Ryota raised an eyebrow. "She's the queen of jokers?"
Athena nodded. "That's correct, she's the top-ranked jester in this realm."
The Queen of Joker let out a mischievous laugh. "Fufufu~ Athena, you're making me flustered~"
Athena's expression remained stoic. "That's not a compliment."
The Queen of Joker turned her attention to Ryota. "Oh? And who might this young boy be? I must say, you look quite cute~"
Ryota's cheeks flushed slightly as he thanked her for the compliment.
The Queen of Joker paused for a moment, seemingly surprised that her charm hadn't worked on Ryota. "Ara?~ It didn't take effect?"
Athena said, "That's because his magic stats are quite high."
The Queen of Joker let out a small gasp. "Ahh~ I see~" She patted Ryota's head with a playful grin.
Suddenly, Ares appeared with his arms crossed, looking at the Queen of Jokers. "Hello again, Queen of Jokers."
"Oh, my~ Ares~ Are you unhappy to see me?" The Queen of Jokers teased.
"Huh? Do I look like I'm happy?" Ares retorted with a scowl.
"My, my~ If you keep getting mad at me like that, you might get wrinkles, you know?" The Queen of Jokers joked.
"Shut up," Ares growled, clearly not amused.
Ryota couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy at the tension between the two powerful beings.
Suddenly, a wave of killing intent emanated from Athena. "Enough, both of you." The two fell silent and nodded. "I hope you two know that we are not here to play."
"Yes, Goddess Athena," the Queen of Joker replied, kneeling.
"...My humble apologies," Ares said.
"Can we get straight to the topic?" Athena asked.
"Yes, let's," Ares agreed.
Athena nodded and snapped her fingers. A round table and chairs appeared in the middle, and Ares and the Queen sat down, with Ryota following suit.
"Now let's discuss the matter at hand... Ryota, who was the first person that I transported to this world, will be helping us in this war," Athena announced.
"Goddess Athena," the Queen raised her hand.
"Yes?" Athena asked.
"Are you sure that a mere human can join this war? Especially when we're battling gods here?" the Queen inquired.
"Yes, I trust Ryota's abilities," Athena responded firmly.
"Athena," Ares raised his hand.
"Yes?" Athena asked.
"I'd like to train Ryota after this meeting," Ares said.
"You may... after this meeting," Athena granted.
Ryota listened intently, feeling honored and nervous at the same time.
"Now then... let us start discussing further," Athena said, her voice commanding attention.
After what seemed like hours, the meeting finally came to an end, leaving Ryota feeling completely drained. "Why do I feel worn out from just listening?" he muttered to himself as he began to chant the teleportation spell. But before he could finish, a hand rested on his shoulder.
"Young boy, I forgot to introduce myself," the Queen of Jokers said, bowing respectfully. "My name is Carnivalia, also known as the top jester in the realm."
Ryota raised an eyebrow. "You're not a goddess, right?"
"Well, I will be," she replied with a smirk.
"I see... then can I go now?" Ryota asked, feeling eager to finally rest.
"No, no, no. Wait... Take this," c said, offering him a joker card from her hand.
Confused, Ryota asked, "Why?"
"Oh geez, just take it already," she replied, sounding exasperated.
"...Okay?" Ryota slowly took the Joker card from her hand.
"Fufufu~ Alright young boy, goodbye~," she said, vanishing in an instant, leaving a single rose on the ground. Ryota picked up the rose and examined it closely. "She is a jester," he muttered to himself before finally casting his teleportation spell. <"Teleport">.
After teleporting, Ryota found himself back at the mansion. The lights were turned off, indicating that it was already nighttime. He walked slowly down the hallway, trying not to make a sound. As he did, he was greeted by Synthia.
"Welcome home, Ryota-sama," she said.
"Synthia..." Ryota replied quietly.
"So? How was it? What did you and Athena-sama discuss?" Synthia asked.
"Ah... nothing," Ryota replied.
"...Is that so?" Synthia seemed skeptical.
"Yes... For now, let me rest," Ryota said, feeling a little tired.
"Ryota-sama..."
"Yes?" Ryota turned to look at her.
"N-nothing. You should go take a bath first," Synthia said, blushing slightly.
Ryota nodded, "True," and turned around to head down the hallway toward the bath area. He entered the bath with only a towel covering his lower half and slowly dipped into the hot water, feeling the tension ease from his body with a sigh of relief. "Ahh..."
Looking up at the ceiling, he thought about the events that had just transpired. "War, huh..." As he started to get drowsy, the sound of a sliding door interrupted his relaxation.
"Ryota-sama."
