“Alright, now that everyone’s split off into their own respective teams, it’s high time we play ball!” I announced as I tossed a makeshift ball we whipped up into the field.

With a loud whistle courtesy of Aaron, the first match between Team Newbies and Team Rookies had begun. We had decided to be fair and give Team Newbies the ball first, which proved to be the wrong choice, as soon after we had signaled the beginning of the match…

“G…” Aaron was at a loss for words before hastily whistling, “Goaaaalll! I can’t believe it, but it’s 1-0 already for Team Newbies!”

“Hold on, what just happened?” Cecily looked up at the game after making sure her boy is fine and happy, “They scored already? But it hasn’t even been a minute yet.”

“Yeah, their teamwork and agility is incredible, even for our Rookies’ standards.” Max noted, “Guess we’ll need to up their training time.”

Hearing this, the Rookies gulped before setting up for a counteroffensive play. As the goalie tossed the ball far out into the mid-field, they rushed forth, all aiming to become the Striker of their team. Of course, this would not prove to be a smart strategy, as when their ball had eventually gotten taken from them by the Defenders of the other team, their own defense was wide open, leading to Team Newbies scoring yet another goal.

“T-Two Nil!” Aaron whistled once more, “Come on, come on, Team Rookies! What the hell is going on here?! They’re mopping the floor with you!”

“I can’t let this go on.” I took off my uniform as I walked in, “Alright, I’m subbing in for Team Rookies!”

“Eh?” Meil furrowed his brows, “A General playing amongst his soldiers? Where’d you hear that?”

“Dude, do you know how embarrassing it’d be for a couple of country-bumpkins to beat well-trained soldiers in a simple children’s game? Besides, just for today, there is no such thing as soldiers and Generals! We’re all equal, so live a little!”

Following my liberating proclamation was another play-off. Soon after being handed the ball, I had decided to help out the Team using any and all means. As I was quickly pinned by an enemy player, I had used Analyze to figure out where he was gonna go. As if a projection of his future self had materialized himself onto my left side, I could quickly ascertain where to go to completely dodge him, that being right.

“Huh? How did you…?!” He turned back as I left him in the dust.

“O-Oi, Edward, that’s unfair!” Meil said as I approached the goal, kicking with all my might into the net.

“Score!” Aaron whistled way more enthusiastically than before, “Take note, rookies! This is how a soldier at our ranks is supposed to look like! With this, Ed has now turned the tides and set the score to 2-1!”

“Hold it!” Meil called time-out, “That obviously doesn’t count! He used his Iro Ability to predict the enemy player’s next move!”

“Are we not in a war, Meil?” Jorgen tossed him a side-eye from his seat, “In a war, there are no rules. Use whatever means necessary to conquer your foes.”

“Brother, you’d have made my time down in Sulfury so much easier…” Pierre muttered.

“Enough of that, brother.” Jorgen dismissed him, “What are you gonna do now, Meil? Will you stand back and let Ed take the victory? Or will you put him in his place?”

Groaning at Jorgen’s provocations, Meil had turned back to me, his pure White Eyes staring daggers at mine as he too took off his uniform. Looks like I’ll be having a fight with my rival a bit sooner than expected, but that’s fine by me! You ain’t taking the spot of the Main Character, Meil, so just give up and settle for being a sidekick!

“Let’s go!” Meil kicked the ball far into our defenses as soon as he got the ball.

“W-What are you doing?!” The Newbies berated him, “Sabotage! This guy is sabotaging us!”

“Heh, looks like we found one thing the perfect genius isn’t so good at!” I snickered.

“Oh will you just shut up?” He calmly said, “This is all part of the plan!”

Raising his hand towards the sky, with a snap of his fingers, he had suddenly disappeared. W-Wait, what the hell? Where did he…!?

“E-Eh?” Aaron whistled confusedly, “M-Meil somehow scored a goal! What tremendous speed, I didn’t even see him run towards the ball, and now he’s suddenly right next to the goal!? Did anyone see that!?”

“Hmm, not bad!” Jorgen’s Gray Iro flashed, “Since he was a White Iro, I didn’t think he could Go Solipsistic like that, but looks like he pleasantly went ahead and surprised all of us today!”

“N-Nice one, General!” His teammate who had previously berated him suddenly praised him, “And sorry for speaking out of line back there…”

“Haha, no worries.” Meil chuckled before turning to me all smug, “Just leave everything to me~!”

Oh hell no! He did not just do that! This dude just went full Heaven’s Time on us! Well, buddy boy, I ain’t gonna let that one slide as easily as you may think, you hear? Well, at least now I know you’re not a stickler for the rules – you know how to tango!

***

Following Meil’s time-stopping display of football prowess, I just knew I had to one-up him somehow if I am to procure a victory for my fellow soldiers! At first, this was supposed to be a way for the Villagers to prove to us they’re not spies, but I’ve stopped caring about them a long time ago! Same goes for the others, as well! Right now, I just care about Meil! Obviously, he’s the biggest threat in their team, so as long as I can defeat him, everything will fall into place!

“Halftime!” Aaron whistled.

“Ehh?” I groaned, “Wait, has it really already been that long since the start of the match?”

“I can see how you’d think it hasn’t been all that long, Edward.” Meil chuckled, “When you’re on the field, it’s as if time flows in slow-motion.”

“Are you making fun of me or just showing off your Iro Ability?” I rolled my Eyes, “Don’t underestimate me. I’ve fought off a pack of hungry Stray Wolves all on my own!”

“That’s quite commendable.” He applauded me with complete honesty, “But I’ve fought off a whole Scirp, ran away from a deadly organization, as well as clawed my way out of a prison where the inmates were treated as slaves. The same can be said for you – underestimating me would be a grave mistake.”

