< 88. Shoot for the dawn (1) >
#88
White puffy clouds were gliding beneath the deep blue. After completing training Ronan returned to the club building.
Perhaps because the time zones coincided all the members were gathered together. Marja and Braum were arm wrestling across the bar table.
“Geuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!
Braum applied so much force that he thought the blood would tear through his scalp but he was ultimately defeated by Marya. Quang! His body collapsed on the floor.
“Let’s go!”
“Partial…partial!”
Maria let out an exclamation of victory and swept up the silver coins piled up on the table. There was a smell of illegal gambling in the air but Ronan did not specifically sanction it. That way he’ll have a place to fit in later. Asher was talking to Schlieffen in the corner.
“My younger brother is also a wizard.”
“Is that so…?”
“okay. I am receiving training to enter Phileon one day. “I’m just asking this out of curiosity but based on your insight from growing up in your hometown what do you think Miss Iril prefers ceramic or glass cups?”
Ophelia was probably sleeping on the second floor of Bonamana. Ronan who saw the commotion laughed. When I first came here it was almost like an abandoned house but now it’s quite lively so it’s not so bad.
“I’m here. Varen.”
Ronan took only a piece of paper and left the building. The place he headed was Phileon Tower 13 where Professor Varen Panasir was located.
When I opened the door I saw Wear Lion wearing a suit. He was sitting on a huge sofa that could completely bury his huge frame reading his book.
Marfez the dream bird of Sita’s parents was curled up on her lap preening her own rich blue feathers. Varen who made eye contact with Ronan closed his book and said hello.
“Oh Ronan. It’s been a while since I saw you. “Are you doing well with my assignment?”
“no. I guess I’m not good at growing anything. “This is already the fifth.”
Ronan sighed. The assignment Varen gave us in the last class was to grow bread aloe a plant that serves as food for many phantom species.
It was an easy plant to grow growing rapidly as long as it was given sunlight and water on time but Ronan frequently turned the flower pot into a crown for the bread aloe. Varen stroked his mane and laughed.
“Haha it’s a pity but it can’t be helped. “If you don’t give up and keep working you will achieve results one day.”
“Hmm?”
Ronan tilted his head. The strange excitement in his tone of voice was a reaction that was not typical of Varen. Normally he would have expressed sorrow over the death of innocent life and made a memorial speech.
“Is something good happening?”
“Is it noticeable?”
“A lot.”
“Hey I got caught. Would you like to try this?”
Varen got up and brought out tea. It wasn’t the usual black tea. The bluish liquid had a vaguely familiar scent. Ronan’s eyes widened after he had just taken a sip.
“This is…!”
“I don’t know how to thank you.”
Varen smiled softly. The tea tasted just like the one Sarante had served me before. I felt the mana floating around me more clearly than usual. The fatigue that had built up in my eyes was disappearing as if the snow was melting.
“Surely the cultivation was successful? “I said I wouldn’t eat until then.”
“Yes. “I succeeded earlier than I thought.”
It was already three months ago. Ronan handed over most of the herbs he brought from the Vaidian Mountains to Varen. Among them there were quite a few species that were unknown to the world and Varen decided to grow them instead of eating them straight away. He pointed to the flower pots on the window sill and opened his mouth.
“Even considering the fact that it wasn’t grown on a ley line it’s amazing. There are many herbs that are much more effective than commercially available herbs. “Maybe there will be a revolution in the potion industry.”
“I’ll be sitting on a cushion soon Varen. congratulation.”
“I plan to use it only for research for the time being. “Please take this too.”
Varen handed a small wooden box to Ronan. When I opened the box I saw nine glass bottles lined up neatly. A strangely colored liquid was flowing from inside the bottle.
“What is this?”
“This is a potion made from herbs that were successfully cultivated at first.”
“Well they give me everything.”
“This is something I initially prepared to give to student Ronan. “Please use it usefully.”
Ronan laughed when he saw that the bottle cap was shaped like a lion’s head. Suddenly a feeling of extreme self-destruction raised his head.
While some people were pooping because they couldn’t properly grow even a stupid bread aloe this furry dog not only succeeded in cultivating a rare herb that was not even known to academia but even made a potion. Ronan emptied his teacup in one go and held out a piece of paper.
“How can I be thankful? “I also have a gift.”
“What is this?”
“It’s a club activity plan.”
“Huh!”
Varen almost dropped his teacup. Marfez hit by the fried tea woke up startled. Varen asked with a trembling voice.
“Where are you going this time? Why…”
“If anyone sees me they will think that I am going to send troops. “It’s all written there so read it.”
“Ah…ahhh….”
Varen felt his vision becoming dark. The shock of the club activities that were unilaterally notified last time was still not going away. Unauthorized ghost horse rental massacre of wyverns and sword fight with the sword saint Zaipa. Varen took a deep breath picked up the paper and began to read.
