—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The moment he heard those words, the dean of Pales Academy immediately made an unpleasant expression.
No matter how you looked at it, declaring victory before the game even started was blatantly disrespecting the opponent.
“Ahem, Dean?”
Jeffrey, the Class A homeroom teacher standing behind him, urgently cautioned him.
Only then did the dean come to his senses, clearing his throat and forcing an awkward smile.
“I’m sorry.”
“Hmm.”
His apology wasn’t even accepted.
He could only hope that the Pales students would win quickly.
Although Anton Signir was quite a troublemaker even within the school…
He enjoyed battle soccer so much that he played it every morning.
In fact, he was often sought after by professional battle soccer teams and clubs.
‘Go out there and show them. When else will you have a chance to shine?’
It was a significant loss that most of Anton’s gang had dropped out, but the same was true for Aios.
Berman from Class D and his friends were also hospitalized, so neither side had their full strength.
In the midst of this, their side still had the ace of aces.
The Pales dean thought they could definitely win, and… the game actually flowed that way.
Pales Academy scored an impressive 4 goals in the first half.
Anton Signir gritted his teeth and performed brilliantly, as if determined to vent his frustrations.
He managed to create two out of the four goals, not allowing even a single point…
The second half began.
There was a player substitution, even though no one had been injured…
“Hehe.”
An irrepressible smile crept onto the Aios dean’s face, even though they were losing.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Player substitution.
I, who had been a reserve player, finally donned the uniform and stepped onto the field.
Some people wondered if I could play such an aggressive sport as battle soccer with a broken right arm, but…
Since I had left such a good impression in the Golden Ball Capture, there seemed to be even more anticipation.
“Go for it!”
“Show them, Daniel!”
“You can do it, my husband!”
Cheers came from all around.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, I deliberately avoided looking in that direction, but the captain of the battle soccer team approached me.
“Huff, huff. Hey, have you ever properly kicked a ball before?”
It was nice to see him still picking on me because I hadn’t shown up for the practice that started at 3 o’clock.
Wasn’t it because of that that the kids’ pace was off, and they couldn’t properly block the opponent, letting them break through everything?
“Forget it, just pass the ball to me. I’ll win for you.”
“What?”
“It’s a shame there’s no mercy rule.”
As I clicked my tongue and muttered, the captain burst out in anger.
“You bastard who skipped training and suddenly joined as a reserve player, what do you think you can do!”
“It’s nice that you’re wearing the captain’s armband, but. Don’t you see the others’ condition? You’ve exhausted them all by making such a fuss about preparing them early.”
“…!”
Perhaps he had noticed it himself, as the captain couldn’t say anything.
This game was already lost anyway.
They had started preparing at 3 PM for a game that started at 7 PM, so the players had naturally been tense since then as if the game had already begun, and their stamina was depleted due to the long wait.
With such lack of basics, no wonder they had been one-sidedly beaten by Pales all this time.
“Aios has lost. You know that clearly.”
What could we do?
A loss was a loss.
The world of sports was cruel, and one must know how to accept their defeat.
They had to be grateful that it was not a battlefield where swords were flying, and there was no threat to their lives.
“But I’m going to win.”
Even if Aios lost, I intended to win.
I pushed past the captain and headed to my position.
I had heard I was a defender, so I was a bit further back.
The game started with our side’s kickoff.
The Pales students immediately charged in, exuding mana, as it was an event where mana use was allowed.
Faced with their fierce momentum, our captain also tried to dodge them using individual skills while emitting mana, but…
Unfortunately, he was completely surrounded by opposing players coming from three directions and lost the ball.
He rolled on the ground several times after the intense physical struggle, but this was normal for this sport, a game where you could demolish the opponent while rolling the ball.
I wondered if it wouldn’t be better to just have a fistfight at this point.
That was when one of our more energetic second-year male students appeared.
Ben Mayas.
As the boy, the older of the twins, gritted his teeth and stole the ball, enthusiastic cheers from his twin sister Valtory and cousin Tana could be heard.
“Ben! You’re the best!”
