Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 957

“Why are you so nervous?” Perseus asked. “It’s just Professor Garcia.” He looked at his younger friend, confused. Being called by *any* professor at Einroguard could make students uneasy. But Professor Garcia was different. She wasn’t known for shouting or getting angry. She certainly wouldn’t ask for something impossible, like “Bring me 173 magical objects by tomorrow!”

“…True,” Lee Han mumbled, nodding slowly. *I need to go straight to another club after the Quidditch game,* he thought quickly. *Maybe the Kitchen Club or even the Stonemason Club. Any excuse to miss seeing her.* Perseus still looked confused by Lee Han’s fear of Professor Garcia. *Everyone* was supposed to like her. But Lee Han wasn’t taking any chances. He really didn’t want to find out if Professor Garcia was in a bad mood today. *Even if she is angry,* he thought, *she’ll probably calm down eventually… maybe.*

While Lee Han was still worrying about Professor Garcia, his seniors were excitedly talking about the game. “Did you hear?” one senior said, his eyes wide. “Granden City Quidditch Club brought a *Hippogriff*! A fully grown one! They say Hadagak will ride it!” “That’s… intense,” another senior whispered. “They really didn’t need to try *that* hard against us.” The seniors around them shivered, imagining facing a Hippogriff. Good Quidditch players never got lazy, even against weaker teams. But secretly, everyone hoped their opponents might underestimate *them* for once.

“Hadagak is the one our junior has to play against…” one senior said, sounding worried. “He must be terrified.” “No,” another senior replied. “Look.” He pointed at Lee Han. The young man, from the famous Wodanaz family, was still lost in his own thoughts, his face calm and still. Seeing Lee Han so composed, the seniors suddenly felt a little silly. *He’s trying to focus on the game,* they thought, feeling a bit ashamed. *And we’re just making a big deal out of nothing.*

“Wodanaz,” one senior said, more confidently now. “Don’t worry. We’re all here for you.” “Just play like you always do in practice,” another added. “You don’t need to do anything extra.” “Yes? Oh… thank you,” Lee Han said, blinking in surprise. He’d been so busy thinking about Professor Garcia that he hadn’t noticed the change in the seniors’ mood. Their sudden encouragement made him feel a little better, even if he was still nervous about the professor.

“Wow, just wow,” Anglago said, amazed. “I didn’t know Granden City Quidditch Club was *this* amazing.”

“Weren’t they always good?” Salco asked, munching on puffed rice.

“Yes, but not *this* good,” Anglago insisted. He reached for Salco’s puffed rice. Salco quickly slapped his hand away, looking annoyed. The Granden City stadium was packed. Excited voices buzzed through the air as people chatted in small groups. Tickets were expensive, showing how popular Quidditch was here. Anglago, who usually loved to spend money, had even decided to save on snacks today.

“…Come on,” Anglago whined. “We came all this way together. Can’t you share a little?”

Salco grabbed a big handful of puffed rice, ate it quickly, and then said, “I told you not to buy things you don’t need. Why did you even get that new cloak?”

“But—but I *needed* a new cloak!” Anglago protested. “This one is much better for sneaking around than my old one. You know, for… Quidditch practice.”

“And the helmet?” Salco asked, raising an eyebrow. “Another new Quidditch helmet? Does it really stop you from getting hit harder?”

“Yes! Much better than the old one!” Anglago insisted, sounding a little desperate.

Salco looked at him, more and more disbelieving. “And why did you buy *another* Quidditch bat? Don’t you already have loads?”

“Th-this one is for Wodanaz,” Anglago mumbled.

“For Wodanaz?” Salco repeated, confused.

“Yes! Wodanaz is in the Quidditch club too,” Anglago explained. “If he has a really good bat, maybe he’ll like Quidditch more.” Anglago was genuinely sad that his talented friend didn’t care about Quidditch. He just couldn’t understand why Giselle and Lee Han both seemed so uninterested.

