The sound of a cork ball bouncing off a platform in the hotel yard echoed in rhythm.

　After enough hitting, me and Rumba took turns, and now Irvine and Malt were rallying.

'Yhihi!　Go f*ck yourself, Malt!

'Ugh!　Irvine!　All you do is keep trying to get a backhand and you're so picky, you're dirty!

　Table tennis between the novices seemed to be dominated by Irvine, the dirtier of the two personalities, who was hitting shots relentlessly into Malt's backhand.

　It's sobering to see that he can hit the occasional drive like shot as a beginner's habit.

　Irvine was relentlessly attacking Malt's backhand side with his drives, hitting the sweetened ball with ease.

'Heh, heh, Malt's a cholo.

Bastard.....

　Irvine laughs with his best throat, and Malt goes to pick up the cork ball with an irritated look on his face.

　This is the kind of face that irritates me, even though I haven't played against him.

He says, "Well, well, well, go ahead and pick up the ball. You can't get the fight back on, can you?

'Shut up!　Wait for me!

　Despite being provoked by Irvine, Malt explores the bushes in the yard and finds a cork ball.

　Then it came back slowly, which was probably a guess at Irvine for his provocation.

'Okay, I guess it's my turn to serve next.

Oh, yeah. Quickly.

　There are two shifts of serving in table tennis. The rule that serves are bounced in your court and put into the opponent's court is also taught once everyone is used to it.

　Since Irvine had served twice before, it was Malt's turn to serve.

　Just as Molto was about to take his racket and get into serving position, he dropped the cork ball from his hand.

'Oops, the cork ball fell out. ........Huh?　Where's the cork ball?　Irvine, is there a cork ball lying around over there?

'What?　What are you doing?　Where is it?

　And as Irvine looked under the platform, Malt made a quick serve.

'There's a gap!　Irvine!

'Ah!　You motherf*cker!　You've actually got a ball in your hand!　Do you want to win that badly!

I'm willing to go to any length to see your stupid side!

　........it's an utterly ugly conflict. I thought Irvine was going to play nastier than me, but Malt was on the same level.

'Come on, come on, don't complain, go pick up the ball!　It's the job of the loser who gets scored on to pick up the ball, right?

'Nuh-uh!　Godd*mn it!

　It's the opposite composition of the previous one. Irvine went to pick up the cork ball, looking frustrated when Malt told him to be a big boy.

'Gahaha!　Those guys are fighting some interesting battles!

　Beside me is Roomba, who is drinking red wine in a good mood.

　She's lightly red from the reflection of the earlier smash that hit her right between the eyes, but she seems to be particularly fine.

　I think it hurts because it's a cork ball, not a ping-pong ball like in my previous life, but to Roomba, this seems like nothing.

　We relax with Roomba for a while, watching the Irvine and Malt rally.

'Haha!　Yeah!　I win!

'd*mn!　Losing to Irvine really pisses me off!

　It looks like Irvine ripped off 11 points first.

　It was a game that really didn't have the spirit of fair play, with both sides using their dirty hands.

'Haha!　Who's next!

Oh?　If that's the case, I'll--

'No, Master Alfried is next!　Okay, come on!

　As Rumba puts his glass down and tries to get up, Irvine wolfishly picks me up. I guess he remembers the smash that Roomba hit earlier. And I'm afraid that when Roomba hits a smash, I don't know where it's going to fly.

　Well, with Irvine, there's no danger, and that's fine. I'm about to not only teach him, but I'm about to hit it too.

'Well, I'll go next, then.

　I take the racket from a frustrated Malt and stand in front of Irvine.

''Hehe, I'm used to playing ping-pong now. I should be able to beat Master Alfried now!　

　It's still a word that reeks of thuggery. It's safe to say that next to Thor, the thug language suits him.

''It's still too early to beat me--ah!　I'm still in the middle of talking!

Hehehe!　It's the fault of those who are not careful!　Score one for me!

　I'm stunned, Irvine says with a snort of laughter.

　You're a bastard. If that's what you're going to do, I'm not going to stand for it.

　I pick up the cork ball as it rolls away, musing, and hand it to Irvine.

　Then I set up my racket without caution and wait for Irvine to serve.

　Seeing my caution in my eyes, Irvine clicks his tongue and gets into a serving stance.

　It's Irvine anyway. He's probably going to serve as if he were attacking my backhand.

