CH 67

Not A Lonely Festival (7)

It was none other than the Medical department that came in third place. The festival was in full swing and I was with Leto, Vivian and Bona. From then on, the four of us always gathered in the same place at the same time to enjoy the festival or cheer at the cricket match.

While shopping for all sorts of souvenirs, I found a florist that I once visited often. The florist was also crowded with people as if it was holding an event to match the festive mood. Somehow, I was attracted to go to the florist, but it was Bona who blocked my path.

“Let’s go somewhere else.”

“Huh?”

She even forcefully tugged my arm and turned me around. Did she have any bad experiences with that florist? Bona’s expression didn’t look so good, so I didn’t ask further. After three days of the festival, it was finally the fifth day. At this time, the largest crown came to the academy.

Even other academy students and civilians came to watch the cricket match. It was the finale. After settling in the seats in the cheering zone I had occupied since this morning, I looked for Leto with my eyes. I woke up early this morning to cheer on him. As Leto changed his clothes, he turned his head in surprise at my presence. It seemed that he thought I would be sleeping, so he changed his clothes here instead of in the bathroom. 

Luckily, when I woke up, he was completely dressed in his training clothes. I rubbed my eyes and raised my back.

‘Leah, fighting!’

‘W, What are you doing?’

When I tried to hug him, Leto backed away in embarrassment.

‘I’m giving you strength!’

At my confident remark, Leto looked dumbfounded, but he didn’t refuse. He hesitated, before grabbing my head and plunging me into his arms. Clearly, Leto was a woman now, but I fit right into his arms.

‘…….’

Normally, Leto’s hand gesture would be hesitant, but it was different now. He pushed my head into his arms and held my back tightly, as if he were hugging a woman he loved. I became sleepy again from the hug which was longer than I thought.

He embraced me for a long time without saying a word before finally letting me go. Blinking my eyes, I looked at Leto’s face which was very red.

I was about to say something, but he left the room. Watching Leto leave like that, I stood there in silence. What is this? The unusual hug and atmosphere made me feel strange. My heart felt like it was blooming like a flower.

“Bree….”

“…….”

“Bree!”

Bona called me. Then I came to my senses and looked at the stadium again with a wide eye.

“Leah is here.”

Next to her, Vivian pointed his finger at Leto. As he said, it was time for players to greet each other in a line, and I saw Leto in the middle. He stood firm, not at all nervous under all these gazes. I could also find Senior Jimbo, who was next to him, and he didn’t seem to be nervous either.

At that time, I felt like my eyes met Senior Jimbo. The corners of his eyes winked slightly, and I instantly heard the screams of women from the cheering zone. He was also popular. The roles were decided by a coin toss. Each captain came out and flipped a coin, and the result was the Magics department was batting first. Soon all the players stood in each position. The bell rang to start the game.

At that moment, a loud cheer came from the cheering section. Probably because it was the finale, the cheering competition between the Magics department and the Swordsman department was intense. The Swordsman team had an advantage in the early game. They were agile, fast at running, and strong. Perhaps due to usually training with swords, their movements were also unusual. Whenever our team hit the ball, they irritably managed to defend somehow.

It was more painful to give up a point even if they had a higher score. Early in the game, even though our team were on defence, we cheered harder when the flow of the game leaned towards the Swordsman department.

“Aiyo! Why isn’t that bastard hitting the ball? Hit it! You think if you stick your butt out, the ball will hit you?”

Naturally, there were people who cheered fiercely. The voices of people who were immersed in the game and spat out curses were heard everywhere. Of course, it was quiet when the professors appeared. The students were wishing that Senior Jimbo would come out and hit the ball, but unfortunately, the turn to attack was handed over to the opponent before his turn came.

I saw Leto coming out to the field to defend. Next to Leto, Reze suddenly approached him and the two had a conversation. At the sight of his expression, I cheered, Fighting! It didn’t seem to be a good conversation. Staring at each other as if they were about to kill one another, they looked more like enemies than the opposing team.

Afterwards, Leto, who stood at the end of the field, performed a smooth defence as always.

“Hey, she’s good!”

“A gold defence! Gold defence![1]”

TL/N: The term used here was 호수비 (Hosubi), which refers to a good defence. Similar to ‘gold glove’, an English term used to describe a player with excellent defence skills in baseball.

Fortunately, compliments came from the same mouths of the students that were cursing. Even then, there were still many students cheering for Senior Jimbo, but their voices cheering for Leto also increased. In fact, Leto, who showed better performance than Senior Jimbo, sweated more than anyone else.

