Chapter 462

Side Story: Baseball Board

In the dungeon.

Hmm, this is!

I was casually looking through the DP catalog, and I found it.

Its a bit expensive since its related to my previous life, but the moment I saw it, I wanted it.

Then, I would not hesitate to buy it, because I was a Demon Lord!

But lets not tell my wives how much DP I used!

Because its not a practical product at all!

**

Lefi! Lets play, lets play!

Mhm, fine. Ill add another page to your history of defeats today.

Let me tell you something, Leficios. It is a sign of weakness to speak like that. The strong do not say such words.

Well, so you say. Then you and I must decide who is the stronger one!

Lefi, who had been lounging around as usual, got up and came over to me.

Youre really cute when youre like that, you know.

Fine! Lets decide the winner with this one!

With a bang, I showed Lefi a baseball board.

It was something that every man had probably played with at least once.

Whats that strange board?

This is a game called a baseball board. You and I have played baseball before, right? This is a recreation of that but as a board game.

Hmm? I remember Baseball, but if thats the case, why dont we just play that outside?

No, because we would end up with casualties.

The casualty mainly being me.

Any sports with this person would be superhuman sports, so if I wanted to avoid death, it should be limited to something with light hits, like badminton, table tennis, or something similar.

Volleyball, for example, would probably be the limit.

With a soccer ball, if a normal person were to get hit in the face by Lefis kick, their head would simply burst. Even I was not sure if I could stay conscious after being hit.

By the way, a baseball would easily kill someone when hit with a hard ball. As to be expected.

Oh, well, Im not in the mood to go outside today, so lets play with this. Sit on the batters side that side. Im the pitcher, on this side. The rules are the same as in baseball: I shoot the ball from here, and you hit it back. And the sign here says Uh, its probably hard to understand, so wait a minute. Ill rewrite it.

Lefi couldnt read the j.a.panese on the baseball board, so I took out a pen and rewrote it in this worlds language, overwriting it.

My residents had already fully memorized the chess pieces and such, but they were remembered as symbols, not letters.

And even if they did remember them, it didnt mean that they understood j.a.panese.

Hmm Those are Roman Letters, right? The characters from your previous life are numerous.

This is just similar to the difference between the scripts of the Dragon Tribe and the scripts of the humans. In my previous life, the cultures that used this Roman alphabet were dominant throughout the world. Thats why we can read the Roman alphabet normally in every country.

Hoh? As I recall, there are three different j.a.panese terms, arent there? Are they also used in different cultures?

No, thats only used in j.a.pan.

I see. Well, I dont really understand whats going on over there.

Well, j.a.pan was not the only kanji-speaking country in the world, but theres no need to go into that much detail. It would be too much trouble.

After teaching her the rules of the baseball board, we faced each other with the board in between.

Now then, lets go! Watch my pitch! Eat me, straight ball of fire!

Nuh!

Lefi hit the ball straight back with a bang, but where it rolled across the board was marked as an out.

One out.

Nuh, out. I thought I successfully returned the ball.

Well, that hit was half luck, you see. This is the kind of game where you have to take turns. Okay, lets go to the next round.

And so the round went on without incident, but neither player scored.

I didnt do anything special either.

Hmm, I understand most of the details. This is a game to see who can send the ball where they want it to go.

Oh, did you finally understand?

whats that smug smile on your face?

Well, next round, next round.

I didnt answer, just grinned and urged her to continue.

The first inning was over, so the next game was the start of the second inning.

Once again, the pitcher was me and the batter was Lefi.

The real game starts here.

I was very kind and didnt do anything in the first inning to get her used to the game, but Lefi still didnt understand the game yet.

Kukuku, heres where I was going to give her a taste of the true grind of the baseball board!

Well, its the second inning. Lets go! Curveball!

Nuuh!?

The ball curves in front of the batter, and the bat strikes out.

If anyone had ever played a baseball game, then they would have to know that this was a ball whose direction could be changed by manipulating a magnet.

Hey, what was that?

Its a curveball! Depending on the pitchers grip, the balls direction changes in a thousand different ways Yes, I am the man with the golden right arm that changes the course of the ball in seven different ways

Thats nonsense, how would grip even matter in this game! Now, explain what you did!

No, no, what are you talking about? Well, Ill tell you, first I declared it as a curveball, then I demonstrated it, and then I kindly showed you how to handle it. Ha, I hate it when you make unreasonable demands.

