The second inning started. When Al came to the batter's box, he was surprised to see Cerise was the pitcher while Tamarinne played as a third baseman. When they looked at each other, Al pointed his finger to Cerise, and Tamarinne gave an encouraging sign to him. Since they were playing for fun, Al did not mind it much.
Looking at Al, Yuna smiled but her catcher's helmet hid it. She then spoke, "Al, thank you."
"For what?" Al asked back when he swung his bat. Cerise threw her first pitch which landed near his knee and it was a nice pitch.
Yuna threw the ball back to Cerise and replied, "For not letting Somi wait."
Cerise threw the second pitch and it was a strike again. The fifth batter and the boy team's pitcher, Pavel, was surprised that Al missed the balls easily, but he could not hide that he was very proud of Cerise.
"Are you waiting for someone?" Al asked and Yuna did not answer.
On the audience stand, a young man, who had short white hair and wore clothes full of white, was settling down with his friend. Along with the Heir of the Covenant was the young king of Ezera, Aither. Sitting next to him was his loyal servant and protector, Charles, also known as the Knight Commander of Ezera kingdom. On the other hand, sitting next to Ras was the short light purple hair girl who followed him at the beginning, Mercedes. Lying on her laps was Ras's guardian, Arkasus, a blue and white furball, and he was eating snacks bought by Mercedes.
"Thankfully we are not late," Ras commented.
"Charles, do you know this sport?" the young king looked at the baseball field and asked.
"I cannot say that I know it well, but I'll make sure to explain what is needed," Charles replied. He pointed at Cerise and said, "As you see, the girl who is on the center of the field will throw the ball. Her opponent…"
Charles stopped when he saw Al was the batter. He could not help but smile. He then continued, "Those who wielding the metal bat called "batters" will have to hit the ball. After that, they have to run the base and they can only score runs if they successfully reach the home plate, which is the plate they stand next to when they are trying to hit the ball."
When Cerise threw the second strike to Al, King Aither was surprised that he missed. The young king asked, "So there is no score if the batter misses?"
"That's right. After three times, the batter will be out. And after three batters are out, then both teams will change sides," Charles explained.
"But Al has two strikes, that means he has only one chance left," Ras commented after he connected what Charles said.
Aither looked at Al and asked Ras, "Do you know him?"
"He's another divine guardian," Ras smiled and Aither could not hold his excitement.
Back to the field, after two strikes, Cerise had huge confidence that she would strike Al easily.
"Looks like she underestimates you," Yuna looked at the victorious face of Cerise and commented.
"Surely she is," Al replied.
"Then just hit a home run," Yuna suggested.
Al was surprised by her reply. He asked, "You okay with that?"
"Not a big problem. Besides, it seems someone is pretty upset that you are being underestimated," Yuna said when she looked at Tamarinne.
"Okay then."
Cerise believed that she could defeat Al easily. After two strikes, she lowered her guard. She looked at Yuna and signed that she would throw a fastball toward Yuna's right side, to which she did not oppose. Meanwhile, Al still acted normally.
Then, Cerise threw the fastball. It flew very fast but it was not hard for Al. He swung his bat strongly and the ball was sent to the air. Everyone was looking at it in silence while the left fielder was following it until her back touched the wall, while the ball was still flying until it landed outside of the fence surrounding the baseball field. After that, the audience exploded.
"It's amazing," the young king shouted in amusement.
"Look like someone is underestimating her opponent and this is the result," Charles commented.
As Al ran to the first base, Cerise looked at him and gave a middle finger, which Al did the same to her. When he touched the second base, he celebrated his victory with Carrot, who played as the second base for the girl team. They slapped their hands to each other. And when he passed third base, he did the same with Tamarinne but instead of only one time, they did it three times consecutively. When he returned to home plate, Yuna and he slapped their hands before he left the field.
"Is he the person who fought with you before?" King Aither recognized Al and he asked Charles.
"That's right, Your Highness," Charles nodded. He could not lie that he was very glad that Al was safe and sound.
After Al had left the field, Pavel came to the batter box as the fifth batter. Looking at him, Cerise could not stop smiling. The reason why she wanted to be the pitcher of this inning because of Pavel. She just wanted to play with him but Pavel did not realize it.
The first ball Cerise threw, it was a ball but Pavel swung his bat, resulting in a strike. The second one, Pavel expected it would be another ball but instead, Cerise threw right to the center of the strike zone. Pavel then fully focused for the last one, but he was tricked by Cerise again. Afterward, Cerise jumped in joy. The sixth and seventh batter of the boy team were no different from Pavel.
When the first half of the second inning ended, before he went to the pitcher's mound, Pavel asked, "Hey Al, isn't it as long as there is no out, the batters can score as many points as they can?"
"Yes?" Al nodded.
"Now I understand why you said the team that bats second has the advantage," Pavel realized something. Then he suggested, "Should we prepare signals for pitching?"
