Book 4 Chapter 17

Episode 91

"You guys are so good at magic? Let's see your so-called brilliant skills."

Again, the student council room became silent as if cold water had been thrown on it.

The members of the Ten Great Clans had expressions as if they doubted their ears, and in fact, the shock was the same for all members of noble families.

Kristana Gertrude was no different… and exceptionally, only Kasena smiled as if she had naturally expected this from Rain.

"What?! What?! A fight? I want in! Hey Rain, why are you trying to have all the fun by yourself!!!"

The one who broke the silence was Sandra Kepel, who had been dozing off in indifference until now… though she was immediately restrained by Felix and Treewiss.

"So, Young Master Ludwig. Did you just say that to us? You're turning your back on us and defending *that*?"

Maya Snape pointed at Valencidis with a nod of her chin, as if utterly unable to comprehend.

"No, if it were just about teasing that annoying president, I would've clapped and actively supported it."

Rain glanced back at Valencidis, shrugged, and then suddenly the warmth vanished from his eyes.

"You fools ridiculed the conviction of the wizard I respect most in the world. I can tolerate anything else, but not that."

The ambiguous meaning embedded in that chilling tone left a question that stirred the cadets attending the meeting.

"…The wizard he respects most in the world?"

"…Young Master Inseong respects the President?"

He tried to correct it immediately, fearing a troublesome misunderstanding, but Kristana grabbed his shoulder firmly, perhaps thinking it was all a terrible prank.

"Are you serious right now? You're quitting the student council? Do you know what that means when you say it?"

"I know what's important. But I can't help it."

"What do you know?! You're the one who just blasphemed the efforts of everyone who shed blood, sweat, and tears to wear this badge!"

He couldn't answer that.

He knew what was important. He remembered Logan getting similarly angry in the past.

"There are plenty of ways to ignore such a ridiculous proposal! We can get the professors to mediate… Take back what you just said!"

But there are times when one cannot back down; when he turned his head, the strength drained from Kristana's hand holding his shoulder.

"Of course you wouldn't know. And you wouldn't want to… because you possess such a talent."

And on that face, which let out a resigned scoff, shadows seemed to fall, making her complexion appear dark.

"I said something meaningless to you."

Then she abruptly turned her head without a word, kicked open the student council room door, and walked out. Gertrude followed right after her…

After watching that with a bitter expression for a moment, he turned to Felix.

"Then Vice President, it's okay for me to continue having magic duels with the third-years here, right?"

"…Magic duels can only be held once a day, so if those members arrange their magic duels for the same day and time, there won't be many clubs that Young Master can protect."

Felix said that much and then seemed to hesitate for a moment before adding with a sigh.

"But it's not like there's no way. If you're really going to do that, that is…"

"What is it?"

"Young Master just needs to disband the clubs those members belong to."

There was a rule established to prevent disturbances during the festival where festival preparations were interrupted by magic duels.

That was that cadets from clubs disbanded through a legitimate magic duel procedure could not apply for magic duels during the festival period.

In simpler terms, if Rain smashes the signboard of Maya's gang's clubs, Maya's gang cannot carry out the things they used to threaten Valencidis.

"Whoa…"

"The club those seniors belong to is…"

"Isn't it the Magic Volleyball Club…?"

Magic Volleyball Club?

He remembered. It was the Royal Club that Kristana and Gertrude had urged him to join at the beginning of the semester.

If they were all there, it would be simple, he thought, but Felix's expression was quite dark.

"There are two problems here. First, the Magic Volleyball Club can only be disbanded through Magic Volleyball itself."

The first problem was also somewhat unexpectedly shocking, but honestly, when he heard the second problem, his mouth gaped slightly after three seconds.

"The other is that Professor Elin is the advisor for the Magic Volleyball Club that nobles join. Your relative, Young Master."

Aha, Aunt Elin.

Huh?

What did you just say? As he made a dumbfounded expression, Maya Snape sighed and wiped her glasses with a handkerchief.

"I'll give you a chance to back down even now. It seems you're misunderstanding something, we bear no ill will towards Young Master."

"…"

"I heard from Miss Kristana that you've never even played Magic Volleyball? Magic Volleyball is not a sport you master overnight."

Come to think of it, Kristana and Gertrude must also be members of the same club… The problem is getting a bit complicated, but now he can't stop.

"That's right, I haven't."

"Then you'll surely regret it. You'll lose your student council executive qualification and only suffer humiliation."

"So, won't we know who wins once I try it?"

As if her patience had reached its limit, a faint tremor ran through Maya's eyebrow.

Maya, who had her glasses perched neatly on the bridge of her nose, then turned her back after observing noble etiquette and left the student council room.

Taking that as a signal, the members of the Ten Great Clans sitting behind her followed Maya…

"It seems Ludwig's little brat has really fallen for the beggar prince, what are you going to do now?"

When the swaggering male student asked, Maya, who was nervously biting her lip, answered irritably.

"Since he's acting like that, I'll have to crush him first. I'll just think of it as setting an example before he becomes the head of the family later."

Damn, there isn't much time.

Originally, the plan was to make Valencidis step down from the student council president position like that… because then a new exam would be held to fill the vacant student council president position.

Why? Because all the exams for the third-years are over now. In the second semester, they only undergo various practical training and Magic Tower internships, not take exams.

