Book 4 Chapter 24
Episode 98
As Madelia Page returned to the mansion, exhausted, the butler and maids immediately flocked to attend to her.
"You took quite a long time."
When the young head butler, Kennith, carefully spoke, Madelia nodded.
"It was a murder case. Special Affairs Division wizards were attacked during the final exam period."
"Special Affairs Division wizards, you say…?!"
"I had to report a few things to the Mage Alliance, so it took a bit longer… By the way, could you call Kasena? I'd like to have dinner with her."
Despite her face being exhausted to the point of collapse, a smile bloomed on her face at the thought of her daughter's laughter.
However, Kennith wore a troubled expression, as if apologetic for not being able to meet her expectations.
"What's wrong?"
"That is… Your Excellency, the young lady has not yet returned from school."
"What? What time is it now?"
Kennith seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then briefly reported on the series of commotions that had occurred at school while Madelia was away.
"Rain Ludwig quit the student council? And Kasena is watching that game right now?"
"Yes, Your Excellency."
"Who on earth approved such a ridiculous prank?"
Kennith quietly shut his mouth. Madelia let out a low sigh and called back the maids who had withdrawn.
"Bring me a new cloak. I must go to school right now."
* * *
Logan felt the heavy weight of the magic tool in his hand as he looked at the scoreboard.
Set score 17:22.
The young master barely managed to seize the right to attack; now a very important mission has fallen to me…
'And a chance of chances to show off to Lily!'
If I score 5 consecutive points with a service ace here, Lillian might truly fall for me; just thinking about it makes me happy.
"Alright. Let's go!"
And Logan's spike serve, which he slammed with monstrous momentum, fully arching his latissimus dorsi as he leaped with all his might—
"Ugh…?!"
—Instead of barely going out on the opponent's court, it flew so far away that it was called out without any room for the line judges to rule.
'That damn monkey…'
Owen clutched his forehead with an intense headache, while Illyn, a fellow student from Chayahak, wiped away tears of emotion.
'Damn it, I trusted you, Logan!!! Pretending to help the genius (天災) young master, only to openly screw him over!'
Regardless, Logan was receiving concentrated fire from late-stage disciples of all schools on the court.
"Logan, you muscle-brained idiot… It's almost set point, what are you doing!"
[LOL no answer ㅋㅋ]
"Hehe, Logan, really, if you play a prank at such an important moment, you'll have nothing to say even if you die, ★"
Lillian, Caden, and Nora each expressed their dissatisfaction, but only Rain patted Logan's shoulder.
"Too bad. Let's get it next time."
"Ugh, Young Master…"
He might seem the calmest among the six, but Rain was currently at his limit among these six.
His breathing wouldn't steady.
The cold sweat wouldn't stop.
This was all due to Griffinvalor's relentless marking of Rain Ludwig; whether a point was scored or lost, at least three rallies continued, constantly gnawing away at the boy's stamina and mental strength.
"It's just as the professor said."
"Yeah. His attacking style can't escape the textbook framework."
"I couldn't believe you said this was your first time playing magic volleyball earlier. Hmph, it's clear you're a beginner."
There was a limit to compensating for lack of experience with skill. Especially when the opponent knew that weakness.
"Here, it'll be another C-quick like before!"
Unlike the first half, which had been evenly matched, Christa, watching Rain's situation as he began to be overwhelmed, quietly bit her lip.
"He finally reached his limit…"
As Christa said, Rain couldn't help but reach his limit.
He had been playing almost a four-person game from the start. To be precise, he had to.
Lillian and Caden might be different if the opponent were another club, but against Griffinvalor, they were nothing more or less than just filling out the numbers.
'And not to mention Wieber, who's been showing only sluggish movements since earlier.'
Whether on offense or defense, he had to touch the ball more than anyone else…
And he must have been hitting rock bottom in terms of mental strength and magical power from continuously pulling off those absurd tosses.
Magic volleyball is a sport where opponents continuously have to instantly solve mathematical equations they order, and the fatigue derived from that transcends the imagination of an ordinary person.
'You've already done enough, Rain.'
That thought, seeing Rain gasping for breath, slumped over, wasn't just Christa's but also Ellyn Ludwig's.
'No one will point fingers even if you collapse from exhaustion right now. Stop now.'
There's no point in clinging on so persistently.
The outcome of this match was decided from the start… The team's difference in class was absurd to begin with.
'But why?'
That was the same question that popped into Wieber's mind as he glanced at Rain beside him.
'But why on earth isn't this guy giving up yet?'
Was everything truly sincere?
