472-Ski and snowboard





There, that's not a problem.

Yeah, that won't open the door.

 Thor and Asmo smiled freshly as they blocked the doorway to the village chief's house with a large snowball, as if they had finished the job.

 There aren't many kids who can play a prank and laugh so radiantly.

 He hasn't been banned from the snowball fight for being bad-tempered.

''So, what are you going to do now?''

'I thought you said you had a game you wanted to play?'

 Thor and Asmo, who have no guilt at all for playing a prank, ask me with the innocent look of a kid out there.

'Yeah, it's a game we can play on the slope, so let's move to the hill.'

 There's no way to do snowboarding on flat ground.

 I accompany Thor and Asmo up the sloping hill.

'Yeah, I think we're right around here.'

 In fact, it would be better to use the slope of the mountain to snowboard, but it's a hassle to climb a steep snowy mountain.

 That's why the plan is to use the snow-covered hills and use ice magic to turn them into slopes.

 When I arrived, I used my ice magic to make the snow fall.

''The snow is cold!''

Just bear with me for a minute.

 A tremendous snowstorm blows by magic.

 Thor and Asmo cowered in the cold, but it's just a little patience, so they have to be patient.

 As the snow was mass-produced by magic and piled up with a bang, the hills that had been gently sloping turned into an undulating slope.

"Oh, the terrain has changed somehow!

All right. We're going to slide and play on this slope, aren't we?

 Looking at the slope, Asmo says something close to certainty.

 As you would expect of a child who is having fun, he immediately guesses the essence of the game I'm about to play.

'Yes, that's right. But it's not just a normal slide.

 As I said this, I made a board with earth magic to hold both feet in place.

 Then I slide down the slope in front of me with great skill.

'You have to balance yourself on the board like this,'

Oh, wow, what a blast! Sounds fast and interesting!

'I've played sitting on an incline before, but I'd never thought about getting on a board in the snow.

 I float back up the incline with a psychic float as I listen to the two of them, their eyes sparkling with curiosity.

'Make one for us, Al!

Okay. But there are two kinds, so pick which one you want to do.

 Snowboarding isn't the only thing you can ski on. It's hard to ski in the desert, but it's possible to ski on the slopes.

 With earth magic, you can not only make a snowboard, but also a ski board and stock.

'Are these long, thin boards over here, with one foot on each one?

'Yes. And those two sticks over there are also hand-held skis. My type is called snowboarding.

Which one is slipperier?

 If you ask me which is easier to ski or snowboard, I'm a little torn.

Hmm, they both have their advantages and disadvantages. Skiing is easier to ski at first, but it's more complicated and difficult because you have to use both hands and feet. Snowboarding is difficult to get used to and I often fall down, but if you can get past that, it's easy.

So maybe Thor would be better off on skis?

'What? Don't be an idiot. I'll snowboard for you!

 I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make the most of it.

 I wanted to suggest skiing to Thor, whose athleticism is not as good as Asmo's, but now that it's come to that, I don't think he'll listen to me.

 You just have to fall down until you learn to ski, you know. I hope you don't break your heart.

Well, I'll just go skiing.

 Perhaps intrigued by something new, Asmo had chosen skis.

 The skis have boards on both feet, and it's the controls that are difficult, but the way the brakes work is easy. If the only purpose is to ski, it's the easiest to get into.

 However, unlike snowboarding, which is easy to get into if you're just doing it for fun, skiing is more difficult as you get better at it.

 In my previous life, I often saw experienced skiers skiing with distorted form.

'I just have to put both feet up here, right?

Yes.

 Thor put his feet on the board and I use earth magic to hold him in place.

''Yes! Let's go!

Oh, you idiot!

 Then Thor started to slide on his own, half-heartedly, just as I was watching him.

 I wouldn't say anything if it was Sister Elinora with her prodigious athleticism, but Thor is average or below average.

 There was no way someone like that could start sliding out of nowhere and do well.

''What is this! Oh no!

 Sure enough, Thor was leaning his stance in the middle of the incline.

 He didn't know how to fall properly or how to take a passive stance, so he was about to fall backwards from his head.

 I quickly put a psychic on Thor's board to hold him in place.

''........Oh, that? Have you been down?

I stopped it with magic. It's not safe to ski without knowing how to ski and fall. This thing goes faster than I thought it would.

Oh, sorry.

 Maybe it's because I said it in a serious tone of voice, or maybe it's because Thor is more honest than ever.

 He's a friend, even though he's this guy. I don't want him to get hurt in a fun game.

 I pull Thor over to me with a psychic for now.

