Epilogue

As Diederich twitched on the ground, the entire playing hall turned their attention to him. Clocks were stopped as two angry men stood each other down. One was Red Reaper, furious with his grandson and seeking to punish him personally, while the other was Raymond Redfield, naturally angry at the disruption Diederich had caused.

"Three day's suspension. He's been warned about his conduct, but this breaks the camel's back. Since your team lost anyway, the result shall stand with Japan winning 2.5-1.5. As for him, he'll be released following the completion of your team's 6th round game, so he may participate in the Bermuda party should you so choose to let him. And to arbiters, once the games are reset, clocks may resume," Raymond declared.

Red Reaper seethed with fury as Raymond warped away to WWCF HQ with Diederich. "Übel... The medicine balls..."

Übel nervously saluted and ran off, going through the checkpoint as fast as he could as Red Reaper menacingly marched after him. Once he was outside, he made a phone call, and within minutes, a large truck arrived carrying an array of steel balls the size of bowling balls in it's flatbed.

The steel balls were known as "medicine balls" each weighing ten tons, forcing Prussia to have them taken to Budapest by truck as 22 of them were too heavy to fly. As for their purpose, Red Reaper hopped into the flatbed and clenched one in his hand, lifting it up effortlessly before crushing it to pieces in his hand. He then began cursing in German and kicking some of the medicine ball's fragments, with one flying so high into the sky, it was electrocuted with lightning.

These medicine balls were Red Reaper's stress relief. When he couldn't quell his anger with a hunt, these were his next go-to option. But for others, it was pure terror as now ten-ton steel fragments were flying everywhere. By some miracle, nobody was hurt from Red Reaper's anger, but if he were to get upset again, there would be more ten-ton steel fragments in the forecast.

Poor Volkner, meanwhile had long since lost consciousness, foaming at the mouth and soiling himself as Hans-Ulrich dragged him out. Luckily for him, most of Red Reaper's anger was directed at Diederich, though there was exactly 10% left to be directed at him.

"Hans-Ulrich, the status of the women?" Red Reaper snarled as he menacingly hovered over a medicine ball.

"It appears... like they have just won!" Hans-Ulrich nervously exclaimed as he flashed his WWCF card.

Sure enough, Red Reaper could see in the live feed that Prussia's women's team had clinched their match against Georgia with a 3.5-0.5 score. This was enough to subside his anger, but Volkner wasn't off the hook for his blunder.

Since they couldn't re-enter the playing hall, the men waited until the women's team exited. Nearly all the women went silent as they noticed Red Reaper and the flat-bed truck, all except Hannelore who just stared blankly.

"I heard you won... Excellent. Edeltraud!"

"YES SIR!"

"Drill every Latvian Gambit line into Volkner, and don't let him sleep until he memorizes it all!"

"YES, MY KAISER!"

None dare ask about Diederich, though all could correctly assume he had been handed a suspension, meaning Prussia's men's team was temporarily without a reserve player. Them losing to Japan was also a blow as even though they could bounce back in light of Diederich's suspension, the loss to Japan could matter if tiebreaks were needed for podium placement.

... 

In the dining hall, team Japan celebrated their victory, with the exception of Ginji who had been banished to the far end of the table for his actions.

"Oi, isn't it a little cruel to snide me from the festivities? I did put my absolute faith in you all despite my loss," Ginji frowned.

"You nearly cost us the match, not to mention you nearly got both teams in big trouble by dragging that Polish girl into your scheme," Okisato glared.

"Please, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Then why were our lanyards in YOUR hotel room?"

"Ask Houbou-kun; he found them."

Arguing with Ginji was pointless, so Okisato returned his attention to the festivities.

"Now Okaa-chan, care to repent for your sins?" Mimoko glared as she summoned a chessboard with her WWCF card.

"With a game? In that case-"

"You'll play the "Jadwiga Gambit", and I'll show you just how badly you sinned."

Daria grimaced as she realized she was in for a rough time. Not once did Mimoko blunder, eventually leading to Daria losing, even though she too played perfectly barring the Jadwiga Gambit.

"Just what possessed you to even attempt that!?" Mimoko fumed.

"Well, Iori made note of Jadwiga's psych in the fact it likely hadn't recovered in such a short time. Plus, if a maestro like me played the move against her right after such a humiliating defeat, it would break her, and sure enough it did."

"The Polish team's already filling complaints against us, which reminds me... Tanabe-kun, we need to discuss last night in detail," Mimoko angrily smiled as she turned towards Okisato.

"Ginji did it," Okisato flatly stated before taking off.

"DON'T RUN FROM ME!"

Okisato didn't get far though before a notice appeared on his WWCF card. "Inoue-senpai, I'll have to ask that you spare me for tonight," he sighed as he stopped and turned around. 

"Why should I?" Mimoko angrily smiled. 

"The pairings went up for the men. We're playing India tomorrow." 

Mimoko's smile morphed into a frown. "Are the women's pairings up yet?" 

"Yes, your next opponent will be the United States," Okisato declared as lightning flashed. 

The true storm was about to begin.

[Volume 6 End]