Of course, knowing my luck, the majordomo called an emergency assembly among the palace staff, and we were promptly informed that all non-essential staff were to immediately prioritize preparing accommodations for the dozen-or-so otherworldly heroes who suddenly appeared overnight. The atmosphere was extremely serious, as it was implicitly understood that this event as important as receiving the emperor of a foreign nation as our honored guest.

Heroes were like living gods, and as such they should be treated like one.

However, the major point of complication was that twelve heroes were summoned during this year's ritual. This was unprecedented, and in previous years, the summoning ritual only produced one hero. Currently, the kingdom's ministers were unsure whether all twelve otherworlders were heroes, or if it there was only one true hero amongst a bunch of frauds. To be safe, the higher ups emphasized that the guests should be treated equally, and for the time being we were instructed to service all of them like royalty.

In principle, this reasoning was perfectly sound, but in practice, there was a major logistical problem...

The royal palace simply didn't have enough luxury guest rooms suitable for twelve kings.

In fact, there were only three guest rooms that were reserved for foreign dignitaries, and one of them was currently occupied by the Prince of Xandu. At the next tier, there was eight guest rooms suitable for diplomats and influential generals, and then at the lowest tier there were forty "cheap" guest rooms appropriate for merchants and minor aristocrats.

Housing the heroes in the "cheap" rooms was obviously unthinkable, as the kingdom's Prime Minister was sure that this would be perceived a political insult. Of course, I knew that my classmates wouldn't have been offended regardless of where they were placed, but it wasn't my place to speak up as a random peasant maid with no credibility or status.

Instead, I watched blankly as my managers and superiors panicked over this logistical crisis.

According to the inventory report, there wasn't enough wine, steak, candied nuts, or silk-woven pillow cases.

Similarly, there also weren't enough handmaidens and skilled courtiers. While there were plenty of maids in the palace, most of us were low-born and not qualified to serve the nobility directly. It would be a terrible idea to assign an untrained and uncouth dishwasher to wait upon a hero, so it was necessary to summon specialized courtesans from the red light district in case they were requested by the guests.

Also, there were many other issues like—

Wait a minute.

None of this was my problem.

It wasn't my problem!

I was just a simple peasant maid whose only job was to follow orders.

There was no reason for me to get stressed over this.

My manager shouted in a few random directions with instructions, and I innocently ran off to keep myself busy. Ultimately, it was decided that the Prime Minister would temporarily move out of his own room, and all of the best rooms in the palace would be requisitioned for the heroes. Four of the Otherworlders would receive more luxurious suites than the rest, but someone must have decided that this room shuffling option was preferable. In the meantime, the Prime Minister's room and the Prince of Xandu's guest room needed to be cleaned and vacated.

I spent the majority of my shift packing trinkets the Prime Minister's office and dusting the furniture.

I wasn't in any hurry to finish, as I would inevitably only receive more work as soon as I finished my current task. That said, I couldn't work too slow, or else I would get scolded. Thankfully, I was an experienced and well-respected maid, and I had an approximate sense of my pace and productivity relative to my co-workers. In high school, I always believed in doing the minimal amount of work to stay above average, and it's interesting to see how this same philosophy stays relevant no matter where I go.

It gave me plenty of time to think.

I really needed to think about this situation very carefully.

There was one critical discrepancy that sat at the forefront of my mind.

The majordomo had explicitly said that twelve heroes had arrived during the summoning ritual.

However, there was a total of 23 students in my class.

Which raised the million dollar question—

Where had everyone else gone?

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