The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 98

As Madelia Page dragged her weary body back to the mansion, butlers and maids immediately swarmed around her, attending to her needs.

“It took you quite a while, Madam.”

The young head butler, Kenneth, cautiously remarked, and Madelia nodded.

“It was a murder case. Special Task Force mages were targeted during the final exam period.”

“Special Task Force mages, you say…?!”

“I was a bit late because I had to report various things to the Magic League… Anyway, could you bring Kasena to me? I’d like to have dinner with her.”

Despite her exhausted face, her expression brightened as soon as she thought of her daughter’s laughter.

However, as if apologizing for not meeting her expectations, Kenneth wore a troubled expression.

“What is it?”

“Well… Madam, the young lady has not yet returned from school.”

“What? What time is it now?”

Kenneth hesitated for a moment but soon briefly reported the series of events that had occurred at the school in Madelia’s absence.

“Rain Ludwick quit the student council? And Kasena is watching that match right now?”

“Yes, Madam.”

“Who on earth approved such a ridiculous prank?”

Kenneth quietly closed his mouth. Madelia let out a soft sigh and called back the maids who had retreated.

“Bring me a new robe. I need to go to the school right away.”

* * *

Logan felt the weight of the magic tool in his grip as he stared at the scoreboard.

Set score 17:22.

‘The Young Master’ barely managed to win back the attack right, so a very important mission has been assigned to me now….’

‘And a golden opportunity to show Lillian how awesome I am!’

If I score five consecutive points as a sub-ace here, Lillian might really fall for me; just thinking about it makes me feel good.

“Alright. Let’s do this!”

And with all his might, Logan jumped and fully bent his rectus abdominis [abdominal muscle], unleashing a spike serve with a terrifying force──

“Ugh…?!”

──instead of narrowly going out on the opponent’s court, it flew far away, resulting in an out call without any room for the linesmen to judge.

‘That damn monkey….’

Owen clutched his forehead with a severe headache, while Illyn, a student from Chaihark, wiped away tears of emotion.

‘Damn it, I believed in you, Logan!!! Pretending to help the genius Young Master but blatantly screwing him over!’

Regardless, Logan was being bombarded by criticism from the junior members of all factions on the court.

“Logan, you muscle-headed idiot… what are you doing when it’s almost set point!”

[Seriously hopeless lol]

“Hehe, Logan, really, if you play pranks at such an important moment, you’ll have nothing to say even if you die★”

Lillian, Kayden, and Nora each expressed their dissatisfaction, but only Rain patted Logan on the shoulder.

“Too bad. Get the next one.”

“Hic, Young Master….”

He might seem like the calmest of the six, but Rain was actually the closest to his limit among them.

His breathing wouldn’t settle.

His cold sweat wouldn’t stop.

It was all due to Griffin Valor’s relentless marking of Rain Ludwick; whether he scored or lost a point, at least three rallies continued, constantly draining the boy’s stamina and mental strength.

“It’s just as the professor said.”

“Yeah. His attack method doesn’t deviate from the textbook.”

“I couldn’t believe he said he was new to magic volleyball earlier, but, haha, it’s clear he’s a beginner.”

There was a limit to compensating for a lack of experience with skill. Especially when the opponent knew that weakness.

“He’s going to do another C quick here like before!”

Unlike the evenly matched first half, Krista quietly bit her lip as she watched Rain’s situation, who was starting to be overwhelmed.

“He’s finally reached his limit….”

As Krista said, Rain had no choice but to reach his limit.

From the beginning, he had been playing almost four people’s worth. To be precise, he had to.

Lillian and Kayden might be useful if the opponents were other clubs, but against Griffin Valor, they were nothing more than fillers.

‘And not to mention Wiber, who has been showing sluggish movements since earlier.’

He had to touch the ball more than anyone else, whether on offense or defense…….

He must be mentally and magically exhausted from constantly making those impossible tosses.

Magic volleyball is a sport where you have to instantly solve mathematical formulas that the opponent orders, and the fatigue that comes from that is beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

‘You’ve already done enough, Rain.’

That thought, which came to her as she looked at Rain, who was drooping and panting, was also the thought that came to Elin Ludwick’s mind.

‘No one will point fingers at you even if you’re tired and drop out now. Stop it now.’

There’s no point in stubbornly clinging on like that.

The outcome of this match was decided from the beginning… The difference in the team’s size is absurd from the start.

‘But why?’

That was the same question that came to Wiber’s mind as he glanced at Rain next to him.

‘But why is this guy still not giving up?’

Was everything really sincere?

Quitting the student council, recruiting team members from the Eight Great Factions, not just for a prank to face Griffin Valor…….