“Even if Leah and Senior Jimbo do well, the Swordsman department is still a strong team.”

“Rumour has it that the Swordsman team trained really hard to avenge last year’s defeat.”

Bona replied to Vivian’s words.

Traces of their training were visible everywhere. I could feel all the students gritting their teeth. And the game went on. The game, which obviously started during the day, continued into the afternoon. The sun was setting, and the shadows began to drop in the field. Some locals appeared after hearing the rumour of the tougher competition than expected.

The cheering became louder, and the game became more exciting. The current score was tied. There was one chance to attack left for each team. And now it was the last attack for the Magics Department. Senior Jimbo, who everyone hoped to do something, also failed to win against the Swordsman team’s performance. It was time for him to take the bat. Senior Jimbo hit a home run again, and the students cheered Senior Jimbo’s name.

“Jimbo! Jimbo! Jimbo!”

It was a tense moment. But he hasn’t held the cricket yet. The next runner must be out for Senior Jimbo to hold the cricket.

And the runner was out without a single hit. Senior Jimbo, who took over cricket, stood in the batting position. The swordsman team was also nervous at Senior Jimbo’s appearance, and they became silent. Before I knew it, the stadium became quiet.

“…….”

I gulped. Just in time, the pitcher (bowler) threw the ball, and Senior Jimbo swung the cricket without hesitation.

—Thwack.

The ball floated in the air. All the student’s eyes went up into the air. Please fly out. Fly out.

—Thud.

However, it was a little weak, so the ball wasn’t able to get out of the field and fell before that. Fortunately, the defence didn’t catch it properly so Senior Jimbo had time to run and he scored.

“Woah!”

Everyone cheered at the valuable score. I hoped the flow would continue as it is, but unfortunately, all the runners after Senior Jimbo were nervous and couldn’t score any points. It was finally the last turn. Here, the Swordsman team needed to score. The total score earned was 4. It was a bearable score, enough to catch up.

—Thwack!

As soon as my words ended, the first runner hit the ball and scored. Scoring two points, which fortunately did not go over four points, but with the current situation, no one was eliminated yet, and the formidable runners were all waiting behind.

‘Please!’

Holding my hands together, I looked closely at the field. Soon after, the next runner came out and stood up. It was the captain of the Swordsman.

“Do you think he will hit it?”

“He’s good. He would definitely hit it.”

As I was trying to calm down, I heard the voices commenting from behind. Why did they have to sprinkle salt on the wound? And as expected, he hit it.

—Thwack!

The ball floated again. However, the ball in the air had no power. We would be able to catch it and eliminate him. The direction where the ball flew towards was none other than Reze. Reze, who had been standing still, rushed to catch the ball. Everyone thought he would definitely catch the ball that could be caught easily.

“Argh!”

Reze accidentally missed the ball. It was a ridiculous mistake. Fortunately, the ball didn’t fly far, so he was able to throw it right away, but he had already lost one or more points. Once again, one point difference.

If we lose two more points, the Magics department will lose.

“Ah, the Swordsman is definitely winning this one.”

“Oh, how boring. So dull.”

I glared at the students behind me. They were startled by my eyes and soon shut their mouths. Fortunately, all subsequent attacks were blocked, and now there was only one attack left.

The last attack.

The last defence.

And the person holding the cricket was a guy known as the swordsman ace. Since he was a player who scored every time, the Swordsman department was looking at him expectantly while the Magics department was wishing for him to make a mistake.

The ball was thrown, and he swung the cricket.

—Thwack!

It was a duller sound than the previous. The ball was very fast. Even if it couldn’t get out of the field, it was a distance where he could score at least three points. There was no defence in that direction. The closest defence nearby was none other than Leto.

Locating the ball, Leto ran and the opposing team was also running. Whoever reached first scores the points. As the ball was falling, Leto’s hand stretched out in the air before pulling it back into his arms. Leto fell and rolled, and the ball was nowhere to be seen.

“W-Where is it?”

“Did she catch it?”

“Leah didn’t get hurt, did she?”

“Bree, does that matter now? What’s more important is whether she caught it or not!”

Everyone’s eyes focused on Leto’s hands. It was then.

Groaning, Leto raised his hand. There was a ball.

“Woaah!”

“Leah! Leah! Leah! Leah!”

He ended the game. It was a victory for the Magics department.