Chapter 92
Chapter 92
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: Magic Volleyball Basics
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Early evening, with the grass crickets chirping away.
Having given up on finding Valensidis in the student council room, Rain headed toward the dorms while stroking his chin.
‘Magic Volleyball, Magic Volleyball…’
He’d bluffed his way through it with all the bravado in the world, but baseless confidence was something he knew better than anyone.
Magic Volleyball was what they called an upper-crust pastime, so he’d never learned it back in his Lin days. After becoming Rain?
‘Just too much hassle…’
In any case, he figured he ought to at least brush up on the rules, and he was just turning toward the central library when—
“Oh? Isn’t that the young master?”
In the deepening twilight shadows that made his rock-solid muscles stand out even more, a hulking figure greeted him.
Logan of Chaihak.
His hair was sopping wet, like he’d just splashed his face at the sink, and he was roughly toweling it off.
“Working out solo? Sweating buckets this late.”
“Club activities, sir. Magic Volleyball.”
“Ah, Magic Volleyball…”
“Then I’ll be off. We’re in the middle of a match.”
The four major Magic Volleyball clubs were deep in training right now, all gunning to claim supremacy at the seasonal festival… Logan added that as he spun on his heel.
A sudden flash lit up Rain’s mind.
Not just his mind—his eyes gleamed too—as he clamped down on Logan’s shoulder.
“A challenge to Griffin Valor’s third-years…?”
A little later, having heard the full story from Rain, Logan’s eyes went wide. Griffin Valor was the nobles’ Magic Volleyball club.
“But aren’t the Ten Families all nobles under the young master? You could’ve just talked them into it…”
“They’re not the type to listen. And in school, they’re my seniors anyway. So, how about teaching me some Magic Volleyball?”
“Hmm. Gotta clear it with the professor first… But how many teammates have you rounded up?”
Teammates? What teammates?
Rain tilted his head with an innocent look, and shock flickered in Logan’s eyes.
“Sorry, young master, but you’ve never even seen Magic Volleyball?”
“Nope.”
“…”
“…”
“Better if you just watch. Hmm… Griffin Valor’s gym is… Wait, you declared war on them—can’t go there…”
“What~? Then we can show you at our Lionheart★”
Butting in with a singsong voice was a familiar face.
“No, Nora!”
Logan startled with a flinch, while Rain waved happily.
“Oh, Nora. What brings you?”
“Our Logan’s taking forever to come back, so the professor’s pissed♬ Had a fit and sent me to fetch him♪”
At those words, Logan’s face drained of color, and like he was possessed, he bolted toward the gym in a panic.
“Our Lionheart?”
“Aw~ You didn’t know? I’m in the Magic Volleyball club too★”
She hummed a tune as she quick-stepped after Logan, then glanced back like she was saying follow me.
Hmm. This one plays Magic Volleyball too.
Seemed like everyone with real magic talent played the game. Just like Gertrude said—essential PE or something.
“Right here.”
Lionheart’s gym was in the second annex on the southwest corner of campus grounds. A familiar voice drifted from the door crack where light was spilling out.
“Can you believe this pathetic loser? Grab a stray alley cat and have it meow-punch—even that’d hit a million times harder than your wimpy spike! One hundred extra spike drills!”
“Sorry, sir!”
“Damn it all, can’t even handle a simple ball—how the hell you gonna catch your wife every time she runs off? Two hundred extra receive drills!”
There were four volleyball courts inside the gym, and around ten cadets per court were taking turns training.
Oh…
He’d heard Lionheart was exclusive to disciples of the Eight Great Academies, but there were more of them than he’d thought.
“This year’s a total washout. Logan, looking at your saggy ass just screams ‘we’re screwed’!”
“Sorry, sir!”
“Turning your lazy, ditch-training ass into a decent player’d be harder than teaching cubic equations to the cat at home that just scarfs down feed! Five hundred extra serve drills!”
Peeking through the door crack at the training, Rain couldn’t help but chuckle.
Owen was the same everywhere he went. A man with the relentless drive to find someone’s flaws and roast them into oblivion.
Owen turned their way, narrowed his eyes for a moment, then strutted over with a swagger.
“Ha, ha, ha! What’s this bullshit luck? Too busy with noble student council crap to show your face in poor Owen’s class, and now I run into the trash prez himself!”
“Hello, Professor!”
The vibe called for it, so Rain shouted back as loud as they did in Chaihak.
The gym’s bustle of breaths, sweat, and footsteps ground to a halt one by one. The cadets shot wary glances and started whispering.
Owen whipped around and gnashed his teeth threateningly, and they snapped back to training…
“Hello my ass! I’m short on time as it is, gotta roast these thirty-seven idiots with all my heart in the time I’ve got! What do you want?”
“Came to learn some Magic Volleyball.”
“Magic Volleyball? Hard to believe you’d give a shit about this ball game. Aren’t you student council prez?”