This means the valedictorian has already been decided. That's why they provoked Valencidis, but…

Losing the valedictorian spot to some nobody who isn't even a noble, let alone a disciple of one of the Eight Great Schools, would be a lifelong disgrace.

"If we take out Rain Ludwig, Valencidis will also step down. So, for now, we have to properly crush that Ludwig brat first."

Meanwhile, the executive committee members who had remained in the student council room, exchanging glances, also began to leave one by one.

"Wow…"

"Amazing…"

Seeing them whispering with excited faces, it seemed the rumor would spread throughout the entire school by the end of the day.

For some reason, Kasena Page hesitated, then when her eyes met Rain's, she triumphantly gave a thumbs-up and disappeared, leaning on her crutches.

Just like that, everyone eventually left, and only the student council executives remained in the student council room as usual. Sandra let out a cheer, clenching her fist.

"As expected, Rain just gets more interesting the more you see him! That's why I like him so much! Now I can legally face off against Rain, too, right?!"

"Huh?"

"I'm in the Magic Volleyball Club too! Ahahaha! Well then, see you next time! I gotta go practice to show Rain a cool side of me!!!"

And then she dashed out.

Treewiss ran after her, attempting to catch her, with a stoic sigh…

Felix smiled wryly and said to Valencidis.

"I'll go gather the executive committee members again. We need to finalize all the personnel assignments by today, so things can be a bit easier."

When that series of processes was all finished, only Valencidis and Rain were left in the student council room.

No, I should go too.

He let out a sigh, washing away the regret of having impulsively jumped into a troublesome situation, and was about to turn to leave.

"What was your intention in helping me?"

Valencidis stared at Rain, narrowing his eyes as if trying to gauge something invisible.

"Are you trying to make me indebted to you? If so, that's a good judgment."

"Don't write your own novel. It's just a personal matter."

Looking back now that the situation is over, he doesn't understand.

Why did he think that way back then?

The thought that the Dean Aunt was being made a fool of… that no matter who the opponent was, he shouldn't tolerate it.

"You said they ridiculed the conviction of the wizard you respect. Did you truly mean that?"

"Of course."

Valencidis, who had chewed on that question once more as if savoring it, surprisingly wore a slightly hesitant expression before asking in a serious voice.

"If it's not rude, I'd like to know their esteemed name."

Their esteemed name, huh…

Did he feel respect because they shared the same convictions, or was he just using a polite honorific out of courtesy because Rain said he respected them?

Whatever his true intention, he felt that Valencidis was far more polite than Maya, who had only received a superficial noble education.

"It's extremely, outrageously rude, so don't ask."

"Why?"

"Because it's not a name that trash like dark mages dare to know."

By using a slightly prickly tone, he made it clear that he hadn't helped Valencidis. He truly had no intention of saying it.

"Or, perhaps, would you like to make a trade?"

"A trade?"

"If you tell me who the 'mother' you speak of is, I'll tell you too."

Valencidis crossed his arms as if in thought, then silently looked up at the air, and suddenly unbuttoned the top button of his school uniform blouse, smiling.

It wasn't just a button; it was as if he had released a shackle he had strictly kept on himself… It was such a supremely comfortable smile.

He blinked in immense bewilderment. He had always only seen deliberate sneers, so this was the first time he'd seen such a natural smile.

To be precise, he should say it was the first time, except for when they talked about the future of magic in the schoolyard long ago.

"No, there's no need for that."

In Valencidis's strong eyes, as he faced Rain, a certain familiarity, something like friendliness, swirled for the first time since their initial meeting.

"Because I think I know who it is."

However, those words instantly snapped him back to reality. He knows who it is? The Dean Aunt?

How on earth does he know?

Unless this guy also studied at the Osarius School 300 years ago like him… A mischievous grin played on his lips, as if finding Rain's bewilderment amusing, and he strangely changed the subject.

"Honestly, I had vaguely suspected it. That you secretly respect me."

"??????"

"Still, declaring it so boldly in front of so many juniors made me more embarrassed than happy. I appreciate the sentiment, but I'd prefer you to refrain from now on."

What?!

He'd never seen such a crazy bastard.

He was so dumbfounded that he couldn't even let out a scoff.

"Are you out of your mind? I respect *you*? Did you go crazy because I used honorifics like before, afraid someone at school would hear?"

"One of the most common ways to hide embarrassment is anger. Or rather, feigned anger. You really can't hide your emotions well, Rain Ludwig."

"Whoa, this damn, what kind of guy is this… Hey, you, come here! Aren't you coming here?!"

He tried to punch that cheeky face, but the guy swiftly evaded him, weaving around the student council president's desk, so there was no way to catch him.

"Come out when I'm being nice! I'm using magic?"

"Then I suppose I'll use it too."

The moment Rain wove a 2-star flame magic circle on his palm, darkness suddenly surged forth and began to ravenously engulf Valencidis's body.

"No, hey! That's a foul!"

"There are no fouls in the world of competition. Only winners and losers."

It was an invisibility technique that could only be used with dark magic. Sometimes used as a means of short-distance movement… In short, Valencidis's body vanished from sight in an instant.

"Come out, aren't you coming out? I'm using my Eyes?! Should I use my Eyes?!"

[Interesting. Go on, try using them.]

"Don't you know if I reverse-calculate and modify your spatial coordinate movement, your body will just shatter? I'm really going to use them?!"

He immediately activated Bell Cidius, but couldn't even detect a trace of him. He had already fled elsewhere.

"Come outttttt───!!!"