Episode 959
Episode 959
'Is this... a tear?'
Carnella felt a hot liquid trickling down her cheek.
These were not tears of worry for her junior who was surrounded—no, they were tears of joy.
The enemy's collapsed formation was wide open!
"Charge! Charge!"
"Hormasi! To the left! I'll help the junior... Hey!"
Carnella ignored whatever her senior was saying and urged her hound forward. The three-headed beast of hell spewed sulfurous breath as it galloped across the field.
This wasn't the time to rescue the junior from the encirclement and bring them out.
Now that the enemy was in disarray, it was time to strike harder.
"Senior!"
Surprisingly, even while surrounded in the heart of enemy lines, the junior had astonishingly sharp instincts to detect Carnella's movements.
Their quick reflexes made it seem as if they had entrusted everything to the griffin and were merely observing their surroundings before reacting.
But that was impossible.
What the griffin had just displayed was a maddened gallop that only a true rider could achieve.
If the rider and the mount weren't truly in sync, such majesty couldn't have been shown.
'This junior... is a far better player than I thought!'
Carnella had no choice but to admit it.
Perhaps—just perhaps—
this junior might be an even slightly better polo player than Carnella!
To notice Carnella's approach even in the midst of such chaos!
Whoosh—!
Lee Han struck the ball precisely, sending it flying. Carnella caught it midair and charged toward the goal.
—Waaaaaah!
"Well done, junior! Far better than I expected, Hormasi!"
"Ponlig did all the work!"
"No need to be so humble! Got it?"
"No, really! Ponlig ran on his own!"
"Wardanaz! Wardanaz! Wardanaz!"
Angrago waved a hastily made flag from his cloak and cheered. Nearby, several supporters of the Einrogard Polo Club had already gathered.
In stadiums like this, the mad ones naturally grouped together, while the Empire's refined elites stuck to their own. Over time, the division became clear.
"Kekeke! I like this young fellow very much!"
The drunk spectators took an immediate liking to Angrago.
"You lead us in jeering them! Make it spectacular!"
"!"
Angrago paused mid-wave.
He had to rally these strangers to hurl insults at the Granden City Polo Club?
Could he really do it?
"Come on!"
"A-Alright. Bul... Bulpad, Bulpad. Too weak. Meals stolen, beds stolen, soon-to-be-expelled player, Bulpad."
"In song?!"
"Hah, the lyrics are catchy and stick well! Let's sing it together!"
As the crowd responded enthusiastically, Angrago sighed in relief internally.
'Thank you, Dalkard!'
Plagiarizing his friend's song, Angrago sang even louder. The surprisingly irritating tune made the Granden City Polo Club supporters jeer in displeasure.
"Alpha!"
"T-That song belongs to all of Einrogard!"
At Salko's call, Angrago reflexively blurted out an excuse.
But that wasn't why Salko had called him.
"What are you talking about?"
"N-No. Why did you call me?"
"Those bastards keep jeering at Wardanaz. Isn't there any way to stop them?"
Angrago, who had been waving his flag, froze slightly.
"I thought you weren't interested in polo matches?"
"It's not about the match—it's about ensuring fairness. Alpha, I told you, I don't care about the game."
"......"
Angrago's eyes narrowed.
For some reason, it felt like his friend was lying.
"How am I supposed to stop them from jeering...?"
"Ahahaha! Young folks! Smart and clever, but there's still something you don't know! There IS a way to stop them!"
The drunken spectators burst into laughter and shouted.
Angrago asked in bewilderment.
"Huh? How do you stop jeering?"
"Easy! Everyone, follow me!"
The spectators who had bet silver coins on the Granden City Polo Club's defeat, those who had originally cheered for the Einrogard Polo Club, and even the simply drunk ones all surged forward in a chaotic mass.
As they moved, the spectators began slyly scooping up handfuls of mud one by one.
'No way...' Angrago, who wasn't drunk, felt a chill run down his spine.
No way?!
"T-Tutanta. This..."
"Hey, you weaklings! If you're too pathetic, shut your mouths and just watch! Who do you think you're interfering with?!"
Thwack!
The surging crowd began hurling mud at the opposing spectators.
Angrago screamed.
"This is illegal under imperial law!!"
"Uahahaha! Where does that exist? You throw some too!"
-These bastards! Have they gone mad from losing every time?
Few could stay still when mud was flying at them. Those already in a foul mood from being utterly crushed by a weaker opponent immediately retaliated.
"Alpha! Alpha! We need to get out!! These crazy bastards... Hey!!"
Angrago was horrified to spot Salko in the distance.
Salko was using magic to create mud, distributing it to fellow spectators while roaring.
"Let's crush those cowardly bastards! Let's crush those cowardly bastards!"
'...You said you weren't interested in the match, you bastard!!!' Things were better when he was indifferent to the match. Angrago made a tearful face.
"Senior. The spectator seats seem noisy."
"They're always noisy. Focus."
"They seem to be fighting."
"They always fight. Focus."
"It looks like a mud monster was summoned."
"They always summon them. Focus."
"......"
Lee Han stared at Carnella the same way he looked at Professor Verdus.
