Chapter 16: Lesson’s Fees

The moment when the catcher from Nanakyo High School gripped the ball in his Mitt and prepared to tag Out Sawamura, almost everyone held their breath, waiting for the outcome.

According to the usual logic, Sawamura, rushing forward at full speed, wouldn't have time to change direction. He would inevitably be tagged by the catcher's Mitt.

If this were a professional baseball game, Sawamura could use an authorized collision to knock the catcher away. However, in high school baseball, to protect the players' safety, this kind of action is strictly prohibited.

In this situation, what would Sawamura do?

In the Nanakyo High School dugout, all the players were filled with excitement. They were finally going to secure an Out! And it would be against the legendary "Demon King" Sawamura. This was too cool!

Securing this Out would boost their morale. It would also diminish the fearsome reputation of the Seidouu High School baseball team.

Even Hanagata at first base was thinking the same thing. But when his gaze shifted to the Seidouu dugout, he suddenly felt a sense of unease.

For some reason, the players there didn't look disappointed at all. In fact, their faces showed a sense of anticipation!

'What was going on? How could they look so eager when their player was about to be tagged out? Could it be that Sawamura wasn't liked much within the Seidouu team?'

Such thoughts crossed the minds of many, but the confrontation on the field continued.

As the Mitt blocked his way, Sawamura's mind instantly generated several plans. With his naturally flexible body, changing direction while running at full speed didn't significantly hinder him.

What Sawamura was really concerned about was whether the catcher might have some other trick up his sleeve, one that hadn't been revealed yet.

To be honest, this possibility did exist. After all, Sawamura was one of the most famous players in the country now, and many teams had studied him closely.

Any team that found Seidouu High School tough would certainly know about Sawamura's formidable presence at home plate.

Up until now, Sawamura had been unbothered. If they knew, so what? They still couldn't stop him.

However, after the game with Inashiro, Sawamura wasn't as confident. He knew that if someone really put their mind to it, there were always ways to counter him.

But what was Nanakyo's catcher planning?

'No time to think!'

There were only a few tenths of a second, and Sawamura didn't have much time to think it over. He pushed off with his foot, pulling his body away from the Mitt, successfully bypassing it.

As for what would happen next, it all depended on the catcher's actions.

Sawamura decided to stay flexible and adjust his actions depending on the catcher's response.

Sawamura was clearly overthinking things.

Though Takano from Inashiro High School's baseball team had successfully stopped Sawamura before, one must remember that Inashiro was a top-tier team, and Tadano was a star player.

Even with that combination, it had taken a lot of effort to stop Sawamura.

The catcher from Nanakyo High School didn't have Tadano's skills. Nanakyo also hadn't undergone the rigorous training that Inashiro's team had.

Most importantly, Seidouu wasn't even Nanakyo's main target.

As an underdog team, to make it to Koshien, they had to face the two giants of Kyoto. Most of their energy was spent studying these two teams.

There was no time to study Seidouu in detail.

So while Nanakyo's players knew that Seidouu was strong, they didn't know just how strong.

The catcher didn't even realize how decisive Sawamura's move was. Not only was it decisive, but it was also incredibly flexible.

"SAFE!!!"

Sawamura was so fast that the Nanakyo catcher didn't even realize what had happened. Only when the umpire's call came through did he realize that Sawamura had already bypassed him and reached home plate.

Seidouu's baseball team had scored their third point.

For other teams, this score wouldn't mean much.

Especially since the game had just started—no one knew if the opponent could make a comeback.

But for Seidouu's team, this was very significant.

They had the "Demon King" Sawamura in their pitching kingdom. It was incredibly difficult for any team to score against them.

As for taking more than three points off Sawamura—well, no team had ever done that in an official match.

So Seidouu's team could be considered to have already secured a win.

They were going to win!

And judging by the current situation, they were definitely going to win!

In the stands, many rival teams had come specifically to watch Seidouu's game. Now, they had completely lost interest.

Several players from these teams had already started getting up, preparing to leave.

Their teammates, puzzled, asked why they were leaving so soon.

Seidouu was their biggest rival, and any information gleaned from this match would be vital to them.

Why leave now, when the game had barely started?

"Not worth it."

Those who were leaving seemed indifferent. The gap in strength between the teams was just too big.

Nanakyo's players simply couldn't force Seidouu to show their full potential.

In this case, why stay and watch Seidouu's team flaunt their power?

And by watching this game, they could also sense Seidouu's resolve.

When a hawk hunts a rabbit, it must use all its strength!

Facing an underdog team that was clearly not on the same level, Seidouu's baseball team had put all their main players on the field from the start.

They were showing their determination—no matter what, they had to win the championship this summer.

They wanted to make history!

On the road to becoming a legend, Seidouu's baseball team would crush anyone who stood in their way.

