511 I'm The Prize

So… Since my summons were already out, we ended up just fighting the rest of the teams that were there like that.

It was honestly quite chaotic and I had to fall back to my team while my summons were fighting everyone else.

Well… I guess a more accurate way to describe it was that the place had turned into a war zone.

Fire, lightning, earth, spears and arrows were being shot and thrown around the clearing. Trees were also being uprooted and the ground was being carved up and thrown about.

In the centre of it all, Thora stood there like a statue, watching everything with an unflinching gaze.

Despite all the chaos, none of the attacks hit her.

Selene had the rest of our team surround me in a protective circle, as though expecting a surprise attack to happen at any moment.

That concern was materialised in the form of Katsuki bursting out from the shadows and striking at Selene. Her dagger almost pierced the Meslatar's neck, only to be deflected by her shield at the very last moment.

While all of us turned our attention to Katsuki, a beam of light suddenly shot towards Seraphine, piercing through the centre of her head.

Our Trasif teammate had a look of shock on her face before she disappeared in a flash of light.

A frown appeared on Katsuki's face and she narrowed her eyes at the undergrowth, as though she did not approve of the laser's existence.

We didn't even get a chance to see where the light had came from before another one pierced through Groelle's head, the Wrunch ending up with the same fate as Seraphine.

We were down to our last three members and if even one of us were to fall, that would mean--

Katsuki flashed past and her dagger sliced through Selene's neck.

Ah…

My vision went white and I found myself appearing in a place foreign to me.

The interesting thing was that Mother was there and I had appeared right on top of her lap.

Mother wasn't even surprised by my sudden appearance and merely hugged me to her chest while patting my head, "Ara, ara~ There you are my little one~ How was the training today?"

"Erm… It was ok… Where am I? Where is Selene and the others?"

"Ufufu~ They were teleported back to their camp, my little one~"

"Eh? Then why am I here instead?"

"Ara, ara? I suppose they did not tell my little one~ But you are the prize for the winners of the event~"

Well, that's what I thought… So I wasn't really surprised.

"What kind of prize is it?" I asked.

"Ufufufu~ You'll just have to see later, my little one~"

I'm pretty sure the shiver I felt down my spine was not just my imagination.

I looked up at Mother, "So… What happens now?"

She stroked my head, "Just enjoy this for now my little one~ The battle royale is still ongoing after all~"

Mary then appeared from the side, "Young Mistress, some tea for you."

Ah, looks like the rule to treat as a maid doesn't apply right now… Probably because Mother isn't treating me like one.

Mother giggled and hugged me tighter to her chest, "Ufufufu~ My little one is certainly the cutest in the World~"

"Motherrrr…" I whined.

"Ara, ara? Does my little one want more skinship with Mama? Mama doesn't mind~ Shall we get Mary to prepare a room for us?"

How did it even escalate to that?

"Umm… Maybe not now, Mother…"

Mother did not look surprised by my answer and simply planted a kiss on my head, "Very well~ Let's sleep together tonight then~"

"Eh? Wouldn't I be sleeping with my team mates?"

"Ufufufu~ I'll come find you~"

Is that really ok?

Well… I guess I don't mind…

I was thus stuck in that position for a good hour or so where Mother cuddled me while I sipped on a cup of tea Mary prepared for me.

It felt like just a normal afternoon where I would have tea with Mother. Maybe Mother just didn't want to miss out on our tea times?

Just as I was dozing off a little, Mary spoke up again, "Madam, the winner has been decided."

"Ara, ara? Which team won?"

"Katsuki's team Madam."

"Ufufufu~ As expected of my little one's personal maid~ Very well then, shall we, my little one?"

I turned around, "Where to, Mommy?"

She let me stand up before holding my hand in hers, "Why, to let the winners claim their prize of course~ Mary, if you will?"

The Trasif opened a portal for us and Mother brought us through it without hesitation.

Huh… I thought that going by how we've done this portal thing so far, Mary would first go through it to check before letting us go through.

I wonder what's the criteria for that?

Stepping through the portal, I found myself back at the camp site for the trainees. More specifically, at Katsuki's group's camp site.

Katsuki seemed to have expected me to appear at that time since she was standing in front of me at the exact location that I stepped out of.

The rest of her team were arranged behind her and I noted that all of them were either Nekomatas or Inugami maids.

She bowed, "Welcome Mistress, we are prepared to receive you."

Huh? What's going on?

Mother gave me a light push on my shoulder, "Go on, my little one~ They will take care of you~"

What exactly are they doing to me?

Katsuki then stepped aside to gesture to a table they had somehow set up beforehand.

And no, this was not just a simple table carved out of wood but an elegantly decorated one with plush cushions, tablecloth and silverware.

"Please take a seat, Mistress."

Seriously, what is this?

I took a seat at the chair, still feeling confused about what was going on.

I have to say that I was still wearing my maid uniform by the way, which was why I was quite confused by this.

Katsuki came to my side while the other maids went behind their tent and out of sight.

She gave me a slight bow, "Mistress, please allow me to explain. The winner of the battle royale was allowed to make one request involving Mistress. For our team, we have requested to be allowed to serve you sweets."

…

Err… Ok… I mean… I would ask what the limit was for the request but I guess I should just be glad that this one wasn't too bad…

But why serving me sweets specifically?

Oh! Don't tell me it's because Katsuki knows the other maids might make absurd requests from me so she went for the win instead?

After getting the win, she realised she didn't really want anything and just decided to let me eat sweets?

You know… I would have been fine if she asked me to pat her head or even stroke her tail too, no need to be shy.

Well, since she had already requested for this, I simply just nodded along and waited for them to serve me sweets.

Katsuki went behind her tent for a moment before returning with the rest of her team with plates of sweets rolled out on dessert trolleys.

They laid the plates on the table in front of me, piling it high with sweets of all kinds.

I was already salivating at the smell of the sweets but I refrained from digging in yet since I wasn't sure how they wanted these to be 'served' to me.

Once they had finished arranging all the sweets on the table, they took a few steps back while Katsuki remained at the head of the group.

She bowed, "Mistress, all of this is free for you to eat, please enjoy. We are honoured to serve you."

I didn't really hear everything she said since I was already reaching for the sweets and already consuming them piece by piece.

Ahhhhh~ They're all so good!! So sweet! So good!! Ahhhh!!

Nom nom nom~

There's so many different kinds too!! And I had even thought they would only bring out simple ones because of where we were but that was obviously not the case!

There's cakes, puddings, ice creams, cookies, fudge brownies and so many others that I barely tried to see what it was before I shoved it in my mouth.

Ahhhh!! Too good!!

The sweets are so goooood!!

I licked off the cream on my fingers and felt fully satisfied from my impromptu sweets session.

When I finally recovered enough to look back up again, I found all of Katsuki's team mates having loose expressions on their faces.

Only Katsuki still looked normal, though the fact that her tail was wagging quite furiously showed her real feelings about the current situation.

"Thank you for enjoying our service, Mistress," Katsuki bowed.

Err… You're welcome?

I don't really get it… Actually are the other maids ok? They're just smiling with a fluffy look on their faces while their tails were wagging just as, if not more, furiously as Katsuki's.

Huh… Maybe it's a Nekomata and Inugami thing?

Perhaps the smell of the sweets or maybe the act of service is what makes them happy?

I guess that would explain why they asked for this…

But if I'm not wrong, this doesn't happen at any other time though?

Oh who cares? I get sweets!!