CH 44

Lexley Cricket Tournament (1)

By the time the summer was ripe, the academy was coloured with a festive atmosphere. It was because two weeks later, the Lexley Academy was hosting a very popular cricket competition and festival.

For that reason, around this time, more than ever, students began to put down the pressure of their studies and had fun. As evidence, the students were excitedly discussing who would participate in the cricket competition even though there were still two weeks left.

It was after my major class ended. The class representative brought a large number of flyers to recruit cricketers and handed them out to the students. It was a flyer with a picture of a man playing cricket.

“Is it good to participate the cricket tournament?”

The classmates and I gathered and looked at the flyer, then Leto came up to me and asked.

“It’s an opportunity to become popular instantly.”

“You think that’s all? If you win, your picture will be hung on the school wall. That’s a great honour!”

At Leto’s question, the excited students answered one by one. Startled by the excited students, Leto examined the flyer again.

“You’ll become popular?”

At the first answer I heard from them, I asked. The student nodded.

“Because you’ll represent the magics department. People who are athletic, agile and have good connections usually participate in this competition.”

My head naturally turned to Leto. Where else could you find such a good opportunity like this? Leto pretended not to be interested at first, but now he was staring at the flyer. He seemed intrigued by the word honour. For some reason, I had a good hunch.

“I want to participate.”

The students nodded at my words, implying they expected that.

“Yeah. You’ll do well, Bree.”

“As long as you have stamina.”

“It’s still possible.”

Stamina……Well, don’t I have effort? I held Leto’s arm tightly, thinking it would work out somehow. Leto, who had an ominous premonition, naturally looked at me.

“Let’s do it together, Leah!”

Leto and the students showed shocked expressions at my words. In particular, Leto openly expressed his unwillingness before he could even answer. That’s why I won’t stay still! Holding out the flyer in front of Leto, I pointed to the benefits of winning written under the recruitment with my finger.

“Look, you can earn the honour of the school. Won’t we make our family proud if we won?”

At the mention of his family, Leto hesitated. From what I’ve observed from Leto so far, it was clear that if I tempted him a little more, I would eventually win. With that in mind, I continued to persuade Leto. He seemed a little hesitant, but then turned his head away to avoid looking at the flyer at all. As expected, he was stubborn so it wasn’t easy to convince him.

“You’ll have to think about it soon. They are recruiting until tomorrow.”

The representative who was listening to us, came up and said.

“Until tomorrow? Isn’t that too short?”

“Well, the competition rate is high. So best not to miss it, Bree.”

The firm words of the representative scared me for no reason.

If we don’t decide by then and miss the recruitment period, everything will be futile. I had to quickly convince Leto somehow. And I plan to do it like a bombshell. After a while, I began to tell Leto about the merits of the cricket tournament.

“You’re athletic, so you’ll become an ace right away!”

Leto was bewildered by my words, but couldn’t respond easily and groaned. It gave me hope. Because I knew, if it were like before, he would’ve instantly rejected me.

“Are you going to participate in the cricket tournament?”

“I’m just going to sign up for an application.”

But another problem arose; there were more competitors than I thought. It was already the third time I’ve heard that someone was going to participate. Whenever I went to the next liberal arts class, there were always students holding flyers, saying they were recruiting players. Even without looking, I could already predict how much competition there would be.

“You should just change your mind, too.”

Leto, who had been quiet, finally uttered a word.

“What?”

“I heard that the competition rate has soared to a frightening extent. Also, I heard that they would only select those who are very athletic and can withstand high-level training.”

He did research about the cricket tournament subtly, even though he didn’t seem interested. I was a little bit impressed by that.

“Hmm.”

“Why are you smiling so sinisterly?”

“Tell me more.”

“……You have the worst stamina.”

I immediately erased my smile at Leto’s sharp remark.

