Cornelia’s Deadly Serves

The volleyball scrimmage kicked off. Naturally, the one who insisted on being the first server of the match was none other than Cornelia von Galen. She grabbed the ball before anybody had the chance to object and positioned herself at the baseline. 

"Fiona Landberht!" Cornelia thrust her finger toward the other side of the court. "I challenge thee! If you truly consider yourself a noble on par with myself, then let's see you stop my elegant serves!" 

"Very well," Fiona replied. [I should have no problem stopping your serves, provided they successfully head in my direction in the first place.]

She kept that part to herself but everybody on the court thought the exact same thing. Anybody who watched Cornelia's warm-up today could tell how fickle her aim was.

With that said, this shaky aim was troublesome for Fiona's team in its own way. Life would be so much easier for the defenders if Cornelia aimed her shots at Fiona as she declared.

"Hey," Daniella interjected in a low voice. "I'm just making sure here, but you're not actually planning to aim at Fiona, right?" 

"Huh? Of course I do." Cornelia puffed her chest. "I am a noble, after all. Once I've sent a formal invitation for a duel, there is no going back on my word."

"Well, I guess it'll be fine." Daniella shrugged. [It's not like her shots will go where she wants them to, anyway.]

Not a single soul on this court believed that Cornelia's declaration of war had any substance to it. But, on the other hand, the girl herself? She was convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that all her shots will properly find their target.

"Listen up," Daniella addressed the others. "Those of you on the front, I suggest covering your heads, just in case."

"Haha..." The girls smiled nervously and did as the captain instructed.

There was already one infamous case in which somebody received the full force of Cornelia's serve and it didn't end well. So, better safe than sorry.

WHISTLE! The coach announced the start of the game.

"Brace thyself, Fiona Landberht!" Cornelia tossed the ball into the air and leaped toward it, like a leopard trying to catch a bird in mid-flight! She swung her arm and struck the ball with all her noble strength! 

BAM! The usual ominous sound exploded across the courtroom. The loudness alone was enough to make some of the receivers lose heart, yet they had no choice but to stand their guard against the incoming missile.

"A-Ah!" One of the girls yelped as she tried to receive the incoming meteor. BAM! The ball mercilessly smashed her hands and slipped to the side. It had no intention of going back into the air.

Thud. Thud. Thud. The ball landed on the floor and jumped a few times before going silent.

"S-Sorry…" The girl apologized for her blunder.

Her teammates comforted her. "It's okay, don't worry." "Yeah, these serves are super hard to receive." "And, they hurt as hell, too."

There was some truth to their words. Cornelia's serves were just as fierce as her spikes, so they were rather difficult for most girls to stop.

However, it was no excuse to sweep the failure under the rug. Every mess-up like this costs a point for the entire team, so nobody should treat such incidents lightly.

"Cornelia's serves are indeed intense," Fiona said. "On top of that, they often have a spin to them, so do not rush to receive them. The high speed might fool you into thinking the ball will soon hit the floor, but the spin often makes it change trajectory shortly before that."

"Yeah," the girl agreed. "It's like the ball tried to escape my receive at the end there..."

"Correct, that is what usually happens when you try to predict the trajectory ahead of time," Fiona said. "Therefore, against Cornelia's serves and spikes, it is better to observe the ball for a little longer and adjust your position accordingly before going for the receive."

"I-I'm not sure I'd be able to receive it in time if I wait..."

"It takes practice," Fiona agreed. "For now, just keep this in mind the next time you try to receive her serve or spike. Even if you fail again, the most important thing is to learn and improve from each attempt."

"Right. Thanks!" The girl nodded with a smile.

[But, will this advice be enough?] Fiona wondered. [I can give her all the advice in the world, but I cannot control how much of it will sink in, or how it will improve her future plays.]

Fiona could only sigh at this aspect of team-based games. No matter how well she understood the game or how well she played, the outcome of the match was not going to depend on her skill alone.

In volleyball, there were six players on the court and each of them could potentially misplay at any time. Fiona could advise them at every step and cover for their mistakes as much as humanly possible, but there was a limit to how much a single player could achieve in a team sport.

Not to mention, there was also the team's morale to consider. A player's motivation was just as important as their technical skill, if not more. Therefore, Fiona was not allowed to be too harsh on her teammates during the game itself, as that had a chance of lowering morale and further hurting the team's odds.

All she could do was give basic advice while staying on good terms with her teammates. Truly, it was quite the hurdle.

While Fiona was lamenting the situation, the players on the other side of the court celebrated. At least, most of them did.

"I-I missed..." Cornelia muttered. [How could it happen!? My target was clearly none other than the Landberht scion, yet the ball went in a totally different direction! What a blunder!]

For better or worse, it seemed like Cornelia was the only one who had a problem with this development. The rest of the team rejoiced.

"Nice serve!" "Wow, that was one heck of a killer!" "I doubt I'd be able to receive that."

The team sang praises for Cornelia's noble serve even though it was completely off the mark. But, maybe this was fine? After all, only Cornelia knew for certain whom she was really targeting.

"O-Ohoho! Did you burn that brilliant serve into your memory ?" Cornelia asked. "Behold, such is the skill of a true noble! The ball moved exactly as I commanded it and vanquished my target!" 

The rest of the team nodded in agreement, but there was an objection from the other side of the court. "BS! I'm calling BS on that!" Karen shouted from the other side of the court. "Weren't you aiming at my sis? That wasn't even close! Your aim is dogshit, haha!" 

