The traffic congestion in Beriton was a dreadful situation that far exceeded Luke’s expectations.
How could he possibly be completely immobile on the road, even after taking the bus?
At this rate, reaching his destination on time was going to be nearly impossible.
So, reluctantly, Luke got off the bus and ran like a madman.
“Huff, huff…”
Barely managing to arrive at the mage tower, Luke gasped for breath while rubbing his waist and muttering.
“Ow, my back. It’s been a while since I ran without the help of magic, and I feel like I’m dying…!”
Having spent his whole life with magic, it had truly been a long time since he had relied solely on physical abilities.
Whenever there was a need for movement, he would always use various buff spells, such as ‘Enhance Body’ to strengthen his physical prowess, ‘Haste’ to increase his speed, or ‘Strength’ to dramatically boost his force.
However, this time, Luke could not use any of those spells.
There was no helping it.
To avoid any traces of buff spells that might lead to accusations of cheating, he had dispelled everything, including Polymorph, the night before, and even thinking of using Enhance Body or Haste at this point was absurd.
Thus, he had to run at full speed for a solid 40 minutes without the aid of magic just to barely arrive in time for the exam.
If Luke hadn’t left early to check out the ‘World Tree’s Gate,’ it would have been impossible from the start.
‘Moreover, my body’s performance itself was quite good.’
If it had been his old human body, even in his prime at twenty, he would have collapsed in less than 20 minutes, and he could guarantee that.
No, if he were in that dying body, he probably wouldn’t have lasted even 10 seconds.
But this body was capable of maintaining maximum speed for 40 minutes.
He felt like he was going to die, though.
The body of an immortal wouldn’t just die from exhaustion, but still, it was painful not being able to breathe well.
“Huff, huff, whew…”
Finally catching his breath and quickly wiping the sweat away with his handkerchief, Luke wrung out the thoroughly damp cloth and looked around.
“So, where’s the examination room?”
He was sure he had heard them say where to go, but just going by the names, it was difficult to pinpoint exactly where in this vast mage tower.
Maybe they had remodeled it recently for the Spirit Festival; the map and structure looked slightly different from what Luke remembered.
It would be nice to find a signpost at times like this, but maybe it was because he was feeling anxious that he couldn’t see one.
Luke lamented.
‘If only I had arrived on time, I could have just followed the people in uniforms.’
Wasn’t the Spirit Festival meant to be spent at home with family?
He just couldn’t understand why the traffic was so congested.
Not just the cars, but even the people on the sidewalks were so crowded that he couldn’t run properly.
Luke thought he couldn’t trust any information he got from computers.
“There are too many liars on computers!”
Luke was angry, but it was primarily a fury directed at his own foolishness.
Why had he been so naive as to believe the information written on the computer?
Hadn’t he promised himself to never trust any information blindly?
“I should have checked twice or even thrice.”
Why had he acted so carelessly!
To be honest, Luke found it bothersome.
It seemed far more interesting to search for cute cat videos or intriguing magical theories than to dig through whether that kind of information was correct, and that was mostly what he had done.
And the result was this.
Being late for such an important exam.
Because of this blunder, he wouldn’t be able to take the test, and if he couldn’t take the exam, he wouldn’t be able to receive any awards and early graduation would also be impossible.
Moreover, he felt awful for Solit, who had brought him all the way here and helped him with various things.
Right now, it wasn’t important that he couldn’t take the exam.
Luke wiped his eyes, frustrated with his own foolishness.
Tears fell as if he were but a child.
“…Pathetic.”
He didn’t quite understand why he could shed tears over something like this; it was bizarre.
Had his heart softened due to divine power and spirits?
It was something he would never have cried over in the past.
At that moment, someone approached Luke and spoke.
“Hey, kid, what are you doing there?”
Luke looked up at the adult’s face looking at him.
Seeing the word “Guide” on the person’s vest, which seemed to express concern for him, Luke suddenly had a thought.
“Oh….”
Could he just ask the guide where to go?
Realizing that, as a mage who was supposed to be a pillar of reason, he hadn’t thought of it sooner made Luke feel increasingly embarrassed.
“…”
‘The influence of divine power is too strong.’
He decided that even if he was in a hurry, he wouldn’t use his wings.
…Even if he did, he wouldn’t be able to fly properly without magic, just causing pain in his back.
————
In the staff lounge of the White Tower.
There, Luke was recounting why he had been arguing with the ticket inspector.
“…So, I was having a tug-of-war there.”
“Ah, I see?”
Gerard nodded as he spoke.
