Book 4 Chapter 18
Episode 92
Early evening, as the crickets sang.
Rain, who had given up on finding Valencidis in the student council room, walked towards his dorm, stroking his chin.
‘Magic volleyball, magic volleyball, huh….’
He had gone ahead with it impulsively, but he knew better than anyone that baseless confidence was dangerous.
Magic volleyball was exclusively for the upper class, so it was a sport he hadn't learned during his Lyn days. After becoming Rain?
‘Just felt too lazy…’
Anyway, he thought it would be good to familiarize himself with the rules, so he was about to turn his steps towards the Central Library when—
“Oh, isn’t that the young master?”
A giant, whose solid muscles stood out even more in the deepening twilight shadows, greeted him familiarly.
Logan of Chaihark.
He must have just washed his face at the water fountain, as he was vigorously drying his soaking wet hair with a towel.
“Did you exercise alone? You’re sweating so much even at this hour.”
“It’s for club activities, isn’t it? Magic volleyball, I mean.”
“Ah, magic volleyball…”
“Then I’ll be going. We’re in the middle of a match.”
The four major magic volleyball clubs are very busy with training right now, as they compete for the top spot at every seasonal festival… Logan added, then spun his body around.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck his mind.
Rain, who was radiating light not only from his mind but also from his eyes, firmly grabbed Logan’s shoulder.
“Challenging the third-year students of Griffinvalor…?”
A moment later, Logan’s eyes widened after Rain explained the situation. Griffinvalor was the name of the nobles' magic volleyball club.
“But aren’t all the Ten Great Clans nobles under the young master? If only you had spoken to them nicely…”
“They weren’t the type to listen. We’re also seniors and juniors within the school. So, could you teach me some magic volleyball?”
“Hmm, I’d have to ask the professor about that… But how many teammates have you gathered so far?”
Teammates? What teammates?
As Rain tilted his head with an innocent expression, a look of shock appeared in Logan’s eyes.
“Young master, I apologize, but have you never seen magic volleyball before?”
“No.”
“…”
“…?”
“It would be quicker to just show you, hmm… Where was the gym Griffinvalor uses? No, we declared war on them, so can we even go there…?”
“What~? Then we can just let you watch at our Lionheart, can’t we★”
A familiar figure interrupted with a singing voice.
“No, Nora!”
Logan flinched and trembled, while Rain waved his hand as if pleased.
“Oh, Nora. What brings you here?”
“Our Logan hasn’t returned, so Professor got really mad♬ He pressed me to come find him, so here I am♪”
As soon as he heard those words, Logan’s face turned pale, and he started running towards the gym as if possessed.
“Our Lionheart?”
“Oh my~ You didn’t know? I’m also a member of the magic volleyball club★”
Then, humming, she seemed to trot after Logan, before turning back as if to tell him to follow.
Hmm, this guy is into magic volleyball too.
It seemed like everyone who could wield some magic was learning magic volleyball. As Gertrude said, was it a mandatory general education course?
“Here it is.”
The gym Lionheart used was Annex 2, located southwest of the university grounds. A welcome voice could be heard through the crack in the door where light was seeping out.
“I’ve never seen such a pathetic fellow! If you grabbed a stray cat and made it do ‘meow-meow’ punches, it would be a million times stronger than your pathetic spike! Add one hundred spike practices!”
“I apologize!”
“Damn it, you can’t even catch such a simple ball, so how will you be able to catch your wife every time she runs away in the future! Add two hundred receive practices!”
Inside the gym, there were a total of four volleyball courts, and about ten cadets were training at each court, waiting for their turn.
Oh…
He had heard that only disciples of the Eight Great Academies could join Lionheart, but there were more of them than he thought.
“This year has been a miserable failure. Logan, just looking at your drooping ass, all I can say is ‘we’re screwed’!”
“I apologize!”
“It would be easier to teach a quadratic equation to my cat, which only eats food, than to train a slacking wretch like you into a decent volleyball player! Five hundred serve practices!”
At this, Rain, who had been watching the training through the crack in the door, let out a chuckle.
Owen was the same kind of person no matter where he went. He was someone who would always find a flaw to despise in others and then harass them relentlessly.
Then Owen turned around, narrowed his eyes briefly, and then approached arrogantly.
“Ha, ha, ha! What in the damn world! To meet the dim-witted young master who is so busy with noble student council work that he doesn’t even show his face during poor Owen’s roll call!”
“Greetings, Professor!”
The atmosphere itself was like that, so Rain also replied loudly, like the Chaihark academy members.
Then, the sounds of breath, sweat, and footsteps that busily echoed through the gym quieted down one by one. They glanced at him warily and started whispering.
Owen turned around and gnashed his teeth threateningly, and they immediately resumed training, but…
“What nonsense about greetings! I have very little time because I need to diligently harass these thirty-seven idiots here within a limited time! What is it?”
“I came to learn a bit about magic volleyball.”
“Magic volleyball? It’s hard to believe you’d be interested in such a ball game. Aren’t you a student council executive?”
“Oh, that? I quit. I decided to crush Griffinvalor.”
Suddenly, the vicious monster’s smile disappeared from Owen’s face.
At the same time, the sounds of movement from the Lionheart cadets, who were pretending to train but glancing over here, abruptly stopped, and silence fell.