“You can’t even run for a few minutes without getting exhausted. You even struggle climbing the stairs. You struggle lifting heavy weights. You don’t often get good grades in swordsmanship. Maybe your last performance was a little better, but it was still ‘quite lacking’. Just maybe. But that’s not all. You’re short and light, so you’ll be at a huge disadvantage in physical fights. Can you even hold the cricket properly? You’ll probably struggle to handle the ball, too.”

Wow, you can really destroy a person with words like that.

“E-Enough.”

Just stop!

“I’m not saying it just because I wanted to.”

“……Then you do it for me.”

“How does that make sense?”

Leto looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“I feel satisfied on behalf of you. You’re tall and strong, so I’m sure you’ll do well.”

“Professor is here. Just look in front.”

Just in time, when the professor came in, Leto hurriedly dodged my words. I hope he changes his mind quickly. Even if I couldn’t participate, Leto had to.

＊  ＊  ＊

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All the students in the cafeteria were talking about cricket. There were also some students that were expressing their aspirations, saying that they would start training personally from today. As they were tall and broad-shouldered kids, I was immediately intimidated.

If such a kid started training hard, there was no place for me to enter. I wouldn’t give up, but it seemed like I could already see my ending. I didn’t let go of the flyer the whole time. Even when I was eating soup, my eyes were tracing the words written on the flyer. 

“Are you going to participate in the tournament?”

A voice came in from behind. Leto’s face was visibly frowned. I hurriedly looked back and saw Kazen, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time. He casually sat next to me with a light smile.

“Hi, long time no see.”

Kazen greeted Leto first, but Leto refused to accept the greeting and ignored it completely.

“You’re still the same.”

“Hi, Kazen.”

“Hi, Bree. It’s been a while, you look more beautiful.”

“You’ve gotten more handsome, too.”

We had a good conversation with each other. Though, I could feel Leto’s gaze watching the two of us. Looking at that expression, he looked like he was about to spit out the soup he had eaten.

“But are you going to participate in the cricket tournament?”

I nodded at Kazen’s words.

“Guess we’ll be rivals. I’m also going to submit an application for the cricket tournament as a representative of the arts department.”

Come to think of it, unlike Leto and I, Kazen was in the arts department. If we became players from the magics department and he became a player from the arts department, we would naturally compete against each other in the cricket tournament.

“I see.”

When I became wary of him, Kazen laughed loudly, stole a cherry tomato from my plate and ate it.

Don’t eat it, you rival.

“Your face shows what you’re thinking.”

“……I’m sure you’ll be able to compete in the cricket tournament, Kazen.”

“Even if you say nice things, it’s already too late.”

Damn it.

“Is Leah joining, too?”

Fortunately, Kazen’s interest was turned to Leto. Leto, who had been watching us, became fierce at Kazen’s gaze. Kazen ate all of my cherry tomatoes and tried to steal one from Leto’s plate. But Leto’s fork that hit him on the back of his hand, was faster.

“Don’t eat it. You rival.”

“Unlike Bree, you just spit it out.”

Kazen shrugged casually as if he expected it.

“I’m trying to convince Leah.”

“Really? That’s unexpected. Leah wouldn’t want to go to a place like that.”

It was a clear answer.

“Plus, the cricket tournament doesn’t suit Leah at all.”

What? Strangely, I noticed Kazen was getting on Leto and my nerves. He tried to eat my cherry tomatoes again, but after being stopped by me, he placed his hand down.

“You know, Leah had always liked to hide and act all gloomy since she was young. It’s nothing different now.”

“…….”

He was striking people with words too. But I couldn’t argue since it was true.

“If I became an opponent again, would you be scared to submit an application anywhere?”

“That’s just bull.”

Leto replied impatiently.

“Look, you’re still avoiding it.”

“I didn’t avoid it.”

“Ah, but even if you submit an application, you won’t be able to beat me. You might even be eliminated Leah, so it’s best if you don’t apply. There’s nothing more embarrassing than being eliminated halfway through.”

What’s this? It was the first time Kazen came out so aggressive. But his argument was valid, so I couldn’t say anything and just stared blankly. Only Leto stared at him with his teeth clenched, as if he was used to this side of Kazen.