Chapter 89 – What the flip is wrong with him?

After we all cooled down, the half-ox came over to shake Penrin’s hand as well as my own. “Well fought, little ones,” he said. I was surprised that the respectful gesture was extended towards me too. I would’ve thought that my aid would be considered cheating by my opponents but that wasn’t the case.

Penrin exchanged some sporty words with her rival. On the other hand, I said, “I’m impressed by your maturity. To come over and wish us well after being beaten is commendable.”

The half-ox twirled his fingers around one of the horns on his head. “Well actually, that wasn’t the sole reason for my approach. I was also wondering whether you would like to swap teammates.” He gestured to his allies over his shoulder. “Those two back there are useless. With the three of us on a team, attaining victory would be a breeze.”

His offer had me wide-eyed. I did not realise it was possible to swap teammates so casually, but it did make sense. It seemed that you could pair up with anyone to take on these contests. In the baseball match we were allied with 6 strangers. It was probably true of most teams that no one knew each other well. Our team being made of friends was the exception.

The ox went on, “And I’m sure you two would rather ditch the kid that forfeited before the contest even started.” He pointed at Newmill who looked away in embarrassment.

Even if it were true that my chances of succeeding increased with the half-ox, I felt no desire whatsoever to abandon Newmill. It was no different than a betrayal in my mind. “No thanks,” I said. The rational part of me wondered why I refused. It wasn’t as if Newmill needed the prize like I did. Why was I letting my emotions decide my actions?

The event coordinator stamped our arms with a green circle that had ‘Sauna Battle’ written in the middle. Our red stamps had ‘Baseball’ written.

We only needed two more to qualify for the next part of Sports Day. I gathered the team and led them to the next contest I wanted to join.

While walking through the droves of students, Newmill tugged on my arm and thanked me for staying with him. I gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze. Penrin criticised the half-ox for blaming his teammates. It was bad manners to pin the loss on other people rather than accept it gracefully.

We next arrived at a large clearing of dirt within a grassy field. A fair few spectators stood in a circle around the contest. We pushed our way through and got to the coordinator. This game was marbles. I was surprised to see that my opponent was the abominable Loftus. On his arm were two green stamps. I felt an immediate excitement knowing that I would be the first to give him a red circle.

“Hi, Yarm! Are you here to play marbles too?” said Loftus with a sickly-sweet smile. He had two strong men beside him as his teammates.

“Rare to see you socialising with anyone other than young girls,” I said as an insult, but he took it in earnest.

After laughing a little he said, “I know, right? Turns out the girls here are too fussy. You would think in a world like this they wouldn’t be so picky, but they complain and cry so much. It’s such a pain.”

While Loftus went on, everyone slowly became quiet and listened.

He continued, “Like this one time I accidentally broke a girl’s vase and she cried all day about it. This other girl complained because I was dating multiple girls at the same time.” While he spoke, he looked into the air and counted on his fingers. “Ooh, let me tell you about this other chick too. I went through the trouble to invite her to dinner, and she refused me because her brother died that day. I dodged a bullet there. I almost went out with a bro-con.” He laughed, alone.

The spectators who had come to view a contest were appalled by Loftus.

Yet somehow, he didn’t take the hit and went on speaking. “That’s why I’ve given up on dating.”

I rolled my eyes, but I was glad that something positive came about from his actions. At least he wouldn’t be terrorising schoolchildren anymore.

He said, “Now, I’ve bought slave girls instead. They can’t complain no matter what. I had a big list of specifications for the slave trader, so I had to have them imported in from far away. It’ll be a while before they get here but it’s gonna be sweet when they arrive. I’ll even let you have some fun with them too.” He winked at me.

I did not think Loftus realised it, but even his own teammates were glaring at him with a strong revulsion. Of all, I was the one who wanted to discipline him the most. The others thought that Loftus was a disgusting child, but I knew he was an adult. A truly revolting adult that thought of people as playthings.

Penrin shrunk to try and avoid being noticed.

However, Loftus did catch sight of her. “Oh gosh, no way you’ve still got her on your team! Yarm, please tell me you’re not in love with her. Why on Earth would you want to keep her ugly face around? It makes my skin crawl just looking at that scar. So gnarly.”

To me, Penrin was a dear friend. However, in this moment, I did not feel that Loftus was insulting my friend. I felt as if he was insulting my own daughter. The rage that Loftus had fuelled within me was seconds away from exploding. I could feel my fingernails digging into my palm.

I was ready to give up everything: my mission to end the war, to free the slaves, to mend this world. None of that mattered. I just sincerely wanted to beat Loftus to a bloody pulp.

Loftus said. “And what’s with that sissy you’ve got by your side?” He pointed at the young prince Newmill. “You into traps or something?” He looked down and shook his head while pinching the bridge of his nose. “Yarm, bro. I need to take you out and show you the delicacies of this world. You’re scraping the bottom of the barrel.”

In a microsecond, my mind detailed everything that could go wrong if I punched Loftus, yet I went to do it anyway. I raised my fist and charged at him. But I was picked up and stopped by one of his teammates mid-way through my attack.

Loftus was surprised by my sudden lunge at him, but he didn’t consider it hostile. “These two are my bodyguards,” he said. “I guess you looked threatening to him so he stopped you.”

I tried to wriggle my way out, but my useless body did not cause the person grappling me to budge one bit. While restrained, I said, “Loftus, you’re going to get what’s coming to you! If I can’t change this world, then I’ll make sure that at least you are punished. Of all people, at least you will face judgement. If I have to, I’ll go to the ends of the world to punish you for everything you’ve said and done.”

Loftus’ brows creased. “What do you mean? Why would I need to be punished? What I’m doing isn’t illegal.” He looked up. “Besides from all the stealing, I guess.”

He was right in the sense that his behaviour wasn’t more evil than others of this world. But it didn’t matter. The entirety of my being wanted Loftus to experience the misfortune that he deserved. Misfortune… That word clicked a gear in my brain.

I turned to the event coordinator and asked, “How do you decide who goes first in marbles?”

The timid-looking teacher responded, “You flip a coin.”

“A coin. Perfect.”