“Why are you so nervous? It’s not some other professor. It’s Professor Garcia.”
Perse looked puzzled by her junior’s reaction.
Of course, being summoned by an Einroguard professor was never a pleasant experience for a student.
But that usually applied to other professors. Professor Garcia was different, wasn’t she?
She wasn’t the kind of professor who got angry, yelled at students, or ordered them to make 173 artifacts overnight for her research.
“...That’s true...”
Lee Han nodded absentmindedly.
I should move to another club as soon as the Jousting Club match ends.
If he used the Kitchen Club or Stonemason Club schedule as an excuse, he might be able to avoid running into her altogether.
Senior Perse couldn’t understand why her junior was so afraid of Professor Garcia, but there were always exceptions to every rule.
Right now, Lee Han had no desire to risk his life finding out whether Professor Garcia was angry or not.
...Even if she is angry, she’ll calm down eventually. Probably...
While Lee Han was lost in thought about the professor, the upperclassmen beside him chatted about today’s match.
“Did you hear? The Plaher City Jousting Club brought a fully grown hippogriff! I heard Hadagak’s going to ride it.”
“That’s just shameless. Did they really need to go that far against us?”
The club seniors clicked their tongues.
Of course, refusing to underestimate weaker opponents was the mark of a true jousting player.
Still, it was only natural to hope the other side would underestimate you.
“If it’s Hadagak, then our junior will have to face him directly. You must be worried.”
“No. Look over there.”
The senior pointed toward Lee Han.
The boy from House Wardanaz was quietly lost in thought, his expression perfectly calm.
The sight made the seniors unconsciously reflect on themselves.
Their junior was focusing on the match with complete composure while they were just making a fuss.
“...Wardanaz. Don’t worry. We’ve got your back.”
“Just do what we practiced in the club. You don’t need to overdo it.”
“Yes? Ah... thank you.”
Lee Han, who had been desperately trying to predict whether Professor Garcia was angry, looked flustered by the sudden encouragement.
***
“S-Surprising. I didn’t know the Plaher City Jousting Club was this strong.”
“Weren’t they originally strong?”
“They were, but not this strong.”
As Anglago spoke, he reached toward the bowl of popped corn Salco was holding. Salco slapped his hand away irritably.
The Plaher City stadium was already packed with people gathered in groups, chatting noisily.
The popularity of the matches was obvious from the ticket prices alone. Even Anglago, who normally spent money recklessly, had been forced to save money on snacks.
“...Still, since we came together, couldn’t you share a little?”
Salco grabbed a handful of popped corn, stuffed it into his mouth, and replied,
“I told you to stop buying useless junk. Why’d you buy another cloak?”
“I-I needed a new cloak. This one’s much better for stealth than my old one, so when I play jousting...”
“What about that helmet?”
“I needed a new jousting helmet too. It absorbs impacts better than the old one...”
Salco stared at him with growing disdain.
“Then why did you buy another jousting stick? You already own several.”
“Th-That one’s for Wardanaz.”
“???”
“Wardanaz joined the Jousting Club too. If he gets a good jousting stick, maybe he’ll become more interested in jousting.”
Anglago genuinely felt sorry that his talented friend remained so indifferent toward the sport.
Both Giselle and Lee Han—he couldn’t understand why neither of them liked jousting.
Salco tilted his head inwardly.
He’ll probably just sell it.
“And it’s also to thank him...”
“!”
Salco looked genuinely shocked. Anglago frowned.
“What?”
“I didn’t realize you had a conscience.”
“...Shut up.”
“For the record, I think Wardanaz would be happier if you stopped sneaking out rather than buying him a stick like that.”
“You sneak out too, so who are you to talk?!”
As Anglago got worked up, Salco shrugged and turned back to his popped corn.
Come to think of it, getting Wardanaz a gift wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
Salco was very strict when it came to debts and favors.
He had received far too much help to simply ignore it.
Most students probably wouldn’t even think about repaying him properly. (Anglago was honestly unexpected.)
If that was the case, it wouldn’t be bad for Salco to express gratitude on everyone’s behalf.
What Salco didn’t know was that dozens of other Einroguard students were currently thinking the exact same thing.
—It’s a hippogriff!
—Waaaaaaah!
Large-scale jousting matches didn’t begin immediately.
Several events were usually held beforehand.
Trick performances by the participating mounts, life-or-death battles between monsters and humans (now abolished), advertisements from guilds and merchant companies, and so on.
Right now, players from the Plaher City Jousting Club were showing off various riding tricks.
One player even entered riding a fully grown hippogriff.
“Wait. Are fully grown hippogriffs common in jousting matches?”
“Of course not. Hippogriffs are vicious creatures. They might be dumber than griffins, but they’re still incredibly hard to tame. Fully grown ones are even worse.”
Salco grumbled while explaining.
The Plaher City Jousting Club could receive support from powerful families and organizations across the Empire and obtain rare mounts from all over the continent.
Meanwhile, the Einroguard Jousting Club could barely even leave the academy grounds.
“Still, bringing a hippogriff? That’s just pathetic.”
“Alpha. Aren’t you getting a little too emotionally invested? It doesn’t seem that pathetic...”
“You just don’t understand jousting!”
“Tsk tsk. I don’t get why he’s so emotional.”
Salco shook his head.