“This is quite unfortunate, Young Master.”

Maya Snark spoke from across the net at that moment. Rain was too slow to even lift his head in response.

“I know you have genius-level skills and outstanding leadership. This is a sincere compliment.”

“……?”

“That’s why it’s even more unfortunate. If you hadn’t bothered us and enjoyed your student council life, you could have easily risen to the position of student council president and had a pleasant school life.”

Everything was sincere.

The praise for the skills of the Ludwick heir, and the sarcasm for interfering with them.

She still didn’t understand why this guy was protecting Valencidies.

“It’s you guys who are unfortunate.”

Rain unexpectedly spoke at that moment.

Unlike his usual self, there was no magnanimity in his eyes, only an icy chill like a glacier.

“You don’t know the meaning of magic… You only know how to use it to trample on the weak. And you think you’re so great.”

“The meaning of magic? What’s that?”

“I don’t know either. That’s why I’m searching for it.”

The meaning of magic is truth. Even though he once reached the ranks of the Archmage, he couldn’t know. He still didn’t know what was at the end of that road, it was faint, blurry, and even distant.

“But I know you’re wrong.”

Because he had a guiding light in his heart, like a lamp leading the way.

“My aunt told me. Magic only has meaning when you share it with others.”

The smile that appeared on the boy’s lips as he said that was surprisingly similar, although he was not aware of it at all.

– Always remember, Rin.

To Headmaster Atlante, who shared the light of magic with the boy, and to Rista, the hero who showed the world and the possibilities of all things in that world.

– Magic is like a torch, it only has meaning when you share it with others.

Seeing the smile Rain gave at that moment, Wiber felt a pain as if something had hit him in the head.

It was a smile that resonated with his heart.

It was a smile filled with endless longing, a smile that had confidence in the path he was walking, and… a smile that those who look down on others could never make.

“So I can’t recognize guys like you as magicians.”

“What are you going to do if you don’t recognize us?”

“Because I don’t recognize you, I came here to fix your rotten way of thinking. Even though I didn’t even know how to play magic volleyball.”

Maya Snark’s eyes narrowed.

He was a really unpleasant guy.

From the first time they met until now…….

Those eyes, those eyes are what she didn’t like. Not looking down or despising, but those eyes that rippled with something like pity.

“It doesn’t matter how well you talk. In the world of magicians, skill always comes first, and the Young Master lost to us.”

The current set score is 17:23.

If they score just two more points here, Griffin Valor will win. But where does that confidence come from?

“Gertrude, nice serve!”

As a wing spiker, Gertrude was also good at using powerful spike serves.

Even though her accuracy was low, her strength alone was superior to Sandra’s due to her family’s martial arts training.

‘It wouldn’t be strange if he had dropped out already…….’

If a normal magic volleyball player had played like Rain, they should have collapsed by now due to exhaustion of stamina and mana.

‘I don’t know how he’s holding on, but I’ll make it easy for him for Krista’s sake!’

A soft toss like caressing water, four light steps like walking on water, and a quiet jump like ripples on a calm waterfront.

Thud───!

The ball, which arrived in front of him in an instant with a heavy impact sound, hit Kayden’s arm as it was and flew backward.

“…….”

Thump, thump, thump… The sound of the ball bouncing and rolling on the floor echoed materially in the hall, which was filled with a strong sense of defeat.

The cheers that had been supporting the challenger team had subsided, and the gymnasium was as quiet as a graveyard in autumn.

Professor Owen swallowed a sigh and quietly closed his eyes.

‘Match point, he’s really cornered now…….’

Even the current rotation position is the worst, and he can’t think of a way to reverse it.

Logan, who is strong in blocking and spiking, is in the back row, and Nora, who is strong in receiving, is in the front row.

He needs to score quickly to rotate, but it seems like the game will end faster than that.

‘If he scores just one point, Logan will be in the front row, Nora will be in the back row, and Rain will have the serve. If he can score just one more point…….’

But perhaps no one could open their mouths because even cheering for it felt so cruel.

‘The reason why magic volleyball is a one-set match, unlike regular volleyball, is because the mental fatigue is so unbelievable…….’

As everyone silently watched the situation in despair, Gertrude, who had received a new ball from the referee, jumped up again.

‘Now……!’

‘With this……!’

‘It’s over……!’

The moment all the Griffin Valor players were sure of their victory, someone suddenly popped out in a trajectory where the ball was rapidly descending.

“Ha, there he goes again……!”

Rowen Belt, who had returned to the bench because it was a rotation to go to the front row, grabbed the back of his neck.

It was Rain, Rain Ludwick.

