“I wanted to stay out for a bit longer,” Helen said with a frown.
Hmm...
“I planned on taking today off, but with this much snow, it’s not like we can go far,” I said.
Diana swallowed a spoonful of soup, then asked, “Should we just stay indoors?”
I thought for a while but eventually shook my head, “Well, this is a rare opportunity. Since the snow’s stopped already, I think it’ll all melt away by tomorrow. It’s cold, but why not have some fun with our daughters?”
Samya leaned forward excitedly. “What kind of fun?!”
Her eyes glimmered with excitement, and I knew I had to answer to her expectations. We had a lot of energetic ladies in this household, her included. Only one game comes to mind...
I glanced at everyone. “Why not have a snowball fight?”
“All right, let’s begin!” I called out.
“Okay!” everyone replied.
“Kululu!”
“Arf! Arf!”
“Kree!”
We all raised our arms, except for my daughters, who cried out instead. This was the start of our snowball fight. Samya, Rike, Diana, Krul, Maribel, and I formed Team Krul. Lidy, Helen, Anne, Lucy, and Hayate were on Team Lucy. It might sound like it’s tipped in the favor of Team Krul, but Helen alone is more than enough of a threat. In fact, in the beginning, some of us suggested it’d be all of us against Helen by herself. Ultimately, I thought that was a bit...much, so I’d tried to make it a bit more balanced.
Samya and Helen usually didn’t wear many layers, but today they were bundled up in the snow and looked fluffier than normal. In fact, we were all fluffy. Diana, who got cold easily, had even wrapped an extra cloth on top of her many layers, making her puffier than the rest. Her fluffiness was on par with Lucy in her winter coat.
Rike and Lidy were also wearing several layers, and Lidy was even wearing a hat, which was an unusual sight for her. Anne wasn’t as bundled up. I wasn’t sure whether it was because she was so large, but she had fewer layers than even Samya or Helen. She wasn’t as fluffy. Only Maribel was completely the same as usual. Since she was a spirit, it seemed temperature didn’t affect her much—even when she touched snow, it took a little while for it to start melting.
I could see Krul’s and Lucy’s footsteps around the cabin. They’d probably been running around outside while we’d eaten breakfast. All bundled up, we gathered in the yard. It was Team Krul versus Team Lucy—we were pitted against each other. None of us were vehemently trying to make the other team lose...despite the fired-up faces of Samya, Diana, Helen, and my four daughters.
“I’ll explain the rules, though they’re very simple,” I announced. “We make snowballs and throw them at one another. If you get hit, you’re temporarily out.”
Everyone quietly nodded along. Puffs of white came out of their noses with every breath they took, further implying just how fired up they were.
“Question, question!” Maribel shouted with her arm in the air. “What will Krul, Lucy, and Hayate do?”
My other three daughters likely couldn’t make snowballs and throw them. Everyone turned to me.
“I want you all to make the snowballs for them. Put the snowballs in their mouths,” I said. “I think they can all fling the snowballs using their jaws.”
I’d seen them hurling around a wooden ball and using it as their toy. Precision and distance aside, if they could do that, they could participate in this match. They might be too strong and crush the snowballs at first, but I’m sure they’ll get the hang of it soon enough.
Back on Earth, snowball fights had proper rules, such as specifying the size of a barrier, but we were just playing for fun—we didn’t have to follow strict rules, and it wasn’t like we had to choose a victor. There was no need for anything like that...or so I’d thought.
“Why is everyone so easily fired up?” I wondered.
I’d already been hit, so I was out. I stared at the so-called battlefield from a good distance away. Snowballs were flying toward each team with remarkable speed, and everyone was running around just as swiftly.. Now left with nothing to do, I stood on the sidelines.
“Don’t squeeze your snowballs too hard!” I shouted.
If packed tightly enough, snowballs could turn into rocklike lumps of ice that could very easily knock the wind out of someone. This was especially true for our family. Throwing rocks was a dangerous activity for kids. Actually, it was far more serious than simply “dangerous”—throwing rocks could very easily kill someone if the rock happened to hit a vital part of the body. That was also heavily dependent on the thrower as well.
But in terms of skill, practically everyone in our family could turn a rock into a weapon. I didn’t need to spell out how dangerous it would be if they hurled a lump of ice with their power.
I gave a wry smile at their replies, placing the snowballs I’d made on the side of the field, and recalled what had happened just as the snowball fight had begun.
The match started with a loud whoosh. A ball of snow cut through the air at an alarming speed.
“Whoa!” I shouted.
I twisted my body and just barely managed to dodge the attack. Had I not been blessed with some fighting capabilities, I would’ve been out mere seconds into the game.
“Damn, knew it was a long shot,” Helen grumbled with a slight click of her tongue.
She was clearly serious and going for the kill. Eager to launch a counterattack, I grabbed a lump of snow by my feet and formed a ball. I made sure to keep a gentle grip, so I wouldn’t destroy the shape, and I mimicked the form of a baseball pitcher. I made sure to not use my full strength as I threw the snow back. My snowball was fairly fast as it careened straight for Helen. It wasn’t as quick as her attack, though, and as I’d expected, she dodged it very easily.
“Rah!” Samya exclaimed.
As Helen dodged my snowball, another came straight for her, hidden by mine. Samya’s impeccable aim came in handy—her snowball hurtled through the air.
“Whoa there!” Helen cried.
Any decent fighter would’ve struggled to dodge this double-attack combo. Surely, under normal circumstances, Samya’s snowball would’ve done the job. But of course, Helen was no normal fighter. Living up to the name Lightning Strike, she practically vanished for an instant to dodge the snowball—this was in contrast to her lackadaisical, carefree shout. I was sure she couldn’t go all out when fighting in the snow, but the gap in power was still overwhelming. Hmm... In terms of combat prowess, maybe it’s better for Helen to be by herself.
We couldn’t be solely focused on Helen, though—we also had Anne to worry about. She was tall, and her size came at a disadvantage, but in exchange, her long limbs allowed her to throw some threatening snowballs.