Only Nora was letting out a laugh as if she was crazy with delight…
“What did you just say, Rain Ludwig? You quit the student council?”
Owen circled Rain, as if unable to believe it, scrutinizing his face up and down as if trying to tear it apart.
“And you, the leader of those aristocratic turds, decided to crush Griffinvalor?”
Watching him growl, it felt more like laughter would escape than fear.
Hold it in, I must hold it in.
How long did he endure that eternal patience, when suddenly Owen burst into booming laughter.
“Ha, ha, ha! Imagining your face utterly crushed by Griffinvalor and soaked with tears makes my muscles so excited I might not be able to sleep for a while!”
“It’s an honor to hear that!”
“Rain Ludwig, you’ve piqued my interest! Very well, I’ll teach you the basics of magic volleyball!”
Oh, ohhh!
As expected of the Chaihark academy.
People are so simple that their emotional flow is one-way, so there’s no need to persuade them with difficulty.
“Nora, stop smirking with that face worse than a monkey’s and bring me a ball.”
“Yes~♬”
What Nora brought was a metal sphere the size of an adult man’s fist. It wasn't just simple metal; it was a magic tool, as a faint magical power could be detected.
“Do you play ball with this? I wonder if it’s safe.”
Owen, who received the ball from Nora, curled his lips as if that question was preposterous.
“Look at this pitiable fellow. He truly knows nothing about magic volleyball!”
At that moment, *whoosh*, the sphere resonated with the magic Owen infused into it, floated into the air, and then unfolded a blue force field in a circular shape.
It was the moment a magic ball (魔法球) with a diameter of roughly 21cm was born.
As Rain’s mouth dropped open in admiration, Owen skillfully spun the ball on his index finger.
“Magic volleyball is a ball game that trains both mind and body. Do you know what that means?”
“I don’t… but it sounds like you have to use both mind and body.”
Owen’s eyebrow twitched slightly.
If this guy truly didn’t know about magic volleyball, then his comprehension ability truly far surpassed that of ordinary geniuses.
“It’ll be quicker to experience it yourself.”
Owen unexpectedly threw the ball to him.
It was a ball that drew a small, gentle arc, very easy to catch. But what was happening? He couldn't catch it.
“Huh?”
He quickly replayed the situation in his mind.
The moment his hand touched it, a strange mathematical equation seemed to flash across his mind.
Then, the magical force field forming the surface of the ball crackled, emitting electricity, and bounced out of his grip?
“Why do you think you couldn’t catch a ball that even my cat can easily catch? Because you’re clumsy? Because you’re stupid? Those are also true.”
“…”
“But there’s something else important. Do you remember the mathematical equation that popped into your head before catching the ball, even with that brain filled only with turds?”
“Yes.”
“It’s because you didn’t calculate it! Magic volleyball is a sport where you can only receive the ball if you physically catch it and simultaneously solve the mathematical equation ordered by your opponent in your head!”
“!!!”
Nora, who was practicing overhead tosses nearby, chuckled and helped explain.
“It’s easy if you think of it like the multiplication table game you played as a child★ Volleyball is just mixed in, but the way offense and defense switch is the same.”
Multiplication table game, huh…?
Ah, is that what his mother used to do when teaching Seri as a child?
- Seri, what’s 9x9?
- 81! What’s 6x7?
- 42. Okay, then what’s 1x1?
- 1x1? Don’t tease Seri! Do it properly, Mom!
Like that.
Ah, it certainly makes sense immediately. Rain struck his palm with a fist.
“So when you throw the ball, you order a mathematical equation, and the opponent solves that equation when receiving the ball, then orders their own equation and sends it back.”
“Yes~ Just add exchanging the ball in a multiplication table rally, and you understand everything♬”
Nora, who was smiling, suddenly lightly tossed the ball she was bouncing to Rain.
This time, too…
The moment he tried to catch the ball, a very short grace period was given, and a mathematical equation came to his mind.
When the quotient of dividing the polynomial f(x) by x+2 is 3, what is the remainder when f(x) is divided by x²-2?
The moment he lightly calculated that problem mentally, the ball comfortably nestled in his hand, unlike before.
His body trembled slightly with a strange sense of exhilaration.
This is why the Magic Families and the Eight Great Academies valued magic volleyball so much. It looked like a simple game, but it demanded all the qualities of a battlemage.
Can one move their body and use magic simultaneously in a critical situation?
Can one perform instant calculations?
Can one freely use their own magic after receiving the opponent's magic?
There was such an interesting thing! If he had known it would be this fun, he would have done it from a young age.
“This is the basic principle of magic volleyball. Now, I’ll show you a simple match. Twelve people, assemble.”
Even before Owen’s voice echoed through the gym, six cadets ran to each side of the court and formed a line.
Several familiar faces were among them: Hubert and Melanie, who were from the Lohwinnom Academy and in the same class as Rain, and Illyn from Chaihark.
All three of them looked at Rain with not-so-favorable gazes.
“Magic volleyball is a ball game where six monkeys form a team. Always six people.”
Ah. So that’s why Logan asked how many teammates he had gathered earlier.
Owen threw the ball to the team where Logan and Illyn were positioned, and the match immediately began with Illyn’s serve.
“Now, considering your pitiable intelligence, I will explain magic volleyball. I will only explain it once, so listen carefully.”