“Pass to Daniel! Pass to Daniel!”
I thought Tana was making a fuss, but Ben passed the ball to me on the opposite side with an expression of trust.
It was an odd situation where Ben, a forward, was passing to me, a defender.
The ball was flying towards our goal rather than the opponent’s, which seemed baffling, but…
I felt the ball wrapping around my foot with a “thwack” sound and roughly gauged the distance.
“About the center line, I guess.”
The Pales Academy students, who had naturally thought Ben Mayas would charge forward, were now walking leisurely, taking a break as they saw the ball move away.
Probably because I hadn’t entered their defensive range yet.
Under everyone’s gaze, I dribbled the ball exactly to the center line.
“Hup!”
I immediately gathered what little mana I had into my legs.
I was probably the person with the least mana in this stadium, but… I was also likely the one who could use mana most efficiently.
I kicked the ball while pushing out the mana surging in my legs.
Clang!
The goal post shook.
The Pales Academy students only belatedly realized that what had flown past them was the ball, and turned their bodies.
What they saw was the ball lodged in the goal post, having flown in at a speed the goalkeeper couldn’t even react to.
“Huh?”
Someone’s bewildered voice was heard.
Even the referee hadn’t blown the whistle to signal a score, but…
“Woah!”
“What? What just happened?”
“A mid-range shot? Should we call that mid-range?”
“That long-range shot was insane!”
“Wonder goal! Wonder goal!”
Despite the excited shouts of the spectators, I tilted my head and practiced kicking the ball in the air.
“So I just need to kick it like this a few times.”
Okay.
Now it was 1:4.
It was a score difference we could quickly catch up to.
The dean finally couldn’t hold back his laughter and covered his mouth with his hand.
About halfway through the second half…
Aios, who had thought they were completely defeated after conceding 4 goals in the first half, had not only caught up but already taken the lead.
Daniel McLean had scored 6 points with shots from the center line.
Even when Pales players tried to block him, he broke through all of them and fired shots.
Unfortunately, four of Pales’ defenders had already been carried off with injuries while trying to block the ball, and they were on their third goalkeeper substitution.
This was just how this sport was.
That was why there were so many reserve players.
“……”
The Pales dean was gritting his teeth and trembling, but just for creating this sight, the dean wanted to give Daniel a scholarship.
How long had it been since they had such a satisfying victory?
The dean writhed in exhilaration as he watched Daniel McLean continue to fire shots.
“That damn bastard is now shooting from behind the center line?”
“Block him! Block him, you crazy idiots!”
“Ah shit! How much are we losing here?”
There was also an uproar at the tavern where gambling on the match was taking place.
Those who had bet on Pales felt their tongues drying up no matter how much alcohol they poured down their throats.
Anton Signir, who had performed brilliantly in the first half, was now unable to exert any strength, just dripping with sweat and looking dejected, reflecting the feelings of these people.
Originally, the difference in battle soccer skill between Aios and Pales was like heaven and earth, but…
That strange guy with the broken right arm kept scoring unbelievable wonder goals.
Now he was even shooting from far behind the center line and lodging them all in the goal.
As if the first few shots were just for calibration.
The Pales students, not wanting to get caught up in the ball and risk breaking something, were now showing movements of subtly avoiding it.
Finally, the match ended.
It was a complete victory for Aios Academy, no, for Daniel McLean, with a score of 13:4.
“Four times,” Bertia said with a smile to the tavern owner.
She had beaten the 4-to-1 odds.
The owner’s hands trembled.
Considering the amount she had bet, even if he sold his tavern and sold all his organs, it wouldn’t even cover a fraction of it and here, Jesant, who was next to Bertia, stepped forward.
“Sister. You know the stakes have gotten too big, right?”
“Are you saying you can’t pay?”
People’s gazes focused on them.
If they couldn’t pay out the winnings here, not only would they lose credibility, but the gambling den itself would disappear and cause an uproar.
People would never set foot in the pirates’ gambling dens again.
“No, that’s not it. Just give us two hours, and we’ll prepare and pay you right away. It’s such a large sum that it takes time to settle the accounts.”