“…Hmm? “For some reason it’s normal this time.”
“of course. “What are you looking at me for?”
“Dawn Magic Tower is famous for its library. Are you going alone?”
“yes. “It’s not something that needs to be dragged along.”
Varen shrugged his eyebrows as if he was surprised. Ronan added that he submitted the club activity form simply to increase his outing time.
Varen who had been carefully examining the plan nodded his head. There was nothing that could be a problem.
“great. I allow it. “I hope you will do this again next time.”
“Well in the end there haven’t been any problems so far. “I enjoyed my tea.”
Ronan left the office. Varen who was looking at the spot where he had disappeared patted Marfez and muttered.
“Nothing will happen this time. “Isn’t it?”
– Peeeeeet.
Slurp. Varen emptied the remaining tea. His gaze happened to land on the bottom of the teacup. The sediment where the medicinal herbs had settled was arranged in the shape of a skull. It was described too precisely to be simply a coincidence. Varen put down the teacup and said to himself with his eyes closed.
“…please.”
****
Ronan had a long itinerary but he didn’t take anyone with him in particular. The reason was that he didn’t think he needed a colleague because he was doing routine research.
He said that two days later the departure date arrived. He simply packed his bags and headed to Sky Pier located in the northern part of the island.
He was going to ride the Griffon Rainship to the Dawn Tower. In the club activity plan it was written that we would go on horseback but people’s work was always going to be different.
-Fyyoooot!
-Puh hee hing!
The sky pier which operates flying-type transportation had the appearance of a wide runway. The Pegasus who had completed their approach were flying up with the chariot. A griffon that had just finished its flight was eating meat in a corner.
“As I live the day comes when I ride something like this.”
Ronan muttered as he looked at the rain fair he was going to ride. It was so magnificent that it could not be compared to Rodolan’s prisoner escort carriage. It was a method of transporting a small ship modified with wheels and carried by eight gryphons.
As expected the price of a boarding pass was not much different from renting a ghost horse. However Ronan paid the price without any hesitation. He said there was at least no merchant in the system who would not accept an IOU from Phil Leon Academy.
Ronan boarded the airship. The interior was luxuriously decorated as if it was aimed at his main customers the upper class.
I could clearly see the outside scenery through the large round window. All seats were in front of the windows. Two luxurious sofas faced each other with a table in the middle. Ronan laughed when he saw a bottle of wine on each table.
“Money is nice.”
Despite the high price there were quite a few customers. Walking along his hallway Ronan finally found his place.
There was already someone sitting on the sofa opposite. A girl with dark purple hair who resembles a cat. It was a face I had seen many times. Ronan’s eyes widened.
“Erzebet?”
“Oh Ronan?”
Erzébet who was looking out the window turned her head. She also seemed quite surprised. Ronan who was sitting on the sofa asked back in bewilderment.
“Why are you here? “Did you run away from home?”
“What are you saying about running away from home?”
Hergé Bett laughed as if he was astounded by her. Of course she was wearing a school uniform just like him so there was no way she could have run away from home. Ronan giggled and took out a cigarette but was stopped by the flight attendant.
“customer. “Please smoke on the deck.”
“Oh can I go on deck?”
Ronan put back his cigarette pipe. She cleared her throat and opened her mouth again.
“Hmm this time I got to go on a field trip to the Dawn Magic Tower.”
“A field trip?”
“yes. Among the students taking the ‘Intermediate Fire Magic’ class only the best students were selected. “Because it is a place that produced the greatest fire wizards of all time.”
Only then did Ronan notice that among the passengers there were quite a few students wearing magic uniforms. There seemed to be more than ten people and as expected it was an academy with a lot of money. Erzébet who glanced at the students covered her mouth and chuckled.
“Hehe out of all of these I’m the only first year student? “Everyone is so pathetic.”
“That’s amazing. “I thought you were only good at using telekinesis.”
“Actually telekinesis is almost non-existent. “The attribute I am most confident in is fire.”
As Ergébet said this a small flame rose from the tip of her index finger. She forgot for a moment. That the girl in front of her was a genius who knew how to manipulate three attributes.
As we were having a trivial conversation the airship began takeoff. Flight attendants in uniform walked around and gave various precautions.
Aircraft capable of vertical takeoff and landing did not require taxiing. When I looked out the window the ground was already slowly receding. Ronan crossed her legs and opened her mouth.
“Well it was boring but it worked out well. “Let’s talk.”
“great. “I didn’t want to hang out with those sheep.”
Hergé Bet also nodded her head willingly. Even by airship it took more than ten hours to reach the Dawn Magic Tower located at the eastern end of the continent. In any case it was a good thing to have a friend to talk to.
