Special Chapter VII - First Flight (part 1)

Julius lit up his cigarette and leaned his back at the stone wall.

I had no idea he smoked, though I don't really care.

On the same side of the stone wall on this roof, I sat down with my foot hanging above tens of meters from the ground. 

Right now, we are on the roof of the class building, at the very far edge away from everyone else on the back field doing the ceremony.

Julius didn't lead me away too far, and we ended up picking the corner of the roof. I know he wants to talk about something, because he suddenly lit up his cigarette.

"In the academy grounds, smoking is not allowed, you know?"

I said to him while still keeping my gaze towards the view in front of me. Next to me, Julius chuckled while throwing smoke out from his mouth.

"And who's going to punish me? The student council vice president?"

"Heh. Naah…"

Obviously, it will be too much work to report him. Plus, it's not like I ever reported any smokers in the academy, or any rule breakers in general.

After all, I too am a rule breaker myself. Who needs rules?

"That was very bold of you, wearing that robe in front of so many people."

He suddenly said, and I know why he said that. Wearing that robe is a big deal, after all.

"Ah, this. Veneo said to only wear it when it's necessary."

"I guess that was the perfect timing. But if you didn't say that last line, how Veneo lent it to you, you might just get reported to the mage corps."

"Hmm, true."

"… But… he didn't."

I turned my gaze to Julius, who was grinning by himself.

"Why are you smiling so weirdly, damn weird old man."

"You are an even more bastard than my bastard son, you know that!?

It's just funny to me, that there's people like you out there already doing great things at your age."

I know from his words and tone, that he was being jealous. 

For him, who is an arch mage in his forties, becoming that strong is already a great thing. When he found out there's someone like me, who is just as old as his son, but is already much more amazing than he is…

"I know it's painful. Seeing someone much younger than you being this amazing. But don't worry, because there is only me."

Julius turned his annoyed face to me.

"You are extremely arrogant, you know that?"

"I'm not kidding. Go ahead and search the entire continent."

Julius chuckled, and threw away his smoke that was already completely smoked out. I noticed the thing he just threw, and got quite annoyed by it.

"I know that Veneo didn't 'Lend' it to you. He gave it to you, didn't he?"

"And what if he did?"

Julius laughed again, and stepped on the cigarette on the ground to kill it.

"Say, why would you scare the students like that? Saying that they can die and everything."

"Well, the ceremony would be boring if I didn't."

"Does everything have to be fun to you…?"

I chuckled and noticed a presence coming. I stood up above the stone wall and stared behind me, where the presence was arriving and slowly landing.

Me and the arch-mage turned around and found out who it was, and we wore very different faces.

Immediately, I know what I have to do.

"Ah… shit."

"Headmaster!! This old creep is smoking!!"

"Julius, you dumbass!!!"

.

Thanks to me and Julius' insanely quick preparations, the internship tour was ready to go by next week.

Technically I won the bet, since I finished my side of the business one week earlier than him. But since the bet was never fair to begin with, I will have to show mercy on my request later.

The night before the departure, all the students from all the years have already prepared. They cleaned their dorms, packed their stuff, and slept early for tomorrow.

The academy is also preparing. They cleaned the classrooms earlier and began closing the unused buildings, like the classes building. Some buildings like the central building and the clubs building were left open, because who knows when the students will come back during the tour.

But the main reason why the clubs building was left open was per request from the student council. Quill wants it to stay open so student council members can come to the student council office at any time, and I assumed he is doing it for me.

The next day is the day of the departure. All the students are told to line up on the back field for a slight ceremony right before we leave. The point was simply to read the rules and things to note for the students, so that they won't be making any troubles during the internship tour.

Veneo read the notes himself, and next to him is a Wizard ranked mage who came to pick up the students. Wizard rank is above every rank except for arch-mage and Master Wizard, so it's technically the third highest rank in the kingdom.

Seeing him here was quite surprising for the students, and yet they forgot that the headmaster also has a similar rank.

Veneo is a Master Wizard, a rank second only to the arch mage. He had such a high rank, and yet everyone still seemed to forget.

Probably because of how alienated he is from the rest of the mage corps. He is like that weirdo in the club, after all.

After the ceremony, it's time for actual departure. I was quite confused as to why there are no carriages on the front side of the academy, that's when I realized why they called in a Wizard ranked mage here.

The students around me also looked quite confused as to what transportation method it will be. While still being in the midst of these students, I laughed.

"I hope you guys aren't too scared of heights."

I said loudly, and it was heard by all the rows around me. A few rows of second years, as well as the third years on my right. 

They were quite confused as to why I announced that, and then the Wizard took a step forward on the podium.

"Everyone, please do not panic during the transport."

The Wizard announced on the mic, and all the students became widely confused. He lifted both of his hands upwards, and the wind pressure around us became much lighter than before.

No, not the wind pressure. It's us.

Our bodies became lighter. Slowly, our clothes levitate, and so is our entire body. Our foot was lifted from the ground and slowly went higher by one centimeter per second.

"W-Waaa???"

"What the hell!?"

"I'm afraid of heights!! Wait!!"

I can hear multiple screams around me that came from the students who can't fly. As we slowly ascended the tenth meter above the ground, Verida turned her gaze to me.

"Was this how it feels to fly?"

"No, this is just levitation. Wait until we start moving."

She turned towards the Wizard, who was also floating in front of us. Veneo is right behind him, and he looked quite concentrated in lifting so many students at once.

"Gyahahah!! You have gotten old, Keiron."

Veneo laughed while patting the shoulder of the Wizard. The Wizard was not quite happy about it, in fact he looked like he was about to bark.

"Don't touch me, Veneo! I'm concentrating!"

The Wizard seemed to be concentrating really hard lifting nearly four hundred students at once. Well, it's not really an easy task, after all. He continued and turned our direction towards the kingdom's floating island, and he pushed us forward.

And now, we are flying.