Al did not need to say anything as they already had their agreement. When the second half of the second inning started, the long white hair female elf, Iseria, who was Charles's subordinate, stepped into the batter's box.
Al looked at her and asked in surprise, "If I remember right, you are supposed to play as the sixth batter, right?"
Iseria nodded and replied, "Yeah, but after Carrot's homerun, we changed it in the last second, whether Miss Cerise liked it or not."
"Thank you," Al said.
"You're welcome," Iseria smiled.
When the two of them stopped chatting, Al pointed one finger on the ground before drew it back in a second. Pavel saw the signal and he prepared before he threw to Al's left side. The ball flew very fast and Iseria was not able to hit in time, resulting in a strike.
"That's said, I wonder why Miss Cerise is determined to win, even though it is a simple play-for-fun game," Iseria asked when she was preparing for the second ball.
When Pavel threw another strike to Iseria, Al returned the ball to him and answered, "You met Citylord Furious, who is Cerise's father, right? All I can say is "like father, like daughter"."
"I see," Iseria nodded.
The third ball Pavel threw, Iseria successfully hit but the ball flew very low and landed near the shortstop. He quickly picked it up and threw it to the first baseman but Iseria was quicker and called safe. Unfortunately, the eighth batter of the girl team was struck easily by Pavel.
"Here we go."
Yuna sighed in boredom when she stepped into the batter's box. The whole baseball field and the audience stand were silent when they looked at the president of Reingar. Pavel took a deep breath as he knew what she was capable of. He could not let his guard down at any second. And then, he threw the first ball.
"Home run!"
Yuna shouted when she swung her bat. Everyone was silent again, but not because it was a good hit, but because it did not have any power at all. The ball landed on the ground and rolled to Pavel under his shocked gaze and even Iseria was speechless and motionless.
"Pavel, pick up the ball!"
Al shouted and it startled everyone on the field. Iseria woke up and tried to reach second base but Pavel was quicker. He picked up the ball and threw to the second baseman, who threw to the first baseman, resulting in a double-play.
"Damn, they're good," Yuna commented when she left the field.
"No, you're just bad," Iseria signed in disappointment.
Meanwhile, Al looked at Karzan and the guardian of time closed his eyes, and he said, "Don't say anything."
At the end of the second inning, the score was 3-1 for the girl team.
When the first half of the third inning started, the boy team was losing their morale. It was clear that they'd underestimated the girl team. Although Al and Pavel were able to stand on their ground, the others were not. They also felt that, if it was not for the two of them, it could be a called game within a few innings. Some of them were thirsty and looked for water, but they found none.
"What's wrong?" Al saw the strange thing and asked.
"Does anyone have a bottle of water?" a male player asked and they tried to search for one. "It's weird. Normally, the girls are in charge of this."
"And without them, what do you have?" Al asked but none of them could answer. He then looked at Pavel and asked, "Do you have any?"
"No," Pavel replied.
"Don't you often carry your own water can?"
"Well…" Pavel looked away when he heard the question. "Cerise always prepares it for me…" he said weakly.
"Really…"
Al signed in disappointment but it did not mean he did not know what they were thinking. When he was drinking his own water bottle, he said, "Instead of waiting for someone, you'd better prepare for yourself first."
"Al!"
Tamarinne called and waved her hand to him. He looked back and saw her and some female players were bringing water for the boy team. When the boy team sighed in relief, Al came to the girls and helped them. Suddenly, Tamarinne slipped and dropped the container she was carrying. The water bottles inside fell out. Al quickly caught her and the container, before he used it to catch the falling water bottles from the air to the surprise eyes of everyone. And when he thought he was done, a water bottle fell right on his head and the girls could not hold their laughs.
"Was expecting that he caught them all," Cerise smiled.
"He wasn't bitten by a spider, though," Yuna laughed but then she realized they would not understand what she just said.
Back to the boy team, a male commented when the boy team looked at Al and the girls, "Sometimes, it is like no girls hate him. I wonder how he can do that,"
"He's surely popular with them. I wish I could be him for a day," another male player commented.
"Do you ever help the girls?" Pavel asked when he heard the comments. When they heard the question, the boys looked at each other and it seemed they had never thought about it. Pavel then continued, "Do you ever share their jobs without paying back? And do you respect them, equally? Before asking them to like you, you should ask yourself why do they have to like you?"
"But… isn't it normal that girls are often attracted to guys?" another male player asked.
"With that thought, no wonder why no girls like you," Pavel coldly commented.
When Al came back with the water containers, he wondered what they were talking about but he did not mind much. He opened the containers and gave water bottles to the boys.
When they were taking a break before the next inn, Pavel came to Al and asked, "I heard a rumor about Yuna and Tamarinne came from another world, is it true?"
"You can say that," Al replied.
"Do you know anything about that world?" Pavel asked another question but Al shook his head. He then commented, "I guess it is a better world than us."
"Not exactly," Al said. "Either this world or their world, they are the same."
"Even gender equality?"
