Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 957

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 957

“Why are you so nervous? It’s not some other professor, it’s Professor Garcia.”

Perse was puzzled by her junior’s appearance.

Of course, being summoned by Einroguard professors wasn’t exactly comfortable for students.

But that was the story with general professors, and Professor Garcia was a bit different, wasn’t she?

She wasn’t the type of professor to get angry, scold you, or tell you to make 173 artifacts for her work by tomorrow.

“…That’s true…”

Lee Han nodded while thinking to himself.

‘I should move to another club right after the Ballgame match ends.’

He might be able to avoid meeting her by using the Kitchen Club or Masonry Club schedules as excuses.

Senior Perse couldn’t understand her junior’s fear of Professor Garcia, but there were always exceptions to rules.

Lee Han currently didn’t want to risk his neck to confirm whether Professor Garcia was angry or not.

‘…Even if the professor is angry, it will subside with time. Probably…’

While Lee Han was deeply absorbed in thoughts about the professor, the seniors beside him discussed today’s match.

“Did you hear? The Granden City Ballgame Club brought a fully grown hippogriff?! I heard that Hadagak guy is going to ride it.”

“How terrible, really. There’s no need to go that far against us.”

The club seniors clicked their tongues.

Of course, not being careless against weak teams was what made a true ballgame player, but it was also human nature to hope they’d be careless against them.

“If it’s Hadagak, that’s a position our junior has to face directly… You must be worried.”

“No. Look over there.”

The senior pointed at Lee Han.

The Wardanaz Family boy was calmly lost in thought without any change in expression.

Seeing this, the seniors unconsciously reflected on themselves.

Their junior was concentrating on the match with all his effort, while they were just making a useless fuss.

“…Wardanaz. Don’t worry. We’re behind you.”

“Just do what we practiced in the club. You don’t need to do more than that.”

“Yes? Oh… thank you.”

Lee Han, who had been trying to divine whether Professor Garcia was angry or not, was flustered by the sudden encouragement.

* * *

“Sur, surprising. I didn’t know the Granden City Ballgame Club was this good.”

“Weren’t they originally strong players?”

“That’s true, but they weren’t this good.”

Angrago reached for the popped corn bowl Salko was holding as he spoke. Salko swatted his hand away with displeasure.

The Granden City stadium was already filled with numerous people gathered in small groups, chatting.

As could be guessed from that popularity, the ticket prices were expensive too, and Angrago, who relatively enjoyed overspending, had to save money for snacks.

“…Still, since we came together, couldn’t you share a little?”

Salko grabbed a handful of popped corn, swallowed it, then said.

“I told you to stop buying useless things. Why did you buy another cloak?”

“I, I needed a new cloak. This one is much better for stealth than my original cloak, so when playing ballgame…”

“What about that helmet?”

“I needed a new ballgame helmet. It absorbs shock better than my original helmet…”

Salko looked at him with increasing disdain and asked.

“Why did you buy another ballgame stick? Don’t you have several ballgame sticks already?”

“Th… this one is for Wardanaz.”

“???”

“Wardanaz is in the ballgame club too. If he gets a good ballgame stick, he’ll become more interested in ballgame.”

Angrago felt sorry that his friend with excellent talent was always lukewarm about ballgame.

Both Giselle and Lee Han – he couldn’t understand why neither of them liked ballgame.

Salko tilted his head inwardly.

‘He’ll probably sell it?’

“And also to express gratitude while I’m at it…”

“!”

Salko made a surprised expression. Angrago grumbled and asked.

“What?”

“I didn’t know you had a conscience.”

“…Shut up.”

“For reference, I think Wardanaz would be happier if you didn’t sneak out rather than getting that kind of ballgame stick.”

“You sneak out too, so who are you to criticize!”

When Angrago got worked up, Salko shrugged and turned his attention back to the popped corn.

‘Come to think of it, buying a gift for Wardanaz as a token of gratitude wouldn’t be bad either.’

Salko was a student who was clear about debts and favors.

He had received so much that he had no intention of just letting it pass.

Most students probably wouldn’t even think of it (Angrago was really unexpected), so it wouldn’t be bad for Salko to express gratitude on their behalf.

Salko couldn’t even imagine that dozens of other Einroguard students were having similar thoughts.

-It’s a hippogriff!

-Waaaaaaah!

Large-scale ballgame matches didn’t just start immediately.

There were several additional events before the match.

Tricks by animals participating in the match, life-or-death fights between monsters and people (this was abolished), promotions by various guilds or trading companies, etc.

Right now, players from the Granden City Ballgame Club were coming out to show various tricks.

There was even a player who came out riding a fully grown hippogriff.

“Wait. Are fully grown hippogriffs commonly seen in ballgame matches?”

“How could that be? Hippogriffs are incredibly fierce creatures. They may be dumber than griffins, but they’re not easy to tame. Fully grown ones like that are even more so.”

Salko, who was explaining, grumbled that it was unfair.

The Granden City Ballgame Club could receive support from various families and organizations and obtain rare mounts from across the Empire, but the Einroguard Ballgame Club couldn’t even go out easily.

“Still, bringing a hippogriff? Really cowardly.”

“Alpha. You seem too absorbed in the match. It doesn’t seem particularly cowardly…”

“You don’t know ballgame, that’s why!”

