"Alright, that settles it. I will be the playmaker for now. You are free to disagree if you see a better move." I proclaimed.
"Playmaker?" Solaris asked.
Right. Of course. The term meant nothing here.
"It is something I coined," I said.
"Think of it as the one who handles overall strategy. Reading the field, deciding where we push and when we stall. I deal with the flow of the clash, hence the word playmaker."
She scrutinized me for a second.
"I do not enjoy taking orders from someone I consider inferior," she said calmly.
"Still, I will allow it for now. I have yet to fully grasp your capabilities."
"Fair enough," I said, unfazed.
I turned to Kenth. "What about you?"
He hesitated, then glanced at Solaris.
"Would it not make more sense for her to take that role? She will be our backliner. Wider vision. Less pressure."
I nodded. "Normally in most situations, yes."
"But Excellia students are never normal," Solaris said quietly.
A small smile crept onto my face. "Exactly, Princess. You catch on quickly."
She lifted her chin. "Naturally. I am perfect. Now explain why you should lead instead of me."
"It is simple," I said.
"Because there is one person in this field who can completely invalidate the rules of this match, and I know her quite well."
Her eyes sharpened. "Invalidate?"
"Why do you think Sir Heather removed Maku from Tasora's team?"
"To balance the field," Solaris replied immediately.
"He said it was to even out the playing field. That could mean giving the rest of us a handicap, or, since there are twenty students in total, restructuring the groups and adding himself as a fix."Solaris assessed.
"The latter is unlikely. Sir Heather is nothing like Miss Zmey. He is not brash, and he prefers everything to be organized and systematic," she concluded.
Kenth nodded a little too quickly. "Especially the Zmey part."
I caught the flicker of irritation on his face. Looks like he is still pissed with the loom practice incident.
I filed the thought away and went back to the topic.
"You are correct again, Princess," I continued. "Still, there is another factor."
Solaris crossed her arms. "Which is?"
"Point distribution."
She paused, then tilted her head slightly.
A thinking posture. After a moment, she nodded. "I see."
Kenth shifted beside me, restless, clearly lost.
Seriously, just ask me dude. Well, I guess his walls aren't down for us yet.
I cleared my throat and laid it out.
"Tasora has only one teammate now. If she attacks a base alone, the capture time stays at sixty seconds without another teammate helping her out. That leaves one person guarding their original point."
"If she stays to defend instead, her only teammate is free to capture other bases with limited chances of succeeding with no backup."
"If both move together, whatever they take remains undefended. They are forced back into the same cycle."
"Finaly since this game counts your original bases as three points, then defending has higher priority than attacking."
Kenth's eyes narrowed. "So Tasora will have no other choice but to prioritize defending. So what's the issue?"
"The issue is that those numbers do not change everything," I replied.
"If Tasora targets a base, defending it becomes meaningless. If she decides to protect one, capturing it becomes impossible."
I looked between the two of them.
"That is why she invalidates the competition. The rules bend around her presence."
I paused, then exhaled.
"And that is where I come in."
Both of them turned their attention fully to me.
"As unfortunate as it sounds, I probably know Tasora better than she knows herself. Her habits. Her impatience. Her mindset and more."
I paused, choosing my words.
"Because of that, I will need your full cooperation once the fight starts. I will be adjusting calls on the fly, sometimes mid-engagement. If I change direction, we change with it. Instantly."
I looked at them, one after the other.
"No pauses. No overthinking. Just trust the call and move together."
For a brief moment, neither spoke.
Then Solaris nodded slowly.
"If your judgment fails to uphold perfection, then I will hold you accountable. Until then, I will comply," she said.
Kenth followed with a shorter nod. "Just don't overextend."
I exhaled.
"Good," I said.
"That is all I need. Are we ready?"
Before either of them could respond, Heather's voice cut across the field.
"Representatives. Forward."
I blinked.
Both Kenth and Solaris turned their eyes on me at the same time.
"…Why are you both looking at me?" I said.
Just because it's decided that I was the playmaker did not mean I had agreed to be the representative.
Neither of them spoke.
I sighed. "Of course."
I stepped away from our group and headed toward the front.
Several other students were already gathering there. I recognized Maku immediately, standing beside Finster. Azalea was there as well, along with representatives from three other groups I did not know yet.
Heather waited until everyone had assembled, then handed each of us a slip of paper.
"Team assignments."
I unfolded mine.
4.
"…Seriously?" I muttered.