"You should know better, Pavel. Equality or inequality never relates to gender."
When the first half of the third inning started, the young king asked his protector, "Charles, do you think I can join them? I want to play the game, too. It looks so fun."
"Hm…" Charles looked at the field and thought. Then he asked, "If you promise that you will play seriously and do your best."
"Of course, I promise that," Aither could not hold his excitement.
Charles then looked at the Heir of the Covenant, "What about you?"
"Please join with me, please, please, please," the young king tried to persuade him.
"Well…" Ras did not know how to react. When he looked at Mercedes, she nodded and encouraged him. He then asked, "If Mercedes joins in, I'll do the same."
Charles smiled and said, "Okay, I'll take that as an agreement. But before that, there's someone I need to talk to first."
Tamrinne returned to the pitcher's mound again and she did not have any problem striking the eighth and the ninth batter of the boy team. The next batter was Rikoris but it was clear that he lacked the confidence to step out.
"On your ground, soldier!"
Suddenly, a loud voice shouted from behind. When the boys looked back, they saw a short white haired man with tanned skin, shouting at Rikoris.
"Co-Commander Crozet?" Rikoris was surprised to see the Knight Commander of the Shield from Ezera.
"You're no longer a rookie, Rikoris. Why the fear?" Crozet came close to Rikoris and started a conversation with him.
"Well, sir…" Rikoris dodged his eyes.
"Are you playing this alone?"
Rikoris startled and replied, "No, sir."
"If you're not alone, why are you so scared? Or do you not believe in us? Are we a burden to you?"
"No sir, it's me who burdens you."
"If you think that, then you will always be a burden. Stop being silly and get out there, fight with your heart, and pierce your spear through the heavens."
"Sir, yes, sir!"
Seeing Rikoris was gaining a lot of confidence, Pavel slapped Al's shoulder and said, "It seems someone did it better than you."
"Shut it," Al said.
After Rikoris came to the batter's box, Crozet came to Al and greeted him formally. "Allow me to introduce myself, Guardian Al. My name is Crozet Morbihan. At present, I'm in charge of the Order of the Shield."
Al bowed his head politely and replied, "I heard about you through Sir Charles. Nice to meet you. Oh, and you don't have to be formal to me."
"It's an honor to meet you, sir," Crozet firmly insisted on his formality towards Al. Then, he asked him, "If possible, could you let me be the next one hitting the ball on the field?"
Al looked at Pavel and he did the same, as they were wondering Crozet's question. When he looked at Crozet's determination, Al felt he could trust this man. He then nodded and said, "Of course, you can. But can I ask if you know how to play?"
"A little, sir. But allow me to say. It doesn't matter if I can hit the ball from Miss Tamarinne or not. I go there to let Rikoris know that he is not alone and there is always someone there to support him. As you can see, Rikoris has the talent but his lack of confidence is what blocks him from moving forward."
"You got the point. Then, please, do what you need. Remember that we are playing for fun, win or lose is not a problem," Al admired Crozet and let him do what he wanted.
"Look like someone did better than you," Pavel teased Al.
"Just shut up already," Al replied annoyingly.
And then, they heard a loud noise from the audience. Rikoris successfully hit and stole the first base.
As they discussed, from this moment, Crozet would play as the second baseman and the second batter. Meanwhile, Rikoris would change from the first baseman to shortstop, and was still the first batter. When Crozet stepped into the batter's box, Rikoris felt more confident. At the same time, Tamarinne was looking at Crozet as she wondered where and how she should throw. After exchanging signals with Yuna, Tamarinne threw the ball. It flew slow and Crozet believed that he would hit it with ease. But at the moment he thought so, it changed direction and moved below the bat, resulting in a strike. Crozet was surprised and so was everyone else. Then, Tamarinne threw the second ball, and Crozet successfully hit it. He tried to steal first base while Rikoris headed to second base. Unfortunately, the center fielder of the girl team, Iseria, caught the ball without error. With that, she successfully removed Crozet from the field, and also finished the boy team with three out.
When the side changed, Pavel stood on the pitcher's mound. This time, he was more confident than the first two inns and he had no problem when he struck out the first and the second batters of the girl team. However, the third batter, Tamarinne, gave him a struggle. He was not capable of throwing other pitches than fastballs, and both he and Al knew it would not work with Tamarinne. The first pitch he threw, Tamarinne hit. Fortunately, it was a foul. Pavel tried again and for an unknown reason, he changed the ball's direction, which surprised Tamarinne, making her swing her bat and resulted in a strike.
"Hey Somi…"
The young idol heard Al called her name. She smiled and replied, "You won't distract me that easily,"
"I love you."
Startling, Tamarinne missed the third ball. Then she stared at Al with her blushing face. With one foul and two strikes, she was out immediately and the girl team's inning was finished. Afterward, both teams and the audience witnessed a short pursuit between Al and Tamarinne, which she chased after him while wielding her bat.
At the end of the third inning, the score was still 3-1 for the girl team.