"W-W-W-What does a commoner such as yourself even know!? Hmph!" Cornelia crossed her arms and lifted her chin. "I did say I will challenge Fiona, but I didn't say WHEN. This first serve was just a warm-up."

"Yeaaaah, I'm totally buying that."

"Just you watch!" Cornelia thrust her finger. "With this next serve, I shall obliterate the entire Landberht family!" 

"Damn, did you girls hear that? This lunatic just confessed she gonna attempt murder in broad daylight, haha."

"Enough idle chatter." The coach whistled, urging Cornelia to proceed to the next serve.

[Just you watch, Karen!] Cornelia squeezed the ball tightly and took a deep breath. [With this next serve, I shall surely strike down the Landberhts!]

She tossed the ball high into the air, then ran up to it and jumped with all her might. Every cell in her body was burning with the desire to smite down Fiona Landberht, her eternal rival!

BANG! It sounded like a gunshot. Cornelia hit the ball like there was no tomorrow, pouring every fiber of her determination into the strike!

The bullet darted toward the net and nearly crashed into it, but fortunately, it went just a little above. Naturally, the target of this lightning-fast attack was none other than... Karen!?

[T-That's not where I aimed!!!] Cornelia cried internally.

But, what's done was done. The disobedient ball decided it would rather strike down the "younger sister" first. Well, either way, this should bring Cornelia one step closer to asserting the von Galens' dominance over the Landberhts!

But, will it really go that smoothly? As frustrating as it was to admit, Karen wasn't the easiest of prey.

[But, of course, it will be fine!] Cornelia was convinced. [That lowly servant will not be able to withstand the force of my noble serve!]

Nonetheless, the pleb tried to resist her fate.

[Alright, I see that dang spin!] Karen carefully followed the ball's trajectory while moving toward it. She had challenged enough of these quirky serves by now to know what to expect.

[Agh! Shit, this spin is such a pain in the ass!] Karen gritted her teeth as she struggled to predict where the ball would land. It was flying so fast, yet it was also swaying to the right.

But, how much to the right will it actually go? This thing was like a dang baseball curveball or some shit, even though this was supposed to be volleyball!

It was no wonder the other girls always struggled to stop these tricky serves. Considering the speed, it was really hard to see the ball at all, much less its spin

However, Karen was pretty adept at stuff like that, probably because she dabbled in some baseball before. So, compared to baseball pitches, Cornelia's serves were a slowball at best.

[Here!] Karen got into position. Her observation and prediction were flawless! The ball leaped toward her hands as expected.

[I did it! Ez!] Karen grinned. "Take that, you snobby ass- ack!" 

BAM! The ball crashed into her arms with all its might!

Even though the velocity had nothing on baseball pitches, the ball itself was hella bigger. As a result, the attack packed quite the punch and it didn't bounce off Karen's hands as neatly as she wanted.

"Gah! You little shit…!" Karen cursed as the ball ricocheted to the side. [C'mon, go up! Go up! Up, I'm telling you…!]

Alas, the ball refused to take off. It fell on the floor and rolled away.

"Fuuuu!" Karen cursed at the misbehaving ball. To add insult to injury, it decided to roll toward the worst target possible.

"Hmm." Fiona picked up the ball. "How unfortunate."

"Geh!" Karen almost choked. "S-Sorry, Sis! The spin was real wild and stuff, so it kinda just jumped away, haha…"

"Yes, the spin was there as usual," Fiona agreed. "But, to me, it looked as if you read the trajectory correctly."

"Well duh, of course I did." Karen puffed her chest. "I mean, I've dealt with like billions of her serves by now, so I know how to read them and stuff."

"Yet, you failed to properly receive it."

"Ack, well, that's…"

"What should I make of this, I wonder?" Fiona's eyes were filled with disappointment. "Could it be that my own sister is lacking practice in receiving? Despite how critical the technique is for volleyball?"

"W-Well…" Karen gulped. "I wouldn't say I'm 'lacking' it or anything…"

Actually, it was exactly the case. Compared to the rest of Karen's skills in volleyball, her receives left much to be desired.

Normally, she was doing a fine job hiding this fact because serves and spikes weren't that strong in girls' volleyball. But, once in a while, when she had to deal with truly strong attacks, that's when Karen's defense got all exposed like this.

"This will not do, Karen," Fiona criticized. "I always tell you to take your receiving practice seriously."

"Yeah, and I practice that stuff just like everything else. Really!"

"Well, it is clearly not enough," Fiona asserted. "It seems you need supplementary practice."

"Eeeeeeh? Really?"

"Yes, really." Fiona nodded without mercy. "Hmm. I suppose you could start by practicing receiving for an hour after school time. Every. Single. Day."

"Whaaaaaaaaa???"

"Is there a problem?"

"Well, we have Mancers practice today as well and all…"

"True," Fiona nodded. "How is that a problem, though? It is not like your day will come to an end after that. You will still have many hours to spare."

"That's true, I guess…" Karen caved in. There was no winning this argument, she already knew that. For somebody like Fiona, whose entire schedule was packed to the brim, the idea that a person might want to use their free time for leisure didn't even exist.

And so, Karen submitted with a sigh. "Okay, maybe I'll practice a little..." 

"Good girl." Fiona petted her younger sister's head.

"Meow~" Karen poured like a kitten.

Unfortunately, as fun as this exchange was for Karen, it didn't change the fact that the enemy had scored yet another point. The game had barely started and the score was already 2-0. And, since nobody had broken Cornelia's serves yet, the terror of her explosive attacks will continue...