　As I was thinking that, Irvine's serve came to my backhand side, just as I had expected. I was expecting this, so I returned the drive straight up with a quick touch.

Tch!　You're taut!

　Irvine was surprised by it and dexterously switched it to a cross.

　I was going to smack him if the return ball was sweet, but surprisingly, the return was deep.

　As Irvine said, he's already learned to anticipate the ball and even put it up, which is a moderately quick way to swallow.

　Even though Irvine's swallowing speed makes me roll my tongue, I hit it straight again, moving toward the returned ball.

　However, my stride doesn't allow my body to get into the fast return ball, and the return is slightly sweeter.

'I've been waiting for that!　Eat my back drive, which I've been working on with my back attack on Malt!

　Irvine gleefully backhandedly sets up there. I subtly deflect the cork ball with my psychic as Irvine swings his racket.

　Then Irvine's racket cut the sky beautifully without hitting the cork ball.

''Oh my!''

'Hahahahaha!　You're all hyped up and yet you strike out!

　Multo points and sneers at Irvine, who strikes out and rolls his eyes.

　I guess he's just pissed off for losing to Irvine earlier.

'Shut up!　Shut up, outsider!　That was a surefire score for me if that one was decided!

As long as I hit the racket right!

　While Malt laughs at him, Irvine picks up the cork ball as it rolls away.

　Well, it's not uncommon for beginners to strike out at table tennis.

　Irvine doesn't seem to have noticed it yet, so let's let him do some more.

　I accept the cork ball from Irvine, grin, and

Haha. Next time, try not to strike out, okay?

Serve me quickly!

　When I said this as if I was only teasing him for striking out, Irvine shouted with a pissed off look on his face.

　I'm going to serve you immediately without being told.

　I'll serve instantly, spinning subtly as I run outward.

　It bounces off my court and into Irvine's court and then psychics again.

　This time I don't move the cork so that I can disguise it as a rotation, but instead speed up the cork's rotation.

　Then the cork ball bounced in Irvine's position and began to bend rapidly out of the court.

　The cork ball passed by as if escaping from Irvine's racket.

''What?!''

　Irvine was surprised by this and froze in his empty stance.

'Wow, a magic ball?　Crackle, he's bent!

The ball bends?

　At this, even the outfielders, Molt and Rumba, were surprised and sounded surprised.

'Hmmm, can you handle my bending shots?　Irvine?

'Godd*mn it!　Come again!

　As long as the cork ball is inorganic, I'm the best at table tennis, as long as I can use psychic without chanting.


　◆


''.......terrible. You don't have to go all out there....

　When I used my magic on Irvine or cotenially beat him using only my ability, Irvine got a nice dent in it.

''Hey Rumba-san!　If you're going to smash it, make sure it's in your coat!

'Bad, bad, bad!　I'm too strong!

　In front of us, Rumba and Molt, who had been replaced, were happily playing ping-pong.

'Oh well, that's how tough Irvine was,'

'Someone who can aim for the corner like that can't think I'm tough enough...'

　I comforted him, but Irvine's expression remained somber.

　As expected, it may have been too much to attack the edge, making it a psychic and precise control. If it hits a corner and changes course, as expected of Irvine, or even a table tennis pro, the return of the ball is suspect.

'Well, you can't go for the edge without using a combination of magic.

Dirty!　This guy used his magic at table tennis!

　Irvine grabbed the breastplate as I surrendered my seed.

'Only at the beginning. In the middle, it's all about competence!

No, no, no, still no magic!

I never said I was a nobody. You can use Irvine. Well, as long as you can use an unattributed psychic while rallying with no chanting.

'Nuh-uh!　It's not every day someone can use magic like that in an instant!

　I said with a wry smile and Irvine exclaimed with a regretful look on his face.

''Whew, that was a nice bath. Oh?　Master Alfried, what are you doing there?

　Tory, who seems to have heard Irvine's cries, comes in from the lobby, apparently having taken a bath.

'Hmm?　It's ping-pong.

What is this?　Is this a new game?　If it's going to be a commodity, please bite me, too!

　I answered simply, and Tory came over to me, looking excited to see if he had his eye on ping-pong.

　I'm sure table tennis is fun, but will it catch on?

　But it would be interesting to see a kagura man in a kagura suit play ping-pong at an inn.

　I explained to Tory about ping-pong as I thought about it.