Chapter 619: Rest, and Sandlot Baseball.

We had returned from our two-night, three-day hot spring trip, but naturally, we decided to take a break from going anywhere the next day and rest. Having said that, it wasn’t like we didn’t go out at all. We decided to go out with a few people for shopping, which served as a walk in the neighborhood. The members are me, Kuon, Allis, Yae, Yakumo, Hilda, Frei, Elze, and Linne. Excluding Kuon, this is the ‘Love Moving Our Bodies Team’. The remaining members are staying home. Lu and Arcia apparently are going to cook now. Well, we need enough food for over twenty people every meal… If they don’t start making it now, they might not make it in time. Linze and Elna borrowed manga from Dad’s study at my parents’ house and have been reading them the whole time. Sue, Sakura, Steph, and Yoshino too. Everyone is reading a different genre though. Linze was reading romance manga, Elna heartwarming four-panel comics, Sue adventure manga, Steph gag manga, Yoshino school life manga, and Sakura fantasy manga. I’m not sure if those are their preferences, but it feels like once they read the first volume, they couldn’t stop… Because of Dad’s profession, he says it’s for research, but he does keep hold of hit works. All of them must be interesting. Leen and Quun are also reading, but they were reading specialized books. Dad’s study has a wide range of genres, including reference materials. Leen was reading a book called ‘Ooparts: Heritage of Super Ancient Civilizations’, and Quun was reading ‘Introduction to Submarines’. That Quun, is she planning to build a submarine…? Maybe she thinks since the Doctor built the Varl Albus, she should too. Yumina volunteered to babysit Fuyuka. Although Dad and Mom have work, they aren’t that busy, but they were grateful to have someone look after the child. Apparently, she’ll take turns looking after her with Linze and Sakura. I wanted to stay too, but I felt uneasy without someone to supervise, even if it’s just in the neighborhood… For now, we are heading to a nearby park. Even though half are staying home, walking in a group of nine, mostly children, stands out quite a bit… It’s a combination of the three who look like big sisters (to the eye)—Yae, Hilda, and Elze—and six small children, but from the outside, it’s a mysterious group. Except for me, Yae, and Yakumo, everyone looks like foreign children no matter how you look at it. This town isn’t that urban, so foreigners stand out even more. Well, they stand out, but people don’t really talk to us. Probably because they aren’t confident in speaking foreign languages. There was one frivolous guy who spoke to Hilda in English, but when she took off her wedding ring which has a translation function and replied rapidly in the other world language, he retreated sheepishly.

“Not bad.”

“I was taught by Mother-in-law.”

I see. Mom, good job. After walking for a while, the destination park came into view. It’s relatively large for this area, and there are parents with children here and there even now. Age-wise, they are smaller children than Kuon and me. Well, it’s a weekday, so older kids are probably at school or nursery school. This park has a slide, a horizontal bar, swings, and a small athletic course made of wood. There are benches and an arbor, making it a good place to rest. Some children are kicking a ball in the open space. Parks are noisy about regulations these days, but it seems to be relatively lenient here. I remember coming here with Grandpa to run radio-controlled cars a long time ago…

“Dad, can we go play!?”

“Grand Duke! Me too!”

“Don’t go out of the park.”

“”Okaay!””

Linne and Allis ran toward the playground equipment first. Naturally, Kuon was dragged along too.

“Aren’t Yakumo and Frei going?”

“We are not at the age to frolic on playground equipment…”

“We are big sisters, you know.”

Hmm. Yakumo and Frei are the eldest and second daughters, but they are the same age. Apparently, Yakumo was born a few days earlier. Both are eleven years old. Eleven means fifth grade in elementary school? Indeed, isn’t that the age to play on slides and park equipment? Huh? Then what did they come along for?

“I thought we could practice sword fighting if there is a wide space. Father, could you please take out the wooden swords?”

“Ah, my wooden sword too—”

“No no no, wait wait, that’s bad.”