Indeed, the traffic congestion during the Spirit Festival in Beriton was quite severe.
Luke must have made a mistake because he wasn’t used to it.
But to have run at full speed for 40 minutes to adjust the timing was quite impressive.
He himself couldn’t run full speed for even 5 minutes.
Is it really because he was young?
With a voice full of gratitude, Luke said, “Phew. Really, thank you. If you hadn’t volunteered as my guardian, I probably wouldn’t have been able to take the exam.”
“Haha, what’s such a big deal?”
Regardless of the late hour, Luke ultimately got to take the exam.
Gerard had guaranteed that Luke on the identification was indeed him.
It was proper for a guardian to come, but since Gerard was a summoned mage, he was able to explain it well.
And fortunately, the late verification came through as him, so thankfully, there was no issue at all.
“Right, you should have updated your identification photo if your body has grown so much. What would have happened if I hadn’t happened to pass by there?”
Hearing Gerard’s words, Luke awkwardly smiled and replied.
“Haha, you’re right. I was too busy to think about it.”
Luke had grown so quickly that people remarked he looked like the older sister from his identification photo.
Every time Gerard saw Luke, he felt a strange sensation, as if he was getting much older.
It had been less than a year since they first met Luke.
At that moment, an elf, who had been listening to their conversation beside Gerard, interjected and asked.
“So, this child is the creator of the tea we are drinking right now?”
“Yes, he made this tea bag.”
“Wow, that’s amazing!”
He seemed genuinely impressed.
It was only natural since listening to their conversation was enough to make one amazed.
Luke was smart enough to qualify for the International Academy’s Magical Competition, had the stamina and willpower to run for 40 minutes without stopping to avoid being late, and even had a deep understanding of tea ceremony at such a young age.
And he was still only a sophomore in a private academy.
Luke looked at the elf and smiled lightly as he said, “Do you like the tea, Orland?”
The elf, identified as Orland, immediately replied with a bright smile.
“Yes, it’s really good! Can I have some too?”
His eyes sparkled with anticipation.
Luke nodded immediately and replied.
“Haha, sure.”
“Really?”
Luke smirked as he lifted his cup.
“When it becomes a product later, you can buy it at the shop. We’re already discussing it to some extent.”
“…What? What do you mean, a product?”
“A friend’s mom from the academy runs a department store. I think it’s going to progress smoothly.”
At Luke’s bold suggestion, both Gerard and Orland exchanged astonished expressions before bursting out laughing.
If a friend’s mom is the head of the department store, it wasn’t unreasonable at all.
But isn’t it amazing that tea made by a child could be turned into a product?
Orland marveled at yet another one of Luke’s abilities.
“Hahaha! Great, great! I’ll buy it when it’s available. So make sure to let me know when it comes to Beriton.”
“Of course, I’ll definitely let you know.”
“Hahahaha!”
In that cheerful atmosphere, Luke’s phone suddenly rang.
“Oh, hold on. I need to take this call.”
“Sure, go ahead.”
Luke asked for permission and brought the phone to his ear.
“Hello, Solit? How did you get my number? Ah, I couldn’t answer because I was taking a test. Hmm. No, not at all. Why? Ah…was that your bodyguard? Hmm, I thought it was an escort. Um, alright. Please apologize on my behalf. Thanks.”
Click.
After briefly finishing the call, Luke sighed and muttered.
“Phew, that was close.”
Seeing Luke’s reaction, Gerard couldn’t contain his curiosity.
“What was that call about?”
“Oh, it’s about that.”
Luke hesitated, wondering if he should really share, but knowing how hard it was to suppress curiosity, he decided to share a little bit.
“The road to India was congested and difficult. But I felt like some strange people were following me.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. So, to shake off the tail, I decided to run to the roof of the building and jump across. But someone shouted, ‘Student! Don’t jump down from there! Even if you’re late for the exam, you still have a bright future ahead!’ I ignored him and jumped anyway, not knowing it was Solit’s bodyguard.”
Gerard and Orland gasped in unison.
“What?”
So the 40 minutes of full-speed running didn’t mean he was just running along the ground?
Luke really gambled his life for the exam.
“By the way, please don’t tell Yerna about this.”
Gerard looked at Luke with a mixture of disbelief and concern.
“Are you crazy? Aren’t you afraid for your life?”
“Would I really die from that?”
“If you fall from the roof, you’ll die, you idiot!”
“……”
Watching this, Orland felt as though he had come to know most of Luke just from today.
Beneath that seemingly gentle exterior, Luke was quite the eccentric.