"Hm?" Ryota turned around, and his eyes widened as he saw Synthia approaching the hot bath with only a towel covering her body. "S-Synthia, what are you doing here?"
"As you can see, I'm here to take a bath with you."
"Huh?! But isn't there a girls' bath on the other side?"
"No, I prefer it here."
"...Whatever suits you..." Ryota turned his face slightly, blushing.
"Say, Ryota-sama... What do I look like to you?"
"Huh? What's the sudden question?"
"Just answer it."
"...My cute personal maid who is always sarcastic towards me."
"...I see." Synthia smiled as she slowly walked toward Ryota and hugged him from behind. Ryota was startled, but he closed his eyes. "I can feel her chest," Ryota thought to himself.
"Ryota-sama, if I told you that I like you, what would you say?"
"...I'm not into 3D," Ryota replied with a shrug.
Synthia pinched Ryota's back, causing him to yelp in pain. "O-Ow! Hey!"
"Answer my question seriously," Synthia insisted.
"F-Fine! Jeez." Ryota looked up, deep in thought. "Maybe... I'd accept you."
"And what about Kanna? Yui?"
"I guess I'll also accept them."
"So in the end, you'll be creating a harem, huh?" Synthia remarked a hint of amusement in her voice.
Ryota stayed silent, his face falling as he let out a deep sigh.
"I know you're curious about me and Athena's discussion, but...calm down...I won't disappear," Ryota reassured her.
"...Ryota-sama, you're an idiot," Synthia muttered to herself, but she couldn't help but feel a sense of warmth in her heart.
"Ryota-sama...wanna do it here?" Synthia whispered into his ear, her breath hot against his skin.
"Are you...," Ryota trailed off, unsure of what to say.
"...," Synthia stayed silent, her gaze locked onto his.
"...You're not joking, aren't you?" Ryota finally spoke up, his voice barely above a whisper.
"No," Synthia replied, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"Ryota-sama?" Synthia's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Turn around," Ryota said with a hint of annoyance in his voice.
Synthia gulped and slowly turned around. Ryota then silently muttered a spell <"Teleport"> to his bedroom. He sighed as he dried himself with an extra towel from the closet.
"Not now, Synthia..." He said to himself as he got dressed and lay down on the bed.
"Ever since I've been transported to this world, my life has changed. But it's not normal here since this world still has a medieval-style culture," Ryota mused to himself as he drifted off to sleep.
"Oh? My bad, I didn't mean to peek at your dreams." Carnivalia's voice echoed in Ryota's dream, as she strolled around.
"You're not allowed to look at my dreams, you know?" Ryota said, feeling uneasy about her presence in his dream.
"Fufufu~ Don't be like that, you're an entertaining person after all," Carnivalia replied with a mischievous smile. "Are you mad?"
"Please leave before I do something terrible," Ryota said, trying to keep his cool.
"Why?" Carnivalia asked, intrigued by Ryota's sudden change in demeanor.
"You're not allowed to invade someone's privacy after all," Ryota replied sternly.
"Eh~ Fine fine... Truthfully, I came here to check your stats. It's my first time seeing Ink and Art magic," Carnivalia said, trying to appease Ryota's anger.
"You know about the system?" Ryota asked, surprised by her knowledge.
"Of course~ Everyone knows," Carnivalia said with a playful grin.
"..." Ryota looked away, unsure of what to say next.
"Ryota, my dear, if you want... I can give you a small present," Carnivalia said, a mischievous glint in her eye.
"A present? What could you possibly give me that I don't already have?" Ryota replied, his skepticism clear in his voice.
"That's for me to know and you to find out~" she replied, her sing-song voice grating on Ryota's nerves.
"Fine, just tell me what it is," Ryota relented, exhaustion and annoyance creeping into his voice.
"Fufufu~ If you say please~" she teased, her tone dripping with amusement.
Ryota rolled his eyes, "Please."
"Oh? That's fast, I didn't know your mind is weak," she taunted.
"I'm tired at this point, I just wanted to sleep until you interrupted my dream," he grumbled.
"Wet Dream?~" she giggled.
"Shut it," he snapped, his cheeks flushing in embarrassment.
"Fufufu~ Alright, alright. Take this card," Carnivalia said, handing him a deck card.
"Another deck card? What is it this time?" Ryota asked, inspecting the card.
"A queen? First a Joker card, now a queen? Why do you-" he started, but then he realized that Carnivalia had disappeared.
"That damn jester," Ryota muttered under his breath, wondering what tricks she had up her sleeve.
In the end, Ryota is confused about why Carnivalia keeps giving him a card.