I stop Yakumo and Frei, who casually say terrifying things. Even if it’s a park with seemingly loose regulations, if people swing wooden swords around clash-clash in a place like this, we’ll definitely be reported!

“Eh? It’s not a real sword, but a wooden sword, you know?”

“In Japan, even a wooden sword is bad…”

Even if you aren’t fighting clash-clash, just practicing swings with a wooden sword might bring a police officer.

“They are thorough, indeed… Are all weapons prohibited?”

“It’s a world without demon beasts, after all. Perhaps it means weapons are unnecessary.”

“Hey, Touya. Are gauntlets no good either?”

“Gauntlets… are also probably no good…”

No, maybe it’s not strictly ‘no good’, but if a police officer finds you, you’ll definitely be questioned. Well, if asked, maybe we can gloss over it by answering ‘It’s cosplay’. Knuckle dusters might be… no, that’s out too. If anything, that’s more vicious. Is there any weapon that wouldn’t be suspicious even if you have it… No? Is there that? I went to the large restroom installed in the park, took out two of those from [Storage] inside a stall, and came back.

“Touya-sama, what is that?”

“It was in the storeroom at Grandpa’s house… I think this won’t be suspicious to some extent…”

What I held out in front of Hilda was a short sword made of urethane foam and covered with cloth, a so-called sports chanbara sword. This is soft, so it won’t hurt even if it hits. I don’t think it will be considered dangerous to have. Maybe we might get questioned, but if we answer ‘There’s a match coming up soon…’, wouldn’t it be okay…? Hilda and Yae, holding the soft swords, swing them lightly two or three times.

“It is a somewhat unreliable weapon, indeed…”

“Well, it’s a weapon designed not to hurt the opponent. Rules-wise, I guess it’s like if you land one hit on the opponent, you win.”

“Simple rules. Yae-san, shall we try once?”

“Let’s do it, indeed.”

The two holding the soft swords face each other with about two meters between them. When the two took their stances with the swords, suddenly a sharp tension began to drift around. Eh, what is this? It’s a playful match, right…? Hilda is in seigan (middle stance), and Yae is in an iai stance, not moving. No, are they inching closer to the opponent’s range? What is this tense atmosphere… Yae moves. The sword drawn from a step-in like lightning heads towards Hilda’s flank. However, Hilda deflects Yae’s sword from below with her returned sword, and with that flow, swings a slash down towards her shoulder. Yae, who was about to be hit, dodged it by a hair’s breadth and took distance again with a backstep. As if chasing, Hilda’s thrust attacks Yae. A fierce exchange of blows continues where neither lets the other hit. No, so what is this? Eventually, with a crisp Pa-an! sound, it was settled. Yae’s sword had hit Hilda’s leg.

“You got me. To think you would strike from that posture.”

“No, it was a gamble, indeed. If you had read it, I would have lost, indeed.”

Both are smiling with a sense of accomplishment, but I felt subtle about them getting so serious… Look, the mothers in the park are watching with dumbfounded eyes.

“Touya, Touya. Isn’t there a soft gauntlet version of this?”

“Unfortunately, there isn’t.”

“Ehh.”

Elze voices her dissatisfaction. No, there might be boxing gloves or open-finger gloves, but if you punch each other wearing those in the park, you’ll get reported after all.

“Looks interesting! I’ll do it next!”

“Ah, me too…!”

Frei and Yakumo receive the soft swords from their mothers respectively and face each other. Again, a tense atmosphere drifted in. With those swords, parrying or deflecting can only be done with the slightly hard base where the core is, so no matter what, it ends up like this I guess. Unable to bear that atmosphere, I decided to go to Kuon and the others playing on the athletic course. The place, made by combining logs and such, had things like climbing ropes arranged like a net, and crossing through several large metal rings hanging just above the ground. All of them are simple things for children to play. Isn’t it too simple and boring for Linne and Allis? Just as I thought that, seeing Linne running on top of the metal rings hanging in the air, I reconsidered that I shouldn’t underestimate children’s ideas. I call Linne, who jumped down from the metal rings, over to me.

