Chapter 380: Master Of Negotiation

While Astrid stood rigid, internally conflicted, Nuri saw a spark of opportunity in the chaos.

Her molten eyes gleamed mischievously as she floated over to Mika’s side.

With a confident flutter of her wings, she landed softly behind him and patted his head like a proud owner greeting a favorite pet.

"I agree with that bald human over there." She said brightly. "And I completely vouch for Mika. With him on our side, we can definitely beat the human team and it won’t even be a challenge..."

"...it will be a massacre."

Her tone was so cheerful and confident that for a moment, everyone on the demi-human side froze.

Then came the outcry.

"My lady, please reconsider!" One of the dryads cried out. "This match will represent the entire demi-human race! If we lose, our reputation will suffer!"

Another added, "He’s just one boy! Even if he’s good, it’s madness to depend on him alone!"

Then came the final insult, one of the younger dog-kin sneered.

"Not to mention, he’s a cursed human! You can’t possibly—"

Before he could even finish, the air temperature spiked.

Nuri’s eyes sharpened like a predator’s, and her sweet expression vanished.

Two glowing sparks of flame appeared at the tips of her black horns as she glared at the boy.

"I don’t care what you call Mika when I’m not around." She said in a low, dangerous tone. "That’s your choice. But if you ever call him a cursed human in front of me again..."

Her flames flickered brighter, the heat rolling off her like an inferno.

"I’ll burn you to ashes on the spot."

The boy’s face went pale, and his mouth snapped shut immediately. He stumbled backward, trembling, as whispers spread through the demi-human crowd.

No one had ever seen Princess Nuri—the sweet, childish, cheerful Nuri look that terrifying.

But as quickly as her fury appeared, it vanished.

Her smile returned like sunshine after a storm.

"Anyway!"

She said cheerfully, wrapping her arms around Mika’s neck from behind and hugging him tightly.

"It’s decided! Mika will represent us!"

She rested her chin on his shoulder, still smiling.

"Since I’m the one who makes decisions for the demi-human race, no one’s allowed to object. Got it?"

Her words left the demi-humans groaning in resignation.

Even though most of them still didn’t believe in Mika’s ability to win, they had no choice but to accept their princess’s command, already convinced they were doomed.

Meanwhile, the humans were practically grinning from ear to ear, convinced they’d just been handed an easy victory.

"This is going to be the easiest win of the century." One snickered.

"Guess we’ll get to see the ’legendary cursed boy’ trip over a ball." Another whispered.

Others mocked Astrid’s earlier claim, saying she was "too emotional" and "clearly obsessed with that cursed boy."

But Astrid herself wasn’t listening to any of it.

Her sharp gaze was locked solely on Nuri—specifically, on the way the dragon princess’s arms were wrapped around Mika’s neck and how affectionately she was pressed against him.

Her brow twitched.

"I don’t think you should be holding Mika like that."

She said suddenly, her voice laced with irritation.

"It’s inappropriate. Take your hands off him this instant."

Nuri blinked, startled by the command.

For a split second, she instinctively loosened her grip.

But then, realizing she was letting fear control her, she quickly tightened her hold again and looked Astrid dead in the eye.

"Why do you care, Astrid?" She asked sweetly. "You’re not related to Mika, are you? You said so yourself, remember? You’re not his sister, not his friend, not his accomplice—just enemies, right?"

Her smirk widened.

"So why should it bother you if I hug your enemy?"

Astrid’s lips twitched dangerously.

"It’s inappropriate." She repeated stiffly. "This is an academy, not a playground. A man and woman should maintain proper distance from each other."

Nuri rolled her eyes dramatically. "Oh please. You’re just jealous."

Astrid’s aura flared instantly—the wind around her exploded outward, and the humans behind her stumbled back several steps, shielding their faces from the sudden pressure.

"Jealous?" She echoed in disbelief. "Jealous?!"

"Yes, jealous." Nuri said teasingly. "You’re the one who pushed him away, remember? Don’t blame me because you made that choice."

The veins on Astrid’s temple throbbed. Her tails flickered with energy, and the ground beneath her cracked slightly.

Mika sighed, glancing between them wearily.

"Nuri, stop intimidating her." He muttered. "If you keep pushing, she’ll actually pounce on you."

"Don’t scold me, Mika! Scold her!" Nuri pouted, hugging him tighter. "She’s the one being ridiculous!"

"She’s being herself." Mika replied dryly. "You know how stubborn she gets."

He looked at Astrid then—not with annoyance, but with a kind of gentle understanding.

"And you." He said softly. "You should know that acting like this won’t get you closer to her either."

At those words, a flicker of emotion crossed Nuri’s face—something only Mika noticed.

There was more behind her rivalry with Astrid than anyone realized. Something personal. Something that both of them, and only them, knew.

But there wasn’t time for that now.

The atmosphere was still charged, both sides glaring daggers at one another.

