The Strongest Dull Prince’s Secret Battle for the Throne

Chapter 158: Play Catch

Go! Enta!

Chuppii!

With such a high tension voice, Orihime throws a small ball for Enta to fetch.

Even though it is a penguin, Enta is quite clever. It picks up the ball and dexterously brings it back to Orihime.

On the other hand, Orihime is very excited.

OOH! Good boy! You are amazing! Enta!

Chuppii!!

Honestly, they are noisy.

Well, its not like they just started getting noisy now so theres nothing wrong with that, the problem here is.

I have a question.

N? What?

Dont what? me. What are you doing in my room?

Because you are here?

Orihime answered like it is a matter of course.

But it is not.

Your room is not here right!? Do you not remember that you are here unofficially!?

What? So you are talking about that? Dont worry. Ive already got permission.

Whose permission

The Prime Ministers. I was bored staying inside the same room the entire time so I asked him to let me visit Arnolds room.

And he just allowed that

Of course, he attached some conditions. The condition is that I have to set up barriers around the room. A barrier for avoiding people, and a strong defensive barrier at the door. No one will come here since they will be turned away by the barrier and even if someone tries to enter, they cant open the door. So its totally fine!

Theres nothing fine about this though..it will be a big deal if someone finds out that a princes room is being blocked off by barriers you know

They wont be able to get in right away so I can open the window and use my barrier as a foothold to retreat. My plan is perfect!

What would you do if it caused a fuss?

Dont care. Do something about that yourself.

She said that so confidently

Well, to think that she would be so free-spirit like this. Should I be amazed?

Haa..

Dont sigh when you are with me. It would be like you are bored because you are accompanying me right.

Im not bored, just tired

Cant be helped right. You are my entertainer after all!

For some reason, Orihime said that with a smug face.

I planned to say that she is so troublesome that it made me tired but

Orihime is free. She can play if she wants, she can sleep if she wants. She can immediately do whatever she wants but when I get angry at her, she will be dejected.

I ought to pay her some respect as she is the Celestial Princess but when I took some distance just to do that she would say that she doesnt mind about such a thing.

Its already like I am dealing with a cat here.

If I say that she might get angry though.

When I thought so, I turned my gaze to Orihime who is getting back to play with her ball.

She throws the ball and when Enta fetches it back for her, she praises it and pats it in a grand manner.

I have no idea what is so fun about it.

And why is she doing this in my room in the first place?

I ended up thinking about such pointless things and realized that its pointless to find reasons behind Orihimes actions.

N? Whats wrong? Arnold.

No, its nothing.

Hmm? OH! I see, I see!

It seems that Orihime picked up on something while I was trying to hold down my headache. Well, she is probably misunderstanding something again.

Its a short relationship we have but Ive come to understand that much about her.

I was wondering why you have been staring so much at me today, so its like that huh. Im sorry. I was being insensitive.

Well, I guess you are correct about that.

But I noticed now! You wanted to join us right! Being so shy that you couldnt directly ask to join me, arent you quite a cute one!

No, you are completely wrong there.

Dont be shy. I am not a demon either. If you really want to play then I dont mind letting you throw the ball you know!

Orihime said as she smugly crossed her arms and proudly pushed her chest out.

How can someone be so wrong and so confident at the same time?

As I thought, this is amazing.

No, like I told you

DONT BE SHY!

Saying so, Orihime hands me the ball.

Her tail is wagging behind her and her eyes are glowing with anticipation.

This is that right? She wanted me to play with her.

.

Here! Its fun you know!

Orihime encourages me to play the ball with her, however, I still dont know what is so fun about it so I stay still.

Seeing that, Orihimes ears drooped down and her expression getting visibly darker.

..if you dont want to then I cant force you. I will keep playing with Enta..

Orihime returns to play with Enta but she is clearly dejected and both the strength of her throw and how she pats Enta looked very depressing.

Seeing Orihime being so depressed, I started feeling bad even though I did nothing wrong.

Alright alright.I just have to play right.

Really!? Hahah! You should have said so from the beginning, what a troublesome fellow!

Orihime said so and handed me the ball.

Then she wagged her tail as she waits for me to move.

I just have to throw this right?

Umu! You will be the thrower. I will try to catch it before it hits the floor! Thats the rule!

Saying so, Orihime prompted me to throw the ball.