Salco frowned, thinking to himself, *Is he really just going to give it away?*

“And… and also, to say thank you,” Anglago added quietly.

“!” Salco looked truly surprised.

Anglago frowned. “What?” he grumbled.

“I didn’t know you even *cared* about saying thank you,” Salco said, still surprised.

“…Be quiet,” Anglago muttered, blushing slightly.

“Anyway,” Salco continued, “I think Wodanaz would be happier if you stopped sneaking out all the time, instead of giving him a Quidditch bat.”

“Hey! You’re sneaking out too!” Anglago snapped, getting angry. “Who are you to talk?”

Salco just shrugged and went back to eating his puffed rice. *Actually,* Salco thought to himself, *maybe I should get Wodanaz a gift too, to say thank you.* Salco always made sure to pay back what he owed. He felt he owed Wodanaz a lot and didn’t want to forget it. Most students probably wouldn’t even think about it (Anglago was a real exception!), so Salco thought it would be good to show thanks for everyone. Little did Salco know, many other Einroguard students were thinking the exact same thing.

-Look, a Hippogriff!

-Woooah!

Big Quidditch matches were more than just games. Before the match even started, there was a whole show. Animals showed off amazing tricks. (Long ago, they even had real monster fights, but thankfully, those were stopped.) Guilds and businesses showed off their newest products. Then, the Granden City Quidditch Club players came out, riding their mounts and performing tricks for the crowd. And yes, one player was actually riding a huge, fully grown Hippogriff!

“Wait,” Anglago said, confused. “Are Hippogriffs like that… usually in Quidditch matches?”

“Definitely not,” Salco replied. “Hippogriffs are wild animals. They’re not as smart as Griffins, but they’re still very dangerous and hard to train. Especially a grown one like that.” Salco frowned, muttering that it wasn’t fair. “Granden City Quidditch Club gets money from rich families and groups. They can get amazing creatures from all over the country. But Einroguard Quidditch Club can barely afford to travel to games.”

“Still,” Anglago repeated, “a Hippogriff? That’s really not fair.”

“Anglago,” Salco said, rolling his eyes. “You’re getting too worked up about this. It’s just a game. It’s not *that* unfair…”

“You don’t understand Quidditch!” Anglago exclaimed.

“Tsk, tsk,” Salco clicked his tongue. “I don’t know why you’re getting so emotional.” Salco shook his head, still confused by Anglago’s excitement. Salco was more interested in seeing what a real Quidditch stadium looked like, since he was thinking about building one himself.

“Ugh,” Anglago groaned. “Their monsters and their players are so strong now! How did they get so good?”

“Something must have happened,” Salco said thoughtfully. “Maybe they lost a big game… Losing can make you want to get better, you know.”

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Anglago scoffed. “If that was true, *our* Quidditch club would be a hundred times better than it is now!”

Bulpad, the captain of the Granden City Quidditch Club, a serious-looking noble, looked at his team and their creatures. His face was set with determination. “Everyone has trained so hard,” he said, his voice firm. “I wasn’t sure about it at first, but Kyung was right.” Last year, something terrible had happened. A student from Einroguard had completely beaten them. Even though it wasn’t the main team playing, the loss was a huge shock. Their trained creatures had panicked, running wild and out of control! After that embarrassing defeat, Bulpad had felt thankful, strangely. It was better to learn this lesson now, he realized, than at a really important moment later. From then on, Bulpad had pushed his team harder than ever. They needed to make sure their creatures could handle *any* fear. If they heard of a monster that scared other animals, they went to train near it, no matter when or where. If there was a place with too much wild magic that made creatures nervous, they trained there too. And all that hard work had paid off. They weren’t just braver now. The players and their creatures had become much stronger in every way.

-Look! A Griffin!!!!

-Oh my goodness, I can’t believe it! A Griffin! This game is going to be incredible!

