EXTRA CHAPTER 3: CAPTURING BASES, PART 2

Two teams. Ten people on each side. The cold winter air being blown away by the heat of the game…well, it is supposed to be one.

“Surround those puny maids and confuse them!”

“Charge!”

“Defend our base to the last girl!”

I had a premonition that this would happen. I mean, Maddie just told me before that these ladies only knew of conflict from when they were young, thus they were not used to playing a ‘friendly’ game.

“Kyaaaa!!!”

“What the hell?!” I turned to Maddie, “Did that paladin used a wind spell to blow away her enemies?”

“It’s fine, Kuro!” she told me with a smirk on her face, “We are much tougher than you think.”

Well, it’s not what I’m thinking when I introduced this game! They’re literally killing each other with their hands!

“!!!”

Another explosion tore through the advancing paladins’ line; a maid—ordered by Lily—defiantly held to her ground while she fired a salvo of ‘rock bullets’ towards them.

What is Lily thinking?! She could’ve killed those paladins!

“Nah…they’re using low-powered spells. So, it will hurt, but not kill the victim,” Maddie explained, “If they got wounded, they always got me to heal them.”

“Err…’Capture base’ isn’t this dangerous, you know?”

“Shh!” I realized Maddie was having fun watching the maids and paladins duke it out with their strategies in trying to ‘capture’ the base of their opponents. In fact, before we started earlier, she tried to join the game, but since it would create team-balance issues, I asked her to wait for her turn.

Well, Maddie tried to pull me into joining them, but I refused. I mean, I was an adult, old enough not to be involved in such games already…

“…”

“Kyaaaa!!!”

“Don’t falter, my paladins! Charge at those maids once again!”

On second thought, I guess I should’ve joined their game earlier with Maddie. No one was wearing any armor of the sort; just a light set of winter clothing, enough to enable one to move around freely in cold weather. I was sure that any more minutes of this type of gameplay, and it would surely get out of hand…

“!!!”

Wait, is that Lily using her Bloodbath skill?

“Concentrate your efforts on the Head Maid! She must be captured at all costs!” the Duchess of Henristone, the leader of the paladin team, ordered.

“You heard the captain! Let’s go!”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!”

Good lord, this isn’t going nice at all! If they ganged-up on Lily, someone will surely be seriously hurt.

“Stoooooop!!! For fuck’s sake, stoooop!!!”

Everyone was startled when I rushed in between the charging paladin team and the counter-charging Lily. They had to stop dead in their tracks, or I’d get hurt if they clashed.

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“Come on guys, this isn’t how you play this game!” I scolded everyone when they calmed down. I had to suspend their play when things were about to get out of hand. It surely disappointed them, but it’s better safe than be sorry in the end, “Your Excellency, the use of strategy in trying to defeat your opponents is good; but to use an actual battle tactic to steamroll over them…what if you caused grave injuries?”

The Duchess of Henristone was silent, humming to herself and averting her gaze away from me. Well, if injuries happened, I don’t think she could do that anymore.

“And Lily, though you’re the one leading the maids, the use of magic spells and your Bloodbath skill is prohibited!”

“Sorry…” Lily sheepishly said.

“Well, if you keep on telling us we’re doing it wrong, why don’t you show it to us how, Kuro?” it was Maddie, clearly taunting me to join the game. She wore a sardonic smile on her face as if she knew she cornered me into playing.

“Alright,” I kind of expected this to happen, that’s why I’d oblige for now. I just wanted them to enjoy the game, not to injure each other while playing, “So, it has come to this, Madelaine Rubinforth, then I’d play…provided, I go against you!”

“Hoh…so you dare oppose me now, Kuro?” as if taking the bait, Maddie went along with my pretend provocations.

“I always wanted to try my mettle against you, Flower of the Dawson Valley.”

“Why not? The loser does what the winner wants, ha?” Maddie winked at me.

“Well then!” I agreed with her conditions. This is my world’s game; of course, there’s no way I’d get defeated in this.

“So…uh, why did this turn into a rivalry between you two?” Lily asked us, “In any case, how’d we decide who goes to which side?”

“Right…” I told them, “Maddie and I would decide by ‘Jack-en-Poy’. The winner gets to pick their side.”

The paladins and maids agreed to my proposals and watched us closely decide our fates. Haha…for such a childish game like this one, I never imagined that one day, I’d play with teenagers—and actually enjoy it!

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And so, with that, the second—and proper—round of ‘Capture Base’ begun.

“…”

We arranged our bases a bit on the edge of the cleared field, near the thick layers of snow. Maddie also renewed applying a ‘drying’ spell on the ground, so that the grass won’t be slippery as we run. Also, she proposed using a special magic spell on our clothing, so that we could tell immediately who touched their base more recently.

Our team, the paladins, were happy to have me included in their roster. They knew what I could do, plus, I was the one who knew the game pretty well. As we began, we planned our course of action to score the first blood. Since this is a game that didn’t require boundaries, I made it clear with my teammates that we could get attacked from any direction.

“Your Excellency, you take a team of paladins and bait the maids into running after you,” I told the Duchess of Henristone, “Meanwhile, another team of paladins would try to flank them from behind. I and a fellow paladin would remain here to defend it from their assault, should they decide to mount it.”

The Duchess of Henristone and the others agreed and set our plans into motion.