“……”
Jesant pretended to look around at the people nearby and whispered to her.
“Besides, if you take the money now, you won’t be able to leave here safely. There are so many hyenas who’ve just lost money here.”
At those words, Bertia glanced around.
Just as he said, degenerate gamblers and addicts who had just lost money were glaring at Bertia, who had just hit a record jackpot.
“Alright. Then let’s meet in two hours.”
“Okay! Here’s a token. Proof that you hit it big today, sister.”
Bertia received the bent coin that Jesant handed her and turned to leave the tavern.
As she left, those who had lost money cried and shouted, causing a commotion, but it didn’t last long in front of the pirates who were in a foul mood.
Those who had won money left in good spirits, but there weren’t many of them.
Most shuffled off to other taverns, tasting the bitterness of life.
They probably intended to squander what little they had left on more alcohol.
In the end, only the pirates remained in the tavern.
One of them asked Jesant,
“B-Boss, what are we going to do? That kind of money, even multiplied by four, only a monarch would have that much.”
“Sigh, this has become a headache.”
Jesant smiled wryly at his subordinates who didn’t know what to do.
“What else? We’ll have to kill her.”
“What?”
“B-But boss, if we do that……”
They wouldn’t be able to do business here anymore.
The competition was a cash cow that only happened once a year.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. When that sister comes in two hours, there won’t be any customers. She didn’t even take the money she bet, so if we kill her and keep our mouths shut, the customers coming tomorrow won’t have any way of knowing.”
She had seemed cold and meticulous on the outside, but was she excited inside after winning?
She didn’t even claim her original stake right away.
“Think about it coldly. If no one can find that woman, she’ll just be seen as someone who took the money and ran.”
And so their preparations began.
Judging that the woman seemed quite skilled, Jesant prepared the pirates rather thoroughly.
Just in case she wasn’t alone but accompanied by others.
As the pirates were preparing more diligently than when they set up the gambling den, they heard the creaking sound of the door opening.
There stood a boy with a broken right hand.
“Hey, who are you?”
“Wait, what were the guys keeping watch outside doing……”
As the pirates grumbled and tried to intimidate the boy, they saw a bent coin in his left hand.
Jesant, who had just peeked his head out from the back, realized that this boy was the damn protagonist of today’s competition and had come to collect the money instead of Bertia.
“Well, well, you damn bastards were in this together?”
A player directly related to someone placing bets?
Thinking they had been properly fooled, Jesant pulled out his pistol, the Balester, from his chest.
It wasn’t for him to say this, as he had requested the attack on Anton’s gang and beaten up Berman and his friends to balance Aios and Pales for the sake of livening up the gambling den.
“I knew you had no intention of paying us anyway.”
That was why Bertia had deliberately not collected the money she had bet.
They were going to take it all now anyway.
“You sons of bitches, did it taste good, colluding like that?”
“What do you want us to do? Give us the money then.”
As Daniel shrugged and answered, Jesant let out a hollow laugh.
Other pirates were gathering around.
They too gritted their teeth when they saw Daniel, the protagonist of today’s upset.
Wasn’t it because of this damn guy that they were making unnecessary preparations like thieves?
“Kid, haven’t you underestimated the world too much, thinking you’re tough among your friends?”
“Ha, let’s just take this bastard, cut off his arms and legs, scrape out his guts, and sell everything!”
“Does this kid want his right hand to be completely crippled?”
The pirates chuckled and laughed.
Jesant too smiled, showing his gold tooth, and asked,
“You came to get money from us with one hand crippled? Your other hand’s coming off.”
“Ah, right.”
At that, Daniel McLean nodded as if he had forgotten something.
Acknowledging that this was his mistake, he slowly unwrapped his bandage.
Thud.
The splint that had been holding his arm in place rolled on the tavern floor.
Then Daniel showed a strange hand movement, as if a magician showing a trick to children, and smiled.
“Surprise.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
[Lmaoo Daniel got that inside information and now he gon fuck these hooligans up]
