Chapter 132: The Board Game Party
[You wanted to invite Tomoe Gozen to play board games together.]
[But this path was never meant to be peaceful—when you had the intention of inviting Tomoe Gozen, the other girls were already thinking of ways to join in.]
[Before you could even invite Tomoe Gozen, all the girls had already joined first.]
[This had turned into a nighttime party where everyone participated.]
[A while later.]
"Hm? You boys want to invite me to play board games?"
Tomoe Gozen, who was quietly sitting on a lounge chair gazing at the river, looked at them with slight doubt.
"It's fine if you want to, but I'm not very good at board games. I just hope I won't spoil the fun for you all..."
"It's okay, it's okay,"
Eikou shook his head, reassuring her,
"We're playing board games just to relax our minds, and besides..."
He pointed toward the nearby camp area, where everyone had already joined several folding tables together to make one big table large enough to accommodate everyone.
"Everyone's already here, how could we possibly leave you out..."
Eikou said helplessly.
Looking on the bright side, it was indeed a naturally inviting atmosphere—since everyone was playing together, Tomoe Gozen would feel awkward if she didn't join.
[Tomoe Gozen has accepted your invitation to play board games.]
[However, when everyone finally gathered around the table, you suddenly realized a very serious problem.]
"This isn't good..."
Eikou looked at the table, crowded with heads, and a bead of sweat slid down his face.
There were eleven players sitting there—way too many!
His board games only supported up to 2 to 6 players at most; a single board game couldn't possibly fit that many people.
Even if there really existed a board game that could handle that many players, it would definitely be overly complicated and tedious—not suitable at all for a casual player like Tomoe Gozen.
This game server was already overloaded. Now they needed to figure out how to kick out a few players!
"..."
In a brief instant, all the male students exchanged looks with one another.
"We're doomed, we didn't bring any board games that can be played with this many people." Eikou conveyed with his eyes.
"Don't worry, the number of players isn't a problem,"
Tristan replied with a look,
"With Tomoe Gozen's personality, she'll probably be generous enough to withdraw voluntarily at a time like this, helping us reduce the number of players, so you don't need to worry about it being too crowded."
But wouldn't that just make things worse?!
Why don't you just tell me to withdraw instead—then we'd have one less person already!
Wait a minute—if the player count is overloaded...
Then why not just open another server?
"Aiyaya,"
Eikou said, pretending to be casual,
"Didn't expect so many people to want to play. In that case, let's split into two groups. Tomoe Gozen, Tristan, Gawain—how about the few of us play together in one group?"
Before he could even finish speaking, Melusine immediately stood up.
"In that case, I'll sit at your table too."
The adorable Naughty Dragon flashed a sweet smile.
"I want to sit at the same table as Eikou too," Marie Alter said immediately.
"I also want to be with Eikou!" Jeanne White added cheerfully.
The other girls also fixed their gazes on him.
"?"
Feeling the stares of all the girls, Eikou broke into a cold sweat.
What the hell is going on here? Why does this feel less like a board game session and more like a battlefield where everyone's trying to carve me up piece by piece?!
Eikou was troubled—if things kept going this way, how was he supposed to interact properly with Tomoe Gozen?
The male students also noticed his predicament.
"Marie Alter and Melusine are too assertive—there's no way to drive them off..."
"No choice then, we'll just have to find a way to lure some of the other girls away..."
As his comrades from the previous party, there was no way they'd stand by and watch Eikou struggle alone!
Marie Alter and Melusine were immovable, but among the others, there were still kind or soft-hearted girls who might be willing to help!
The first to take the lead were Tristan and Gawain. Both stood up at once, turned to Artoria—who was looking like she wanted to join in—and said, "My King, please, at all costs, be on our team! Let Sir Eikou play with them this time!"
"Hm, but I'd rather play with Eikou..."
"Please, we beg you—we must play UNO with you!"
"Bradamante too!" Charlemagne said to the female knight beside him, "Please, this is a formal request from your leader!"
"?"
...
[Your comrades have done everything they could to draw the attention of some of the girls.]
[After a round of back-and-forth, you finally managed to divide the teams.]
[To help reduce your group size, the male students who were supposed to act as your wingmen were forced to withdraw, successfully diverting part of the girls' attention elsewhere.]
[At last, you managed to form a proper board game lineup.]
[You, Jeanne Alter, Jeanne White, Marie Antoinette, Tomoe Gozen, and Melusine—were all seated at the same table.]
[Though still a bit crowded, you could finally begin the game.]
Eikou looked at the all-female group sitting in front of him.
Except for Jeanne Alter and Tomoe Gozen, it seemed that no one here was simple.
These infatuated girls—each one had a level of "offense" higher than the last.
For some reason, the atmosphere felt a bit heavy and uneasy, carrying a faint scent of gunpowder. Only Tomoe Gozen seemed to have no idea what was going on.
"So, what should we play next? Let's start with Cheating Moth first, shall we?" Eikou was the first to suggest.
"Hm, but last time after our exams, when we had that celebration party at Her Majesty's house, didn't we already play that several times?" Melusine said.
"Is that so..."
"That Cheating Moth thing, I don't really get it,"
Jeanne White said with a sweet smile, moving close to his seat and wrapping her arm around his in an extremely intimate gesture.
Her dazzling violet-blue eyes carried a hint of faint, alluring reproach.
"Eikou-kun, can you teach onee-san a game that's simpler and more fun?"
Pfft～
Soft, and big!
Feeling her suggestive tone and the warmth of her body through their clothes, Eikou's heartbeat unconsciously quickened.
Was she really that pure, flawless saint everyone talked about? How could every one of her gestures be so irresistibly seductive?
"So, what do you girls want to play?" Eikou asked.
All the girls replied in unison, "Truth or Dare!"
You girls are way too predictable—what kind of dark desires are you bringing into this game?!
Only Jeanne Alter didn't answer. She sat there with her arms folded, a dark expression on her face, sipping cola through a straw.
That straw had already been bitten and crumpled by her.
"Truth or Dare, huh..."
Eikou suddenly felt a headache coming on.
He had a bit of trauma from playing Truth or Dare. The last time he played it with Yu Ji—don't even mention it, it was so embarrassing he wanted to die.
But to be fair, with this many people, Truth or Dare really was the easiest game to play.
[The atmosphere has turned into one that makes it impossible to refuse.]
[You agreed to their request.]
[Game start.]
...