Unlike Anglago, who was completely swept up in the atmosphere of the match, Salco had come to observe the stadium itself and study what a proper jousting arena should look like.
“Ugh. Their mounts are stronger, and their players are better too. Why’d they suddenly improve so much?”
“Something must’ve happened. Maybe they lost badly to someone. Defeat can become fuel for growth.”
“Stop talking nonsense. By that logic, our Jousting Club should be a hundred times stronger already.”
***
Unfard, the nobleman serving as captain of the Plaher City Jousting Club, looked around at the players and mounts with determined eyes.
“Everyone worked hard.”
“At first I doubted you, but I eventually {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} realized you were right.”
The crushing defeat they had suffered against an Einroguard student last year had shaken the Plaher City Jousting Club to its core.
Even though they hadn’t been the club’s main players, the contents of the match had been horrifying.
Their well-trained mounts had panicked, wandered around in confusion, or fled outright.
After the shock faded and enough time passed, Unfard eventually became grateful for that defeat.
Wasn’t it better to discover those weaknesses now rather than during a truly important match later?
Afterward, Unfard pushed the players through brutal training.
The mounts had to endure fear no matter what they faced.
Whenever a monster capable of radiating terror or intimidation appeared, Unfard hunted it down for training regardless of time or place.
Whenever mana disturbances caused strange phenomena somewhere, he dragged the players there as well.
And eventually, the hellish training paid off.
Not only had they overcome fear, but both the players and mounts had grown dramatically stronger.
—It’s a griffin!!!!
—My heavens! We actually get to see a griffin! Today’s match is incredible!
“!”
The players turned in surprise.
They already knew Einroguard students were the Empire’s greatest talents.
But weren’t those mages absurdly busy people?
And yet they had still managed to tame and bring a griffin?
However, Unfard merely nodded as if he had expected this all along.
“There’s a student at Einroguard who has tamed a griffin.”
“...Then shouldn’t you have told us that earlier?”
The players looked bewildered by their captain’s arbitrary decisions, but Unfard had his reasons.
“If you truly trust your own abilities, there’s no reason to panic even if your opponent brings out a dragon.”
“No, a dragon is a bit much...”
“And didn’t we specifically train for griffins?”
“That’s true.”
The players nodded.
The Plaher City Jousting Club had prepared for all kinds of situations.
From restricted matches involving undersized griffins to scenarios involving fully grown adults.
Hadagak, one of the club’s most respected defenders, thumped his chest confidently.
“Leave it to me. I’ll wear that griffin down until it collapses from exhaustion.”
“Ooooh!”
“So reliable!”
Hadagak’s confidence wasn’t baseless.
Griffins were undeniably stronger and more intelligent than hippogriffs, but that also meant they had weaknesses of their own.
Intelligent monsters were difficult for humans to control perfectly.
That became even more obvious in a jousting match like this.
A griffin would immediately realize that the match wasn’t a life-or-death battle, but merely a game created by humans.
Judging by its size, it looks fully grown. That makes it even more likely to act independently.
Adult griffins were far more intelligent and recognized pointless games quickly.
As long as Hadagak endured properly, the griffin would eventually grow bored and stop cooperating.
No matter how loyal they were to their masters, griffins disliked wasting their pride on meaningless entertainment.
—The griffin is performing tricks! These performances are dedicated to the honorable citizens of Plaher City!
—Waaaaaaah!
“Even trick performances? What careless fools... I suppose they’re still students after all.”
Hadagak pitied his opponents.
Instead of letting the griffin rest before the match, they were making it perform tricks.
That would only make it lose interest even faster.
***
“Wardanaz. You should let the griffin rest.”
“Yes? Why?”
“Griffins are intelligent. If you force them to do too many annoying things at once, they start pretending they can’t hear you.”
“...Is that true!?”
Lee Han looked at Phoneig in surprise.
Phoneig, who had been excited to carry his master again after such a long time, looked around in bewilderment before glaring at the students and clicking his beak furiously.
What kind of slander was this?!
“See? He’s already irritated.”
“Uh... But Phoneig has never disobeyed me or gotten angry with me.”
The moment his master defended him, Phoneig’s large eyes blinked rapidly as he nodded over and over again. Joy practically radiated from him.
“It may have been fine so far, but everyone has limits. Wardanaz. You know a lot about other animals, but it seems you made a small mistake when it comes to griffins.”
“I apologize. I suppose after taking care of him personally for so long, I stopped consulting books.”
Lee Han reflected seriously on himself.
He had grown complacent because he thought he understood griffins after becoming close to Phoneig.
Phoneig, listening nearby, looked ready to start rampaging immediately.
Unfortunately, his intelligence prevented him from doing so.
The moment he caused trouble, those wicked, despicable, narrow-minded mages would definitely say:
‘See? That’s exactly how griffins are.’
All Phoneig could do was endure the vile slander in silence.
Grrrrrrrr...
A threatening growl rumbled from inside his beak.
Lee Han carefully asked,
“Phoneig. If you don’t want to participate, you can still tell me now. You don’t have to force yourself to run around because of some crazy senior’s greed. Basil’s here too.”
—What?!?!
However, Phoneig immediately shook his head firmly.
Then he slammed his claws against the ground as if demanding they start the match already.
...By the pride of his noble bloodline, he swore to crush everything standing in his way!
