The zombie maid queen and her fluffy bat butler left shortly after the competition ended, not even letting us find out what their names were.

Knowing their names would be nice.

They could actually be referred to by name instead of as “zombie maid queen” and “fluffy bat butler.” But then again… referring to them as those is extra wordy and really drives up each chapter’s word count.

Speaking of which.

Zombie maid queen and fluffy bat butler and Zombie maid queen and fluffy bat butler and Zombie maid queen and fluffy bat butler and Zombie maid queen and fluffy bat butler and Zombie maid queen and fluffy bat butler and Zombie maid queen and fluffy bat butler and Zombie maid queen and fluffy bat butler and Zombie maid queen and fluffy bat butler and Zombie maid queen and fluffy bat butler and Zombie maid queen and fluffy bat butler and Zombie maid queen and fluffy bat butler and Zombie maid queen and fluffy bat butler and Zombie maid queen and fluffy bat butler and Zombie maid queen and fluffy bat butler

Nothing like cheesing word counts so that chapters look longer than they are, right?

Did I know what Window was talking about? Of course not. What I did know, however, was that it was time for another battle.

Actually.

No.

It was time to cuddle.

1. how are you just going to go and narrate that it’s time for something and then change your mind

2. PLEASE WE’RE SUPPOSED TO BE WRAPPING THIS VOLUME UP AND NOW YOU’RE DISTRACTING US FROM THE MAIN PLOT JUST—

actually

Considering that this is a cute fluffy slice-of-life series and not like a serious emotional adventure or anything with legitimate plot, cuddling is probably the most faithful you could be to the “plot.”

So, I guess it’s okay to cuddle.

Wait, who are you even going to cuddle with?

“I’m not sure yet,” I answered. “All I know is that I want to cuddle. So, I’m probably going to cuddle with the first person who I see.”

The next time I blinked, Window was standing in front of me in her human form with a slight blush on her cheeks as she looked away. “W-well, I—I guess I have the misfortune of being the first person you can see.”

I did, in fact, see Window.

But she was not the first person I saw, and Window realized that when she looked up at me.

There was somebody else hanging down in front of me instead.

And that somebody was Vala.

In the time that it took me to blink, Vala lifted herself up onto my shoulders with her wings and positioned herself in such a way that her chest was pressing down against the top of my head as she hung her head upside down in front of my face. “Hehe. I heard there was cuddling involving the first person you see.”

Window, with a defeated expression on her face, stared up at me as if waiting for something.

I knew exactly what she wanted and I was obviously going to invite her to what she wanted, but watching her cheeks stick farther out by the second as she pouted was also cute. So, I waited until her cheeks were puffed all the way out before saying, “I didn’t say I would only cuddle the first person I saw. I just said I’d cuddle them. Never said I wouldn’t also cuddle the second person I saw.”

Window deflated her cheeks and crossed her arms over her chest. “Hmph. It’s not like I want to cuddle with you or anything. Just because you’re the father of our child doesn’t mean I like you. And it definitely doesn’t mean… doesn’t mean that I want to cuddle with—”

“Everybody… everybody is stealing my traits,” Clawdia said, standing off to the side next to us. “That zombie is stealing my maid fetish… nyow you’re stealing my tsundere trait… nyext thing I know there’s going to be another cat girl… and then what am I going to be left with? A mecha? Nyo, somebody’s probably going to get a mecha, too. Or there’s going to be a mecha that turns into a girl, nya…”

Vala finally lifted her head up while pressing her breasts down against my head even harder. “Ooh! A mecha that turns into a cute android girl! She can be a kuudere who says cute things like, ‘I have to hug you to recharge my battery,’ and stuff! A small, cute, kuudere android girl! Or maybe… hehehe… could take a page out of hentai and make her one of those android girls who was originally designed to be a really advanced sex toy but develops sentience… then we can dress her up like a maid and—”

“Nyo!” Clawdia shouted, stomping her feet and hissing. “Enough maids! Two is already too many!”

“Hang on,” I said. “From what I can tell, the zombie maid queen is an actual maid. You just have a fetish for being treated like a maid. Aren’t you the one stealing the maid thing from her if anything? You don’t even have a maid outfit.”

“Why do you think that is?! You’re supposed to strip me and force me to wear one! It’s nyot my fault you haven’t pinned me down and turned me into your personal maid yet, nya!”

“You know what? Fine. Change of plans. Cuddling can wait.”

“Aww,” Vala whined.

“It’s time to turn you into my maid.”

“Ooh. Can I join?”

“You and Window are both helping me.”

“Poggers.”

“What?”

“You know, pog.”

“What’s a pog?”

Vala sighed and leaned forward again to give me an upside-down kiss on my forehead. “You’re such a normie, but I still love you.”

I grabbed her by her horn to tug her down a bit farther so that I could place a kiss of my own against her lips. “Then at least kiss me on the lips.”

“Hehe… lip kisses are great and all, but forehead kisses are what real romance is all about.”

In that case, I pushed her up a bit so that her forehead was right in front of my mouth and kissed that instead. “There.”

“Epic.”

“Ha-hang on,” Clawdia said. “I—I don’t knyow if my heart is ready for this.”

Vala got off of me, allowing me to walk up to Clawdia and grab her by her chin. “You’re not somebody who wants us to wait until your heart is ready for it.”

Clawdia’s ears and tail shot straight up as her entire body blushed. She parted her lips as if to say something, but all they could do was quiver in nervous excitement as her eyes looked up at me with want. Then, to contrast her nodding head, she said, “N-never—I… I’d never want that… nya…”

I leaned over to bring my face directly in front of her own, staring her straight in the eyes while holding her chin still. “Then promise me you don’t want it.”

