Chapter 113

After the morning classes ended, it was lunchtime.

Eddie and Joy, holding their applications, headed somewhere.

It was the sports club room where the Plameus team members gathered during their breaks.

They walked down a long corridor and stood before a door with a blazing flame painted on it.

The Plameus club room exuded an extraordinary dignity right from the entrance.

It even felt as if heat was radiating from the flame painted on the door.

Eddie and Joy looked at each other for a moment.

Then they exchanged glances and steeled their resolve.

Joy knocked on the door.

A moment later, the door opened, and a male student wearing the Plameus team uniform appeared.

He recognized Eddie and Joy at once.

“Huh? You two are…”

And before the male student could say anything, Joy shouted in a confident voice.

“Hello, senior! We came because we want to join Plameus!”

She had shouted quite loudly, so not only the male student who opened the door but everyone inside the club room became aware of Joy’s presence.

Eddie glanced at Joy with slightly surprised eyes.

‘She seems a little… excited.’

In Joy’s determined expression, a sense of excitement could be seen along with her nervousness.

It seemed she was secretly thrilled to have started taking real action with him.

Well, it was better than being reluctant about the plan, so perhaps it was a good thing.

Thinking it was for the best, Eddie submitted the application.

“We’ve filled out the applications here, senior.”

“Uh… uh… right…”

The male student took the two applications, looking bewildered.

Seeing that they were filled out in the proper format, it was clear this wasn’t a prank.

But the membership application from the two campus celebrities was so out of the blue that the male student forgot to guide them through the procedure and just stared blankly at the forms.

But then.

A voice came from inside the club room.

“Why are you just standing there when applicants have arrived, Chris?”

At that voice, the male student called Chris snapped back to his senses.

The owner of the voice then instructed him.

“You need to guide them for the interview. Are you just going to stand there?”

“Ah, yes…! Come in.”

Eddie and Joy were guided by Chris into the club room.

As soon as they entered, the magnificent interior of the club room came into view.

‘Wow…’

For the first time in a while, Joy’s eyes widened as if she were back to her first day at the academy.

The club room was much larger and more splendid than she had expected.

It was filled with luxurious furniture and various facilities for the members, and on the walls hung paintings documenting the achievements of Plameus.

It was a sight that showed the academy’s respect for the best sports team in the academy, no, in the empire.

And a female student with red hair, exuding an aura that matched such a scene, smiled at Eddie and Joy.

She was sitting on a red sofa that matched her hair color, fiddling with a Rancross racket.

From that sight alone, Eddie and Joy immediately recognized the female student’s identity.

Joy, in particular, had already met her, so she couldn’t possibly not know.

‘Kylie Penrose.’

The captain of Plameus and the target they needed to approach.

The opportunity for a meeting came sooner than expected.

“Familiar faces. In many ways.”

Kylie looked at Eddie and Joy with an enigmatic smile.

Then she took the applications Chris brought and glanced through them.

After reviewing the applications, Kylie smiled enigmatically once more.

In Kylie’s smile, Eddie was reminded of the Dowager Empress in her youth.

‘She certainly resembles her great-aunt.’

It wasn’t just her appearance; the very aura she exuded was filled with the spirit of the Penrose family.

Kylie handed the applications she had finished reading back to Chris.

Then she looked at the calendar on the wall and asked Chris.

“When did you say the coach’s inspection trip ends?”

“Until the 2nd of next month. He won’t be back for another two weeks.”

“Hmm… then we’ll have to proceed with recruiting new members on our own.”

Kylie thought for a moment and then quickly came to a conclusion.

“Chris, interview them and schedule a test. I’m going to practice.”

“Yes, senior.”

With those words, Kylie packed her bag and racket and left the club room.

She didn’t even glance at Eddie and Joy.

‘What, are we rejected?’

‘We haven’t even had the interview yet. This is just the beginning, so calm down.’

* * *

The interview was over quickly.

Chris, the vice-captain of Plameus, asked only a few simple questions before immediately scheduling a practical test for the two of them.

The fact that Kylie had left him in charge of the interview meant that they were at least confirmed as regular members.

There was no reason to drag out either the interview or the practical test.

“After school tomorrow should be good. Are you both free then?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Then come to the 1st Practice Field by 4 o’clock tomorrow.”

And so, Eddie and Joy were back outside just five minutes after entering the club room.

The plan had progressed more quickly than expected, leaving both of them somewhat bewildered.

“So we just have to go there by 4 o’clock tomorrow?”

“…For now, yes.”

Eddie walked slowly with Joy, lost in thought.

He recalled Kylie’s appearance and attitude from a moment ago.

She had shown interest in Eddie and Joy, but it didn’t seem to be anything more than that.

‘I even went so far as to ask Leo to make sure the coach was absent.’

Eddie murmured to himself, recalling his conversation with Leodimir yesterday.

After sending Joy back, Eddie had discussed the plan to join Plameus with Leodimir.

There, Leodimir had nagged him not as a disciple, but as the Dean.

“It seems like a good way to open a path to approach Kylie. And for your rehabilitation, Master.”

“My rehabilitation? The training at the Pantheon is sufficient for that.”

“Still, building up your muscles will make it easier to endure the pain. And considering the future plans, you need to build up more stamina.”

At the unexpected nagging, Eddie smiled awkwardly.

He had no intention of getting lazy and fat, but in his past life and this one, he had never been particularly interested in exercise.

