Chapter 80: The Academic Festival at the Tower (1)

In total, there were one hundred individuals who emerged lastly, nearly double the size of any previous group from the other towers. They all wore spotless white robes, and the disciples of the Tower of Luminosity displayed remarkable energy. Indeed, their presence reflected the might expected of the tower that had long held the top rank on the fall continent.

However, what captured everyone’s attention more than anything was the elderly man leading the procession for the Tower of Luminosity.

“The master of the brightest Fragment of Luminosity!”

“R-Ron! Ron Gremillion!”

Ron Gremillion, the Tower Master of the brightest Fragment of Luminosity, was the most powerful mage on the fall continent, having reached the pinnacle of Tier 1. Parents accompanying their children couldn’t stop talking about him, as his mere presence embodied the epitome of wisdom.

“You should strive to be as great as Ron when you grow up.”

“If you study hard, you too can become someone remarkable like him.”

The children, starry-eyed and completely captivated by the mages from the Tower of Luminosity, nodded eagerly.

As everyone’s attention was focused on the tower, amidst their fervent excitement—

KRRRAAAK!

A loud noise erupted near the castle gates.

“Huh?”

Simultaneously, several figures flew toward them from that direction.

Their identities were…

“People?”

It wasn’t just one but multiple individuals hurtling through the air at once. Ron, who noticed this first, hastily extended his hand.

Six hours before the start of the Academic Festival, Louis and the entourage from the Wish Tower encountered an unexpected obstacle on their journey to the Lumashian Kingdom.

Louis stared at the barren landscape with despair and muttered, “Where are we…?”

The group’s predicament was that they were lost.

Dexter looked flustered as he mumbled, ”…I think we took a wrong turn.”

“But you said this path was correct earlier!”

“I-I’m sure it was right. I distinctly remember…”

As the appointed guide to Lumashia, Dexter appeared quite embarrassed.

The distance between the village where the Wish Tower stood and the capital city of the Lumashian Kingdom typically took a week by horse-drawn carriage.

However, Louis’s hovercraft was several times faster than a horse-drawn carriage. Not only that, but it could glide effortlessly over both land and water, so Louis confidently expected to reach Lumashian quickly. But there was one unexpected obstacle he hadn’t accounted for.

“Grandpa…”

“…”

Louis narrowed his eyes and glared at Dexter.

“When was the last time you visited the Kingdom of Lumashian?”

“…” Dexter avoided eye contact with Louis as he cleared his throat softly. “Ahem! It’s been…about ten years now?”

“…”

Louis continued staring intently, unimpressed by Dexter’s response.

Embarrassed, Dexter muttered, “Honestly, it’s been closer to fifteen years…”

Louis was utterly dumbfounded. It is said that mountains and rivers can change dramatically over ten years, yet here was Dexter guiding them along a path he remembered from fifteen years ago. Louis should’ve realized something wasn’t right when Dexter confidently assured him at the start of their journey that he knew the way. This old man rarely ventured outside his home except for occasional trips to nearby cities when supplies ran low.

“Oh dear…” Sighing softly, Louis scanned the group. “By any chance, does anyone know how to get to Lumashian?”

“…”

Of course, no one dared to make eye contact with him, and Louis scowled deeply at their cowardice.

These useless fools really get on my nerves!

But what could he expect from them? They were the type who would rather stay cooped up all day than venture outside unless it was absolutely necessary for crafting purposes. In the end, Louis had to resolve this predicament himself.

Fortunately, they still had Pablo, a reliable luggage carrier.

“Sigh…Pablo, check the map.”

“Yes, sir.” Pablo swiftly retrieved the map from his pocket and studied it intently, but soon, confusion clouded his face.

“What’s wrong? Do you see something strange?”

“Well…”

After scrutinizing the map from different angles, Pablo asked incredulously, “Isn’t our destination the capital of Lumashia?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Heh-heh…” Pablo chuckled and scratched his head. “We…might’ve gone too far.”

“What?”

“Yesterday…we passed the capital city of Lumashia.”

“…”

The surrounding noise died down completely, replaced by an oppressive silence. It was understandable given they’d missed their destination.

At that moment, Louis’s eyes lit up.

Wait… Yesterday?

A loud exclamation burst out of him. “Hey, old man! See?! I told you we were getting close!”

“Ahem!” The source of Louis’s anger was none other than Dexter.

Dexter turned away in embarrassment. “When I said it seemed about right, you insisted otherwise!”

“I-I’m sorry…”

“Oh, come on!”

The day before, Louis had felt they were entering Lumashian territory. However, Dexter, who had prior experience with Lumashian, firmly stated that this wasn’t the case, and Louis readily accepted his judgment.

‘I should’ve double-checked at that moment…’

Regret wouldn’t change anything now; they had already strayed far past their destination.

Louis gritted his teeth.

“You said one day’s journey?”

“Yes.”

“Fine. Pablo, from now on, give me directions as we go.”

”…What do you plan to do?” Pablo asked cautiously.

As soon as he finished, sparks of anger flashed in Louis’s eyes.

“We have no choice but to push through.”

The Academic Festival was set to begin within hours, and at this rate, they wouldn’t even make it in time for registration.

Louis urgently yelled, “What are you waiting for?! Get on board now!”

“Yes, sir!”

“L-Let’s go!”

Dexter, burdened by his guilt, along with the useless crew of the Wish Tower hastily obeyed Louis’s command and boarded the Dragon Flyho.

Louis took the driver’s seat and cracked his knuckles before stretching and rotating his wrists. He then retrieved two elixirs from a pocket dimension, placed them in Khan and Kani’s mouths, and shouted:

“Twins, full power charge!”

“Charging…powerrr!”

“Powerrr surge!”

As lightning surged through Khan and Kani’s bodies, the Dragon Flyho’s engines rapidly revved up.

