The Only Male Student in the Academy

013. Bad Relationship (4)

“No need.”

I said so.

“Why? If Ariel wins, she’ll give you anything?”

“First of all, that ‘anything’ doesn’t make sense. Even if it’s a wish that you, a mediocre student, can come true, isn’t it fixed?”

“Even though Ariel can handle me?”

“Don’t force yourself knowingly. That’s a loss to me, not an advantage.”

Let’s say I won the match and made a wish to treat Claire as an attendant for a day.

Then word will spread the next day. It was said that the madman of the Duke of Beheritt treated the daughter of the Marquis of Entirus as he pleased.

Also, what if you injure Claire?

Rumors will circulate that the madness of the Duke of Beheritt has harassed the daughter of the Marquis of Antirus, and if they do something wrong, they may be referred to the Disciplinary Committee.

So this bet has nothing to gain from me.

“A coward.”

“You can talk as you like. If you don’t get out of the way, I’ll go somewhere else.”

I said that and picked up the box and moved it to another location.

… Claire follows.

Ignoring it, I entered another passage and put down the box.

If you try to throw the ball again like that, …… Claire blocks the way.

“…I would have said they wouldn’t accept bets.”

“Hmm? Ariel, did you rent this training ground?”

“You…”

“I, too, as a student who uses the training grounds~? Just by chance? By accident. I’m just standing in front of Ariel, what’s the problem~?”

…… Is it choding?

“If you feel uncomfortable with Jung Ariel, why don’t you tell her to step aside after winning the match against me?”

“Okay. Take it.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll make a bet.”

I was in a pitching stance.

Claire seems surprised that I suddenly accepted the bet after saying I didn’t want to bet. In an instant, the smile erased from his face and his eyes widened.

It’s not that I’m not particularly fond of it either.

I had no choice but to accept it because Claire was being childish.

Judging by what he was doing, it was obvious that he would keep following until he accepted the bet. Then, if there are even strange rumors, that is a loss.

Then, rather than wasting time, it would be better to fight it off quickly and drive it out.

“Hey. Ariel, you’re surprisingly tough.”

After saying that, Claire also adjusted his posture.

It is still a relaxed atmosphere. But no gaps are visible.

Staring at Claire, I raised one leg.

Pull your arms behind your shoulders and lift your hands behind you.

Support the body with the other leg while being conscious of the center of gravity.

When you want to pull as far as you can, push everything forward.

Legs stretched forward.

At the same time as pouring out the center of gravity and energy forward, push the body forward.

The moment you think your arm has reached its peak, throw the ball as if rolling it with your fingers.

The ball flew away like an explosion.

“.”

But Claire seemed to react.

A ball that collides with a stone bounces off in the air.

“You throw the ball in a strange way, Ariel. I was a little surprised by the sudden speed up.”

Claire is smiling as if she is having fun.

Come to think of it, there was no baseball in this world.

Maybe that’s why the way I threw the ball seemed odd to Claire.

‘Well, I don’t know very well either.’

I have never played baseball myself. I only watched baseball games on TV.

Still, if there’s one thing I’m better than the average baseball fan, it’s that I’ve drawn sports cartoons.

‘In the end, I failed to debut….’

If there is an idiot who tried to prepare himself as a writer with baseball comics, that is me. There was a time when I was kicked out of the sports genre after being told face to face that it would be difficult for webtoons to work.

It’s really stupid, but judging from the current situation, it doesn’t seem that it was completely meaningless.

Because I studied baseball while preparing for the manga.

“…Go one more time.”

I threw the ball again in the same position.

Speed is still not bad.

However, there is not much difference from the first throw.

“You can only throw this much, Ariel? Then you’re disappointed~.”

Claire laughed as he hit the ball again.

I threw the ball again without saying anything.

Third pitch. Still throwing the same ball with the same form.

Of course, the ball flew at the same speed and on the same trajectory, and it bounced off Claire’s Just like before.

The situation is no different from before. Nothing has changed.

But I am realizing it one by one.

‘I see…. Wasn’t the form perfect?’

I understood that on the third pitch.

Therefore, in the fourth pitch, the pitching form is finely modified.

The newly thrown ball still has the same trajectory.

But the speed is slightly faster.

I learned anew that just a little more attention to form can make a huge difference.

‘No, it’s not like that.’

Fourth pitch, fifth pitch. Sixth pitch……. The more you throw the ball over and over again, the more you realize an unexpected fact.

It wasn’t as important as what form I threw.

The important thing is which form fits my body.

I still lacked understanding of my body.

If it was natural, it was natural. Because I was Kim Il-hwan until recently.

Since it hasn’t been 3 weeks since I became Ariel, my understanding of this body is still lacking.

I feel keenly how important it is to understand my body. Did I participate in the class assignment test with such insufficient preparation?

Still, it’s not too late.

The more I throw the ball, the deeper I understand my body.

Be aware of it sensuously.

What posture should I throw, where should I put my center of gravity, and how to throw faster.

The restraints are getting faster.

“Mmm, it’s boring.”

But it doesn’t work for Claire.

“Has half an hour passed? Ariel, you can’t hit the target for the rest of your life like this~?”

“…….”

“Why are you silent, Ariel? Oh, you’re serious! I’m sorry I talked to you! Ariel is seriously throwing the ball, but I talked too much.”

Claire laughs and teases me…. I don’t like the way you talk.

But it’s not easy.

To describe Claire in one word…… It’s fast anyway.

The reaction speed, the speed of completing magic, and the speed of swinging the sword.

Everything in Claire is quite fast.

‘… Besides, he must have gotten used to my ball.’

How many times did you throw this ball? 20 Times? 30 Times? Maybe over 50 times.

