#504: #JustHotSpringThings: Ping-Pong

I’m making another hot spring staple.

After jogging my memory, I remembered something.

Yukata, onsen tamago, and then...!

“Ping-pong!”

Ping-pong is the most orthodox sport played in a hot spring ryokan.

After a hot bath, the relaxed body is toned, the body perspires, and then goes back into the hot spring to refresh itself again.

Ping-pong, which perfects this endless rotation, will be an indispensable masterpiece for the otherworldly hot spring ryokan currently under construction.

Thus, I made a ping-pong set on the spot.

* * *

“Ohhhh! What’s this?”

Since I made the prototype at the farm, Platy and Veil came up to me with curiosity.

“Boo... Another non-food item... Make us something delish, Master!”

I am thinking of making hot spring manjus next, so bear with me.

For now, ping-pong comes first.

Feast your eyes on how well I made it!

“Oh! So you did prepare something tasty, Master! Don’t mind if I try it right away... Ahh...!” 

“?! Wait, wait, wait! That’s not food! Don’t put it in your mouth!!!”

What is she doing, you ask?

What Veil is trying to eat is neither candy nor a bun but a round ping-pong ball—a product of my research for the sake of ping-pong!

“It may look round and delicious, but it’s not food! That ball is hazardous to your health! Wait, maybe a dragon like you would be fine, but still!”  

“Whaaaat? Boooooringggg. What is this supposed to be then?”

Good of you to ask!

Allow me to show off this ping-pong set to you!

“I suppose... this is some kind of dueling facility,” I say with a bit of bravado.

“Duel? I see what you mean!”

Platy suddenly jumps on the ping-pong table.

“So, we’re supposed to face our opponent head-on in this narrow but open space?”

“Ohh! No room for petty tricks? I like that!”

Even Veil (in human form) jumped on the ping-pong table...!

“Hey Platy, I’ve been wanting to decide who is the second best to Master on this farm for a while now! The stage he has built for us is the perfect place to settle the score!”

“Good idea! I’ll show you that you’re wrong if you think dragons can always be the strongest! Prepare yourself!”

How can you be so confident against a dragon, Platy?

...No! That’s not the problem here!

The ping-pong table is no enclosed death match battlefield!

“Get off the ping-pong table! You’re not supposed to stand on top of it!”

“OKAY...”

Now that Platy and Veil have come down, let’s explain what ping-pong is once again.

I want to test how ping-pong will attract the people in this world through these two ladies.

“Listen up, ping-pong is a game played with a ball and a racket.”

“Racket? You mean this?” 

“What a delicious-looking dango.”

The racket is not a weapon.

And the ping-pong ball is no dango!

You hit the ball with the racket, bounce it on the table, and send it into your opponent’s court, which they hit back.

And then repeat.

“If you miss, you lose.”

“Huh. Okay, let’s try that.”

Although her impulsiveness sometimes causes her to make bad decisions, Platy is one of the most intelligent players in the world and has good comprehension.

Veil, too, is actually highly competitive, so she quickly learned the rules of ping-pong.

Now, they’re rallying their hits according to the rules.

“I thought it would be a little plain, but it’s much more fun than I thought! Veil! Let’s see if you can catch my Rip Current Smash!”

“Cheeky for a puny human! Have a taste of my special move too! Dragon Crush Final Electric Revolution!”

“What kind of move is that supposed to be?!”

The rally is so intense that I can no longer follow the ball.

If the sound of the ball being tossed back and forth in a typical rally was to sound like tak, tak, tak, tak, Veil and Platy’s rally is more like: tatatatatatatatatata!

It’s no longer ordinary ping-pong already when two strong players like them clash.

“Okay, okay! You can stop now!”

If I let them play any longer, there was no telling what kind of annihilating special move they would come up with.

“Now that you both know the basics, let’s move on to the practical assessment by adding more playability to the sport!”

“Playability? What do you mean?”

“The ping-pong you’re going to play next is no ordinary one, but a universal ping-pong!”

“UNIVERSAL PING-PONG?!” they respond.

Platy and Veil sure have polished their reactions.

“How about we give it a try?”

I join the game with my own racket, making it an irregular three-player match.

“Topic! Name of a vegetable!”

“HUH? HUH???”

“Tomato!!!”

I shout and hit the ball at the same time.

The ball heads toward Platy and...

“Huh?! U-Uh... Cabbage!”

She hits the ball back, chanting the name of the vegetable that matches the topic.

Next up is Veil!

“Gahhh! G-Gorilla?!”

Wrong!

Not only did she miss her strike, but her answer was a wrong one.

“Veil, you’re out! The key to universal ping-pong is to rally while saying something that fits the topic. It requires not only your gaming skill but also memory and knowledge.”

“I see. So it’s a match that tests not only your body but also your brain? Sounds interesting.”

Even though the purpose of the game was to have the players learn by doing, Platy understood the game very quickly without any extra explanations.

In contrast, Veil, who for some reason said “gorilla” ...

“Noo! Seriously, no prior explanation? I call that a foul!”

“We’re just practicing right now. Next up is the real thing. If you want, you can decide the topic. That fine with you?”

Veil’s frustration was genuine, so I had to concede.

Well, it won’t hurt to let her decide the next topic.

“Alright! Then I’m going to win with a tough topic! Let’s see... Ah!”

Veil says as she serves, “Topic: Names of Geyser Dragons of all time!” 

“Huh?”

“Ardheg!”

Tak!

The ball goes to Platy.

“Al Gor.”

“Huh? Uhh? Whaaaaaaaaaa?!”

How could we, who are not dragons, know anyone other than those two?

I couldn’t say anything, so I messed up my pitch.

“That’s not fair! How can anyone but dragons know about this? Biased knowledge is unfair!”

“Platy was able to answer, though?”

“That’s because we’ve met Al Gor before!!!”

Those are the only two Geyser Dragons we know!

You can’t be partial with the topic!

“I’m going next.”

Platy, holding the ping-pong ball, swings her racket and says, “Topic: Names of Mermaid Kings of all time! Nagus!”

“Arowana!”

“Wait a minuteeeeeeeeeeeee!!!”

Again, I was unable to answer and missed my pitch.

Don’t give such a biased topic! I mean, the only people we know are from the latest two generations!

“You’re so naive, Dear! It’s only natural to create a situation that’s to your advantage!”

“You’re both taking this way too seriously!”

If that’s how you’re going to play, I’m going with the names of American presidents!

...!

Nothing’s coming to mind!

“We’re just getting to the exciting part! Topic: Potion name made by mixing Critriniges and Cratriloges herbs!”

“And now there’s only one possible answer for it!!!”

Thus, I was beaten to a pulp by Platy and Veil in a game of universal ping-pong. 

Despite the setback, the ping-pong set itself is good enough.

We’ve secured another staple for our hot spring.