“!” The Granden City players all turned, surprised. They knew Einroguard wizards were the most talented in the country, but they were also always busy. Taming a Griffin and bringing it to a game? That was incredible. Bulpad just nodded, as if he’d expected it. “There’s a student at Einroguard who has tamed a Griffin,” he said calmly.

“……” *Why didn’t you tell us sooner?* the players thought, staring at their captain. They were a little stunned by Bulpad’s sudden news, but Bulpad had his reasons. “If you’re confident in your skills,” he said, “you shouldn’t be worried even if a dragon shows up.”

“Well, a dragon is a bit much…” one player mumbled.

“But haven’t we trained for Griffins?” Bulpad asked.

“Yes, we have,” the players agreed, nodding. The Granden City Quidditch Club had trained for everything. From facing small, weak Griffins in practice matches to facing fully grown, powerful Griffins.

Hadagak, a famous defender on the team, thumped his chest proudly. “Just leave it to me,” he declared. “I’ll make that Griffin so tired it’ll want to quit.”

“Ooh!” the other players cheered.

“That’s good to hear!” Hadagak wasn’t just bragging. Griffins were definitely smarter and stronger than Hippogriffs, but they also had weaknesses. It wasn’t easy to control a smart creature like a Griffin, especially in a game like Quidditch. A clever Griffin would quickly understand that this wasn’t a real fight, just a game people had made up. *Judging by its size, it looks like an adult,* Hadagak thought, watching the Griffin. *If it is, it’ll probably do whatever it wants.* The smarter a Griffin was, the faster it would realize it was just a game. If Hadagak just waited, the Griffin would probably get bored and lose interest. Griffins were loyal to their owners, but they wouldn’t waste their time on silly games.

-The Griffin is performing tricks! Tricks dedicated to the honorable citizens of Granden!

-Waaah!

“Tricks? To do such a complacent thing… they’re still students after all.” Hadagak felt sorry for his opponent. They should be letting it rest until the game, but they’re making it do tricks like that. That would make the Griffin get bored even faster!

“Wodanaz,” a voice said. “You should let the Griffin rest now.”

“Huh? Why?” Lee Han asked, turning around.

“Griffins are smart,” the voice explained. “If you make them do too many silly tricks, they’ll just ignore you.”

“…Really?” Lee Han looked at Phone-Leaguer, surprised. Phone-Leaguer, happy to have his owner on his back again after so long, looked around, confused. Then, he snapped his beak sharply and glared at the students nearby. *Who’s trying to cause trouble between me and my owner?* he thought angrily.

“See?” the voice said. “He’s already annoyed.”

“Oh,” Lee Han said. “But Phone-Leaguer is never annoyed with me. He always listens to me.” Phone-Leaguer blinked his big eyes and nodded quickly, nuzzling his owner’s back. He looked very happy.

“He’s been good so far,” the voice said, “but everyone gets tired eventually. Wodanaz, you know so much about animals, but you’ve made a small mistake about Griffins.”

“Oh, sorry,” Lee Han said, feeling a little embarrassed. “I guess I stopped reading books when I started taking care of him myself.” He realized he’d been too confident, thinking he knew everything about Griffins just because he was close to Phone-Leaguer.

Phone-Leaguer, listening to all this, looked like he wanted to explode with anger. But his smart Griffin brain stopped him. He knew that if he lost his temper now, those mean, nasty, little wizards would say, “See! That’s what Griffins are like!” So, Phone-Leaguer just had to hold it in and put up with their insults.

Grrrr…

A low growl rumbled in his throat. Lee Han looked at Phone-Leaguer carefully. “Phone-Leaguer,” he asked softly. “If you don’t want to play, it’s okay. You don’t have to do this just because some crazy senior wants you to. We can ask Basil to play instead.”

-WHAT?!?!

Phone-Leaguer shook his head so hard his feathers ruffled. Then, he stomped his foot loudly, as if saying, *Let’s start the game NOW!* …I swear on my noble Griffin honor, I will beat anyone who dares to challenge me!