Ooh-ho-ho! This guy, this guy right here…! Heh, looks like Grim really only knows peculiar people! But that’s good, because it means I can singlehandedly prove myself better than him with just this one match! Getting a headstart in our rivalry will surely make it easier for me in the long run as well!

“Alright, can we play now?” I chugged all the refreshments Cecily had prepared for us before turning to pester Aaron, “Come on, guys! Don’t let the flames die out!”

“Alright, alright!” Cecily chuckled, “Geez, you’re gonna get sick from chugging all that lemonade so quickly. Seriously, watch out, dummy!”

Looks like even Cecily is praying for my success! I can’t lose this now, I’m gonna prove to her as well as everyone here that I am not to be messed with! I will be the Protagonist in my story! And you too, Cene, just watch as your Uncle Ed mops the floor with that damned emotionless genius!

“Play ball!” Aaron signaled for the start of the second half, “May the best team win!”

Immediately kicking the ball to my teammate, I had gotten into the perfect position ahead of everyone else. Heh, the others may not know this, but I actually used my break just now very smartly, as I had told my teammates about the nature of my Analyze ability, meaning they didn’t even have to speak in order for me to get the necessary info! Heh, Meil can’t do that with his team full of Maybe-Spies, so I already had the advantage from the very start! Try and beat that, idiot!

“Eh?” I looked at the shorty whose Aura somehow towered over me, “Meil!? How did you…?”

“Hmph. A little bit of spatial awareness is all I need to fully understand what your plan was, Edward.” He donned a smug expression, “Now, I’ll be taking the ball, thank you!”

“Everyone, fall back!” I yelled in a panic, “We can’t let him Going Solipsistic again!”

Expecting the ball to already be in our net, we still somehow refused to give up. Why was that, I wonder? Wait, I feel like I remember Grim telling me something about Iros all of a sudden… That’s right! Iro Wielders have to take regular breaks in between using them, otherwise they’ll grow tired! Meil knows that the second half has just begun, so he won’t be using his Ability in favor of conserving his energy! This is it, if I run with all my might and block him, I can just barely make it in time!

“Hup!” Meil suddenly passed the ball to the teammate on his left, “Take the shot!”

And with that, the whistle was blown. With this, we were down one point, it was 3-2 for them. Goddammit!

“Ha…Haah… How?!” I shouted, “Passing to others? Relying on them!? Meil, we’ve known each other ever since I enlisted here, and you’ve never been like that!”

Dammit! I didn’t think to read his mind in favor of conserving my stamina as well! Could… Could he have also predicted that as well? No, that can’t be, I refuse to believe it! Because…! Because if he did, then I wouldn’t even stand a chance against him…

“Huh? No.” He shook his head as he wiped the sweat off his brow, “I just made a split second decision. There was really a fifty-fifty chance to score no matter if he or I were to take the shot. I guess I just didn’t have the confidence to beat your defense.”

“What’s with the abrupt flattery? Quit it.” I chuckled as we walked back to our positions.

“Kick-off!” Aaron whistled.

“Come on, Ed! Where’s your motivation?!” Jorgen yelled from the shade.

“It’s right here!” I said as I broke through the enemy player’s dribbles, “I’ll show you! I’ll show you all!”

Running with all my might, I noticed some words popping into my peripheral vision. “Over here!” “Pass, pass!” and “Don’t hog the ball!” were all phrases I saw from my teammates. Hell, they’re not wrong, too. I can’t break through all this defense on my own, so maybe handing the ball to them could work? But no, that won’t do! Meil’s plan worked because he knew his teammates were good players, but the same couldn’t be said for mine! If I am to score a goal, I’ll need to rely on myself this time, because that’s what a Main Character does!

“Sciuri!” I shouted, “Aquilae!”

With my mad shouting in the Animal Tongue, a bunch of squirrels popped out from under the enemy players’ feet, climbing onto them and distracting them. Meil was the first to break free of them, but it was already too late. As soon as he looked in front of him to try and block me, I was nowhere to be found, and that’s because…!

“What the fuck…?” Max could be heard murmuring from the shade.

“That’s our Ed! Go for it!” Cecily praised my plan.

Yep, I summoned a ton of Eagles that were circling nearby above the base to make me soar high above everyone on the field! Of course, I held the ball between my feet, and with just a single command more, I was safely dropped right in front of the goal. It took a simple little hat trick before we finally heard the whistle everyone had all but expected to hear.

“That’s it!” Aaron celebrated, “It’s evened up to 3-3! I can’t believe it! And with that, the game ends in a tie!”

“Woo! Fuck yea-huh?” I spun my head back at him, “The game’s already ended?! But no, if the time is up during a draw, we go to overtime, no?”

“Huh? What are you talking about, Ed?” Pierre and Aaron tilted their heads, “Those are some street rules, man. No clue what you’re talking about.”

“Good game.” Meil put his hand up to shake mine.

“Grr…! Yeah, good game, man.” I shook away all the frustration in favor of laughing it off with everyone, “I’ll settle for a draw for today.”

Looking over at Jorgen, he didn’t seem all too amused by me just settling for a draw all that easily, so he decidedly left the premises, presumably to get himself some tea. Not that I care, though, I had fun. But more importantly…

“These guys can enlist!” I turned to the Newbies, “I think everyone here sees that they’re more than capable (plus they’re obviously too friendly with us now to ever want to backstab us)!”

With great cheers, and even greater celebrations, everyone took five for a couple minutes before Max had an announcement to make.

“Uhh, you guys do know we still need to do our daily training?”

“Ah.” We all looked at him.

Well, I guess we did forget about that. I kind of feel bad for playing around all day with these guys before having to just boss them around, so I decided I’d do the drills with them for today. Yeah, that’s good. Oh, it seems Meil wants to join me as well. How nice.