Ugh, you certainly declared it!

By the way, I didnt think its anything outrageous, my counter was also a legitimate objection.

Fu, fuun, fine, I now understand your move! Ill hit it next time!

Thats the spirit! You deserve to be my rival! Ill definitely defeat you with this curveball and then disappear!

Nuuh! What?

With a snap, the area in front of the batter sunk downwards, and the ball disappeared inside it.

Again, the bat ended up swinging.

That is not a Curveball!?!

Fufufu, I told you it changes into seven different moves, right? This is a magic ball that disappears! The ball disappears into the void, deceiving the batter. Only the sound of the swinging bat echoes through the air

Its not a void, the ball just disappeared physically!

I dont know what youre talking about! Next, the third pitch! Hmm! You thought you had it in the bag, but you didnt!

Nuuuh!?

I feinted once in the pitching motion, and Lefi, caught in the feint, waved her bat, but the ball went through after that.

When the pitchers device that throws the ball was moved, the hand of the striker doll moved as well, so even a simple straight ball could become a feint.

It was quite irritating for those who were affected.

The person doing it (Me) was having a lot of fun.

Yes, this was how a baseball board should be played!

Well, isnt that, as I recall, what they call a blank in real baseball?!

This is a board game, not the real game, so there are no blank verdicts. Sorry about that. Anyway, come on, lets keep it going!

Lefi continued to play with me, and the game ended with a three-out inning.

I couldnt even snag a bat, so no runs were scored.

Oh, Lefi-sans anger gauge has gone up by one. Im sorry Lefi, I love your joy, anger, sadness, and everything else. Thats why I cant help but want to see it

I dont want your twisted love, idiot!

By the way, once Lefis anger gauge reaches 10, the Great Monster would be born.

Then, the Demon Lord and the Great Monster would engage in a slug fest.

The fight usually ended in the Demon Lords defeat, but I still wanted to see her get frustrated and angry!

Fufufu, next, the bottom of the second inning. You are pitching, right? But I know your game now, so I wonder if your pitches will work?

Actually, it wouldnt help her even if she knew the trick, because it was a bluff to get Lefi to be impatient.

Hurry, hurryit would be your undoing!

I see. If you are going to do that again, then I have an idea. If you have seven moves, then I have a hundred! Youll be sorry for making me angry! Eat my 100 moves! (Lefi)

A hundred moves? (Yuki)

It was at that moment the released ball suddenly stopped.

The bat, which was well-timed, properly hit the ball when it started to move again, resulting in a hit.

This stop was not a function of this baseball board.

No doubt, Lefi must have done something with magic.

Hey, thats a foul!

Foul? I dont know what you are talking about. If there is such a foul in this game, then the Curveball, the disappearing ball, and other moves should be considered fouls, too.

Ugh! Well, well, Im an open-minded guy! Ill let your foul pitches slide, for now!

Oh, youre so patronizing. I have a bigger heart than you, but I wont reject it for your poor souls sake. The real game begins here!

And with that, Lefi became the pitcher for the next round.

I was bracing myself for what was coming, watching with the super eyesight of a Demon Lord, but there was no suspicious movement in the ball.

I was a little dubious, but I timed it right and swung the bat but just before the bat hit the ball, the ball bounced off the ground and avoided my bat.

Of course, this became an empty swing, a strike.

Wait, wait, wait, isnt that a little unfair?

What do you mean, if there is a magic ball that disappears, why can there not be a magic ball that bounces?

If you say that, then anything is possible, right?

Really? You did all kinds of things to win against me, someone who knows nothing of the game, and if I do something to you, you think Im cheating? Isnt that unreasonable?

Lefi smiled at me, as if to say, I have the right to reason with you.

Lefi! It seems that there is something I need to teach you! You see, in baseball, its not just about having a lot of different pitches, its all about how you use them! Its all about brains! Lets give you a taste of the depth of the game, you shallow thing!

Oh, have at it! All you have been talking about is tactics and brains! But it all boils down to power, overwhelming absolute power is what will beat your opponent! I will crush your shallow wits as if I were twisting a babys hand!

The battle heated up and never ended.

We kept screaming and yelling, and even though we were on the verge of a confrontation, we could not win or lose, and the battle ended with a truce when the outside forces said, Dinner is ready!

Well, this was just another day in our daily lives.