If Commoners Aren’t Welcome, I Guess I Should Leave Too?

“Excuse me, big brother.”

After reading the detailed description of guilt for breaking the window for a while,

Dale cautiously approached Gillette, who was holding crutches.

“…Big brother?”

Gillette had a blank expression.

“Is, is it not okay to call you that?”

As Dale shrank back, seemingly intimidated by that attitude, Gillette’s gaze subtly turned towards me.

It seems like he’s asking how to react, but well.

It’s just a matter of taking it at face value.

“Ah. No. It’s fine. Call me whatever you’re comfortable with.”

“Oh, okay!”

Dale smiled brightly at Gillette’s permission.

The following question was more proactive than before.

“Are, are you in a sports club, Gillette? Like, a club where you do sports?”

“Uh, well, that’s right.”

“If it’s a sports club, do you exercise with friends? Form teams and kick balls and play!!”

“Dale, it’s rude to say they’re playing to sports club members. What they do clearly has rules and goals, so it’s sports.”

It’s good that you’re trying to make friends, but won’t the kid feel burdened if you approach him like that?

As I immediately grabbed his nape and pulled him back, Dale turned to me with a questioning look.

“Is sports not playing?”

“If something’s at stake, you can’t just enjoy it as play.”

Moreover, sports are now considered an element that replaces international conflicts before and after the war.

As the damage from the war was severe, investment in sports will increase even more, and graduates from sports clubs of this international academy, Maris, will inevitably receive more attention.

Competent sports club members are future world star hopefuls and warriors succeeding soldiers.

They can be said to be people to be respected, regardless of whether they’re students or teachers.

“Come to think of it, when sports club activities are in full swing, someone might get hurt again. Aren’t there some kids who keep going even after they’ve pushed their bodies?”

“Ah, yes. That’s true, but……”

“Then it wouldn’t be bad to make a visit.”

This could be a good opportunity too.

I briefly stopped Gillette, who was about to leave, and turned to Dale while packing necessary things in the first aid kit.

“Dale, if you’re okay with it, would you like to go on a field trip to the sports club with me?”

“Huh? Is that okay?”

“If you don’t want to, you can stay here and study on your own.”

“I want to go!!”

Dale stood up from his seat with a bright smile.

That appearance showed no trace of his previous tearful face.

Of course. Even if he looks pretty, he’s still a boy, so how could he dislike kicking balls and playing?

---

“The ball’s going there!”

“Everyone, move aside! I’m going!!”

A wide area located on the side of Maris Academy’s grounds.

It’s a place where many sports fields and facilities used mainly by sports club members are concentrated, and opposite the entrance, students sprinting on the grass could be seen.

No, not just sprinting, but flying around.

The sight of them moving, leaving afterimages on the prairie, kicking the ball, and passing.

They even infuse mana to make double and triple jumps in mid-air, fiercely competing to steal the ball.

-Papapapapang!!

A series of explosive sounds originating from such fierce struggles.

The sight of them engaging in physical contests accompanied even by the physical force of mana made me feel like I was watching a scene from the classic movie Shaolin Soccer.

“You think that’s enough!?”

“Kid, then how about this!!”

-Pazzzk!

At that moment, electricity bursts from the ball.

As soon as the ball is kicked, a student who had been waiting spews flames from behind his back, quickly advancing to block the ball with his chest.

Looking again, it wasn’t Shaolin Soccer but Inazuma Eleven.

I know how to use God Hand too, should I ask to join in?

“Wow~”

No, I didn’t come here to play.

As I followed Gillette, who was moving forward with crutches, Dale, who was walking beside me and watching the activities of the sports club members, started jumping up and down excitedly.

“Everyone’s flying around and flashing!! Is this sports?”

“Hmm, well… that’s right.”

There are many aspects that are too much to be called sports, but that’s based on the world I originally lived in, so I decided not to mind too much.

“Where did sports like that originate from?”

“Well, it started from just light games or bets. In some cases, they were devised by royal families, and in other cases, they were created by adding rules to tactics used during the war……”

I then gave Dale an explanation within common sense, but what actually came to mind were reasons outside of the game.

In fact, the sports called in this world were not much different from reality.

They become superhuman soccer battles accompanied by mana, but their base is clearly similar to soccer, badminton, basketball, etc. that exist in reality, and in many cases, even the names are the same.

This is probably because the developers are modern people, and in cultural aspects that don’t interfere with major events or historical backgrounds, such as arts and physical education, they tend to distance themselves from era-specific settings to some extent.

Typically, the sport we’re seeing now is like that, and so is food culture.

There’s no kimchi, but chicken exists, and when I was active on the battlefield, we regularly received supplies of cola and ice cream.