“Linne. That playground equipment isn’t meant to be played with like that.”

“But this is more fun…”

“It would be dangerous if other kids imitated you, right? There is no recovery magic or potions here on Earth. If you get injured, you won’t be able to play for days.”

“Ah, right…”

Having managed to persuade Linne, and feeling relieved, the sight of Allis swinging on the swing to the max, doing a flip from the highest point like a gymnast, and landing with a thud! jumped into my eyes. Aaah geez, aaah geez…!

　　　　　　　　　　◇　◇　◇

Having stood out too much due to Allis’s transcendent technique, we retreated from the park as if fleeing. We weren’t filmed on video, right? Well, even if we were, since I cast recognition inhibition magic, I think the image would be full of noise…

“Aww, I wanted to play a little more—”

“No, it’s Allis’s fault, you know?”

Kuon retorts to the complaining Allis. No well, Yakumo and Frei were also having a serious-looking bout, so we stood out quite a bit; it wasn’t only Allis’s fault.

“Ah, they’re playing baseball!”

Frei found people playing sandlot baseball on the riverbank we were walking along. Ah, I played catch with Grandpa here too. Nostalgic.

“Let’s watch for a bit.” “Sounds good. Ah, there are benches over there too, let’s rest a bit.”

There are four benches right down the bank. Are they benches for watching baseball? Might be wrong since it’s a bit far. There are benches right near the baseball field too. Those must be for the match players to sit. Having everyone sit on the distant benches to form a wall, I secretly take out canned juice from [Storage] and hand them out. Of course, the ones that are ice-cold. I sit on the bench too, drinking grape juice while absentmindedly looking towards the baseball field. A team in white uniforms and a team in black uniforms were playing a match. Looking at the scoreboard, it was the top of the third inning. It just started… No, does sandlot baseball only go up to the seventh inning? Well, it’s probably not an official match, so I don’t think there are strict rules. If both sides agree, they can play seven or nine innings. Even so, it’s 6 to 0 in the third inning. Quite a difference.

“The ones in white uniforms over there are all women, indeed.”

“Eh? Really?”

Checking closely after Yae said so, indeed, there are many women? …There are some with good physiques for women, but they seem to be all women. Is it a women’s team versus a men’s team? The losing side is the women’s team. I guess differences in muscle strength and such inevitably show up. As I was thinking that, with a loud Clang!, a batted ball flew towards us.

“Oops.”

Elze calmly catches the flying rubber baseball without a glove. Seeing that, the players froze a little.

“So-sorry!”

The female catcher takes off her mask and bows deeply.

“No problem. I’ll throw it back!”

“Eh?”

“Ah, Elze, go easy—”

Faster than I could speak, with a swish! wind-cutting sound, a throw like a laser beam pierced the catcher’s mitt. Too late… The catcher is flustered by the ball that suddenly appeared in her hand. Knowing Elze, she probably aimed accurately… but what kind of control is that. Something’s stirring over there… Huh? The pitcher and catcher are coming this way?

“Um, excuse me! If you have time now, could you join us as a helper!?”

“Eh? Me?”

Elze, suddenly having two people bow to her, is a bit surprised.

“We have one member feeling unwell, and we can’t play the match… Please!”

“We got approval from the other team saying they don’t mind, so could you please help us somehow?”

“Ummm…”

Elze glances at me. Well, isn’t it fine? If she doesn’t get serious. If she holds back moderately and keeps in mind not to win too much or lose too much. Receiving Elze’s gaze, I nodded slightly.

“If I’ll do.”

“”Thank you very much!””

We also follow Elze as she heads to the bench on the field. A pale-faced woman was sitting on the bench. It seems she is the one who isn’t feeling well. I wonder if she’ll recover if I secretly cast [Recovery]?

