Chapter 81: The Academic Festival at the Castle (2)

As soon as the voice finished speaking, an elderly man with white hair and beard emerged from within the castle gates. Floating beside him were members of Tower of Wishes who had been thrown out earlier.

Upon spotting this, Louis swiftly approached the old man and bowed to him.

“Oh! I wondered where you’d gone!”

“These people… You mean them?”

“Yes! They’re part of our group… In any case, thank you for rescuing us.”

“Hmm… Ha-ha, what a polite young lad.”

The old man casually uttered words that would’ve earned him a mouthful from the unconscious Dexter. He looked upon Louis fondly.

After briefly greeting Louis, the crew rushed to inspect their hovercraft.

“Oh dear…”

The dragon dragon fly had slammed straight through the castle gate, leaving its front end completely crumpled. Thankfully, the beyond technology secured tightly at the back seemed unharmed.

While Louis examined the damage, Dexter regained consciousness.

“Ugh…” He groaned as he came to.

“You’re awake now?” The old man beamed at Dexter.

As his vision slowly cleared, Dexter’s eyes widened upon recognizing the smiling elderly figure before him. Shocked, he blurted out:

“R-Ron Gremillion!”

Despite being a recluse who spent most of his time researching in his lab, Dexter was well aware of Ron’s reputation across the continent for several decades now.

“Heh-heh, I’ll let you down gently.” Thanks to Ron, Dexter landed safely on the ground, but his legs buckled, and he collapsed onto the floor.

Ron sounded concerned. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. More importantly…” Dexter gritted his teeth as he watched Louis inspecting the dragon fly.

“You, y-you… Goyan!” Despite arriving late, it had been the roughest ride of Dexter’s life. He felt like years were shaved off his already-short lifespan.

Louis finally noticed Dexter fuming from where he sat on the floor. “Oh? You’re awake?”

“Inseok! Are people not more important than objects?”

“The beyond technology is malfunctioning, Mr. Haldeman.”

“What?!” Dexter sprang to his feet at Louis’s words without even checking on his unconscious disciples first.

However, before he could rush off, Louis grinned and spoke again.

“Heh-heh, I’m just kidding.”

“…”

“See, you prioritize that thing over people too, old man.”

“…”

Dexter trembled uncontrollably, momentarily speechless. His face conveyed his desire to punch Louis, while Louis wore a challenging expression daring him to try it. Ron observed their interaction with fascination.

Louis finally noticed Ron watching them.

“Oh, right. This white-haired fellow here saved our Tower Master’s life.”

“H-hey, Mr. Haldeman?”

“Ha-ha-ha.” Louis’s audacity caught Dexter off guard, while Ron chuckled.

Dexter cautiously probed, “…Do you not know who he is?”

“Should I?”

“Well, no, but…”

Few people on the Fall Continent hadn’t seen Ron’s portrait at least once.

Just then, Louis snapped his fingers. “Ah! I think I got it.” He nodded confidently. “Are you someone involved with the academic festival?”

“…”

“By any chance, where do we register for the event?”

“Heh-heh-heh…” Ron laughed heartily, feeling genuinely refreshed after quite some time.

Embarrassment fell upon Dexter as he blushed and stammered, “M-my apologies. He’s still inexperienced…”

“It’s all right. It is rather odd that everyone knows this old man.” Ron waved it off with a smile and turned to Louis. “By the way, registration for the academic festival… I believe yesterday was the last day, wasn’t it?”

“…?!” Dexter froze as soon as Ron finished speaking, causing Louis to stop abruptly as well.

Louis yelled at Dexter, “What have you done?! We’re late because of Mr. Haldeman!”

“I-it’s just that—”

“What now?!”

“Well, indeed…”

Despite their hard work preparing for the academic festival…all their efforts were about to go down the drain due to one wrong turn.

Ron interrupted their conversation. “Don’t worry too much; there’s still additional registration.”

“Oh…” Dexter felt relieved.

On the other hand, Louis looked disgruntled, wondering why Ron hadn’t mentioned it earlier.

Just then…

“Huh?” As Louis processed the situation, his attention finally shifted to what was happening inside the castle gates.

Who are all these people?

A group clad in pristine white robes stood spread out near the entrance, followed by numerous others lined up behind them. Among this crowd—

Wait…?

Louis spotted some familiar faces. They noticed him as well and rushed over with joy.

“Louise! It’s Louise!”

“Our very own Louise!”

It was Aiden, the vice tower master of the Tower of Dawn, and Logan, the vice tower master of Dusk Academy.

They were ecstatic to find the child they had been searching for day and night, as if reunited with their long-lost offspring. On the other hand, Louis’s face twisted in dismay.

What are these humans doing here?!

Honestly, it was quite plausible. Since this gathering included all the fall-division towers from across the continent, there was no way vice masters of such prestigious towers would miss out on attending.

“Ugh!” Louis pouted, clearly displeased.

“Wahh… Do you know how hard we searched for you?”

“Louis… Our Louis!”

The overzealous behavior of the vice tower masters caught even their own members off guard. However, what happened next left everyone utterly bewildered.

