“Look at that,” Zophia said. “Nice going, Lily.”

“I see,” Lynga mused. “She must’ve overheard us.”

Loewe scoffed. “That makes her our rival, then.”

The three demi-humans and one elf, now the center of attention, strode confidently to the next game booth.

“Sorry, but I’m winning this,” the lizardwoman said.

“Oh, please,” the werewolf retorted. “Sir Zenos clearly would want me to win.”

“Ha!” the orc scoffed. “This is getting interesting!”

“I will put you in your place,” Lily growled.

“Lily, why are you talking like that?” Zenos asked as the others left him and Carmilla behind.

The wraith once again chuckled. “Ah, the fine scent of a rom-com.”

“Am I the only one out of the loop here?”

All four women vying for the right to confess to Zenos arrived at the next booth, manned by the orcs.

“Hey boss. You playing too?” asked the orc at the front.

“I am,” Loewe confirmed as she stepped forward, cracking her neck. “I can’t afford to lose, no matter what.”

Before her was a rock large enough one would need both arms to carry it. Crossing her arms, Zophia looked at the rock and asked, “What’s the orcs’ game, again?”

“Ha! You’ll see,” Loewe replied confidently, cracking her knuckles. “It’s about breaking this rock with as few hand chops as possible.”

“What the—? What kind of game is that?” Zophia said, baffled.

“Who the heck thinks that’s easy?” Lynga asked, astounded.

“Th-That’s...” Lily stammered, confounded.

“Oh? You guys can’t do this much?” Loewe asked casually. “It’s one of the fundamentals of maidenhood.”

“What the hells kind of maiden smashes a rock?!” Zophia interjected.

Slowly, Loewe raised her right hand, and with a loud shout, brought it down in a swift chop. Her hand crashed loudly against the rock, shattering it into pieces. “Ha ha ha! Behold, true girl power!”

“This is all wrong!” Zophia protested. “You just have stupid brute strength!”

“Who would want to marry someone like that?” Lynga said.

“Hnnngh...”

“Was that Lily who groaned?” Zenos asked.

A new rock was brought over and placed before Zophia. She took two, three deep breaths, then quietly muttered, “Lizard Shield...”

The next moment, her right arm was covered in upright scales. She brought down her fist with force, causing the rock to burst into pieces, but a few smaller chunks remained. In the end, it took her two strikes to fully destroy it.

Zophia clicked her tongue. “I used my secret technique and everything...”

“Phew. That startled me for a moment,” Loewe said. “But I’m the undisputed queen of this game.”

“Don’t cast me aside just yet!” Lynga grumbled. “I’ll show you all true strength.” She stepped forward, raising both hands in the air, a solemn look on her face. In them, she firmly clutched her hand axe.

“Hey! Wait a damn minute!” Loewe protested. “Using an axe is cheating, Lynga!”

“This hand axe is part of my body,” Lynga explained. “My claws transformed into it.”

“And you think we’ll fall for that nonsense?!” Zophia retorted. She and Loewe confiscated the weapon.

Hesitantly, Lynga began to chip away at the rock with her sharp claws, but it took about five chops total to reduce the rock to nothing. “Ugh! Don’t think this is over just yet!”

“It’s my turn next,” Lily said, stepping up beside the frustrated werewolf.

“Wait. I don’t think you can do this, Lily,” Zophia remarked.

“I don’t think you should,” Lynga agreed.

“We do have balloons for kids to chop instead,” Loewe pointed out. “You may want to use one of those.”

“No,” Lily replied, shaking her head with determination despite the demi-human women’s attempts to dissuade her. “It has to be the same conditions as everyone else, or it doesn’t count.”

She flexed her knees, exhaling deeply. The air suddenly grew cold and tense. Someone loudly swallowed in the background.

“Hi-yah!” she exclaimed as her powerful hand chop cut through the air and swung down—

Plip.

A brief silence followed. And then—

“Owww!” Lily cried out, squatting and holding her right hand.

“Well...yeah,” Zophia said.

“She looked like a master for a moment,” Lynga mused.

“That scared me for a second,” Loewe added.

“Lily!” Zenos exclaimed, rushing to her side. “Are you all right?!” He checked her reddened right hand, then breathed a sigh of relief upon determining it wasn’t broken.