Rowen Belt’s eyes widened greatly the next moment. No, not just Rowen Belt, but everyone who was watching it.

“……?!”

“……?!”

“……?!”

When receiving the ball, Rain lightly rolled his body backward. Just like Rowen Belt and Nora did.

“O, o, oooooooo────?!”

The best receive that completely reduces the power of the ball and makes it like a light toss.

“────Got it up!”

Nora lightly whistled.

‘He’s imitating it after seeing it a few times……?’

Even Elin, the coach of Griffin Valor, was so shocked that she let out a hollow laugh.

Really, really, it’s absurd.

So absurd that…….

But that’s it. The setter did such a receive, so now there is no setter for the attack. The attack becomes monotonous, so it’s no different from a chance ball.

“Turn it, turn it!”

Logan urgently signaled to send the ball to the opposing setter.

A chance they barely caught, if Griffin Valor could just get the setter involved in the first touch……!

Perhaps Rain thought of that situation as well, he raised his body, which was creaking at its limit, and stretched his foot to the center of the net. But then.

“Mine.”

Someone was already in the setter’s position. Someone who no one expected to be there.

The eyes of everyone in this First Gymnasium widened greatly.

No, if you knew even a little about the circumstances of the challenger team, the eyes of those who knew the personality of that ‘someone’ were trembling.

It was Wiber.

The junior member of Rohwinum, Wiber.

That guy who seemed to have come out reluctantly, moving like a player who was just filling the number of people. That guy who said he would never toss.

“Wiber, that guy……?”

“He’s already in the set-up motion……!”

The eyes of the Griffin Valor players, who were preparing to block in the front row, moved busily.

‘Who is it? Who is he going to set it to?’

To confuse them, Lillian and Nora jumped in the front row. Sandra stuck to Nora, and Maya stuck to Lillian.

At that very moment, at that point in time, half a beat late in the attack tempo, Rain Ludwick jumped.

‘A time difference back attack? No, there’s no way he’d make the guy who just received the spike…….’

Before that question could cross Maya’s mind, in the annoyingly slow time, the ball that had been folded on Wiber’s fingertips flew.

Slightly above the highest point of Rain Ludwick, who jumped from the setter’s back row, that is, in the boy’s spike course.

Unlike Rain’s sharp toss, a relaxed and smooth toss that all spikers can hit comfortably.

‘It’s a little touching…….’

Thinking that, the moment Rain slammed the ball down even more powerfully than a spike serve.

“──?!”

“──?!”

“──?!”

All noise stopped.

Everyone’s eyes shook.

In the silence as if time had stopped, only the sound of the ball hitting the end line and bouncing far away echoed in the gymnasium.

“…….”

“…….”

Rain, who had finished spiking and landed, panted and faced Wiber.

In that moment, the two people broke the silence that flowed in the hall by clapping their hands together.

As if they had been waiting, a fierce cheer erupted that shook the glass of the gymnasium.

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaa────!”

In the commotion that was shaking with excitement, the challenger team exchanged words of blessing, not praise.

“Did you wake up now? I was wondering how long you were going to sleep, I was thinking of hitting you in the head if you slept any longer.”

“Shut up, you muscle monkey.”

[Too harsh;;]

“It’s okay as long as you show up once when it’s important★”

“Thanks to you, we lived, Wiber.”

Looking at Rain’s outstretched hand, Wiber recalled the distant past.

When was it? The point when he started hating someone just because they were a noble.

Perhaps he just wanted to be recognized with excitement when he was young. The fact that he could take classes in the same classroom as those noble nobles and use the same magic.

But the reality that Wiber faced was not so easy.

– A commoner doesn’t even know his place…….

– Did you think your lowly origins would change just because you know how to use magic?

In the meantime, in Wiber’s mind, nobles were solidified as incompetent beings who only envied those who worked hard.

The bright and sociable personality also changed to cold and sharp…….

Nobles are all the same. Pathetic beings who only live for their own sake. It was definitely like that.

“……I just helped you once because I saw you working as hard as you said.”

This guy is different.

Rain Ludwick, this guy is different.

Maybe he’s the very image of the noble that I admired as a child…….

‘I can’t believe it.’

Professor Owen, who was watching that unrealistic scene, had to shudder with an emotion that he couldn’t explain.

‘He changed Logan, who was full of immaturity, Nora, who was always plotting insidious plans, and Lillian and Wiber, who were like sharp blades, like that? In just this half year?’

At the end of the final exam, he thought the vice professor was making a fuss…… Rain Ludwick, that guy is the real deal.

‘The day that guy grows up and becomes a leading figure in the magic world, magic…… no, the world might change.’