Quitting the student council, finding teammates from the Eight Great Schools, not just for a prank to face off against Griffinvalor, but…
"This is truly regrettable, Young Master."
It was then that Maya Snape spoke from across the net. Rain was slow even in the movement of raising his head in response.
"I understand your talent is genius-level, and your leadership is outstanding. This is a sincere compliment."
"…?"
"That's why it's even more regrettable. If you had just enjoyed your student council life instead of needlessly challenging us, you would have easily risen to the student council president position and had a pleasant school life."
Everything was sincere.
The praise for the talent of Ludwig's successor, and the sarcasm for disrupting them.
She still couldn't understand why this person had stepped up to protect Valensidis.
"It's you guys who are regrettable."
Just then, Rain spoke in an unexpected voice.
Unlike usual, his eyes held no trace of magnanimity, only a coldness like a glacier.
"You don't know the meaning of magic… You only know how to use it to trample on weaker opponents. And then you think you're superior."
"The meaning of magic? What is that?"
"I don't know either. That's why I'm searching for it."
The meaning of magic was truth, something he couldn't grasp even after once reaching the ranks of a grand wizard. He still didn't know what lay at the end of that path; it was faint, hazy, and even distant.
"But I know you guys are wrong."
Like a lamp, he held a signpost in his heart that guided him down that path.
"Auntie told me. Magic only gains meaning when shared with others."
The smile that appeared on the boy's lips when he said that was astonishingly similar, though he was not at all conscious of it nor knew it.
- Never forget, Rin.
Like Headmistress Atlante, who shared the light of magic with the boy, and Hero Ristar, who showed him the possibilities of the world and everything spread throughout it.
- Magic is like a torch; it only gains meaning when shared with others.
Seeing the smile Rain made then, Wieber felt a pain as if something had struck his head.
It was a heart-stirring smile.
A smile filled with endless longing, a smile certain of the path he walked… and a smile that those who looked down on others could never make.
"So I can't acknowledge guys like you as wizards."
"What will you do if you can't acknowledge us?"
"Because I can't acknowledge you, I came here to correct your rotten way of thinking. Even though I didn't know how to play magic volleyball."
Maya Snape's eyes narrowed.
He's truly an unpleasant fellow.
From the first time they met until now…
Those eyes, those very eyes, she didn't like them. Not contempt, not disdain, but those eyes shimmering with something like pity.
"It's meaningless no matter how arrogantly you talk. In the world of wizards, skill always comes first, and Young Master, you lost to us."
The current set score was 17:23.
Just two more points here and Griffinvalor would win. But where on earth was he getting that composure from?
"Gertrude, nice serve!"
Gertrude, as a wing spiker, also specialized in powerful spike serves.
Although her accuracy was low, given her family's martial arts training, her raw power surpassed even Sandra's.
'It wouldn't be strange if he had already collapsed…'
If a typical magic volleyball player had played like Rain, they should have collapsed from exhaustion of stamina and magic by now.
'I don't know how he's enduring, but for the sake of young lady Christa, I'll make it easy for him!'
A soft toss, as if caressing water, four light steps, as if walking on water, and a quiet jump, as if creating ripples on calm waters.
PWOOM—!
With a heavy thud, the ball, which had suddenly arrived right before their eyes, struck Caden's arm and flew backward.
"…"
Thump, thump, thump… Only the inorganic sound of the ball bouncing and rolling on the floor echoed through the despairing arena.
The cheers for the challenger team had long since faded, and the gym was as quiet as a graveyard on an autumn day.
Professor Owen sighed inwardly and quietly closed his eyes.
'Match point, he's really on the brink now…'
Even the current rotation position was the worst, making it impossible to think of a way to turn the tide.
Because Logan, strong in blocking and spiking, was in the back row, and Nora, strong in receiving, was in the front row.
They needed to score quickly to rotate, but it seemed the game would end faster than that.
'If they score just 1 point, Logan will be in the front, Nora in the back, and Rain will get the serve. If only they could score just one more point…'
But perhaps no one could open their mouth, as even cheering for that now felt utterly cruel.
'The reason magic volleyball is a 1-set match, unlike regular volleyball, is because the mental fatigue is absurd…'
As everyone silently stared at the situation in despair, Gertrude, who had received a new ball from the referee, leaped again.
'Now…!'
'With this…!'
'It's over…!'
The moment all Griffinvalor players were certain of victory, someone suddenly burst out into the trajectory of the sharply diving ball.
"Ha, that again…!"
Rowinbelt, who was back on the bench due to the rotation placing him in the front row, clutched the back of his neck.
It was Rain, Rain Ludwig.