I squinted at the number as if it might change out of spite.
"You know, giving a four to an Asian is considered terrible luck," I said under my breath. "Or maybe I'm just imagining things."
Heather either did not hear me or chose not to.
My eyes drifted past him, landing on Finster.
Of course.
A protagonist student paired with raw, overwhelming talent. This world really did love him. If a narrative god was watching us, it had already placed its bets.
I folded the slip and walked back to my group.
"We're slot four," I said.
We turned together and located our position. Bottom left corner of the field.
Not great. Not terrible.
It meant we had no one behind our backs. One side of our base was pressed against the edge of the field, which cut off surprise angles and made flanking us harder. Fewer blind spots, fewer directions to constantly monitor.
At the same time, it also meant fewer opportunities. Less neighboring territory meant fewer bases we could realistically contest without overextending.
Safe, yes. Aggressive, not so much.
I lifted my gaze and scanned the field.
Right in the middle, exactly where I expected them, were Tasora and Finster.
I let out a quiet chuckle.
Worst possible position to defend a home base. Surrounded on all sides, no natural barrier, no breathing room.
Strong teams love the center stage until everyone remembers where the pressure converges.
The top left caught my eye next.
Azalea was there, along with Waffel and another girl with gold hair. Azalea noticed us at the same time I noticed her. She gave a light nod, which I returned.
She gave me a confused look, looked back at Kenth, and then realized she was nodding to him, not me.
Just get a room, you two.
I ignored them and noticed the anomaly in the top right.
Maku, Nagi, and Cwal.
Even from this distance, I could feel it. Nagi was still staring holes through me.
Yeah… that tracks. She is still salty that I didn't group with her.
We exchanged brief nods and stepped into our assigned circle.
A soft, clear, emotionless voice echoed.
〈Home Base Status: Salinin Team -Defended〉
A shadow passed overhead.
Heather floated higher, cloak catching the wind as if the air itself made space for him. The chatter across the field thinned, then died completely when his voice carried over us.
"Before we begin, I will clarify the rules one final time."
A faint glow traced beneath our home base as he gestured downward.
"There are seven home bases in total."
His hand swept slowly across the field, marking them one by one.
"Top left. Top middle. Top right. Bottom left. Bottom right and lastly Center."
As he spoke, the circles etched into the grass pulsed faintly, and their borders flickered into clarity before fading again.
"Each team has exactly one designated home base. That base is worth three points if successfully defended until the end of the match."
His gaze sharpened.
"Other bases may be captured by occupying their circle uninterrupted. Sixty seconds for a single participant. Thirty seconds if two are present. Fifteen seconds if three are present."
"A base may only be captured if no opposing students are standing within the circle."
"The match duration is thirty minutes. When time expires, all current captures freeze. Scores are finalized immediately."
He lowered slightly, eyes sweeping over us one row at a time.
"Safety rules are simple. No killing. No permanent injury. Anything that would cripple, maim, or permanently alter another student is prohibited."
His voice hardened.
"Deception, ambush, displacement, and sabotage. If you can justify it as non-lethal, it is allowed."
A faint smile touched his lips.
"If you are unsure whether something crosses the line, assume it does."
He glanced around once more.
"Any questions?"
For a heartbeat, the field held its breath.
"No, sir!" the response came back from all of us in near-perfect unison.
Heather nodded, satisfied.
"Good."
He rose higher, thrum flaring bright, casting a wide barrier enough to cast long shadows across the grass.
"Match starts in one hundred and twenty seconds."
The glow intensified.
"Weavers of Excellia," his voice rang out, "Procure!"
"Weavers of Excellia, Prevail!"
"Weavers of Excellia, Proceed!" he declared.
I exhaled slowly and glanced back at my teammates.
I was nervous. I could admit that much. This was my first real match in a coordinated group.
I expected Kenth to be stiff and finicky, given his personality, and Solaris to be nervous with her perfect standards.
Instead, I saw something else entirely.
Kenth's posture had changed. His shoulders were squared, fingers flexing slightly at his side. His eyes were sharp, locked on the field ahead, every trace of hesitation burned away.
Solaris stood perfectly still, staff grounded at her side. Her expression was calm, almost serene, yet the air around her felt colder.
They were not anxious.
They were ready, fired up even.
That was when it hit me.
Right. These two....
As guarded and solitary as they were, they shared one thing in common.
They hated losing more than anything else.
I smiled.
Yeah. This might actually work.