Nighttime finally falls, and although I haven’t done much other than sit in a carriage for half a day and stay in a luxurious room trying to find enough pillows for a makeshift bed, I felt extremely tired.

“Hey, Hilde, let me have your pillow,” I demand.

“No! The pillows are sooo comfortable!” Hilde complains as he clings to his last pillow.

“It’s exactly because they’re so comfortable that I need them!” I yell as I position myself on top of him and grab onto the pillow.

Hilde yelps and begins tearing up, “Rin is having his way with me!”

“D-Don’t say something that!”

I sigh and surrender the pillow to Hilde.

Everyone had just finished taking a bath and changed into silken pajamas gifted to us by the Queen of Eskal. I’ve never really worn pajamas when going to sleep, I usually just slept in my boxers, but feeling the quality and softness of the pajamas were enough to make me change my old ways.

Of course, I also didn’t plan on revealing myself in boxers to my party members.

Roy, Liz, and Isabel were at the dining table, discussing something that I wasn’t really focusing on. I assumed that they were discussing something important since they had serious looks on each of their faces.

As I hop off Hilde’s bed and onto my makeshift one on the floor, the door is softly knocked on.

Isabel glares at me from her chair and points to the door.

Seriously? I just lied down.

I sigh and make my way to the door. As I walk past the table, I catch a glimpse of papers filled with drawings of circles and arrows spread out all over the table. I fight my curiosity to ask what was on those notes and continue on my way to the door.

When I finally reach the door and swing it wide open, my mouth instantly drops as standing right outside the door…was a beautiful girl in a black and white maid outfit.

My mind begins racing at a million miles an hour as I struggle to speak up.

“H-hello there…”

“Dinner’s ready.” The maid announces in an elegant voice as she pulls out a trolley filled with plates covered with tinfoil behind her.

“Right, uhm, t-thank you.” I stutter as I pull the trolley inside of the room.

I turn around to close the door, but the maid quickly stops the door with her arm. She looks up at me with an adorable expression with her cheeks all flushed up. My heart wasn’t able to handle the maid as I almost shouted out “Cute!!!” at the top of my lungs.

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“I-I almost forgot to hand this over to you.” The maid softly whispers as she hands over an envelope.

I-is this…

The maid looks away from me and shyly hugs her shoulders.

This has to be… a love letter!

The maid regains eye contact with me, and I feel my own cheeks burning up as well.

“It’s an official notice from the organizers of the Summoner Games, please give it to your Summoner.”

I slump my shoulders in pain and defeat.

As if I would be getting any love letters…

I thank the maid for the food and close the door.

“Everyone! We’ve got dinner.” I call out, “Oh, Isabel, there’s also a notice from the organizers for you.”

* * *

After dinner, Isabel opens the envelope and stands in the middle of the room like a performer.

“Attention all Summoners and Spirits, due to the increased number of Summoners signed up this year, we’re cutting out parties with Summoners that have below the average level of Mana.” Isabel reads out, “During the checkup of Summoner: Isabel Virac, we’ve determined that this Summoner has enough Mana to qualify.

Hilde claps his hands, “Amazing Summoner! You’re qualified!”

Isabel places her hands at her hips and puffs out her chest, “It’s only natural that I would qualify.”

She sure is full of herself…and my eyes are moving on their own right now.

I finally peel my eyes away from Isabel’s chest as she looks back into the envelope and pulls out another piece of paper. Her eyes widen in shock as she reads out the contents of the paper.

“P.S. After a vote by the fans and the sponsors, the qualifier matches for this year are to be reduced to an All or Nothing battle.”

“That’s quite unfortunate.” Roy sighs.

Confused, I turn to Roy. “What’s an All or Nothing battle?”

He grabs his plate and walks over to the sink. “As the name states, it’s all or nothing once we enter the stage. It basically means all Summoners are going to have one match only to qualify.”

“In other words, instead of winning a required amount like usual, we have to win whoever we’re up against, or else we’re out,” Liz adds.

Isabel scans the paper once again.

“We’re lucky,” Isabel sighs, “Our qualifier match is also up against a rookie. We shouldn’t have to worry too much about the level differences.”

Isabel mentions that last part while staring at me with a cold glare. I wasn’t going to give up the fight, so I stare back at her with a painfully obvious fake smile.

Don’t you act like it’s my fault, I’m not in control here.

After a mild staring contest, I get up and make my way to the sink to help Roy with the dishes. Soon enough, we start to get into a comfortable rhythm with him washing the dishes and handing them over for me to dry with a towel.

Suddenly, I start hearing Liz and Isabel whispering behind us. Even though they were whispering, I was able to pick up what they were saying.

“So…who do you think is the bottom?” Liz whispers.

What?

“Why are you saying these things to me?” Isabel whispers back.

“Oh, come on, look at those two in sync. Wouldn’t it be kind of hot?”

“W-well, if I had to answer, I’d probably say Rin is the bottom?”

I have an idea of what these ladies are whispering about, but I don’t know if I want to find out!

“Really?” Liz loudly whispers, “I think Roy would be the bottom.”

“T-that’s impossible, look at the size difference…”

“Wouldn’t that be spicy though? If in battle, Roy is obviously stronger, but in bed…Rin had the upper hand…”

!?!?!?!

I instantly turn around and glare at the two ladies. The pair of them quickly stumble over themselves as they avert their gaze from each other.

I advance towards them to question them, but Liz stands up and loudly announces, “Man! I’m suuuper tired, I’m off to bed now. Good night, everyone!”

Isabel quickly stands up as well, “Y-yeah, me too, let’s just use some battle plan we learned in Eskal for tomorrow.”

I turn to Roy for assistance, but he remained perfectly still. At first, I thought he must’ve not heard them, but slowly, his ears began turning pink.

You’re kidding me…