“See, I told you. You drank too much yesterday. Just because it was a mixer after a long time, you got carried away—”

“I’m reflecting… urp“

Yeah, maybe I don’t need to heal her. It seems better for her future if this lady reflects a little.

“Elze, you know, right…”

“I know. I won’t go full power. I’ll do it skillfully.”

When I called out to Elze secretly, she winked at me as if to say ‘Leave it to me’. Is it really okay…? It seems Elze will play center field. Elze has dabbled in baseball in Brunhild, so she knows the rules. She sometimes mixed in and played with the Knight Order team too. While I was thinking that, the match resumed. With a nice Crack! sound, the women’s team gets hit again. The batted ball dropped with a plop right in front of Elze in center field. Elze, having moved forward, picks up the ball and immediately throws it to first base with a Swish! A throw like an arrow, similar to the one earlier, pierced the first baseman’s glove, who was ready, with a nice Thwack! sound.

“O-Out…”

The umpire squeezes out a raspy voice. Hmm, Elze is probably holding back considerably, but even so, it has become a play that puts pros to shame… However, it’s helpless even if only Elze in center field is pro-level. Getting hit Crack-Crack, additional points were scored in no time. Just now, the lady at third base who tried to catch the ball, the ball hit her ankle, is she okay?

“Ti-Time!”

The pitcher lady requested a temporary suspension. Players including Elze gather at the pitcher’s mound. I kind of saw the development after this…

“Pitcher change!”

See. Well, I guess they have no other choice. Elze stands on the pitcher’s mound. Since she sometimes pitched in the other world too, Elze should be able to pitch. However, Elze has good speed and control, but she can’t do breaking balls at all… With a sound that made me think an earthquake would happen, Boom!, the ball Elze threw pierced the catcher’s mitt.

“S-Strike!”

The batter, the umpire, and the catcher who caught it all have their eyes wide open. Is it really okay…? She probably threw with suppressed power just now, but didn’t that go about 150 km/h…? After that, Elze continued to throw fastballs and struck out three batters in no time. At least, I don’t think any more points will be scored.

“So-sorry…”

“N-No, I’m the bad one for not catching properly.”

Just as I thought that, the catcher lady came back to the bench holding her left hand. Ouch… if she kept catching those balls, of course that would happen… Elze looks towards us while apologizing. I know. I approach the catcher lady applying an ice pack and cast recovery magic. Healing completely would be suspicious, so I made it recover gradually. It should be healed by the time the match ends.

“If it is alright, I will catch Elze-dono’s balls in your stead, indeed. Since I am used to catching them, there is no problem, indeed.”

“The third baseman there also seems to have hurt her ankle. If you don’t mind, I would like to participate in her stead as well.”

Yae and Hilda volunteered for player substitution. It’s like ‘To see what is right and not do it is want of courage’, but maybe they just thought it looked fun. The catcher and third baseman ladies happily accepted this offer. The third baseman lady’s ankle was swollen red, so I secretly cast the same recovery magic on her as the catcher lady. Just as the batting order was from the third baseman lady, Hilda stands in the batter’s box. The opponent pitcher winds up and throws a ball that, while not as fast as Elze’s, is sharp with a Zoom!

“Strike!”

Did Hilda let the first ball go? Maybe she tried to observe.

“Quite fast, indeed.”

“The opposing pitcher is a player who has even been to Koshien. As expected, it won’t be that easy…”

While the third baseman lady was saying that, with a high-pitched Clang! of a metal bat, I saw the white ball flying away into the distant sky. Oh, it flew.

“Ho-Homerun…”

To the umpire who muttered softly, Hilda bowed slightly and started slowly rounding the bases. Our camp was dumbfounded for a moment, but eventually erupted in cheers yellow enough to be noisy, ‘Kyaa!’. Is the comeback starting?