However…

“Sir Kuro! The maids have begun their attack!”

“Ha?!”

Indeed, while we were planning, Lily and Maddie seized the initiative and attacked us in a flanking, all-out maneuver. Maddie, together with some maids, went to our right, while Lily targeted our left. The other maids pushed to our front, effectively trapping us near our base.

But of course, they knew they couldn’t attack us as long we’re the last ones ‘touching’ our base. So, they kept on running around the edge of our territory, baiting us to attack.

“Pick the one you’d run after,” I advised my teammates, “They knew they could get near us since we’re the last ones to touch our own base. Pursue and try to capture them; don’t let these guys reach and touch their base. If you could attack, then go for it!”

“Yes!”

Our opponents scampered away once we began our counter-attack. The paladins selected a maid to run after, and the field became chaotic. However, I remained at our base to guard it.

Maddie and the other maids just kept on running around, pursued by the paladins. I don’t know if they’re really trying to bait them, but I kept on yelling for my teammates to attack…since the enemy base was wide open.

“For goodness’ sake, capture their base!” I yelled at the Duchess. Pardon me, but I guess I was being carried away at the moment.

Soon, the paladins switched their attacks from the maids and into the opposing base. The maids knew it was wide open, and they could do nothing to stop my team from ‘touching’ it. But then…

“!!!”

Maddie was quick to dive to save their base, and that forced my team to retreat. Soon, the maids renewed ‘touching’ their base and went on the offensive against us. My paladins retreated to ‘renew’ touching our own base, however…

“Wait, where’s the head maid?” I asked.

“Huh?!” the Duchess of Henristone looked around, “She’s gone.”

“Sir Kuro, Captain! Here come the maids again!”

“Damn it! Defend the front, I’ll watch out for Lily.”

Having ‘renewed touching’ our base, the Duchess and the other paladins went on the offensive to throw back our opponents. I carefully watched around our base’s perimeter as the first maids were captured and brought prisoners to our base.

“We could win this!” the Duchess of Henristone winked at me.

“Yeah, but we still have to watch out for—”

“Sir Kuro, the prisoners!” Distracted by talking to the Duchess, Maddie charged at us and rescue our prisoners. She was fast, and soon, a prisoner was running away to her freedom.

“…”

However, it’s not the end of our woes. For while we were occupied in trying to prevent Maddie from her daring rescue, Lily emerged from her hiding spot in the snow and ‘captured’ our base in one fell swoop.

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See, I was correct in introducing this game to match Lily’s physical abilities.

“…”

We did several more rounds after the first ‘proper’ game, and there came a time that our teams played to a stalemate. But eventually, it was the maids who prevailed by a wide margin.

“…”

And, yes, they were still not yet done.

Goodness! Where do these ladies get all of their stamina?

Contrary to the indoor game of ‘Uno’, this was the game where Maddie and Lily truly excelled, especially Lily. The next thing that happened was she led her team to several victories. But the Duchess of Henristone was a sore loser, so the captain of the Paladin Corps would ask for another round.

The players were eventually changed, since our noises reached the other side of the palatial walls, and the other paladins, maids, and also the nuns became interested in what we’re doing. Even Eris came out to see us, and soon, she’s also playing the game.

“…”

Well, as long as these girls are happy, I guess I’m all good.

“You really should train your body more, Kuro,” Maddie told me as she took her rest at an open-air tent that was set up only for that. Lily and the Duchess of Henristone were the only original players left still on the field; others were also taking a break. But I was sure they’d be returning to play once fully rested.

“Yeah, I agree with you,” I tried stretching my muscles more, “Though I’ve been training with the sword and spear, it’s really different when you compete in sports and fighting in a war.”

“Kuro!” it was Lily who was calling out to me.

“Oh? Tired now, are we?”

“Haha!” the head maid laughed heartily, “A bit! Anyway, I’m taking a break!”

“Heh, you sure defeated your opponents there,” I commented.

“So, Kuro! Maddie and I defeated your team, right?”

“Well, so-so,” I answered, “Remember, it’s a 2-2 score with a draw on the tie-breaker too.”

“But we defeated you in the first game!”

“Right…?”

“So Maddie and I were to get our prize, right?”

“Err…isn’t it that the loser does what the winner says?” I recalled our conditions earlier.

“What’s the difference?” Maddie interjected, “For us, it’s the prize.”

“Well, okay…” I chuckled, “But, who’s the loser? We played to a draw.”

“The first game! It’s the first game!” Lily reiterated.

“Haha! Alright…what do you want me to do?”

Maddie then suddenly stood up from her chair, “Oh, I just remembered something. I’ll take my leave for a bit.” She then disappeared among the crowd, watching the game.

Lily then said, “Well, for starters, why don’t you close your eyes?”

“Okay?”

There were a few moments of tense silence as I did what Lily told me to do. The only noise I could hear was the screams and cheers of the players and audiences. If Lily’s doing anything that generates sound, then it must’ve been drowned in that sea of noises.

“…”

And then, the soft sensation of her lips pressing against mine. It was a slow, deliberate movement, and she bravely expressed all her love for me in that kiss…

Then I opened my eyes.

“Well…” Lily’s face was red, and she’s so cute to behold, “That’s thanks for keeping up with me!”

I said nothing. Actually, I liked it.