Chapter 74
Chapter 74
Do the Prisoners Dream of Sports?
[That is too cruel a story.
As long as the influence of an otherworldly outer god remains on her soul, it is undeniable that she is a half-demon.
In that case, wouldn’t it be easier on the mind to simply attribute all responsibility to the demons?]
[No, in this case, wouldn’t it be better to tell her the truth?
If you go out of your way to protect Flora’s honor like that, Baroness of Burem is the one who ends up pitiful.
Flora practically treated her like she was catching mice during their school days.
As the principal, you should pay more attention to staff welfare.]
[I’m also now regretting that I should have just told the truth after seeing Idnia’s reaction.
I had thought it might be better for a sensitive adolescent girl to believe she was a victim rather than learn that her mother was an evil person, but that was unnecessary concern.]
[Then…]
[But I still have my pride, so we’ll leave it as it is for today.]
[Huh?]
[After some time has passed, she will be able to accept the truth if we tell her then. She is that kind of person.]
[I mean, is there any need to go that far? It does hurt one’s pride to retract what one has said in the same place, but still.]
[Enough. That is all.]
Ludwig cut off the telepathic exchange with Rakias and stated firmly to Idnia.
“The term demon is being used too loosely. Fundamentally, you are still human. There is no need to worry about that. Buremhaide did not ask you to join a Wizard Ball team for nothing.”
“For example, Sadia, the Succubus Queen, is actually a species called Anacari in their own language. Yet humans casually refer to them as demons. On the other hand, the beings humans call Demon Kings are not Anacari at all, but entities known as Chosen.”
Rakias provided the explanation.
“Chosen?”
“Yes. They are those chosen by otherworldly outer gods. Long ago, those outer gods have been coveting our world and extending their seductive influence toward humans, elves, and other races alike. Beings that have undergone mutation by accepting such energy are what people generally call demons. The blood flowing in your lineage belongs to the legitimate descendants of Overlord Yurik, but a powerful outer god’s influence has reached you as well. Of course, you have not completely transformed like a demon…”
“Demons are biologically just humans as well.”
“……”
Upon hearing that, Idnia felt something nagging at her mind.
“Oh? Then does that mean I might be an otherworld reincarnator?”
If outer gods are the ones who choose individuals, and those chosen become Demon Kings, then perhaps Idnia, who has been touched by that influence, is also someone who was reincarnated from another world?
For a moment, Idnia was seized by the thought of revealing that she was a reincarnator and seeking advice from Ludwig and Rakias.
However, she soon brushed that thought aside.
Revealing that she was a reincarnator was far too dangerous.
So she shifted the topic back to the Wizard Ball and species examinations.
“Still, the Wizard Ball requires each team to consist of the same species, right? Then there must be a species examination…”
“That only involves a visual inspection of the body. The reason teams are restricted to a single species is due to the strike zone. If a mixed team of fairies and giants were to participate, the strike zones would differ so drastically that the gameplay would become overly complicated, wouldn’t it?
Ah, speaking of which, why don’t we watch a match? It will help you better understand the Wizard Ball.”
“A match?”
“Yes.”
Ludwig said that and took a crystal out from his coat.
“That’s a broadcast crystal. It’s quite expensive. It transmits visual, auditory, and spatial perception from a distant location.”
Rakias explained this and smiled.
“Even so, Ludwig, you do seem to quite enjoy Wizard Ball.”
“Not as much as Buremhaide.”
Ludwig did not deny it entirely.
“By the way, Idnia, how much do you know about Wizard Ball?”
Rakias asked Idnia.
“Honestly, I only know that it’s a game where you hit and throw a ball with a bat… but I am interested. That broadcast crystal also catches my interest.”
Idnia answered honestly.
“This world’s equivalent of video media, I suppose. It probably allows real-time broadcasting.”
After Idnia agreed, Ludwig connected the broadcast crystal to her.
She had already experienced an illusion crystal in Baroness Burem’s class, and this was not much different.
Her vision, hearing, and spatial awareness all shifted to a single location.
It was a spectator stand at a stadium where a Wizard Ball match was underway.
Compared to Earth, it was quite modest, resembling something like a corporate baseball field, but the scoreboard was dazzling with magic.
A brilliant hologram, or rather an illusion spell, displayed that the game was in the top of the second inning, with a score of 15 to 0.
The match was between Monster Devastator and Highland Cuties.
The sight of ogres over 2.5 meters tall playing baseball, or rather Wizard Ball, alongside fairies about 60 centimeters tall like small children was nothing short of bizarre.
Monster Devastator was leading with 15 points.
A score of 15 to 0 in the top of the second inning—if such a game existed on Earth, it would not be surprising if the entire stadium burned down.
The game continued.
Ah, the ogres are winning, I see. Well, just by looking at it, it does seem like an uneven matchup.
At that moment, an ogre stood at the batter’s box, while a fairy stood on the pitcher’s mound, holding a magic wand instead of a glove, unlike in Earth baseball.
The infielders, like the pitcher, also held magic wands instead of gloves, while the outfielders rode on staves and flew through the air.
Ah, in the game it was glossed over, but seeing it in reality is truly bizarre.
Idnia was taken aback by the strange spectacle of Wizard Ball.
Fairies flying through the sky while ogres stood at bat.
[Now then, as we mentioned, Monster Devastator’s pitcher, Rip Van Winkle, is entering his wind-up.]