Vroooom…

The dragon-shaped flying ship emitted a powerful roar.

“Let’s go!”

Louis stomped hard on the accelerator with his short legs.

With that…

Fwooooooom!

The dragon flying ship shot forward with an enormous sound. The wind smacking their faces made the twins squeal with delight.

“Go, Louis!”

“Faster, faster!”

“If you can keep up, then try me! I am Louis, the Speed Demon!”

The twins were screaming wildly while Louis muttered gibberish. Intoxicated by the thrill of speed, his eyes gleamed maniacally.

As they raced across the flat terrain, the dragon flying ship approached a sharp curve. Louis sharply turned the wheel and yelled,

“Hang on tight! Centrifugal drift!”

The dragon flying ship smoothly glided around the corner without losing momentum.

“Wheee!”

“Louis, this is so much fun! Again, again!”

The twins cheered excitedly as Louis enthusiastically performed continuous inertia drifts. Of course, only three of them were enjoying themselves.

“L-Louis, s-slow down…”

“Ughhh!”

Every time Louis executed an inertia drift, the crew from Tower of Wishes bounced around like rag dolls in their seats behind him. Their faces grew increasingly pale, looking ready to vomit at any moment.

“H-help me…”

Back and forth, zigzagging across the plains at an incredible speed, the Dragon Flyer slipped and slid along effortlessly.

“Let’s go! Lifting turn!”

The Dragon Flyer ascended a low hill, soaring into the air and spinning halfway around before descending.

“Woo-hoo!”

“Aaargh!”

Throughout the journey, cries of joy mixed with screams of agony emanated from within the speeding Dragon Flyer.

Six hours later, Louis continued flying with his half-dead crew on board. The members of the Wish Tower tumbled all over the place as they rolled along. They no longer had the energy to scream.

Just then…

“Oh?! I see it!”

Indeed, there it was—the capital city of Lumashia where the Academic Festival was being held.

Anxiety crept onto Louis’s face.

We’re cutting it close.

Today marked the start of the festival.

If we miss out entirely due to tardiness and not because we failed to qualify, what a humiliation that would be!

With their destination now within sight, Louis urged the ship forward with determination.

When they were about one kilometer away from Lumashia…

I should probably slow down soon.

Louis firmly pressed the brake pedal accordingly.

Suddenly…

“What?” Louis slammed on the brakes again, but they didn’t engage this time.

“Huh?! What?!” He froze for a moment.

Click-click.

Panicking, he repeatedly pressed down on them, yet the Dragon Flyer’s speed remained unchanged.

Did the brake cylinder fail?!

The intense driving had finally taken its toll on the vessel.

Louis bit his lip hard.

Darn it! If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve replaced the brakes with holy magic spells!

Regretting it now wouldn’t help; the damage was done.

While Louis floundered, Pablo managed to regain some composure and cautiously raised his head. Everyone else had passed out long ago due to the rough ride. Barely hanging on, Pablo asked weakly:

“What seems to be…the problem?”

“Oh…” Louis scratched his head and cheerfully replied, “The deceleration mechanism is broken, heh-heh.”

“…”

“No need to worry. With my superb driving skills—!” Louis yanked on the steering wheel sharply.

And at that moment…

Clunk.

The wheel came off in his hand. He should’ve realized it earlier when he aggressively spun the wheel during his drifting stunt. Ordinary metal couldn’t withstand the force of a dragon’s strength.

“Oh dear…?” Holding the detached steering wheel, Louis scratched his head. “Hmm… This could be trouble, ha-ha.”

“…”

Hearing Louis’s overly chipper voice, Pablo turned toward the front again.

The castle loomed larger and larger before his eyes.

“Oh-ho… Gak!” The sight was so shocking that Pablo fainted, his eyes rolling to the back of his head.

Meanwhile, they were rapidly approaching the castle gates.

“Louis, it’s not stopping!”

“Boom! You mean boom?” asked one of the twins with wide-eyed curiosity.

Instead of answering, Louis yelled ahead.

“Everyone, get out of the way!”

At his shout, the soldiers guarding the gate raised their spears and cried out together.

“Who goes there?! Halt!”

“It can’t stop!”

“Stop! Stop!”

“Aghhh! I’m telling you, we can’t brake even if we want to!”

Louis and the soldiers screamed at each other as they drew closer, mere hundreds of meters away from impact. Meanwhile, the dragon-shaped flying ship continued its rapid descent toward the city wall.

“Eeek?!”

The soldiers panicked as the massive object bore down on them like an enraged bull and leaped out of its path just seconds before impact.

BOOM!

The dragon-shaped flying ship slammed directly into the castle gates.

Squeeeeeak.

Shhhhhhhh…

The dragon-shaped flying ship slammed into the castle gates and came to a halt. Smoke billowed from its heated body as it shut down completely.

Louis wiped his sweaty brow. “Whew… It stopped.”

“It stopped!”

“Woooo! That was fun, Louis!” Khan and Kani excitedly bounced up and down like they’d just ridden bumper cars at an amusement park.

Meanwhile, Louis turned around with growing confusion.

“Huh…? Where did they go?”

Everyone else from Tower of Wishes who had been seated behind them had vanished without a trace.

It finally dawned on Louis what had happened.

Oh no… They flew off.

Louis and the twins were awake and braced for impact, but the others hadn’t been able to prepare due to their unconscious state. As a result, they must’ve been flung from the ship upon collision.

I guess this is why we’re supposed to wear seat belts…

The importance of seat belts hit home with Louis. He resolved to install them when he next modified his dragon-shaped flying ship, although it was like fixing the barn door after losing the horse.

While Louis was preoccupied,

“Oh-ho! What’s this thing for?”

A voice came from within the castle gates.