“That’s Kou-niisan for you.” Kotori smiled. “He won’t let a girl even have the time to worry. Hahaha!” She nodded in satisfaction. Koutarou’s actions had surpassed her expectations. She’d assumed that he would notice Nalfa and call her over, but he’d gotten her directly involved instead. There wasn’t any time for Nalfa to worry or resist.
“Uhm?!” Somehow, Nalfa had been caught up in the scene she had been gazing at. Moreover, Koutarou’s appearance was unchanged. He looked like he was enjoying himself just the same as before, giving her a serene glance from time to time.
“You hold the bat like this, okay?” he explained.
“Like this?” Nalfa asked nervously.
“Hold your hands the other way around,” Kenji told her.
“So...like this?” Nalfa asked once more.
“You got it!” Koutarou exclaimed.
Nalfa stood in the makeshift batter’s box, receiving a lesson from Koutarou and Kenji. She was still confused, not sure what was happening. Kotori grinned at the sight and pointed a camera at them to record the scene. She would later show the footage to Nalfa to prove that Koutarou gave her a special smile as well.
Koutarou’s eighth throw flew right under the bat that Nalfa swung as hard as she could. So far, Nalfa had swung her bat three times, but as a beginner, she didn’t have the skill to hit the ball. Koutarou and the others were satisfied with that, though.
“The insane backspin made the ball rise up and through the upper side of the strike zone. A normal batter would never be able to hit a ball thrown with psychic powers using the same form as a straight pitch!” Kenji said excitedly.
Koutarou’s throws using his psychic powers clearly far exceeded the level of baseball pitchers.
“Well, I’m not throwing it normally either.” Koutarou smiled wryly. He wasn’t pitching by the rules of the sport. It was like he was doping through spiritual energy, akin to using adhesives. That said, it was a lot of fun, so it was satisfying enough.
“But maybe there’re cases of ace pitchers unconsciously using psychic powers?” Kenji proposed.
“That might be possible.” Koutarou nodded in agreement. He got his powers from Sanae, but there were people who had an innate talent for it, such as Sanae herself or her mother, Kanae, who was likely so skilled in archery thanks to her psychic powers.
“I imagine some batters would have them too,” Koutarou said. “Some skilled sluggers unconsciously using psychic powers.” He was looking at Nalfa’s bat. It was likely just as possible that some batters had a latent talent for psychic powers too.
“In that case...it’ll be hard to tell how much one could allow in sports,” Kenji said.
“Wouldn’t the line be drawn at people willingly trying to develop those powers?” Koutarou asked.
“Well, that’s about the size of it.”
It would be too hard to forbid the unconscious use of psychic powers. Even an athlete’s instincts could be affected by them. Koutarou and Kenji concluded that the line should be drawn at whether they intentionally trained their psychic powers.
“Then how about challenging a slugger who’s learned magic?” A figure suddenly appeared, speaking in a provocative and confident tone.
“You’re—” Kenji started.
“Crimson! You’re back!” Koutarou exclaimed.
It was the court magician Crimson. She had just happened to spot Koutarou and the others while passing by.
“It’s been a while, Blue Knight. Or maybe it hasn’t been that long,” she replied. “Let me take over, miss.”
“Um, okay!”
Nalfa nodded and gave her bat to Crimson, who took a few practice swings. Rather than the swinging form of a baseball batter, she looked like she was wielding a weapon.
“So, this is how it feels...” Crimson muttered.
“Haha, you’re looking the part, Crimson,” Maki said as she arrived. Seeing Crimson’s strong swings, she saw potential in her. Of course, since they weren’t normal bat swings, there was no guarantee that the ball would fly forward, but at the very least, Maki was sure that Crimson could hit the ball.
“Nice. A magic slugger. I welcome it,” Koutarou said with a fearless smile while swinging his own arm. Pitching was a matter of the range of motion of the arm and shoulder. He was going to pitch with everything he had.
“Ah...” Nalfa’s gaze was stuck on Crimson and Koutarou, and her eyes opened wide as if something had surprised her.
“All right, bring it, Blue Knight!” Crimson challenged him.
Having stepped into the batter’s box, her body started glowing green. Green had cast an information-type spell on her. Its effect allowed Crimson to foresee Koutarou’s movements to some degree. With that, Koutarou and Crimson were enhanced by spiritual energy and magic respectively. They should be able to have an even match.
“Here I come, Crimson,” Koutarou said.
“Do your worst, Blue Knight!” Crimson retorted.
“Haaaaaaaah!!!” Koutarou raised his leg up high and threw his best pitch so far. The ball was given a fierce backspin and changed its trajectory in flight, flying toward Kenji’s glove.
“Yaaaaaah!!!” Crimson fought back by swinging her bat. Thanks to Green, she knew what type of pitch it was. It was the same straight ball she’d seen just before, and she accurately swung her bat but struck nothing but air. The ball was just a bit higher than she’d expected.
The ball landed in Kenji’s glove with a thump. It had passed by the top of the strike zone. If it had gone a little lower, Crimson would have hit a home run, but the backspin had exceeded her expectations.
“You’re pretty good,” Crimson remarked. Although she was praising Koutarou, she looked a little upset. She gave her bat a few more practice swings before getting back in the batter’s box.
“You’ve got a good swing,” Koutarou replied.
“I’ll take you down a peg, just you watch!” Crimson held her bat at the bottom of the handle and stood at the front of the batter’s box. She would hit the ball before it could deviate from its course too much.
In response, Koutarou’s second pitch used the exact same form as the first.
“Got you!” Crimson grunted. She swung her bat a little higher than before. As she was holding the bat at the bottom of its handle and standing at the front of the box, she didn’t need to adjust her swing too much.
Yet she struck nothing but air once again. This time, the ball flew under her bat before landing in Kenji’s glove. Koutarou hadn’t put a spin on it.
✦ ✦ ✦