Mika exhaled deeply and straightened up, brushing off Nuri’s hold just enough to step forward.

"Alright." He said, his voice calm but firm. "I think it’s about time we end this."

Astrid’s eyes flicked toward him instantly.

"I haven’t even had lunch yet."

He added flatly, earning a few awkward chuckles from the crowd.

"So let’s just go with what Mr. Regan suggested. We’ll settle it with a football match."

The moment those words left his mouth, Astrid immediately stepped forward, shouting.

"No! That’s not fair at all! I won’t accept that!"

But Mika simply raised his hand, signaling her to wait.

"Hold on. I never finished." He said evenly.

Everyone went quiet.

"When I say I’ll participate." Mika continued. "I mean only me. From our side, it’ll just be me."

The crowd gasped.

"Yeah. One versus your entire team." Mika shrugged casually. "They can use whoever they want. It’ll still be fair, don’t you think?"

Whispers surged through the crowd.

"He’s lost it."

"He’s actually challenging the entire human team!"

"Does he think he’s some kind of hero?!"

Even some of the demi-humans buried their faces in their hands, muttering in despair.

Nuri, on the other hand, looked completely confident.

"Come on, Astrid, don’t make that face! It’s literally one person against ten people—ten professionals, mind you."

"They’ve trained their whole lives for this, or, well...as much of a life as humans get."

She grinned in a taunting manner.

"You can’t possibly say this is still unfair, right? If anything, it’d be humiliating if you still don’t accept something like this."

The human players behind Astrid immediately exploded in outrage.

"She’s mocking us!"

"Agree to it, Lady Astrid! Let’s destroy them!"

"Yeah, we’ll crush that boy and humiliate him right in front of everyone!"

Their captain clenched his fists, gritting his teeth.

"This is perfect. Let’s show them what we’re made of."

But Astrid still didn’t move. Her eyes flicked briefly toward Mika and then back to Nuri.

There was hesitation—cold, calculating hesitation.

Seeing that, Nuri smirked wider.

"You know what? Fine." She said sweetly. "Since you’re still so against it, how about I make it even better for you?"

Astrid raised an eyebrow. "Better?"

"Yep." Nuri held up two fingers. "Instead of ten people fighting against him, you can have twenty!"

The entire field went dead silent.

"W-What?!" Someone finally shouted.

"You heard me!" Nuri said cheerfully. "Instead of 10v1, it’ll be 20v1! You can add ten more players! Surely that’s fair, right?"

There was a brief pause—and then an explosion of angry voices from the human side.

"Who does she think she is?!"

"She’s mocking us even more now!"

"This is absurd!"

"She’s underestimating humans way too much!"

The football captain, his veins bulging, slammed his fist into his palm and growled.

"Enough of this! Let’s play and destroy him already! I’m not going to stand here and be insulted by some dragon girl who thinks we’re weak!"

The rest of the human players roared in agreement, stamping their feet against the ground, the tension rising again.

Meanwhile, Nuri continued to smile triumphantly, holding Mika even tighter as though she had just negotiated a masterpiece.

Astrid finally exhaled, her patience wearing thin.

Seeing Nuri taunting her so shamelessly and her own team practically begging to fight, she knew she had no choice.

"Fine." She said sharply, her voice cutting through the noise like a blade. "We’ll go with what you’re saying."

The humans cheered loudly. The demi-humans groaned.

But before Nuri could celebrate, Astrid added coolly,

"However, there’s one more condition."

Her eyes locked onto Mika.

"He’s not allowed to leave the goalpost. He’ll stay there as goalkeeper, and he’s not to step onto the pitch. At all."

A wave of murmurs rolled through the crowd.

The human players looked insulted—even they couldn’t believe their leader was speaking with that little faith in them.

Meanwhile, the demi-humans wanted to scream.

"That’s too much!"

"He can’t even move?!"

"This is suicide!"

But Nuri didn’t even blink.

"Sure, sure!" She chirped. "Totally fair! Mika will agree."

Regan blinked in disbelief. "He will?"

Mika, still standing there calmly, sighed.

"Apparently, I will."

Nuri turned to Astrid with a smug grin.

"But! Someone still has to play on the pitch, right? So I’ll join too. That makes it fair."

Astrid clicked her tongue.

"Tch. Fine. If you insist, then so be it."

"Perfect!" Nuri said in a absolute joy, fluttering her wings and looking very pleased with herself. "See? Easy negotiation! No bloodshed, no fighting! My father would be so proud of my diplomatic skills!"

She turned to Mika with sparkling eyes.

"Well? What about you, Mika? Are you proud of me too? I did such a good job, didn’t I?"

Mika gave her a blank look.

"Yeah, Nuri, sure. If ’good job’ means you negotiated me into fighting twenty people while I’m stuck in one spot, then yeah. Excellent work."

Nuri beamed proudly, completely missing the sarcasm behind his words.