“I-I—that… n-nya…”

“Just as I thought.” With that, I picked her up with both arms and threw her over to Vala. Thankfully, Vala caught her and had no problem holding Clawdia as if she was as light as a feather.

That made sense considering Vala was actually a gigantic dragon the size of a mountain. Sure, her arms looked pretty thin like one would expect from somebody who stays inside playing games all day, but there was a secret—and immeasurable—strength hiding within them.

“Vala, take her to our bedroom and strip her,” I ordered.

“Strip the cat girl, got it!” Vala replied.

Clawdia stuttered something out, but it was too late. Vala was already flying her over to our bedroom.

“Window,” I continued, “we need a maid dress.”

“What am I supposed to do about that?” Window asked with a tilted head.

“Snap your fingers and spawn out of thin air or something.”

“I’m not going to assist you in your weird fetish play just because you tell me to. Also, stuff like extra outfits are supposed to be unlocked by the gacha and battles, not by ordering me to unlock them.”

“And humans aren’t supposed to be able to hold miniature suns in their hands, but I did. If we’re talking about things that aren’t supposed to be possible or aren’t supposed to happen, I could be here for the next few years listing them off.”

“How is it going to take you years to go through the list when you haven’t even been here for years?!”

“Because that’s just how insane everything and everybody here is.”

“That’s fair, but also dramatic.”

“Everything is dramatic!”

“I’m pretty sure you’re the only one being dramatic right now!”

“I am drama incarnate!”

“You’re going to create Drama-chan at this rate! Wait. That gives me some ideas…”

“Ideas for what?”

“Drama-chan. But we still need Plot Hole-chan before we can get around to introducing other types of Meta-chan girls… wait… Meta-chan. But if there’s a Meta-chan, what about a Fourth Wall-chan? Would they have an abusive relationship? Would Meta-chan abuse Fourth Wall-chan? Wait! Chan-chan! A -chan to symbolize all other -chans! There’s so much potential! Limitless possibilities!”

“It’s times like this when I remember that you’re undoubtedly Vala’s creation.”

“Yeah, yeah. Anyways, since you’ve given me inspiration for more waifus so that this series can be dragged out for an infinite amount of time as you grow a harem so massive that we’re going to need multiple planets just to fit all the waifus on them,” Window paused and snapped her fingers, popping a maid outfit into existence that floated in the air between us. “There.”

“Thanks. Go take it to Vala and Clawdia.”

“You’re not taking it yourself?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because, right now, there are two women in a bedroom and one of them is stripping the other. If I go in there, I’m going to see exactly what’s happening. I’ll know how Vala is doing it. I’ll know how Clawdia is reacting. I’ll see what state Clawdia is in. Now, all of that would be nice. Any man would want to see that. But you know what else I like? Mystery. This is one of those times where the imagination can be even more powerful than reality. As long as I don’t personally witness what’s happening in the room, I’m able to think about all the different possibilities. Maybe Clawdia is letting it happen and blushing while acting all submissive? Maybe she’s putting up a play fight to make it harder for Vala to strip her? Maybe Vala is getting lewd and putting her tail to use? Maybe there’s some biting and kissing? Maybe they’re just awkwardly sitting there in silence waiting for us to get over there? The possibilities are, as you would say, limitless. However, all of those possibilities will be replaced by a singular truth if I go there myself. If you ask me which I would rather have between limitless potential or a single truth, I’m obviously going to choose the former. At least, when it comes to imagining my girlfriends stripping in the bedroom.”

“I think you are Drama-chan at this point.”

“I’ll be whatever I need to be for the safety of my imagination.”

Window sighed and grabbed the maid costume. “I guess I’ll go join them.”

“And once you’re there, the possibilities will only go up and give me even more to imagine.”

A sigh left Window’s lips before she rolled her eyes and stopped right in front of me. “But… before I go…”

“What?”

“Ki-kiss. You kissed Vala… and you held Clawdia all romantically and stuff… but you haven’t…”

Window might have struggled at times, due to either genuine insecurity or because she was just playing it up, but that was alright. I knew what she wanted. That was why I poked her forehead. “Alright. There you go.”

“That’s not at all what I wanted!” Window shouted before kicking my shin. “I want a—!”

I wrapped one arm around Window’s waist while my free hand gently grabbed her by her chin, tilting her head back to make it easier for my lips to press down against her own.

Our kiss lasted for a couple of minutes as Window kept on pushing up against me every time I started to pull back, so I let it last until she was satisfied enough to break it off on her own.

“That’s… that’s better,” Window said, trying to still sound pouty and upset even though she had a wide grin and blissful eyes. “I—I guess I’ll go give them the maid costume now.”

“Good girl,” I said.

“H-hey… does—does it look like I have dog ears?”

“I just kind of assumed you all like being called that at this point.”

“You’re not wrong, but still. You can’t just go around calling girls ‘good girls’ because it’s clearly a common fetish that most if not all of us share!”

“Whatever you say, good girl.”

Window smiled a bit more and started to laugh before forcing herself to transform back into her natural state, leaving the maid costume draped over her. Then, instead of saying anything else, she flew away.

That meant I was left alone with my imagination. Well, I wasn’t really left alone. I was basically never alone.

For example.

Honey tugged my arm from the side and said, “M-Muffin… that looked… nice. If it’s not too much of a pain… can you kiss me like that, too?”

Looking behind her, I saw a line that consisted of her, then Delphi, then Lavi, then Cami, and then I could also see Valkyria swinging around her turret in the distance to grab my attention.

Apparently, everybody was in an extra needy mood after the competition and needed some one-on-one kissing time.

I also had the idea of sending each girl to the bedroom after the kisses, and telling them to tell Window to make enough maid costumes for all of them.

Ending the evening with a battle sounded nice and all originally, but ending it with all of my girlfriends dressed up as maids sounded far, far better.