No one could stop them!

Their will was unstoppable.

So, no one was going to get a chance to play as a substitute until Seidouu secured an absolute advantage.

Not just in this game, but likely in every future game, Seidouu's players were thinking the same thing.

This made the star players from other elite teams feel a deep sense of crisis.

Seidouu's resolve was too strong!

Could they really stop it?

The answer was uncertain.

No one knew if they could.

When Maezono first took the field, he knew that the opponent underestimated him.

This had already been made quite clear during their previous showdown with Miyuki.

The opponent even didn't bother to hide it, openly showing their intent to walk Miyuki before facing him directly.

Maezono was furious, and the consequences were serious.

After entering his third year of high school, although his strength hadn't caught up with Miyuki's, the gap between them had only grown wider.

But this didn't mean that Maezono hadn't improved.

He had improved! And his improvement was significant!

At this moment, Maezono's eyes were locked on Nanakyo's pitcher, and he felt as if he wanted to knock the opponent to the ground with a single punch.

Honestly, that feeling was pretty scary.

Before the game, Nanakyo's players had conducted a detailed analysis of Seidou.

After analyzing the data, they didn't consider Maezono to be a soft target.

But without a doubt, he was someone they felt could be taken down.

Especially when compared to Sawamura and Miyuki.

A confrontation with Maezono seemed far less worrying.

Not just the average players thought so, even Nanakyo's ace pitcher shared the same opinion.

So before the game, they had a plan for how to deal with Maezono.

But what they hadn't expected was that Maezono would give them so much pressure.

When Maezono locked eyes with the pitcher, it felt like he was being watched by a tiger in a zoo.

The scariest part was that the tiger wasn't caged.

Oh my gosh!

It was terrifying, almost as if he were going to be scared to death by the opponent.

Incredible, truly incredible!

How did he underestimate this scary guy, thinking of him as an easy target?

The opponent wasn't soft at all; in fact, they were as tough as could be.

With the pitcher having doubts in his mind, he couldn't fully execute his pitch.

Although he barely managed to throw it, the pitch was weak.

Maezono, who hadn't intended to swing at the first pitch, immediately changed his mind when he saw the pitch coming toward him.

The opponent had thrown the ball right in his hand, so how could he let it go?

Maezono gritted his teeth and forced his bat to push the ball out.

PAAANG!

The small baseball soared high into the air, landing deep in the outfield.

Had Maezono been prepared for this earlier, he might have even hit a home run.

The ball landed, and Miyuki, who had been at second base, successfully returned home.

This gave Seidou a 4th point.

In less than 10 minutes, Seidou had already secured a commanding lead.

Maezono himself felt great.

'So, did you learn your lesson?'

Nanakyo's players had indeed learned their lesson, and it was a painful one.

Moreover, the fees for the lesson were very high!

For a moment, they couldn't accept the reality in front of them.

Their opponent was Seidou High, the undisputed king.

On the mound stood the Great Demon Sawamura.

In this situation, trailing by 4 points, did they still have any hope of catching up?

The players from Nanakyo asked themselves, and they had to admit that the hope seemed very slim.

To take points from Seidou was already extremely difficult, let alone with the Great Demon Sawamura on the mound.

There was no hope, none at all.

No matter how much they didn't want to accept it, they had to face and accept the reality.

They were unlikely to win.

This game was almost certainly lost.

At first base, Hanagata felt weak all over.

Before the game, he had envisioned many possible situations and had prepared for the game to be tough.

But he never expected it to be this difficult.

They didn't have a single hope left!

Looking at the opponent's dugout, all Hanagata could feel was despair.

He shook his head, trying to brush off those negative emotions.

Hanagata signaled to his Coach to request a timeout.

'We have to make a substitution!'

They were going to bring in their hidden ace pitcher.

Nanakyo had initially kept their powerful substitute pitcher in the dugout.

It wasn't because they were confident or wanted to use him as a trump card.

It was because their freshman substitute pitcher didn't have the stamina to last through a full game.

If possible, they hoped to wait until the 4th or 5th inning to make the switch.

But now, that was just a fantasy.

The game had already gone so badly, and without a change of pitcher, they would give up more runs in the 1st inning.

It could even reach double digits.

If that happened, no matter how much they brought in the substitute pitcher…

What difference would it make?

Having reached a dead end, Nanakyo could only choose to go all out.

In Seidou's dugout, Ochiai rubbed his chin and shook his head pensively.

"Their reaction wasn't slow, but it was still too late."

Bringing in the substitute pitcher in the 1st inning was a decisive move by Nanakyo.

But unfortunately, the score was already 4:0.

Even if they brought in a professional pitcher, it would be too late to make a difference.

At such a large gap, the chances of a comeback were almost negligible.

…

T/N: As always, Thank you all for reading!!

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