Party! Patry! Party! (Middle)

"Mmm~ So delicious!" Iuno cupped her cheeks, the satisfaction of the food making her pretty face beam with happiness. "I never imagined that Blank was such a good cook!"

"Laureate's cooking skills are indeed quite good." Augusta tasted a piece of braised pork ribs and showed an approving expression. "In local parlance, they're like... someone who can grace a formal occasion and also cook in the kitchen?"

"Ahhh~ Just thinking about how Yaya and the others get to eat meals cooked by their partner every day makes me so envious~" Lupa expressed her high regard for Xiao Ling's cooking skills in a unique way, and her little wolf tail swayed left and right with her owner's mood.

"However, I still have to point out a small problem." She pointed to the plate of stir-fried crab. "Did you not wash that plate of crab properly? After a few bites, my mouth felt gritty."

Dania, who was engrossed in eating, suddenly shuddered upon hearing Lupa's comment, and two blushes appeared on her cheeks. She could only bury her head in her rice bowl to hide her embarrassment.

Yes, Dania finally managed to process the pile of live crabs, but she still got pinched several times along the way, and now her pinched fingers are wrapped in bandages.

However, she only guaranteed that she could finish the job; as for how well she did it... judging from Lupa's evaluation, it was probably not satisfactory.

"I'm sorry, it was my oversight." Xiao Ling apologized somewhat sheepishly. "If you really can't finish it, just leave it to me."

Actually, when Xiao Ling received the crabs that Dania had prepared, his first thought was to wash them again, but after seeing that her fingers were bleeding from the crab claws, he suddenly couldn't bear to do it.

He felt that if he washed it again or left it unused, it might dampen the girl's enthusiasm, so he just went ahead and did it anyway, and sure enough...

"It's okay, partner, there's not much left anyway, we can finish it off with a few more bites!" Lupa said, indicating that she didn't mind, and then picked up another piece of crab meat and put it into her bowl.

Augusta and Lupa were the last to return. By the time they finished exercising and opened the villa door, covered in sweat, Xiao Ling and the others were already in the final stages, so they had caught a good time.

The two of them finished half of the food on the table, as they had just finished exercising and needed to replenish their energy.

The little incident about the crabs came to a temporary end, Xiao Ling was about to continue showing off his food when suddenly a pair of chopsticks placed a piece of fish into his rice bowl.

He turned his head and saw, oh~ it was Shorekeeper.

"I made this," the Shorekeeper said with a gentle smile, her voice tinged with anticipation. "Would you like to try it?"

Unable to refuse Xiao Ling's hospitality, he picked up the tender piece of fish and put it in his mouth.

You know what, it's actually quite delicious.

"Mmm~ It's delicious, Shorekeeper. This fish is cooked to my liking."

The Shorekeeper chuckled twice, his mood visibly brightening, his eyes even squinting with joy.

With the Shorekeeper taking the lead, the other girls also joined in, vying to put their favorite dishes into Xiao Ling's bowl one by one.

"Come on, Ling, try this sweet and sour pork."

"A-Yu, try this stir-fried beef with kale!"

"Blank, I think this poached chicken tastes pretty good, so I'll reluctantly share it with you!"

"Hey buddy! Try this stir-fried green peppers with pork too! It's so good with rice!"

Every time Xiao Ling tried to refuse, the girls would forcefully stuff their chopsticks into his rice bowl until it was piled high with food.

Looking at the mountain of food and the expectant eyes of the women, Xiao Ling smiled helplessly.

What else is there to say? Just eat!

After the midday banquet.

"Sister Dania is sleeping so soundly..." Encore observed Dania's peaceful sleeping face and murmured with admiration.

"Yaya loves to sleep in, she can sleep anywhere, sometimes I'm quite envious of her." Sigrika looked at Dania sleeping with her head on her lap, her eyes narrowed and the corners of her mouth curled up.

"Does Sigrika like to sleep too?"

"Of course I like it! After all, you need to be well-rested to have energy and motivation!" Sigrika replied. "If you don't sleep well at night, you'll feel groggy during the day and won't be able to do anything."

"Yeah, yeah! Encore too, if we stay up too late at night we'll feel dizzy in the morning..." Encore earnestly agreed with Sigrika's words.

"But—phew... Encore got up too early today because she wanted to go grocery shopping with Shorekeeper, and now she's a little sleepy..."

"Then why don't you rest your head on my lap for a while?" Sigrika gently patted her left leg and invited tenderly.

"Sigrika, Sigrid!" Encore said sweetly, then quickly got onto the sofa and instinctively rested her head on Sigrika's left leg.

Good afternoon, Sigrika.

"Yes, good afternoon, Xiao Ke."

After watching Encore drift off to sleep, Sigrika felt a surge of relief and unconsciously turned her gaze toward the backyard.

Shortly after Shorekeeper, Tsubaki and Chisa went out. They didn't explain what they were going to do, only that they were going for a walk.

As for Lupa, she went back to her room for a nap after lunch and should be sleeping soundly now.

Xiao Ling followed Aemeath and the others to the backyard, where their conversations and laughter could still be faintly heard.

"What are they doing? I'm so curious!"

Unfortunately, Sigrika is currently tied up, so her little curiosity won't be satisfied anytime soon.

