The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 92

92

Late evening, the sound of insects chirping.

After giving up on finding Valencidi in the student council room, Rain stroked his chin as he walked back to his dorm.

‘Magic volleyball, magic volleyball, huh….’

I recklessly jumped in with confidence, but I know better than anyone that unfounded confidence is useless.

Magic volleyball was essentially the exclusive domain of the upper class, so I never learned it during my Rin days. And after becoming Rain?

‘I was just too lazy….’

Anyway, I figured I should at least familiarize myself with the rules, so I was about to head towards the central library when it happened.

“Oh, aren’t you the Young Master?”

A giant whose well-defined muscles were even more prominent in the darkening twilight greeted me.

Logan from Chaihark.

He was vigorously drying his soaking wet hair with a towel, as if he had just washed his face at the water fountain.

“Were you working out alone? You’re sweating so much at this hour.”

“Wouldn’t it be because of club activities? Magic volleyball, that is.”

“Ah, magic volleyball….”

“Then I’ll be going. I’m in the middle of a match.”

The four major magic volleyball clubs are extremely busy training right now to reach their peak during the seasonal festival… Logan added, turning his body.

Suddenly, a flash of lightning struck my mind.

Rain, whose eyes were shining as well as his mind, grabbed Logan’s shoulder tightly.

“A challenge to the third-year students of Griffin Valor…?”

Soon after, Logan, who had heard the whole story from Rain, widened his eyes. Griffin Valor is the name of a magic volleyball club for nobles.

“But aren’t all the nobles of the Ten Great Clans under you, Young Master? If you had just said the word….”

“They weren’t the type to listen. We’re also senior and junior classmates within the school. So, can you teach me some magic volleyball?”

“Hmm, I’d have to ask the professor about that… How many team members have you gathered so far?”

Team members? What team members?

As Rain tilted his head with an innocent expression, a look of astonishment filled Logan’s eyes.

“Young Master, I’m sorry, but have you ever even seen magic volleyball before?”

“Nope.”

“……”

“……?”

“It’s faster to just watch it, hmm… Where is the gym that Griffin Valor uses? No, can we even go there after declaring a challenge….”

“What is it~? Then we can just let you see it at our Lionheart, right★?”

A familiar figure suddenly interjected with a singing voice.

“No, Nora!”

Logan flinched and shuddered, while Rain waved his hand as if he was glad to see her.

“Oh, Nora. What brings you here?”

“Professor was furious because our Logan didn’t come back, you see♬ He told me to go find him♪”

As soon as he heard those words, Logan’s face turned pale, and he began to run towards the gym as if possessed.

“Our Lionheart?”

“Oh my~ Didn’t you know? I’m also a member of the magic volleyball club★.”

And humming, she trotted after Logan, then turned around as if telling me to follow her.

Hmm, she’s also into magic volleyball.

It seemed like anyone who was good at magic learned magic volleyball. Just like Gertrude said, was it a required course….

“Here we are.”

The gym used by Lionheart was the Second Annex in the southwest of the university grounds. A welcoming voice could be heard through the crack in the door where light was leaking out.

“Have I ever seen such a pathetic guy! Even if I caught a stray cat and made it do a kitty-kitty punch, it would be a million times stronger than your weak spike! Add a hundred more spike practices!”

“I’m sorry!”

“Damn it, if you can’t even catch such a simple ball, how are you going to catch your wife every time she runs away later! Add two hundred more receive practices!”

Inside the gym, there were a total of four volleyball courts, and about ten students were waiting their turn to train on each court.

Oh….

I heard that only disciples of the Eight Great Schools could join Lionheart, but there seemed to be more of them than I thought.

“This year is a complete disaster. Logan, looking at your saggy ass makes me want to say we’re screwed!”

“I’m sorry!”

“It would be easier to teach my cat at home three-dimensional equations, who only eats food, than to train you, who skips training, and turn you into a decent volleyball player! Five hundred more serve practices!”

At these words, Rain, who was watching the training through the crack in the door, couldn’t help but laugh.

Owen was the same person no matter where he went. He was a man of will who always found something to hate about others and nag them.

Then Owen, who turned around and looked this way, narrowed his eyes for a moment before approaching with a swagger.

“Ha, ha, ha! What the hell is this! To meet the moron Young Master, who is too busy with his noble student council duties to even show his face at poor Owen’s roll call!”

“Hello, Professor!”

Since that was the atmosphere, Rain also responded loudly like the Chaihark school [referring to the military-like discipline and camaraderie of the Chaihark school].

Then, the sounds of breathing, sweat, and footsteps that were busily echoing through the gym gradually stopped. They glanced this way warily and began to murmur something.

Owen turned around and clicked his tongue threateningly, and they immediately resumed training….

“What do you mean hello, you dog shit! I’m very short on time because I have to nag these thirty-seven morons here with all my heart for a limited time! What’s the matter?”

“I came to learn about magic volleyball.”

“Magic volleyball? It’s hard to believe that you’re interested in this kind of ball game. Aren’t you a student council member?”

“Ah, that? I quit. I decided to crush Griffin Valor.”

In an instant, the ferocious monster’s smile disappeared from Owen’s face.

At the same time, the sound of movement stopped from the Lionheart students who were glancing at this place while pretending to train, and silence fell.