“Tsk tsk. I don’t know why he’s so emotional.”

Salko shook his head.

To Salko, who came to watch the match directly and figure out what a ballgame stadium should be like, Angrago’s emotional ups and downs were incomprehensible.

“Ugh. Both the monsters they brought and the players’ skills – why did they get so strong?”

“Something must have happened. Like losing to someone… Originally, defeat can be a driving force for growth.”

“Stop talking nonsense. By that logic, our ballgame club should be a hundred times stronger than now.”

* * *

Unfard, the city noble who served as captain of the Granden City Ballgame Club, looked around at the players and mounts with a determined expression.

“Everyone worked hard.”

“I was suspicious at first, but I came to realize that your opinion was correct.”

The shocking defeat they suffered to an Einroguard student last year brought a great storm to the Granden City Ballgame Club players.

Although they weren’t the main players, the content of the match was shocking.

Well-trained mounts getting scared and wandering around in confusion or running away!

After the shocking defeat ended and time passed, Unfard came to feel grateful instead.

Wouldn’t it be much better to realize it now rather than at a crucial moment later?

After that, Unfard made blood-sweating efforts with the players.

So that the mounts could endure any fear.

If it was a monster that emanated threats or fear, he would seek them out for training regardless of time and place, and whenever mana overflowed in a region causing strange phenomena, he would go there without hesitation for training.

And the grueling training eventually bore fruit.

Not only did they overcome their fears, but the capabilities of both players and mounts greatly increased.

-It’s a griffin!!!!

-My goodness, to think we’d see a griffin! Today’s match is truly spectacular!

“!”

The players turned their gazes in surprise.

They knew that Einroguard’s mages were the Empire’s finest talents, but weren’t they also incredibly busy people?

Yet they had tamed and brought out a griffin?

However, Unfard nodded as if he had expected this and said.

“Among the Einroguard students, there’s one who has tamed a griffin.”

“…”

‘Then shouldn’t you have told us that first?’

The players were bewildered by their captain’s arbitrary decision, but Unfard had his reasons.

“If you trust in your own abilities, there’s no reason to be shaken even if a dragon appears as your opponent.”

“No, a dragon is a bit…”

“And didn’t we train thoroughly to prepare for griffins?”

“That’s true.”

The players nodded.

The Granden City Polo Club had indeed trained for various situations.

From scenarios involving bringing out a small, scrawny griffin in restricted matches to situations with fully grown griffins.

Hadagak, a defender with high reputation within the club, beat his chest and said.

“Just leave it to me. I’ll make that griffin collapse from exhaustion.”

“Ooh!”

“How reliable!”

Hadagak wasn’t boasting without basis.

While griffins were certainly more intelligent and powerful monsters than hippogriffs, they had corresponding weaknesses.

Basically, wise monsters weren’t easy for humans to control at will.

This was even more true in polo matches like this one.

Intelligent monsters like griffins would immediately realize that what was happening wasn’t a life-or-death battle, but just some game humans had set up.

‘Judging by its size, it looks like an adult. Then it’s even more likely to act on its own.’

Fully grown griffins were much more intelligent, so they recognized games even faster.

If Hadagak could just hold out well, it would soon get bored and start acting indifferently.

As much as they were loyal to their masters, griffins didn’t want to throw away their pride for pointless games.

-The griffin is performing tricks! These are tricks dedicated to the honorable people of Granden City!

-Waaaaaaah!

“Even tricks? To do such careless things… Are they still just students after all?”

Hadagak felt pity for his opponents.

When they should be letting it rest until the match, they were making it perform tricks like that.

That would make the griffin get bored even faster!

* * *

“Wardanaz. You can let the griffin rest.”

“Yes? Why is that?”

“Griffins are smart, so if you make them do too many troublesome things at once, they pretend not to hear you.”

“…Is that so!?”

Lee Han looked at Ponrig in surprise.

Ponrig, who had been excited because his master was riding him after a long time, looked around bewildered. Then he glared at the students while clicking his beak.

Where did this slander come from!

“See? He’s already angry.”

“Uh… But Ponrig has never gotten angry at me or disobeyed me.”

When his master took his side, Ponrig blinked his large eyes and nodded repeatedly. His face was full of joy.

“It’s been fine so far, but everyone has their limits. Wardanaz. You know so much about other animals, but you seem to have made a small mistake regarding griffins.”

“I apologize. I suppose because I’ve been caring for him directly, at some point I stopped reading books.”

Lee Han reflected on himself.

He had made a mistake because he became complacent, thinking he knew enough after becoming close with the griffin.

Ponrig, who had been listening to the conversation, looked like he wanted to cause a rampage right then and there.

However, Ponrig’s high intelligence wouldn’t allow it.

He anticipated that the moment he caused a scene, those wicked, despicable, and petty mages would say ‘See! That’s what griffins do!’

All Ponrig could do was endure and bear this vile insult.

Grrrrrrrr…

As a menacing sound rumbled from within his beak, Lee Han asked carefully.

“Ponrig. If you don’t want to go out, you can tell me even now. You don’t need to be forced to run because of a crazy senior’s greed. Basil is here too.”

-What?!?!

However, Ponrig firmly shook his head. Then he struck the ground hard as if asking them to proceed with the match quickly.

…By his noble blood, he swore to destroy everything that stood in his way!

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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