But thinking about the things to come, stamina was indeed important.

Leodimir, noticing that Eddie had run out of rebuttals, continued his nagging.

Since he was joining Plameus anyway, he should try to develop a hobby for Rancross in this life.

It was important to build up his body to adapt to the fragment of Rakan’s Claw.

Eddie let the nagging go in one ear and out the other.

And before Leodimir could notice, he quickly made the request he had intended to.

“Could you make sure the coach of Plameus is absent for at least a week?”

“The coach?”

“It’s to eliminate any room for the coach to intervene in the decision of Joy’s and my admission. The decision must be made solely by Kylie.”

“Hmm… indeed. The vice-captains will follow Kylie’s opinion anyway, so if the coach is absent, the decision of acceptance or rejection will be determined solely by Kylie’s opinion.”

“Yes. So please make sure the coach is away during that time.”

“Understood. The on-site inspection for Plameus' training camp location was scheduled anyway, so I’ll move that schedule forward.”

There was such a backstory to the coach’s inspection trip that Chris had mentioned.

And in that gap, Eddie and Joy had applied for membership… but Kylie’s reaction was unexpected.

Was it a nonchalance that meant she didn't care what decision was made?

Such an indifferent reaction did not easily allow one to guess her inner thoughts.

‘Well… for now, it’s best to think positively.’

With that thought, Eddie walked on with Joy.

* * *

The next day after school.

Eddie and Joy headed to the 1st Practice Field for the Plameus practical test.

At the field, the Plameus players were training, and Kylie was supervising them.

“Wow… this sport is even cooler than I heard…”

Joy murmured in admiration as she watched the players swinging their rackets.

Her hands were fidgeting, as if she wanted to jump in and play with them right away.

It had been a while since Eddie had seen Rancross too, so he watched the players with a sense of enjoyment for a moment.

Pang-! Pang-!!

Swoosh-!

When a player struck the ball, called a ‘glob,’ with a mana-infused racket, the ball flew into the mana pool installed behind the opponent’s court.

“That mana pool is the ‘house’ that acts as the goal. You saw it in the book I gave you, right?”

“Yeah. The team that gets more globs into the opponent’s ‘house’ wins, that’s the basic rule.”

“Right. And the skill of using magic is…”

“Only three times per set.”

“You’re a quick learner.”

Eddie looked at Joy with a smile, as if to say ‘not bad.’

He had been worried that Joy wouldn’t know much about Rancross since it was a sport enjoyed by the upper class, but like the hard worker she was, she seemed to have learned the theory overnight.

“The library?”

“Yeah.”

When he asked if she had studied it from a book borrowed from the library, Joy gave a short affirmation.

Just then, Kylie, who had spotted the two of them, stopped the players’ training.

“Take a short break. We’ll resume after the applicants’ practical test.”

At the word ‘applicants,’ the players lowered their rackets and looked towards the entrance of the field.

And when they saw Eddie and Joy, they reacted just like Chris had yesterday and started murmuring among themselves.

Most of them hadn’t been in the club room yesterday, so they were quite puzzled to see Eddie and Joy there for a test.

But that commotion was only for a moment.

“Break!”

When Chris shouted Kylie’s order, the players immediately stopped murmuring and gathered.

They no longer chattered about Eddie and Joy’s arrival.

It was a display of Kylie’s absolute authority within the team.

“You two, come here.”

Kylie called Eddie and Joy in a cheerful, yet disciplined voice.

The two vice-captains standing next to her followed, handing them equipment and explaining the rules.

Eddie, who already knew all the rules, let them go in one ear and out the other, observing Kylie’s mood.

As expected, she didn’t seem to have any special interest in him and Joy, just like yesterday.

After all the explanations were finished, Eddie and Joy stood on the court.

On the opposite court, a Plameus player stood ready to be their test opponent.

The judgment was the two vice-captains’ job.

Kylie just watched quietly.

“Alright, shall we begin? Joy, you’re up first. Angela will serve.”

“Yes.”

“Begin.”

At Kylie’s signal, the player standing in front of Joy threw the glob.

Pang-!

The glob, struck by the racket, flew quickly towards Joy.

.

.

.

The practical test was completely different from the interview.

It wasn't simple, nor did it end quickly.

“Hoo… hoo…”

After finishing the test, Eddie swept back his sweat-drenched hair.

‘It’s been a while since I had a proper workout, and it’s quite tiring.’

Eddie gasped for breath and gulped down the water handed to him by the player who had been his test opponent.

He felt like he understood why Leodimir had nagged him to get some exercise on this occasion.

‘I’ve been focusing too much on strengthening my mana. My pure physical strength is a complete mess.’

Eddie sighed softly as he wiped his sweat.

As he had expected, his Rancross skills were terrible in this life as well.

At least the power of his glob strikes was supplemented by his outstanding mana, but everything else was poor.

In areas requiring athletic sense, even his minor movements were clumsy.

And on the other hand, Joy was, as expected, excellent.

She returned every ball hit by her opponent and sent it into the house.

And the power in her stance was strong thanks to her natural muscular strength.

‘She even made an effort to learn the rules beforehand, so the Plameus players are looking at her favorably.’

Eddie handed Joy a water bottle and gave her a look filled with praise.

Joy also seemed pleased, having played to her satisfaction.

Just then, Kylie, who had finished discussing with the vice-captains, approached the two of them.

“Alright, I will now announce the results of the two applicants’ practical test.”

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