Only Nora was laughing as if she was going crazy with joy….

“What did you just say, Rain Ludwig? You quit the student council?”

Owen circled around Rain as if he couldn’t believe it, scanning his face up and down as if tearing it apart.

“And you, the leader of the garbage nobles, decided to destroy Griffin Valor?”

Looking at him growling, I felt like laughing rather than being scared.

Bear with it, I must bear with it.

How long did I endure that time of patience that felt like eternity? Suddenly, Owen burst into laughter.

“Ha, ha, ha! Imagining your face being brutally smashed by Griffin Valor and soaked with tears makes my muscles excited and I won’t be able to sleep for a while!”

“I’m honored to hear that!”

“Rain Ludwig, you’ve piqued my interest! Good, I’ll teach you the basics of magic volleyball!”

Oh, oh, oh!

As expected of the Chaihark school.

People are so simple that their emotional circuits are one-way, so there’s no need to persuade them.

“Nora, stop grinning with that monkey-like face and bring me a ball.”

“Yes~♬”

What Nora brought was a metal sphere the size of an adult man’s fist. It wasn’t just a simple metal, but a magic tool, as a faint magical power was detected.

“Are we playing ball with this? I don’t know if I’ll get hurt.”

Owen, who received the ball from Nora, raised the corners of his mouth as if the question was absurd.

“Look at this poor guy. He really doesn’t know anything about magic volleyball!”

As soon as he said that, whoosh, the sphere resonated with the magic power that Owen poured into it and floated into the air, deploying a blue field in a circular shape.

It was the moment when a magic ball with a diameter of about 21cm was born.

As Rain opened his mouth in admiration, Owen skillfully spun the ball on his index finger.

“Magic volleyball is a ball game that trains the mind and body. Do you know what this means?”

“I don’t know, but… it sounds like you have to use both your mind and body.”

Owen’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

If this guy really didn’t know about magic volleyball, then his understanding is truly beyond ordinary geniuses.

“It’ll be faster to experience it yourself.”

Owen suddenly threw the ball.

It was a really easy ball to catch, drawing a gentle parabola. But what’s going on, I couldn’t catch it.

“Huh?”

I quickly retraced the situation.

The moment my hand touched it, a strange mathematical formula seemed to flash through my mind.

Then, the magical field that made up the surface of the ball crackled, emitting an electric current and bouncing off my grip.

“Why do you think you couldn’t catch a ball that even my cat at home can easily catch? Because you’re unskilled? Because you’re stupid? That’s also true.”

“……”

“But the important thing is different. Do you remember that a mathematical formula popped up in your head before you caught the ball with that brain full of crap?”

“Yes.”

“That’s because you didn’t calculate it! Magic volleyball requires you to capture the ball with your body and solve the mathematical formula ordered by the opponent in your head before you can receive the ball!”

“!!!”

Nora, who was practicing overhead tosses next to me, chuckled and added an explanation.

“Think of it as the multiplication table game you used to play when you were little★. It’s just that volleyball is mixed in, and the way the offense and defense switch is the same.”

Multiplication table game…?. [A game where players quickly answer multiplication questions].

Ah, is that what my mother used to do when she was teaching Seri?.

– Seri, what is 9×9?

– 81! What is 6×7?

– 42. Then, what is 1×1?

– 1×1? Don’t tease Seri! Do it right, Mom!

Like that.

Ah, I understand at once. Rain slammed his palm with his fist.

“When you throw the ball, you order a mathematical formula, and when the opponent receives the ball, they solve the mathematical formula and then order their own mathematical formula to return it.”

“Yes~ Just add exchanging the ball in the multiplication table battle and you’re done understanding♬”

Nora, who was smiling, suddenly lightly tossed the ball she was bouncing to Rain.

Again….

The moment I tried to catch the ball, a very short grace period was given, and a mathematical formula popped into my mind.

When the polynomial f(x) is divided by x+2, the quotient is 3. What is the remainder when f(x) is divided by x²-2?

The moment I lightly calculated the problem in my head, the ball comfortably wrapped around my hand, unlike before.

My body trembled slightly with a strange sense of elation.

So that’s why the Mado families, the Eight Great Schools, and the magic volleyball were so important. It looks like a simple game, but it requires all the qualities of a battle mage.

1. Can you move your body and use magic at the same time in a tense situation?

2. Can you perform instant calculations?

3. After receiving the opponent’s magic, can you freely use your own magic?

There was something so fun like this! If I had known it would be this fun, I would have done it since I was young.

“That’s the basic principle of magic volleyball. Now, I’ll show you a simple match. Twelve people, assemble.”

Even before Owen’s voice echoed through the gym, six students from each side of the court ran to form a line.

There were quite a few familiar faces there, including Wiber and Melanie from the Rohinum school, who were in the same class as Rain, and Irin from Chaihark.

None of the three looked at Rain with particularly friendly eyes.

“Magic volleyball is a ball game in which six monkeys form a team. It’s always six people.”

Ah. So that’s why Logan asked how many team members I had gathered earlier.

Owen threw the ball to the team with Logan and Irin, and the match immediately began with Irin’s serve.

“Now, considering your pathetic intelligence, I’ll explain magic volleyball to you. I’ll only explain it once, so listen carefully.”