East and I hit each other in our chests and moved to our respective posts.
If we could get the batters out in good order, Raimii Zarkudo would be the third batter.
If my pitch were hit even before her, we don’t even need to say what will happen next.
I checked the stitches on the ball, and as my feet settled on the mound…..
I can no longer hear any cheer from the crowd.
「Strike!」
The bat swung but didn’t hit the knuckle.
「Foul!」
The bat hit but it didn’t fly forward.
「Strike!」
He looked so much that he couldn’t swing the bat.
「Batter, out!」
The umpire’s words brought the sound back again.
My heart, that was beating rapidly, was soothed.
The tall batter stumbled off to the bench and was replaced by a muscular, bearded batter.
He is a strong batter that has hit balls many times before.
He hadn’t hit any today but he could do so any time.
The sign East gave was, of course, a knuckleball.
I slowly checked the stitches and then took a firm swing.
「Foul!」
He managed to swing at it but it didn’t fly forward.
「Ball!」
It went down too far to be a strike.
「Strike!」
This time, it went high but it was a strike.
The last one was right in the middle.
「Strike!」
I knew they still had no countermeasures against knuckles.
I received the ball back from East while being relieved.
「Batter, out!」
Replacing the bearded guy was Raimii Zarkudo, the princess of the Zarkudo Style School, holding a bat engraved with a dragon.
East’s sign was naturally a knuckleball.
Any ordinary pitch would be a homerun for her. She is one of the best batters of the noble league.
「Foul!」
Even the knuckleball, a read-crushing pitch that is impossible to counter, might be a readable pitch for her.
She swung at it normally and hit it normally.
My heart was beating fast and sweat was pouring from my hands and forehead. Even so, I forced myself to continue.
I can’t lose my heart.
The next sign is also a knuckle, the trajectory was close to her face.
「Foul!」
I thought I heard a high pitched hit which made me lose my concentration a little.
She hit it near her hand so of course, it didn’t fly forward.
I could feel the tension building and chill climbing up my spine.
Another knucle, low trajectory.
「Foul!」
The ball was hit with a “blam”, and flew with a “whoosh” to the bleachers behind the batter’s box.
She completely read it.
Or perhaps a batter of her caliber could hit the ball with just seeing it alone and doesn’t even have to read it.
My feet were so light that I couldn’t even feel the ground.
I felt as if I had aged a lot in this game alone.
In the midst of tension, my vision turned black and narrow, and the only one I could see was East’s sign.
Straight with everything you have.
The very first sign that Tashiba and Mamu taught us.
Of course, what I was aiming for was the magic spot, the lowest spot away from the batter.
I never questioned East’s strategy.
He and I are partners so if he thought so, so be it.
He makes the decision and I respond.
I swung as hard as I could, turned all my magic into wind, and threw.
「Strike!」
The dragon bat of the zarkudo princess seemed to pass just a little bit below the ball, which seemed to be higher than the trajectory I targeted…..
「Batter, out!」
Sound returned to the stadium.
「Amazinggg!!」
「Impressiveee!!」
「Robos-sama!! You did it!!!」
I thought I heard a familiar voice and turned my attention to the audience.
A goatkin with eyebrows that were screaming “I’m in trouble” but not really, was smiling and waving with a sheepkin.
-0-
It was good that I pitched well but if we didn’t score in the bottom of the ninth inning, there would be an extra inning.
East and I had been getting magic treatment from Sawadi Slayra just in case but it turned out we didn’t have to worry.
Laura Slayra, the princess of the Slayra family, is the kind of person who gets results when she says she will do something.
She left the cigarette she was about to smoke with her husband and stood in front of Raimii Zarkudo, who already struck out two previous batters…..and suddenly switched with another pitcher from the bench.
I guess real high-class people like Raimii Zarkudo and Laura Slayra are different from wooden nobles like me……
If you can make a home run after resting one inning, everyone would have already done so.
However, only great nobles with great ability would be able to do that.
