—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The woman was clearly no ordinary person.
Although hidden by her robe, just from her movements when taking out the money pouches and her wrists, Jesant could tell she was quite skilled with a blade.
He put down his beer mug and approached.
“Well, well, we have someone betting their life here. How splendid! Cash, jewels, accessories – it’s no joke. Got any land deeds to throw in?”
“Would you accept them?”
Jesant flinched for a moment at the woman’s cold gaze.
If he said he’d accept land deeds, she looked ready to actually bring them.
Of course, he would accept them.
This was lawless territory.
They’d take anything that was worth money, but this was too big.
“No, sister. This is more than enough. Aios battle soccer has 4-to-1 odds, if it hits we’ll go bankrupt.”
They wouldn’t be able to pay out if she bet any more.
The woman seemed to understand and said okay, but she didn’t withdraw her bet.
Seeing this, Jesant smiled brightly and took a bottle of liquor from the bartender.
“Let’s all have a toast for this sister! Yes, this is how you live life! Would you like a sip, sister?”
Jesant thought she would refuse given the atmosphere, but the woman took the bottle as if she had been waiting for it and gulped it down.
“Kya, this sister can drink too! Fantastic! Any thoughts on finding a husband here today? How about me?”
“Get lost.”
“Wonderful! Just wonderful! I’ve fallen for you, sister!”
The woman said it was noisy and sat down at the bar table, continuing to take sips of alcohol.
Even though the alcohol was quite strong, her dignity remained intact no matter how many times she drank.
‘What kind of woman is this?’
She bet an amount that could shake the entire gambling den and was calmly sipping alcohol?
Some thugs and gambling addicts were already eyeing her, so Jesant sat down next to her as if to protect her.
It wouldn’t be good if some idiots messed with this woman and ruined the whole operation.
“Sister, why are you drinking like that? You don’t look like someone who would touch alcohol.”
Jesant asked in the sweet voice he used when trying to seduce women, but she answered without even looking at him.
“I’ve been stressed lately because of work. The person I serve has become a bit strange.”
“Work? The person you serve?”
She probably wouldn’t tell him any more even if he asked.
Jesant stroked his chin for a moment, pondering, then held out his own bottle.
“I’m Jesant! It’s a pretty famous name, have you heard of it?”
He was trying to introduce himself, but the woman glanced at Jesant briefly and clinked her bottle against his.
“I’m Bertia.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Pales and Aios.
Unfortunately, the traditional competition between them was too unbalanced to be called a rivalry.
Aios Academy had lost for a full 13 years.
Unlike Pales Academy, which accepted commoners if they had ability, Aios only accepted noble children and even gave subtle privileges to powerful families.
With the results already predetermined, students stopped putting in effort and naturally fell behind.
Recently, this trend had been gradually disappearing as the dean came to his senses, but…
“Ah, we lost again!”
Tana, sitting next to me, stomped her feet and shouted.
The fourth-years had been completely defeated in the tug-of-war.
Today, the fourth-years had lost every single event.
The momentum gained by the third-years winning the Golden Ball Capture was immediately given away by the fourth-years.
The second and third years were still struggling, but looking at the overall score, Aios’s continued losses were ongoing.
Of course, there were still some standout performers amidst all this.
As the relay race began, Sen, holding the baton, quickly pushed forward.
As it was an event where mana could be used, a faint blue light emanated from her body.
“Is it because the kid’s small? She’s nimble.”
Sen was participating in two events: mana volleyball and the relay race.
Last year, she had pretended to be an ordinary student because of the Chokugen Faction, but now there was no need for that at all.
She quickly widened the gap.
In that continued dominance, our side’s last runner was a sturdy-built, handsome blonde.
It was Ares Helias.
“Areeees!”
“Run! Ruuun!”
“My man is the best!”
Was that last one Arni?
Anyway, Ares, who had received the baton, ran with a feeling like he was about to explode.
It seemed he was also using the power of Helios’s mark on his hand, disguising it well as mana.
In the end, Ares crossed the finish line a full lap ahead.
That guy was probably the one Pales was most wary of.
After all, an ace they had never seen before had appeared due to his third-year transfer.
His appearance as he wiped his sweat looked like a protagonist straight out of a manga.
“Huff, I’m tired.”
Just then, Eve, who had been cheering for the relay race, approached, panting heavily.