“But do you have any friends? “I feel like I’m alone every time.”
“Don’t meddle in unnecessary things.”
Herzebet blushed like someone who had been stabbed in a painful spot. Ronan smiled and poured the wine that was on the table into a glass.
The airship which was steadily climbing soon reached the top of the clouds. The sound of sixteen pairs of wings flapping was echoing loudly.
****
It’s been quite a while since it got dark outside the window. Dark blue clouds were spread below the airship like a carpet making it impossible to see the ground.
“Damn….”
The flight was going smoothly. But even though it was dawn and the moon had set Ronan still couldn’t sleep. It was Erzébet’s fault who was drunk and talking nonsense right in front of her.
“Ugh Adeshan…isn’t she really perfect? “It’s pretty and cool…ah I want to get married.”
“You never drink again.”
Ronan sighed at her. In fact she brought it upon herself. No matter how cute it was to see her looking at him with curious eyes he shouldn’t have let her drink wine. Ronan muttered scratching his head.
“How can that happen with just one sip and not just one drink? “Are you pretending to be drunk?”
“Hi…that’s right. There’s no way the daughter of Akalusia could get drunk with something like this… Wow! Would you like me to show you something interesting?”
Suddenly a purple energy rose from Erzsebet’s body. She was an Auror with her own unique powers. At the same time a small lion made of fire jumped up onto the table. Ronan lost in thought snatched her wrist.
“Fuck you can’t stop right now.”
This was the reason he couldn’t sleep. She dozed off for a moment and woke up to find that if the airship was crashing it was definitely this girl’s fault. Ronan took Erzébet up to her deck.
“It’s so cool. “Where am I…?”
Erzébet was laughing even as the strong wind tousled her hair. She still showed no signs of sobering up. Ronan took her to the part of her bow furthest from her cabin.
“Okay let’s talk about Adeshan. “How did we become so close?”
“You can tell me as much as you want…! “Where do you want to hear it from?”
“From beginning to end.”
“aha! “You have great knowledge…!”
Ronan stood next to her and took out a cigarette. This was already her fifth time listening to this but she couldn’t help it. She was so drunk that she became as quiet as a ghost only when talking about Adeshan.
“So… when I went to the library in the early days of school…”
Soon a muffled voice began to flow from between Erzsebet’s lips. In fact if you look at the content alone there was nothing special about it. The story was that Adeshan helped her when she couldn’t even find the library because she didn’t have any friends and they became close friends from then on.
“So…hehe have you seen that hair? “It’s like silk woven into the night sky…I feel like I could be strangled to death by that…”
However the part praising Adeshan was long so it took quite a while. It was more effective if questions were added at each interval. Suddenly a truly curious question crossed my mind.
“Why are you so nice to Adeshan? “If you don’t have the ability you don’t care.”
“Sister…don’t compare yourself to other sheep. Wow. “My sister is different.”
“So what’s the difference?”
“Oh so…”
Suddenly Hergé Bet caught up with her. Ronan suddenly felt a weight on her shoulders and turned to look at her.
“Erzebet?”
No reply came from her. The only sound was her soft breathing. Erzébet rested her head on his shoulder just shaking her shoulders.
It was only later that Ronan noticed that she had fallen asleep. Clear liquid was flowing out between slightly opened lips.
“You do a variety of things.”
Ronan muttered that but he didn’t particularly wake Erzsebet. Rather than stand up and make a fuss again it would have been better to end it with some spit on her shoulder.
How long has it been like that? Slowly the sky in the direction the bow was pointing began to turn red. The altitude of the airship was lowered.
As I broke through the thick cloud layer a huge structure came into view in the distance. A circular garden spread out around the tall tower.
The huge cylinder with a total of 24 floors looked more like a pillar connecting heaven and earth. I knew it without anyone explaining it. Ronan muttered as if he was fascinated by something about her.
“Dawn Magic Tower.”
Behind the magic tower the dark blue sea was flowing. It was the Dawn Sea the eastern sea of the continent.
Soon the red sun revealed its head beyond the gently arcing horizon. The pouring dawn dyed the world scarlet.
Suddenly Ronan thought this situation was funny. The Dawn Magic Tower that receives the dawn rising from the Dawn Sea. I was giggling to myself at a low-level joke. Suddenly the griffons began to cry loudly.
-Hwiyooooo!
-Keek! Cheek!
“what?”
Ronan frowned. The voice was so sharp that it felt ominous.
At that moment I noticed a series of red lights flashing in the direction of the Dawn Magic Tower. What is that? Ronan was observing with narrowed eyes and a curse escaped his mouth.
“Fuck.”
There were as many as seven huge fireballs flying toward the airship. The eerie sound of flames burning the air was rapidly approaching.