As I repeated dozens of times, my pitching form improved. The redemption is also very fast compared to the first time.

But from Claire’s point of view, it must have felt like her restraint was gradually increasing.

If the ball had flown at this speed from the beginning, it would have been difficult for even Claire to react, but Claire watched the process of speeding up from a close distance.

Therefore, he has a high level of understanding of his ball next to me.

Unless he dramatically raises his speed like this, Claire will unconditionally block it.

I know that, but…… Raising the restraint beyond this is impossible.

Rather, from now on, the restraints will begin to fall.

‘My shoulder hurts….’

Could it be because he used muscles he didn’t normally use? A slight pain radiates from the shoulder.

Looking down, the fireballs that were piled up in the box are now starting to show the bottom.

There was a reason why Claire gave me an hour. I must have been aiming for my stamina to be consumed as time passed.

My arms are tired and my shoulders are tired.

Sooner or later your hands will start to tingle, which will affect the ball as well.

Claire will take my ball more easily.

But you must never lose.

A useless rule that says the loser must grant the winner one wish…. Claire will no doubt make bad demands.

-“Please try to maintain a good relationship with the female students. If something happens that harms public morals… It will be referred to the disciplinary committee.”

Not long ago, something Professor Catherine had said passed through her mind.

…… It’s been a while since the placement test, and it’s already time to face a new crisis.

‘… Let’s make a bet.’

I grabbed a new ball.

A situation that must be won unconditionally. Fortunately, I still have stamina, and the muscle pain didn’t start in earnest, so I had enough energy to throw the ball.

There is one operation.

I didn’t just accept this bet without thinking. Rather, I should say that I was waiting for this situation.

Claire is off guard right now.

Claire also knows roughly. That it would be impossible for me to increase the speed of the ball any higher.

So you’re probably thinking that what you’re throwing right now is top speed, and you’re expecting that you won’t be able to throw a better ball than this.

That prediction was not wrong.

Therefore, that judgment will be rather poisonous.

Change the grip.

Then throw it.

The ball flies.

Slow.

“Huh…?”

Claire made a noise involuntarily.

The ball was slow.

Compared to the previous balls, it was too slow.

That’s why it’s rather difficult for Claire to react.

For over 30 minutes, he kept hitting only fast balls. A ball flying in such a situation is strangely slow.

When Claire swung her sword reflexively, the timing was too fast.

Swing miss.

Claire’s sword only cuts through the air.

One beat late, the ball passes Claire’s head and hits the target.

“……What, now.”

Claire blankly looked at the ball that had fallen.

It was a technique called ‘change-up’.

This is a throwing method in which the speed of the ball is intentionally lowered. In baseball, it is used as a technique to trick the batter.

Because it is thrown while maintaining the pitching form, it is difficult to prepare by just watching the ball being thrown.

There was no way that Claire, who did not know the concept of baseball, could prepare for pitching techniques that even professional players could be fooled by.

Of course, I also threw a changeup for the first time in my life.

“You’ll be fine with my victory, Claire.”

“Ah~, I lost to Ariel~. Are you doing more than you thought Ariel?”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

I picked up the box I had left on the floor and turned my back.

My arms and shoulders throb. I wish I had trained like this.

At this rate, I was thinking of going back to the dormitory.

“Oh my God? The loser was supposed to grant the wish. Are you going to just go?”

“…A wish.”

To be honest, I don’t want to get involved with this guy any longer, regardless of what I wish for.

But if you leave this place without saying your wish…… That seems like it would be annoying.

But saying too much wish would also have bad results.

“…I will ask you a question, so answer me. Are you a member of the Student Knights?”

That’s what I asked.

Claire hears me and blinks.

“……What are you saying all of a sudden. Is that a wish?”

“Yes. This is a wish.”

“I can answer that even if it’s not a wish. Will that be okay?”

“I don’t have any wish that I can think of anyway. I just want to get out of this annoying situation.”

That’s how I looked around.

It wasn’t exactly a lie.

As for the wishes that Claire can grant, the limit would be to buy me something with the power of money.

But if that’s the case, there’s no need to borrow Claire’s power. Because Ariel has a lot of money.

There is no need for material gain beyond this.

But if I asked Claire to ‘don’t bother me from now on’, she wouldn’t listen and it would only lead to irritation of Claire.

So I thought I’d rather get some information.

‘Actually, there is some information I really want to get.’

If you ask about that, Claire will definitely be wary.

That’s why I deliberately chose this question.

“Student Knights. I took the entrance exam a while ago. I passed the 2nd test, and only the 3rd interview remains.”

“Is that so?”

“But maybe they’ll stick? The seniors who appear as interviewers are people with ties to the Entirus family.”

“I see.”

It was to be expected. Because it was the same as the original.

Confirming the information I wanted, I nodded.

“So it would be good for Ariel to look good to me too? After she graduates, she will join the Imperial Knights.”

“Oh, that’s right. Work hard.”

As if he wasn’t interested, I said yes and turned my back.

Then Claire came quickly and stood in front of me again.

I opened my mouth to ask what was going on with a sigh.

Before I could say anything, he got close.

Standing on tiptoe and whispering in my ear.

“I had a lot of fun today. It was more training than I thought.”

I can feel my breath in my ears.

Claire’s body temperature was transmitted from the hand holding my shoulder.

But that was only for a fleeting moment.

Claire gets away from me and he smiles like he never did.

“See you tomorrow, Ariel.”

Then he turned his back and left the training ground ahead of me.

The ears where Claire’s breath touched are slightly burning.

“…I’m sick of it.”

I thought that her cute face was definitely against the rules.

If a woman is a weak creature, then a man is a sad creature.

It was a day when I thought that way.