"Catch it!" Augusta's booming voice rang out.

With a bang, the badminton shuttlecock flew over the net like an arrow.

Aemeath shifted her body, gracefully swung her racket, and steadily received the powerful blow.

"Not bad, Little Ai!" Iuno praised. "And what about this attack?"

She leaped lightly into the air, swung her racket, and delivered a magnificent smash.

"This is bad, this is bad!" Lynae said, but her feet didn't stop moving at all. She took small steps, found the landing point of the shuttlecock, and accurately hit it back.

Seeing the girls' ruthless approach, Xiao Ling couldn't help but feel sorry for the badminton shuttlecock that was being whipped around like a top.

By the way, what brand of badminton shuttlecock is this? It's so good quality! It didn't fall apart even after being hit like that by Solaris, the Superman.

He had previously thought that if Aemeath and Lynae played women's doubles badminton, only Augusta and Iuno could really compete with them, but he found out today that Augusta and Iuno were also participating in the school's badminton competition.

There's no better time than now, so the four decided to use a friendly match as an excuse to test each other's abilities.

As for the result...

As the shuttlecock landed, Little Cart immediately blew two whistles.

"The Sun and Moon Team has scored a point, and the score between the Sun and Moon Team and the Demon Orb Team is now four to four!" she said in her sweet voice.

As you can see, the score is very close, with both sides trading blows and refusing to give an inch.

After several more rounds of intense competition, the match was interrupted at halftime due to the exhaustion of Lynae and Iuno.

"I can't take it anymore..." Iuno collapsed to the ground, drenched in sweat, completely abandoning his elegant demeanor. "How strange, how Little Ai, who looks so slender, is almost as strong as Augusta?"

"Haha... really?" Aemeath scratched her head sheepishly.

"Ugh... I'm exhausted..." Lynae was also covered in sweat, her short-sleeved shirt soaked through. "Xiao Ling, why don't you play a couple of games with Little Ai?"

"Me?" Xiao Ling, who was being called on, pointed to herself in shock.

Are you really going to send a male college student, whose physique is only slightly stronger than average, to play badminton against Augusta? Is that really a stretch?

"Cart, why don't you play a couple of games with Augusta?" Iuno invited Cartethyia, who was acting as the referee, to play a couple of games herself.

"But I can't play!" Cartethyia shook her head blankly. "If I play badly, it will affect you guys, right?"

"Badminton isn't difficult, Cartethyia, at least it's not more difficult than what you've faced before," Augusta reassured her. "Besides, how do you know if you can play well if you haven't even tried?"

"Hmm, that's true. Well then, I'll make a fool of myself!"

Cart jogged over to Iuno, took the badminton racket from Iuno with both hands, and said to Augusta with a serious expression, "I'll try my best not to hold you back."

"Don't take it so seriously, Cart. Friendship first, competition second," Xiao Ling, who replaced Lynae on the other side of the net, said gently.

"Also, Augusta, you should tone it down a bit, I still have to cook dinner tonight."

"Good."

The game resumed, this time with Iuno keeping score for both teams.

It has to be said that after Xiao Ling and Cartethyia came on as substitutes, the previously close situation became much clearer, and the outcome of the match was decided in just a few rounds.

Half an hour later.

Cartethyia's progress during this period has been quite remarkable. Judging from the bright smile on her face, she has clearly found enjoyment in badminton.

Little Cart had a lot of fun, but the game eventually had to be decided, so Little Cart needed to get serious.

Then Xiao Ling and Aemeath felt a gust of wind, and when they opened their eyes again, they saw that Cartethyia on the other side of the grid had turned into Fleurdelys.

"Wow~ It's Little Cart's second form~" Aemeath exclaimed in surprise.

It's a pity she can't summon her own mecha form, otherwise she would definitely have shown Little Cart her something.

"This isn't right, is it? Weren't we playing a friendly match? Why are you calling for a substitute player!" Xiao Ling complained, suddenly feeling an urge to throw down her badminton racket and leave.

"Righteous One, deserting in the face of battle is not something a warrior should do," Fleurdelys said to Xiao Ling, unusually defiantly. "Or are you incompetent?"

"Hey? I can do it! I can do it perfectly! Come on, let's keep going!"

Xiao Ling originally intended to make a quick escape, was immediately enraged and decided to fight for another three hundred rounds.

A man can't say he's incapable. Today he's going to prove himself, and even Jesus can't stop him from saying it!

In the end, Xiao Ling was almost beaten to Jesus.

He lay peacefully on the grass, seemingly asleep, but he had actually been gone for a while.

"Uh, Righteous One, are you alright?" Cartethyia a little embarrassed, after all, Xiao Ling's current state was partly due to her own actions.

"I'm fine... I feel like Jesus is beckoning to me..."

He's so stupid, really. He shouldn't have tried to find a reason to vindicate himself and stubbornly played against these superhuman badminton players.

"Alright, stop standing there. Let's carry Blank to the living room to rest. He's probably too weak to even walk in this state," Iuno said, grabbing Xiao Ling's arm and putting it on his shoulder.

Needless to say, Aemeath quickly grabbed Xiao Ling's other arm, and the two of them carried him into the living room, with the others following closely behind.

This friendly badminton match ended with Hajiling completely exhausted.