Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy Chapter 728

Chapter 728

Professor Bentozol's shouts naturally didn't get through.

To begin with, the relationship between the ballgame club members and Professor Bentozol wasn't particularly close. If one had to express it, it was closer to an antagonistic symbiosis.

The ballgame club had to rescue, tame, and take care of various rare animals of the empire.

As such, they certainly needed the help of Professor Bentozol, Einroguard's top expert, but...

...Professor Bentozol was also someone who kept trying to steal the ballgame club's animals while helping with animals.

Such a person trying to tarnish a promising junior member only sounded like nonsense.

Hormasi suddenly became curious and asked,

"But Professor. Why aren't you attacking directly?"

Of course, even in Einroguard which lived without imperial law, it was rare for professors to arbitrarily attack students.

But wasn't Professor Bentozol someone a bit specially crazy even among those professors?

"It's for two reasons. First, if I attack directly, I might incur the unicorn's hatred."

'You seem to have already incurred it though?'

Hormasi thought so but only thought it inwardly, not wanting to provoke the crazy professor.

"Yes... I see. What's the other one?"

"I promised the principal I wouldn't attack the bastard over the unicorn matter. Damn it!"

"?"

Hormasi, who had been listening without much thought, twitched her long ears in puzzlement.

'What nonsense is this?'

The skull principal was absolutely not someone who would tell others not to attack someone, if anything he might instigate attacks.

Perhaps students taking multiple schools had some special protection policy Hormasi didn't know about?

"How did you end up making such a promise..."

-It's not that I did anything great. I just happened to meet it during winter break.-

The dark elf senior who was about to ask the professor again paused.

The junior had started explaining how he became friends with the unicorn.

It was a story several times more interesting than Professor Bentozol's.

"So that's..."

"Wait. Let's hear that again later."

"..."

Hormasi cut off Professor Bentozol's words and listened intently.

"You met it during winter break? How on earth did that happen?"

"I went to look for a unicorn to help Professor Bungaegor during winter break."

"Oh my. Why on earth?"

The club seniors murmured.

There were many bad choices one could make during breaks, but the worst of them all was helping a professor's work.

"...Couldn't one help?"

"It doesn't seem so. Anyway, continue. Did you meet the unicorn while looking for it? How did you become friends?"

Yi-Han briefly explained what had happened in the mountains during winter break.

He had gone in with hunters to protect the unicorn and met Professor Bentozol...

"Oh no!"

"Of all people!"

The seniors let out sighs.

How could one be so unlucky?

It was already unfortunate enough to help a professor's work during break, but to additionally meet another professor while helping with that work.

"...In that situation, the principal arrived and resolved things well."

"I see... Huh?"

The ballgame club members murmured.

The unicorn in the mountains and the evil monsters targeting the unicorn, Taotie and Bentozol. And the mages and hunters who arrived to save that unicorn.

It was a very exciting story, but suddenly the principal appeared and concluded it.

"Did Professor Bungaegor call him?"

"No way. Professor Bungaegor is a sensible person, she wouldn't call the principal."

"...I called him."

"You called him?"

"Yes."

As the seniors' atmosphere became ominous, Yi-Han hastily made excuses.

"Professor Bungaegor and Professor Bentozol were arguing so I had no choice. Taotie was about to attack..."

"Hmm! Your words have a point. Certainly, in that situation you had no choice."

"Thank you for understanding."

The seniors nodded, smiling.

Then they all ran away at once.

"..."

  *

"It can't be helped."

Hormasi, the only senior who didn't run away, spoke to him.

Yi-Han answered with a slightly grumpy attitude.

"What can't be helped?"

"The very fact that you called the principal sounds dangerous, regardless of the reason."

The dark elf senior spoke teasingly, but there was nothing wrong with the content.

It didn't matter how dangerous the situation was.

What was important was that the junior was close enough to the skull principal to call him.

"...It was really just a chance opportunity to receive one summoning artifact."

"I see. I believe you!"

While saying so, Hormasi took a step back.

If he was a junior who received a summoning artifact from the skull principal, it wouldn't be strange if he suddenly transformed into a monster from another realm.

"Anyway, don't mind the reactions of other members. They're afraid of you now, but..."

"The misunderstanding will clear up as time passes, right?"

"Uh. I was going to say they'd just ignore you and play ballgames, what could they do. Is there any misunderstanding to clear up? It's all true."

"..."

Whether Yi-Han glared or not, Hormasi said what she wanted to say.

"More than that, junior. Let's talk about ballgames! Actually, this Hormasi has been waiting for a junior like you. I don't care at all even if you're the principal's direct disciple."

"Who said such a thing again? Which bastard was it?"

"Again?"

'Oops.'

Seeing the senior's expression, Yi-Han realized he had overreacted.

Hormasi asked with wary eyes.

"Do you perhaps often hear that you're the principal's direct disciple?"

"No? This is the first time I've heard it."

"...Right. Let's get back to what we were talking about."

She said that, but Hormasi took two more steps back.

"Right now, Einroguard's ballgame club lacks outstanding strikers. Senior Kimbeldan graduated, and Senior Bodeurugo went crazy after failing to graduate."