'It's rare that Al gets pissed off at me.

"f*ck you, fatty!

 Thor regains his usual tone after being teased by Asmo.

 It's more of a warning, but it's the first time I've ever chided him in a serious tone of voice like this, so maybe that's what he thought.

 But if that's the case, I'm glad to know that the danger is understood.

'So where should I put my feet on this one?

It's a bit of a letdown.

Here?

Yeah, yeah.

 Asmo put each of their feet on the board and I magically secured them to the board as well. All that's left to do is give them a stock and they're ready to go.

It's a good idea to learn how to stop and fall safely first, since it's a very fast game, just like Thor just showed us how to slide on his own.

Hey!

 It was a close call, but we were able to teach him the necessity of braking and ukemi, so that's good.

Let's start with the basics: how to ski and roll.

 I started explaining the basic way of skiing and snowboarding.



 ◆



Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

 Thor slid down the incline, awkwardly sliding down the slope.

'Phew!'

 At first he kept his stance while slowing down, but soon he lost his balance and fell.

 He hadn't advanced even three meters in distance.

 Seeing this, Asmo burst out laughing.

''........Thor.''

'What's with the way you look at that bad boy! It's hard enough just to stand on a board! 

'Yeah, I know. The boy I taught before could do it so quickly, I'd forgotten about it.

 Maya, who I taught at Jaisal, was an athletic girl who learned quickly when I taught her.

 It's funny how Maya can learn to skate beautifully in just a few hours, and that's how normal people are. Some people would take half a day or a day to finally learn to stand, and that was too much to expect from Thor.

'd*mn, the look on your face and the way you say it pisses me off too. Watch it, you'll be skiing like Al in no time - oh, oh, oh, oh! Wait, wait, stop, stop!

 Saying that, Thor immediately lost his balance as he tried to stand up and slipped in his Yankee seat.

 No, I should describe it as being slipped on. What an ugly way to slide.

 When he stands up, he loses his balance and slides down, unable to change his position. He was jittering around with his hands, trying to brake.

 For now, it's dangerous, so I use a psychic to levitate him and pull him over to me.

I'm saved, but it's kind of humiliating to be carried like this.

 Somehow it reminds me of a monkey caught in the woods. I'm not going to tell you.

"Just try to float the board in front of you. It'll keep the board from sliding.

Oh, yeah.

 As far as I can see, Thor's basics are still lax, so let's make him work on that thoroughly.

"Yay!

 Next to Thor, who was slowly sliding down the mountain, Asmo was skiing with a cheerful voice.

 Asmo, who is on the skis, descended in a straight line and made a "C" shape on the board and braked beautifully.

Skiing is fun. It's a lot faster than sitting on a normal slope. Hey, Thor?

Geez, that fat guy. Just because you can ski a little doesn't mean you can't have fun.

 Thor looks frustrated at Asmo's blatant provocation.

 Asmo had mastered the athleticism he possessed, so much so that he was able to ski and brake.

 Skiing was easier to brake on, and although it was easier to get to grips with, it was still a moderate sense.

'Al, pull me in by magic...'

Hey.

 I slide down and pull Asmo's skis with a psychic on his skis that have gone far away.

 If it were a mountain, I'd let him ski free, but this is a simple slope. It's quicker to pull them in this way.

 However, it's a bit of a hassle to pull it back again and again, so next time you want to do it, you'll have to remove the fixings yourself so that you can come back to it.

 As I pull Asmo to him, Thor slides away from the replacement.

 He's slipping slowly, slamming on the brakes like I said he would.

 His speed is quite slow. To be honest, it's about as fast as walking, but the basics are important.

 Seeing Thor like that, Asmo grins and slides down the mountain.

 Asmo stepped on the brakes and went up beside Thor and started poking him with the stock.

'There you go, slide and slide faster,'

 It's a ski player's dream, to mess with the stock.

 It's childish to want to bully with two long sticks.

 That irritated Thor reflexively grabbed the poles.

'I got you! Konnyaro!

Oh, stop pulling on it!

 If you pull on the stock, it will naturally pull on the Asmo who is holding it.

 In normal times, his footing would have been effective, but now he was on the skis, so he would slide down without any footing.

 As a result, Asmo, who fell down, got caught up in the fallen Asmo and caused Thor to fall down as well.

'Don't be silly, Asmo! I won't have a problem with you getting on my ass!

'That's because Thor's pulling the stock!

...You guys are really close.

 I looked at the two men who were wrestling with each other at the end of the incline, even though their legs were pinned together, and I thought wistfully.