Rowinbelt's eyes widened greatly in the next moment. No, not just Rowinbelt, but everyone watching it.
"…?!"
"…?!"
"…?!"
When receiving the ball, Rain lightly rolled his body backward. Just like Rowinbelt and Nora did.
"Oh, oh, ohohohohoho—?!"
The best receive, completely reducing the ball's power and making it like a light toss.
"—He got it uphhhhhh!"
Nora lightly whistled.
'He's imitating that after only seeing it a few times…?'
Even Ellyn, Griffinvalor's coach, was similarly shocked and let out a hollow laugh.
Truly, truly, it's absurd.
So absurd that it's just…
But that's as far as it goes. The setter made that receive, so now there's no setter for the attack. The attack will be monotonous, making it no different from a chance ball.
"Turn it, turn it!"
Logan frantically signaled to send the ball to the opponent's setter.
A chance they barely seized, if only Griffinvalor could get their setter involved in the first touch…!
Rain seemed to have thought of that situation too, and raising his body, which was creaking at its limit, he stretched his foot towards the center of the net. But then.
"My ball."
Someone was already at the setter's position. Someone no one expected to be there was there.
Everyone present in this first gymnasium opened their eyes wide.
No, for those who knew even a little about the challenger team's circumstances, those who knew the personality of that 'someone' were trembling.
It was Wieber.
Wieber, a late-stage disciple of Rofinon.
The guy who moved as if reluctantly present, merely filling out the numbers. The guy who said he would never make a toss.
"Wieber, that guy…?"
"He's already in his setup motion…!"
The eyes of the Griffinvalor players preparing to block in the front row moved busily.
'Who is it? Who is he going to set for?'
To disrupt this, Lillian and Nora leaped up in the front row. Sandra stuck to Nora, and Maya stuck to Lillian.
At that very moment, a half-beat late in the attack tempo, Rain Ludwig leaped up.
'Time-lag back attack? No, surely he wouldn't make the guy who just received spike it…'
Before that question could even cross Maya's mind, in the frustratingly slow, drawn-out time, the ball, nestled at Wieber's fingertips, flew.
Slightly above Rain Ludwig's maximum jump point, who had leaped from behind the setter, that is, into the boy's spiking course.
Unlike Rain's sharp tosses, it was a relaxed and gentle toss that any spiker could hit comfortably.
'Somehow, it's a little touching…'
Thinking so, the moment Rain slammed the ball even more powerfully than a spike serve.
"—?!"
"—?!"
"—?!"
All noise ceased.
Everyone's eyes were shaken.
In the silence, as if time had stopped, only the sound of the ball hitting the end line and bouncing far away echoed through the gymnasium.
"…"
"…"
Rain, who had finished his spike and landed, gasped for breath and faced Wieber.
Just as a silence filled with mixed emotions seemed to continue between them, the two clapped their hands together, breaking the stillness that pervaded the arena.
As if on cue, a furious cheer erupted, so intense that the gymnasium windows rattled.
"Waaaaaaah—!"
Amidst the commotion, fluctuating with excitement, the challenger team exchanged not-so-encouraging words.
"Did you finally wake up? How long were you going to sleep? I was thinking of whacking you on the head if you slept any longer."
"Shut up, you muscle monkey."
[Too harsh;;]
"It's enough that I stepped up when it mattered, ★"
"Thanks to you, I'm alive, Wieber."
Looking at Rain's outstretched hand, Wieber recalled the distant past.
When did it begin? The point at which he started to hate someone simply because they were a noble.
As a child, perhaps he just wanted to be acknowledged out of excitement. To be in the same classroom as those noble aristocrats and use the same magic.
But the reality Wieber faced was not so easy.
- How dare a commoner like you…
- Did you think your lowly origin would change just because you could use a little magic?
In the meantime, the image of nobles solidified in Wieber's mind as nothing more than incompetent beings who merely envied those who worked hard.
His bright and sociable personality also turned cold and sharp…
All nobles are the same. Pitiful creatures living only for their own self-importance. That's what he believed.
"…I just helped out once because I saw you putting in as much effort as you said."
This guy is different.
Rain Ludwig, this human is different.
Perhaps he is the very image of the noble I admired as a child…
'I can't believe it.'
Professor Owen, watching that surreal scene, had to shiver with an emotion he couldn't explain.
'He changed Logan, who was full of childishness, Nora, who was always scheming, and Lillian and Wieber, who were like sharp blades, like that? In just half a year?'
At the end of the final exams, he thought the associate professor was being overly dramatic… but Rain Ludwig, that guy is the real deal.
'The day that guy becomes an adult and a leading figure in the magic world, magic… no, the world might change.'