Ah, speaking of cola, I’m craving it. Should I make some and drink it later?

“Gillette, where’s your club room?”

“Ah, yes. It’s over there. We’re almost there.”

Then Gillette approached the building, taking big strides while holding his crutches.

Looking at the well-maintained building, it seemed to be a place receiving considerable support even within Maris Academy’s sports clubs.

So it’s the baseball club.

Speaking of the baseball club, it was that. The exclusive domain of popular kids along with the soccer club…

Once, I had a dream of becoming popular and submitted an application to the baseball club, but ended up just picking up balls and slacking off. At that time, I, being naturally unpopular, keenly realized that hanging out with popular kids doesn’t make you popular.

I still can’t play the role of a popular kid now.

-Crash!

Just as I was feeling bitter about those past memories.

The moment a crashing sound was heard from the club room, Gillette’s body, who was walking ahead, greatly shrank.

“Oh no…!”

It happened in an instant that he rushed to the scene.

Even with his sprained leg, he threw away the crutches in his hand.

“What the hell is going on here!!”

As I immediately followed and checked the club room, I saw equipment scattered all over the place.

And at the center of that scene was a noble youth who had knocked down one person among more than ten club members.

“Oh, long time no see, Gillette? I heard you hurt your leg, are you okay?”

A high school student with a scruffy impression, short green hair, and distinctive tear moles.

The moment he saw him, Gillette’s expression crumpled.

“Eric. You!!”

“Haha! You became the club president but can’t even take care of your own body, you little runt.”

Eric.

The student with that name began to shrug his shoulders triumphantly towards Gillette.

As if he felt no guilt for what he had done.

“Well, with a president like this, no wonder all the members are mediocre. Now that you’ve become a cripple, why don’t you hand over the president position to me?”

“That’s nonsense! Do you think you can just barge in, cause a disturbance, and get away with it quietly!?”

“Is getting away with it quietly important? From what I see, it’s more important that you don’t realize your team is crap.”

Grind, Gillette made a teeth-grinding sound.

Judging by the lack of immediate rebuttal, it seemed that the words of the student called Eric were hitting home as facts.

“Get away from the vice president right now!”

“Oh my, if you say get away, I should get away~ Of course, the one who should get out of here is you. Hahaha!”

Eric sneered and cackled, and his followers swaggered as if in agreement.

However, including the fallen vice president, the students around couldn’t respond to their reactions.

They were just sneaking glances at Gillette, the president.

“Teacher……”

“Stay quiet.”

I pushed back the worried Dale and continued to observe the situation.

At a glance, I could guess roughly what was going on.

In short, this high school student named Eric is dissatisfied with this baseball club, and he’s causing trouble to try to overturn the club, taking advantage of the gap during a generational change.

With even the president injured, it must be hard for the members to rely on him.

Of course, if he had just forced his way in, there would be issues like disciplinary action, but still, the members weren’t showing much initiative in calming this situation.

The reason is… right.

It’s probably because more than half of the members gathered here are commoners, or even if they’re nobles, they’re from lower-ranking families.

“Anyway, to fill the baseball club of a school that gathers the best students from all over the country with nobodies of no renown. The former president was really strange, wasn’t he?”

“That’s because of the policy to recruit everyone equally. It’s clearly the result of fair recruitment!”

“Commoner quota my ass! Do you know how much we lag behind every time we compete with other academies? Has our baseball club ever achieved proper results while the former president was around? Do you know how much difference there is between noble family descendants and commoners, and yet you still try to recruit students from among commoners?”

“…It was because of such prejudice that you were expelled from our club, Eric.”

“Yeah, because of the hypocritical and pretentious former president. If you think discrimination is bad, you should just do personal volunteering, why change the club policy as soon as you become president and make innocent people into bastards?”

Kuk, Gillette gritted his teeth.

Although there were things to refute, the atmosphere around was actually siding with Eric, not him.

Even if the means are extreme, talent in sports can’t be ignored.

They say you can do something with effort, but it’s not like you can prove that now, right?

“Still, Gillette, you’re from a promising holy knight family, so you’re physically strong. So why don’t you abandon this weak team full of commoners and join the team I’m going to form? Hm?”

Gillette clenched his fist tightly.

Then his gaze turned to the other students around.

“…President.”

“I’m sorry. I……”

The majority were just going along with the atmosphere without actively stepping up, and some were showing guilt or resentment towards the president.

Well, if you’re from a noble family, it might seem unfair and shameful to run around with commoners.

From the commoners’ perspective, they would feel anxious about whether they fit in such a place.

If left alone, regardless of school rules or whatever, the club would be stolen right under their noses.

“…If commoners aren’t welcome, I guess I should leave too?”

Can’t be helped.

For now, I have to intervene as a teacher.