Surprisingly, the team named Monster Devastator appeared to be the fairy team.
That would naturally mean Highland Cuties was the ogre team.
The team names were bizarre enough, but how the fairies were managing to win against ogres in a sports game was completely incomprehensible.
Well, I suppose I’ll understand as I watch.
Suppressing her confusion, Idnia observed as a tiny fairy, small enough not to have entered kindergarten, wound up with all her strength and threw the ball.
The ball, released with that motion, accelerated at frightening speed, glowing with magical light.
Rising Illusion!
The pitcher’s ball burst into multiple copies, scattering sparkling particles.
However, the ogre batter calmly cast a spell.
Bat Expansion Flyswatter!
A massive net in the shape of a flyswatter formed around the bat.
Seeing the batter swing that to strike the ball, Idnia was surprised.
That’s practically cheating. But hitting like that doesn’t seem like it would actually send the ball flying.
Unless the entire net is tightened like a tennis racket through tension, shaping the bat like a flyswatter wouldn’t generate proper rebound.
If the ball doesn’t hit the sweet spot, it would normally just result in a foul pop fly.
However, the ogre batter drove the ball forward as if he already knew its trajectory.
Ah, I see.
Given the fairy pitcher’s height and the need to throw toward an ogre’s knees, the trajectory is limited. So if the bat is expanded into a flyswatter shape, even if you don’t know exactly where the ball will land, you can at least cover the entire area. Whether it carries afterward is another matter.
By exploiting the height difference between fairies and ogres, the ogre converted the bat into a surface and pushed the ball forward. Rather than a swing, it was essentially a long push bunt.
And yet, the ball still flew high enough to clear the infielders.
“My ball!”
An outfielder fairy riding a magic staff flew up and cast a spell before catching the ball with a glove.
Impact Buffer!
At the moment of impact, the magic absorbed the shock, and the extremely fast hit was significantly softened as it was drawn into the fairy’s glove.
However, even with the shock absorbed, catching a baseball was quite taxing for a fairy’s body.
The outfielder fairy struggled, sweating heavily as she secured the ball.
Ah, right fielder Kafka seems exhausted. Up to now, all of Cuties’ batters have been sending the ball toward the right side.
Yes. Since Kafka is a relief player, it seems they are focusing their attacks on him to drain his magic and stamina.
Even though it was an out that prevented a potential home run, the Devastator team’s stands were in an uproar.
“Hey, coach! Quit already! I could do better than you!”
“They keep targeting Kafka! They’re trying to drain his stamina and magic—what are you doing about it?”
Watching this, Idnia found it puzzling.
“Why are they so angry even though they’re winning?”
“That is because Wizard Ball is a game played with the same nine players throughout. If you do not manage stamina and magic, it is very common for an early lead to be overturned later.
Monster Devastator is a team weak in long matches due to their fairy nature. They often lose what they gained early on in the later innings.”
Ludwig answered Idnia’s question.
“Ah, Principal? Where are you?”
“I am right here in this very spot. Do not forget that we are observing through a broadcast crystal.”
“Oh, yes.”
At that moment, the offense and defense switched.
When the fairies stepped into the batter’s box, Idnia realized why they could score so easily.
The strike zone is extremely low!
Moreover, the fairies’ strategy was to alter the ball’s trajectory with magic to induce grounders.
Runs kept scoring through walks and forced advances.
But the ogres’ strategy was just as extreme to counter them.
Cannon Shot!
The ogre pitcher infused the ball with magic and threw it. The fairy batter used a wand-bat to deflect the ball downward, but the cannon shot struck the ground, erupting in a shockwave that scattered dust.
The sound itself was loud enough, but it seemed manageable… yet the fairies were visibly shaken and disoriented just from the shockwave.
Ah…
The ogres are using cannon shots to sap the fairies’ stamina and mental strength.
Now it’s a war of attrition: whether the fairies’ stamina holds or the ogres’ magic runs out.
Ludwig explained to Idnia.
This is certainly different from baseball.
The ogres kept trying to detonate cannon shots as close to the fairies as possible, while the fairies used spells to redirect the ball’s path so the cannon shots would explode farther away.
With each explosion of the cannon shot, the fairy players were visibly becoming more exhausted.
Now it’s a tense battle between Devastator trying to win by cold or Cuties trying to win by knockout. Ah, Cuties are making a pitching change here.
Since the ogre pitcher’s magic had been used up and the cannon shots were losing power, a substitution was made.
But the first baseman and pitcher switched roles.
The pitcher moved to first base, while the first baseman took the mound and unleashed cannon shots with renewed power.
Wizard Ball is a battle of endurance in both stamina and magic. If substitutes are used to preserve fresh stamina and magic, a nine-inning game would become too short. The true essence of the game lies in strategically allocating one’s stamina and magic within those nine innings.
Ludwig explained this.
Indeed, the new ogre pitcher employed a different tactic from the previous one.
While the previous pitcher threw straightforward fastballs, this one threw high pitches that curved midair before diving down to generate cannon shots upon impact. Mixing in feints made it impossible for the fairies to simply redirect all balls downward at will.
The ogre team’s magic was weaker than humans’, so pitching changes occurred quickly, and an eighth pitcher took the mound, but the Devastator fairies were also unable to hold on.
This is less like baseball and more like a combat sport.
Idnia was astonished by the intensity of the match.