“Who are you?” Louis asked innocently, tilting his head quizzically.

“What?”

“Huh?”

Logan and Aiden blinked in surprise.

“You… You don’t recognize me? It’s Aiden!”

“I’m Logan!”

“Well, I’ve never seen you before,” Louis insisted, feigning ignorance. He knew pretending not to know them would save him trouble later. They were already drawing too much attention as it was.

If I acknowledge them here, things will definitely get complicated.

Louis’s instincts warned him of this, so playing dumb seemed like the best course of action. His act infuriated both Aiden and Logan, who tried various ways to jog his memory.

“Excuse us! Please step aside!”

A group of six people pushed their way through the crowd surrounding the city gates. Dressed in expensive attire, they rushed toward Louis and his entourage. One individual stepped forward as their representative.

“I-I beg your pardon, but the first event of the academic festival is currently underway. You cannot suddenly leave during the procession…” The man appeared to be a high-ranking official overseeing the festival, yet he could not raise his voice at Ron, Tower Master of Luminosity, or the vice tower masters from Dawn and Dusk Towers. Apologizing profusely was all he could do.

Seeing the sweating man pleading earnestly, Ron felt slightly guilty. “Ha-ha, my apologies. We were just curious about the sudden commotion.”

“Oh n-no, you’re absolutely right.” The incident with Louis and the dragon dragon fly had been unexpected, but it was crucial to start things off on the right foot. They needed to ensure that the first event, the parade, went smoothly.

Ron nodded at the desperate look from the emcee pleading for them to leave.

“I’ll be heading back shortly.”

“R-really? Thank you!” The relieved emcee hastily bowed before turning his attention to the other two vice tower masters. “Um… And you two?”

“No way!”

“Not happening!”

Logan and Aiden frantically yelled as they clung tightly to Louis. Sighs escaped members of Dusk and Dawn, who promptly grabbed each vice tower master by their arms.

“Let go of me, you bastards!”

“I said let go!”

“What’s wrong with you guys? This is embarrassing! Just leave already.”

“No way!”

Despite their desperate attempts to stay, they were forcibly escorted away amidst their protests.

“You can’t just—”

“I’ll be right back, so wait for me!”

With those two finally joining the departing crowd…

“Phew… They’re gone.” Louis breathed a sigh of relief as the pesky pair was out of his hair.

However, not everything had been resolved yet.

“What exactly is going on here?” The agent who had been gentle with Ron, Aiden, and Logan now turned brusquely toward Louis and Dexter.

Louis, guilty as charged, felt like his shoulders were being stabbed by invisible daggers. He slowly retreated and hid behind the dragon fly.

Dexter was flustered at Louis’s antics.

Y-you sneaky little brat!

Who would’ve believed it anyway?

Even if Dexter explained, no one would have guessed that a ten-year-old kid had been driving the dragon-shaped aircraft when it crashed through the castle gates.

As such, all the blame fell on Dexter, who desperately tried to make excuses for himself.

“L-listen… I didn’t do—”

“What am I supposed to listen to? Are you suggesting this child flew the thing into the wall? You should know better than to shirk responsibility. If you made a mistake, then own up to it!”

“…”

Right, yes. The kid did it. Dexter was about to blurt out those words but stopped himself, not wanting to be that shameless old man who blamed everything on children. He resignedly closed his mouth.

“In any case, get rid of this thing immediately! And I’ll bill you separately for the repair costs of the gate, so keep an eye out for that. No, wait—come with me first. We need to file an incident report!”

“…Understood.” Louis cautiously peeked from behind the dragon fly. When Dexter glared at him, he quickly hid again.

The furious warden dragged Dexter away.

A short while later…

“…Are they gone?”

In the midst of the eerie silence, his white head popped up from behind the dragon fly.

“Louis, can we go now?”

“Can we leave?” The twins’ heads emerged on either side of Louis as they fidgeted impatiently to get going.

Louis pushed their heads back down. “No, stay put.”

“Awww…”

“You’re mean, Louis…”

After shoving the twins aside, Louis dragged the unconscious bodies he had collected earlier and laid them off to one side.

“Hmm…” He scratched his chin thoughtfully.

Dexter would likely be gone for quite some time.

Before anything else…

Should I start with fixing my ride first?

He decided to repair his malfunctioning dragon dragon fly.

After Louis and Twilight Wish’s grand entrance into Lumashia, several hours had passed, yet Dexter still hadn’t returned from his errand. Instead, someone else unexpectedly showed up to fill the void left by Dexter’s absence.

“Oh? What is this used for?” The protagonist was Ron, an old man with silvery white hair.

Aiden and Logan were expected back soon, but it was this stranger who arrived first. He circled around the dragon fly, taking in the sight.

Is it a ship or a horse-drawn carriage?

The lack of wheels fascinated him. He couldn’t comprehend how such a vehicle managed to roll all the way here and crash into the city walls. But above all, what truly captured Ron’s interest was a young child on board.

Clickety-clack…

Louis, attached to the peculiar vessel, was diligently fiddling with something. Ron’s gaze fixated on the boy’s round head.