I dont understand whats fun about this but when I halfheartedly throw the ball, Orihime instantly reacts and moves toward the ball landing point and catches it.

Mumu? I cant enjoy myself with such a weak throw you know.

..so we are being serious here huh.

Her reaction was like a carnivorous animal.

She moved to catch it in an instant. Well, she is a beast person so I shouldnt be surprised by that but the fact that she used that kind of ability in a play is a little astonishing.

Telling me to throw it harder, Orihime tossed the ball back toward me.

Since she requested that, I must comply.

This time I aim toward the wall and seriously throw the ball at it.

Now it will bounce and she shouldnt be able to catch it.

Thats what I thought but the ball was easily caught even before it hit the wall.

Umu! That was a pretty good throw!

.Tsk.

Just now, did you click your tongue!?

I didnt. You must be imagining things.

Is that right? I thought I clearly heard it just now

Orihime tosses the ball back at me while tilting her head.

As expected, that hurt my pride a little bit. Even though I seriously threw that she caught it so easily..

I probably inherited this from Father but when I see someone being so smug like this I cant settle down I unless I teach them a lesson.

If you are that looking forward to it then allow me to entertain you with all my power. Suffer your failure and despair.

Gaze upon my full power pitch!

Thinking so, I threw the ball in the direction of the sun with all my might. Its not a throw that you should be doing in a room. This is how you throw a ball outside.

However, Orihime easily caught even that.

My best pitch.

Umu! Thats more like it!

H, How can this be.!?

I was shocked while receiving the ball Orihime tossed back at me.

No matter how fast Orihime is, to think that she would be able to catch thatits more like she didnt follow the ball with her eyes but she used her entire body instead.

Damn it. She is wagging her tail so fast right now. Her expression looks like she is having so much fun.

That throw was supposed to teach her a lesson damn it!

I wont let this end as it is. If you are chasing the ball with your instinct then I just have to make use of that instinct of yours.

If pushing doesnt work then I can just pull it.

If farther is no good then I just have to throw it shorter. Dont look down on me, Orihime. I am not the type that would take an initiative to do something dirty to my opponent but if you made me do it then I am a genius.

I will teach you that lesson.

Alright, here I go!

Come at me!

Facing Orihime, I raise my foot upward to give the ball the utmost momentum.

Seeing that, Orihime prepared to receive it.

However, I immediately drop my foot and weakly throw the ball in front of me.

See that! Now you cant catch!!??

Orihime pulled back because of feint for a moment but she uses her animal-like reaction and lunges at me.

She caught the ball before it reached the ground and just like that, she rolled forward and taking me with her.

Getting tackled by Orihime with all her power, I lie on my back while holding the back of my head. It seems when I fell, I hit the back of my head.

That hurt.and you are heavy!

Hahah! Hows that! I caught it!!

On top of me is Orihime. The expression on her face is the smuggest I see her today.

She then shows off the ball she splendidly caught.

What would you do if I get hurt..

Oh! I didnt think of that! Sorry! But its your fault, you know. This happened because you were scheming something.

After saying that, Orihime turns her head toward me.

While I was wondering what she is planning now, Orihime speaks to me with a cheerful smile on her face.

I wonderfully caught it you know! You may praise me now!

Ahh

You may praise me now! Praise me!

She said it like she has a higher standing but it was like a cat or a dog waiting for me to pat it on the head.

Her ears are twitching as she is prompting me to pat her head.

She would keep urging me to do that anyway even if I refuse her here so I pat her head with my right hand.

Yes, yes, well done.

Umu! You may praise me more!

More you say

What are you telling me to do?

When I was thinking so, suddenly the glass-breaking-like sound echoed. Its a sound that only those who are well-versed in magic know well. That is the sound that couldnt be heard by ordinary people, the sound of a barrier breaking. 

Then, the door slowly opened.

Hey! Al! What was that about!? On top of a people dispersing barrier, you even have a barrier at your door! It was pointlessly strong too! It was a pain to.breakin..

Elna was standing at the door.

According to what she said, it seems that she had a hard time breaking that barrier. She has a sword in her hand and she is breathing heavily.

However, when she saw Orihime who is currently mounting me, her expression turned sharp.

At the same time, my body started to let out cold sweat.

Thus, the sword and shield met each other at the worst timing.