"Pardon?"

Yi-Han wanted to ask more about Senior Bodeurugo, but Hormasi didn't seem very interested in people who had left the club.

"But you have the talent of an outstanding striker. You might be able to fill that void."

"I appreciate the compliment, but I haven't really played ballgames much."

This was true.

Unlike his friends who enjoyed various ballgames when bored, such as mounted ballgames, bare-body ballgames, table ballgames, assignment ballgames (using crumpled assignments that needed to be submitted as balls), Wardanaz ballgames (ballgames where White Tiger Tower students acting as balls avoided Wardanaz's angry staff), Yi-Han hadn't played much ballgame itself.

"It doesn't matter. Talent is separate from experience."

As he listened, Yi-Han suddenly became curious.

What did this senior see in him to evaluate him so highly?

"Do I really have that much talent for ballgames? Why?"

"You're friends with a unicorn. That's enough."

"...No. That's just talent for handling animals, isn't it?"

"Originally, talent for handling animals is 90% of ballgames. Horsemanship is 50%."

'Is she bad at numbers because she's from White Tiger Tower?'

Hormasi spoke in a very satisfied voice while watching the unicorn playing next to Yi-Han.

"For it to like you that much. You and the unicorn will make a good pair."

"But Senior. I have no intention of playing ballgames riding a unicorn."

"!?!?"

-!?!?-

Not only Hormasi, but even the unicorn looked at Yi-Han with shocked eyes.

"Why not?!"

-■!-

"Well... I already promised someone else I'd ride out with them. If I ride out on a unicorn, they'll get upset."

"You should persuade them properly! What on earth are you saying?!"

The dark elf senior shouted in a shrill voice, seemingly quite shocked.

Not riding out on a unicorn when you had one was an insult to ballgames, unicorns, and the empire.

"Of course, not riding out on a close horse might feel like betrayal. But it's crueler to forcibly consider them when there's someone more suitable."

"It's, not a horse."

"Not a horse?"

Hormasi, who had naturally assumed it would be a horse when a 2nd year student said they had a close mount, tilted her head.

"If not a horse, then what? A mountain goat? A wild boar? An ostrich?"

"Senior. Please promise you won't think it's strange if I tell you."

"Are you looking down on your senior? I won't be surprised no matter what you've tamed."

Ever since he called the skull principal, the junior couldn't surprise Hormasi.

Even if he said he had tamed a griffin...

'Hmm. That would be a bit surprising though.'

"Alright. Actually, it's a griffin."

"...Just what kind of guy are you??"

  *

After comforting the hurt junior (during which time the junior was comforting the hurt unicorn), Hormasi spoke in a serious voice.

"Let's go see your griffin."

The unicorn tried to attack Hormasi with an angry cry.

Hormasi quickly distanced herself and checked the unicorn's approach.

"Don't come near, you horned horse. I have no business with you as long as the junior has a griffin!"

-■!-

"A-aren't your words a bit harsh?"

"It's not like I'm going to ride it anyway."

Hormasi spoke in an indifferent attitude.

What riders cherished were animals they would ride, not animals they weren't even close to.

"No. Before we go see the griffin, it would be better to see my mount first. Follow me."

Hormasi was very excited by the fact that a griffin rider junior had joined.

'If we charge shoulder to shoulder...!'

For that, they needed to know about each other's mounts to some extent. Hormasi intended to explain about her mount to the junior.

"Hormasi! Tell the junior to get support funds!"

"Ah. Right."

At Senior Perse's shout from afar, Yi-Han asked in puzzlement.

"What are support funds?"

"The ballgame club periodically gives gold coins from the club treasury to members raising animals. To help and encourage raising them."

The ballgame club's prize money was partly given to active members, and the rest was stored in the treasury to be used as support funds for members.

The rarer and more powerful animals one raised, the more support they received as it helped the club.

"One griffin, one unicorn. Wow."

Hormasi whistled and calculated. This might set a new club record.

"Do you have any more? Horses count a little too, so tell me if you have any."

"I am raising a baby basilisk though."

"A baby basilisk... ...basilisk?"

A tail poked out of Yi-Han's sleeve and wiggled.

Hormasi saw this and slowly shook her head. Then she called Perse.

"Senior Perse! Come help with the support fund application!"

"Do that much on your own! Are you calling me because that's bothersome?"

"Everyone will come to check anyway if I submit it, so just come here and check it now!"

Hormasi wisely predicted what would happen.

If she submitted it like this, the club members would get angry saying, 'Hormasi, don't joke around with your junior's application form!'

Rather than that, it was better to just show them now.

"What nonsense..."

Perse grumbled incomprehensibly as he approached.

He had been quite busy just explaining to the newly joined 2nd year students where they could get Einroguard's rare animals and how to tame them.

Professor Bentozol wasn't helping from the side, but rather interfering with words like 'You lot aren't qualified to tame them!'...

"Just come and see."

"If you called me for something useless, Hormasi, you'll be in charge of junior education... Hormasi, don't joke around with your junior's application form!"

Hormasi looked at Yi-Han and winked with an expression that said 'What did I tell you?'