Of course, the male students around were glancing at her in her cheerleader outfit, and even the Pales students in the distance were looking.
Tana gave her a thumbs up.
“Well done, Eve! You nailed the cheering.”
“Huh? But I messed up the choreography terribly.”
“We’re usually the type to fight with physique, so that doesn’t matter. Everything comes down to strength in the end.”
Tana looked pathetic as she clenched her fist and struck a pose as if expounding some great truth, but honestly, she wasn’t wrong.
They were still students, so where else would you find a female student with Eve’s physique?
Even if she messed up the choreography, most people were probably looking at something other than the mistakes in her dance.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. The captain only praised me, saying I did well.”
“Well, what’s good is good.”
I handed her a cold water bottle, and Eve grinned widely, saying it was refreshing, and slumped.
She had a certain cuteness when she acted like this.
After the competition ended today, wouldn’t male students from not just Aios but also Pales try to talk to Eve?
Though with Tana around, they’d be thoroughly blocked.
Just then, Rin came up the stairs towards us.
“Daniel, they say we need to start preparing soon?”
“Why do we need to prepare so early? Isn’t battle soccer the last event today?”
“It is, but the soccer team captain told me to call you to practice together.”
Rin had volunteered as a member of the organizing committee.
I heard she did it because it gave extra service points.
I checked the time discreetly.
Battle soccer wouldn’t start until evening, so why were they talking about preparing already?
It was only 3 PM.
The sun was still high in the sky.
“If they practice staying now, won’t they be exhausted during the actual game? Tell them to stop talking nonsense and rest.”
“Hmm, I’ll tell them that for now.”
Rin walked away with quick steps.
The dean was already being overzealous about participating in this event and that event, and now this.
“Wasn’t the soccer club captain a fourth-year?”
“Yeah, the fourth-years are losing everything right now, so it seems they want to try and win at least battle soccer.”
Too much enthusiasm becomes harmful.
Shouldn’t they know that much?
“I’ll go cheer for Daniel!”
What cheering when you’re already dripping with sweat?
I handed her a few more towels I had brought earlier.
“Forget it and wipe your sweat, go cheer for the other kids.”
“Aw, but I want to cheer for Daniel.”
Eve smiled while moving her hands around in what seemed to be a cheering motion.
Her appearance was so cute that I couldn’t help but smile a little.
“Cheering is supposed to be for encouraging people who are struggling, you know.”
“That’s alright then, isn’t it?”
“I won’t struggle.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
‘Please, please, please, please.’
At the central point where the seats of Aios Academy and Pales Academy met, the deans of both schools were sitting together.
Behind them, other professors were also standing guard like escorts, and although they weren’t speaking, they were clearly keeping an eye on each other.
Thanks to the third-years’ performance, Aios wasn’t suffering a perfect defeat like before, but they were still falling behind.
And now.
Only the 80-minute battle soccer game remained, marking the end of the first day of the two-day competition.
It was the event that caused the most injuries and fights, aside from the large-scale battle.
Nevertheless, it had the highest overall score.
The Aios dean’s hands, resting on his thighs, tensed up.
Seeing this, the Pales dean sneered and asked.
“Are you nervous?”
It was a clear provocation.
It was a childish battle of nerves for two wrinkled elders to engage in.
Usually, the Aios dean would have tried to maintain composure, but he kept staring at the dugout where the players were waiting.
The Pales dean, feeling ignored, didn’t hide his displeased cough, but Aios still didn’t even look at him.
“Well then, you must have had dinner. The highlight of the first day!”
“Battle soccer, where mana can be used and all combat actions between players are allowed, is about to begin!”
The students in charge of the proceedings, who had seemed a bit low on energy until now, seemed to forcibly raise their tension again, thinking it was the last game of the day.
The spectators also cheered, greeting the entering players, but…
‘Please! Please! Please!’
The Aios dean was watching so intently his eyes might pop out, and…
At the very end of the reserve players, Daniel McLean, with his broken right hand, was coming out with a bored expression.
“Huh, that player is going to play battle soccer with a broken hand? Shouldn’t you stop him?”
The Pales dean spoke out of genuine concern, but the Aios dean shouted with a smile of joy.
“We’ve won!”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
[Your Text Here]
Dean know, as long as the secret weapon is there, no match could be resulted in defeat.