“Oh, that? Quit. Decided to smash Griffin Valor.”
In an instant, the feral grin vanished from Owen’s face.
At the same time, the Lionheart cadets who’d been sneaking peeks while pretending to train froze, silence crashing down.
Nora alone was giggling like she was having the time of her life…
“What’d you just say, Rain Ludwig? You quit the student council?”
Owen circled Rain in disbelief, scrutinizing his face from top to bottom like he was tearing it apart.
“And you, ringleader of the shitheap nobles, decided to crush Griffin Valor?”
Watching him growl was less scary and more hilarious.
Hold it in. Gotta hold it in.
After what felt like an eternity of endurance, Owen suddenly burst out laughing.
“Ha, ha, ha! Picturing your face getting utterly wrecked by Griffin Valor, drenched in tears—my muscles are so pumped I won’t sleep for days!”
“An honor, sir!”
“Rain Ludwig, you’ve got my interest! Fine. I’ll teach you the basics of Magic Volleyball!”
Oh, oho!
Classic Chaihak Academy.
People so straightforward their emotions ran one-way—no need for fancy persuasion.
“Nora, quit giggling with that monkey mug worse than an ape’s and fetch a ball.”
“Yessir~♬”
What Nora brought was a metal sphere the size of an adult man’s fist. Not plain metal—a magic tool, judging by the faint mana.
“We play with this? Won’t it hurt?”
Owen took the ball from Nora and smirked like the question was stupid.
“Pathetic fool. You really know jack shit about Magic Volleyball!”
With a whoosh, the sphere resonated with the mana Owen blew into it, floated into the air, and deployed a spherical blue force field.
The magic ball—about 21 cm in diameter—was complete.
Rain gaped in admiration, and Owen deftly spun it on his fingertip.
“Magic Volleyball is a ball sport that trains both mind and body. You get what that means?”
“Nope… Sounds like it uses both, though.”
Owen’s eyebrow twitched faintly.
If this guy really knew nothing, that comprehension was leagues beyond your average genius.
“Better to experience it.”
Out of nowhere, Owen tossed him the ball.
A gentle arc, easy to catch. So why couldn’t he?
“Huh?”
Rain quickly reviewed what happened.
The instant his hand touched it, some weird equation flashed through his mind.
Then the magic field on the ball’s surface crackled with electricity and repelled right out of his grip.
“Why do you think you couldn’t catch a ball even my housecat grabs easy? Immature? Dumb? Kinda, yeah.”
“…”
“But the real key’s this: With that shit-stuffed brain of yours, remember the equation popping up before you caught it?”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t solve it! In Magic Volleyball, you catch the ball with your body while solving the opponent’s chanted equation in your head—that’s the only way to receive it!”
“!!!”
Nora, practicing overhand tosses nearby, giggled and chimed in.
“Think of it like those multiplication table games you played as a kid★ Just mixed in some volleyball—the offense-defense switches work the same.”
Multiplication tables…
Ah, like when Mom was teaching Seri?
- Seri, what’s 9x9?
-81! 6x7?
-42. Okay, what’s 1x1?
-1x1? Don’t tease me! Do it right, Mom!
Like that.
Ah, clicked instantly. Rain smacked his palm with his fist.
“So you chant an equation when you send the ball, the receiver solves it to catch, then chants their own to send it back.”
“Yep~ Just add the passing to a multiplication table showdown and you’re good♬”
Nora beamed and lightly tossed her practice ball to Rain.
Same thing again…
As he reached, a brief grace period hit, and an equation appeared in his mind.
When polynomial f(x) divided by x+2 has quotient 3, what’s the remainder when divided by x²-2?
He mental-mathed it quick, and unlike before, the ball settled nicely in his hand.
A strange thrill made his body shiver faintly.
No wonder the great magic houses and Eight Great Academies made such a big deal of it. It looked like a simple game, but it tested every battlemage quality.
1. Can you move and cast magic under pressure?
2. Instant calculations?
3. Freely cast your own after receiving the opponent’s?
Who knew something this fun existed? If he’d known, he’d have started as a kid.
“That’s the basic principle of Magic Volleyball. Now, time for a simple match demo. Twelve of you, assemble.”
Before Owen’s voice even echoed through the gym, six cadets dashed to each side of the court, forming teams.
A few familiar faces among them: Weiber and Melanie from Rohwinen Academy, Rain’s classmates, and Illin from Chaihak.
None of their stares at Rain were particularly friendly.
“Magic Volleyball is a ball sport where six monkeys form a team. Always six. No exceptions.”
Ah. So that’s why Logan asked how many teammates he had.
Owen tossed the ball to the team with Logan and Illin, and Illin’s serve kicked off the match.
“Alright, now I’ll explain Magic Volleyball with your pitiful IQ in mind. Listening once only—pay attention.”