Chapter 11: Throwing Stones

「There. That should do it.」

Next to the building I made as the schoolhouse, there’s a wide stretch of land for a schoolyard.
It’s for exercise and for test-firing magic.
After scratching a line across the ground with a stick, I nodded in satisfaction.

About five meters beyond the line I’d eyeballed, I set three desks, and on each I stood little split pieces of wood—firewood.

「From outside this line, like this...」

I picked up a handy stone and hurled it at the firewood.
It hit dead on and knocked a piece off with a light clack.

「You get ten throws. Whoever knocks down the most pieces wins.」

At this range, even Rin, the youngest, should be able to reach with a throw.
But hitting those small sticks isn’t so easy.

「You can go pick any stones you like. Choose ones that throw well.」

No sooner had I said it than Sig and Rin shot off like arrows, racing to find stones. Violet-san followed after them, and last came Luka, looking hesitant.

「Well then, let’s see how this goes...」

Watching their backs, I set the toppled firewood upright again.

「Yes! First back!」

A few minutes later, the first to return was Sig. Naturally, there’s a speed gap when you’re up against Rin, who can’t walk. With both arms full of pebbles, he was out of breath and shouting in triumph. The contest is about how many you knock down, not speed, though.

「Here goes... Hah!」

Sig’s hard-thrown stone missed the sticks by a mile—and smacked the schoolhouse roof with a bang.

「That’s impressive.」

The schoolhouse is a fair distance away, and I built it quite large in case I needed to go back to dragon form.
If he hit the roof, that means he sent it several dozen meters.

「Ah—so close!」

In terms of control it honestly wasn’t close at all, but I kept that to myself.
The more he missed, the madder he got and the less composed he became, so Sig’s throws went increasingly wild as he went on.
In the end he didn’t manage to knock down a single piece.

「Damn it! No good, Sensei, this is impossible!」
「Let’s see how everyone else does first. If no one hits even one, we’ll redo it.」

As I soothed the grumbling Sig, a rumbling of wheels sounded—Rin had returned.

「Sensei! I’m gonna use this!」

But what she held wasn’t a stone so much as a boulder you had to hug.

「That’s cheating, isn’t it!?」
「No. I’m the one who said you could choose any stones you like.」

I explained to the bug-eyed, shouting Sig that there’s no size limit.
I hadn’t anticipated this either, but...

「Hup!」

With Rin’s slender arms, the rock had nowhere near the range and thumped to the ground right away.

「Hah, useless after all.」

Half sneer, half relief, Sig said—but the rock didn’t stop after it hit the ground. It kept rolling along and thunked into a table leg. The jolt made one stick tip over.

「Yay!」
「No way, that shouldn’t count!」
「Hm. Well... I’ll allow it.」

Sig pointed at Rin, who was cheering with both hands raised, and protested, but after some thought I answered that way. I told them to throw stones and knock the sticks down, but I didn’t say you had to hit the sticks.
Still, this is clearly easier than hitting them directly. I can see Rin taking the whole thing.

「Phew. I’m tired, so I’m done!」

The moment I thought that, Rin beamed and declared it. So free-spirited.

「Then, may I try next?」

Before I knew it, Violet-san was behind me, calling out.

「Ah, yes. Go ahead. Rin, make room for her.」

I reset the fallen sticks and gestured, and Violet-san pinched up a pebble from her palm. In contrast to Rin, it was tiny—like a plant seed.

「Hah!」

She flicked it from in front of her chest with a sideways snap of the arm, like a shuriken. The shot struck a stick cleanly and toppled it. Third contestant, first honest point.

Two throws, three—Violet-san kept knocking them down smoothly...

「Ah—」

The small cry didn’t come from Violet-san, but from Sig.
As if to match his voice, the pebble missed a stick by a hair and sailed past.

「That makes nine.」
「...I botched the finish.」

At my words, Violet-san replied, just a touch regretful.

「Okay, then I’m next!」

The one who said that, hugging a bunch of pebbles, was Yuuki.

「Why?」
「I want her to take part in this class too.」

I explained to the understandably puzzled Sig.
She’s with them in the regular class, but some interaction with a human here would be good too. And studying magic together lets us compare humans with other races.

「Hup!」

Yuuki’s stone traced a huge arc up into the sky.

「What the, that’s way off.」

The moment Sig said that in exasperation—

「C’mon, hit!」

the stone suddenly dove unnaturally and blasted a stick away.

「That shouldn’t count!」
「Huh? We weren’t allowed to use magic?」
「No. I never said you couldn’t.」

At Sig’s protest I shook my head firmly. The only rules I set were where to throw from and how many throws. Any stone, thrown any way, is fine—only Rin and Yuuki realized that.

In the end, with magic, Yuuki didn’t miss no matter how she threw, and neatly knocked down every last stick.

「Amazing, amaaazing!」
「As expected of you, Yuuki-chan.」

Rin squealed, and Violet-san praised her.
Sig pouted, unconvinced, but didn’t complain.

「Um... may I?」

Arriving late came Luka, holding three palm-sized stones.

「Um, I couldn’t find good stones very quickly...」
「So slow. You took all that time and only found three?」

At Sig’s exasperated tone, Luka’s ears and tail drooped.

「Of course you may. Go ahead.」

I spread my arms to invite her; she nodded and took a few steps back from the line.
Then, with her wolf lower body, she sprinted and in an instant hit top speed and let fly.
But it missed the sticks badly and buried itself in the ground under the tables.

「Man... so that makes her the top dog now, huh...」

Sig shot a glance at Yuuki and slumped his shoulders.

「Eeh, why? Luka’s not done yet.」
「Idiot. She knocked all ten down—miss even one and it’s over.」

In the same manner, Luka threw her second. It missed again and bounced off the ground.

「Why? Why is it over if you miss even one?」

Rin tilted her head and asked Sig.

「Why—do you really not get it? With fewer than ten stones, there’s no way to knock down ten sticks—」
「Hyah!」

Cutting Sig off, Luka’s third shot flew with a spirit-rending shout.
It struck a table leg—and with a crack, snapped it clean through.
Off balance, the table fell, taking the one beside it down; the cascade reached the last, and in the end every table toppled along with the sticks on them.

「Um... does that count?」

Luka turned back and asked, uncertain.

「...Was that what you were aiming for?」
「Yes. Um, my fa—my father says when you hunt big prey with a small spear, you go for the legs first.」

At my question Luka nodded and explained.
Lycos Centaurs are a race with excellent stamina. They excel at running prey ragged and taking it when it’s exhausted. Against something you can’t drop in one blow, going for the legs first is logical.

Even so, landing a hit strong enough to break a table leg isn’t easy. When I picked up the stone Luka had thrown, it was heftier than it looked and sharp like a blade.

「Did I, um, do it the wrong way?」
「No, not wrong at all. You knocked them all down in just three throws...」
「Luka wins!」

Thankfully, Yuuki declared it herself.

「Luka, awesome! Hey hey, I want to do that too! How do you do it?」
「This can only be called splendid.」
「...Amazing.」

Rin tugged eagerly at Luka’s sleeve, and Violet-san murmured in genuine admiration. Even Sig stared wide-eyed at the broken leg. It looked like unanimous approval.

「All right then, Luka. I’m counting on you as Class Leader.」
「Eh?」

When I addressed her, Luka blinked twice, flutter-flutter.

「Eeeeh!?」

She screamed like she never imagined she’d be the one.