you is the real 'high-end and upscale' way, much better than fighting ruthlessly one-on-one."

Under Wang Xiaole's wave, Curyl approached out of curiosity. While maintaining a certain distance, she roughly listened to the proposal from the opponent.

"Mumble mumble (whispering)."

"Oh, so there's a duel method like this. But it's so troublesome! Can't we just fight directly?"

"How can that be? This battle is crucial to Siya's future. You should listen to advice. Let's take a more sophisticated approach to the duel."

The wavering in his heart and the change of mind in the next moment;

All of Curyl's various changes in attitude were not for the current rival, but for the girl he cared about.

In the end, Curyl agreed to the proposal and sat down in a relatively clean arena under the curious gaze of Sister Glasses.

This move caused a commotion among the crowd.

Everyone speculated:

"Did the child on the stage get tired of playing and now plan to abstain at the last moment?"

Among the countless skeptical gazes, one belong to Lucia.

This mage thought she understood "dear" to some extent but couldn't guess what Wang Xiaole had just said.

But Lucia didn't need to seriously dwell on it because the answer was officially announced in the next moment:

"Siya, come up and play cards with us."

"Play... huh?"

Before her brain "reconnected," Wang Xiaole went down from the stage and personally took the girl from the "spectator area" to the "combat area."

At first, Lucia couldn't help but tremble when she stood in front of the formidable junior.

"Siya, it's okay. I'm here. She can't just pounce on you here."

The almost instinctual physical reaction was relieved by some comforting words, and Lucia's subsequent behavior appeared calmer.

Now there were three people, but it still wasn't enough.

In order to find the final player, Wang Xiaole intentionally called Sister Glasses:

"Come here. It's also hard work for you as the queen's confidante. You need to find time to relax."

When the consecutive "persuasions" were over, the original referees, combatants, and the girl who should have been a bystander became people sitting together playing cards.

Two of the four people remained unchanged. The main purpose of this card game was still to determine the superior of these two;

The remaining person and one mage's main objective was to provide support from the sidelines.

After some consideration, Wang Xiaole came up with an alternative way of dueling that could be summarized in three words:

Fight. the. Landlord!

This was a peaceful and elegant way of dueling. Due to the limited time, Curyl only remembered one rule:

The game had four players, with the "landlord" being on one side and the other three as the opposing side. The two sides competed, and the first side to run out of cards wins.

At the moment of role allocation, Wang Xiaole voluntarily became the evil landlord;

The remaining three peasants had to form an alliance and work together to achieve the ultimate goal of counterattack.

Even though the three of them were all beginners, considering the situation of "three against one," the strength of the two sides can be considered balanced.

Curyl only needed to do one thing, and that was to, with the cooperation of his two companions, make their side run out of cards before Wang Xiaole's side.

Just one victory would be considered the outcome of the duel.

And now, after explaining the rules to the other two, the game of Landlord officially began!

Wang Xiaole carried 54 cards with him and dealt 3 cards to himself;

Wang Xiaole played the first card, followed by Sister Glasses, Lucia, and Curyl in counterclockwise order.

"An A."

"A 2."

"No."

"A 3. Alright, I'm bigger than 'Groundhog', I've seized the initiative!"

Because of this round's "victory", Curyl raised his hands to the waist and laughed skyward.

In comparison, the atmosphere surrounding the remaining three players was quieter than a Monday morning class.

The three had a common consensus:

This kid (this devil) clearly didn't understand the rules...