The way she only said what she wanted was exactly the same.
'Well, that's not important right now.'
Whether a war broke out in the stands or not, the field was already a battlefield.
Though they had an overwhelming lead, the Einrogard students maintained cautious expressions. They were starting to sense their opponents' hidden potential.
'At this point, they should've given up...'
The Granden City Polo Club players were truly astonishing.
Despite the griffin rampaging and trampling throughout the first half, they refused to give up and began holding their ground.
When a mount fell, they replaced it with a new one; when a player collapsed, they substituted a new one.
Normally, such replacements would cause disarray, but their eyes still burned with tenacity.
"Why are they acting like this? Do they hate us winning that much?"
"What happened to make them so strong??"
Unaware that the players were furious over last year's loss to Einrogard's first-years, the students exchanged bewildered comments.
Perse licked her parched lips and took out a canteen to wet her throat.
After running nonstop in the first half, she felt completely drained of moisture. The monsters they rode must be even more exhausted.
"Wardanaz. The griffin?"
Grrr...
Ponlig made a sound as if to say he was fine, but Lee Han could tell he was utterly exhausted.
He might not even last until the second half.
"He seems tired."
"Wardanaz must be exhausted too. Maybe we should switch players and focus on defense."
At Perse's words, one beast and one person jumped up.
The beast was the griffin, and the person was Carnella.
Grrrowl!
"Taking out our top scorer is insane, Senior!? How are we supposed to defend without him?!"
"But we can't force him to keep going."
"I'm not tired! I'm not tired, okay?! Look at these eyes!"
At Carnella's support, the griffin gave a slightly satisfied look.
It seemed that among the wizards present, the opponent was the only one who would take the griffin's side.
But the owner coldly shook his head.
"Ponlig is exhausted."
"N-no! Junior!"
Salko performed the most despicable act a senior could do.
He threw himself onto the dirt ground, rolled around, and grabbed the junior's ankle. The other students averted their eyes, as if they couldn't bear to watch such a sight.
"Please! Just hold on for the second half!!!"
Even the griffin, who had been satisfied just moments ago, looked disgusted and displeased. Lee Han felt similarly. 'He's a senior. He's a senior...' Trying to subtly pull his foot away (Salko, with the tenacity of a polo player, wouldn't let go), Lee Han spoke up.
"Senior. Taking Ponlig out doesn't necessarily mean we'll lose."
"We will! I can see it. Do I look like Hormasi, forcing things?"
The dark elf senior abruptly straightened his lanky body and spoke with blazing eyes.
"Yes..."
"If we try to hold on with just defense using the thin Einrogard players, the points we've earned will be caught up in no time, junior. Please trust me. If we lose this match too, I'll be so ashamed I might have to transfer to Baldrogard!"
"No... I plan to attack."
"...?"
Hormasi, who had been shouting vehemently, paused.
"You're taking out the griffin?"
"Yes. But I asked the unicorn in advance if it would be okay for situations like this. It said it was fine. So I plan to ride the unicorn in the second half."
"......"
"......"
The seniors were stunned.
They knew Lee Han was taking care of the unicorn, but they never imagined he'd gotten close enough to ride it in a polo match.
Perse quickly calculated and then nodded.
"Everyone. One more thing."
"What is it, Perse?"
"Professor Bendozol must never know about this."
"Of course!"
The members nodded in agreement.
If Professor Bendozol heard, he might genuinely collapse from a heart attack.
—What kind of bastard is this?!
The match ended amidst the screams of those who had bet large sums on the Granden City Polo Club.
Though not as destructive as the insane griffin, the unicorn was still an absurdly overpowered mount. With its consecutive teleportations dazzlingly traversing the field, the Granden City players couldn't chase as they wished.
"W-we won!"
Angrago, who had been swept into the fight and was subduing the opposing spectators, let out a cheer at the trumpet signaling the end of the match.
"Wardanaz! Wardanaz!"
"Tutanta! The match is over! Let's get out of here!"
"Wardanaz! Wardanaz!"
Despite Angrago's shouts, Salko didn't stop throwing mud at the opposing spectators with his newfound friends.
As Angrago looked around, wondering how to stop them, he belatedly realized the spectators above were recoiling and staring their way.
Upon checking, he saw that a large empty space had formed around their section of the field.
The others had backed away in disgust. '...
I-I'm in the middle of a bunch of lunatics!' Angrago, who had only been focused on the fight, finally grasped his situation.
To the refined and sane spectators, Angrago must have looked just like those drunken madmen! 'How did I end up like this?!' Cursing his friends, Angrago resolved to escape as quickly as possible.
If he got caught by the guards and sent to Granden City's temporary prison, he might surpass the crown prince in Einrogard's second-year idiot rankings.
"...Student Angrago?"
At the familiar voice of a professor, Angrago felt every hair on his body stand on end.
Forgetting he was disguised, Angrago instinctively replied.
"P-Professor Garcia...!"
"...What on earth are you doing?"
Angrago turned around. Salko was standing atop a makeshift palanquin built by others, firing volleys of mud pellets.
Angrago had only one thing to say.
"...Watching polo..."