B4 - Chapter 35 - Departure

"Line up! Come on, we don't have all day! Hey, I saw that; no Familiars in the carriage, you know the rules! Garet! I swear if you don't stop fooling around, I'll kick you out of the carriage myself, mid-flight!"

Alice's voice rose above the rest as she kept threatening them to behave. Whether she had volunteered to be in charge of the first years or had the role forced upon her was anyone's guess; either way, she looked quite fed up.

They were currently gathered outside of Regarth's castle and preparing for their departure. All the students participating were already outside, while those staying behind watched and cheered from a distance or from the windows, trying to send them off with all the good luck and positive vibes they could muster. Not everyone could go, so those not participating unfortunately had to stay behind unless they could make their own arrangements. A tall ask, since transport wasn't cheap and the hosting school probably had limited slots for unregistered guests.

It was a bit of a letdown, since it was clear even the non-participants wanted to cheer on their fellow students, but that was the benefit of being the host, as Tresnia would have their full school providing moral support. That wasn't the only benefit, of course, as the host also got to choose a unique group event tailored to their school, beyond the usual dueling tournament and crafting competitions. It was obvious that when it was Regarth's turn to host, it would be the dungeon, but Tresnia's was a bit of a mystery since crafting was already being performed.

As first-years, they had minimal representation, but Lily was grateful that all her friends could participate. In fact, if Tresnia hadn't hosted this year, Lotte might have had to stay behind, as the first-year crafters were often sacrificed for space and time. Tresnia, as the premier school for crafting, obviously saw this as unacceptable, and since they could easily accommodate extra crafting events, they allowed it. In addition, it was likely that the school saw the first-year crafting event as an easy win for them, which was why Lotte was Sylwel's secret weapon for vengeance.

This practice didn't seem unfair, since the other schools did similar things when it was their turn, like Stremweth forcing a first-year competition related to Sorcerous Warfare. Rose had briefly mentioned it to Lily, something about older students serving as generals and staging a pseudo-military battle between the schools.

Lily gazed curiously at the flying carriages, emblazoned in bronze and deep red and marked with a crossed sword and staff over a treasure chest representing Regarth. They were bigger than she had thought, each one easily able to hold probably a dozen occupants or more if they were willing to be packed like sardines. She supposed size didn't really matter in this case, since it wasn't being pulled by a beast of burden and would be entirely powered by magic.

The students were still buzzing with excitement as they continued to be led to their respective carriages; however, a commotion was brewing among the second years, and Lily had a bad feeling about who was causing it. Eventually, another teacher called Alice over, and she stormed off, shooting her students a warning glare. They kept their best behavior, whispering among themselves until Alice stormed back, accompanied by a rather smug-looking dragon.

"Rose? Why are you here?" Lily asked.

"I'm here to compensate for Alice," she said proudly, before winking at Lily.

Alice sighed and shook her head. "You're really taking advantage of your position. You know damn well that I don't need extra compensation for our carriage to fly."

"I'm not taking that risk when my sister is one of the passengers," Rose insisted. "Besides, Regarth needs me."

"I hope I wasn't this bad back in my adventuring days…" Alice muttered, perhaps seeing a bit of herself in the smug dragon.

Regardless of Alice's opinion, all the first years seemed excited to have Rose with them, as her festival performance had made quite a name for her in their eyes. Well, almost everyone, as Lily had mixed feelings on the matter. She was happy to spend more time with her big sister, but she didn't like the attention or the blatant abuse of privilege.

Wait… Could I say the same about myself? I got permission to stay out every night for the solar cycle thing…

Lily frowned, not exactly happy to have potential similar accusations thrown at her. Then she realized she had also gotten access to Professor Ollie's enchanting class early and conceded that maybe she didn't have a leg to stand on. Her unfortunate self-reflection stopped when Rose suddenly squeezed her with overflowing sisterly affection.

"Anyway, get a move on," Alice said, shoving the pair forward with the rest of the group.

When they entered their carriage, it had opposing bench seats with what looked like multiple belt straps tied to them. Other than that, a thin, small table sat between the two benches, leaving little room on either side. Now that they were inside, Lily also noticed the windows; from the outside, they were opaque, but inside, they were crystal-clear.

That wasn't all she realized as she sensed almost a disturbance from her Mana Core now that she was properly inside. Her Core's rotation had slowed tremendously, almost to a halt, and when she looked closer, she saw the room was entirely barren of Mana. No, it was worse than that; the room was actively siphoning Mana from her!

[Relax, this is how the enchantments are powered, remember? You should stop your gathering while inside the carriage, and you'll feel much more comfortable.]

It actually took Lily a moment to intentionally stop her Mana Core from passively gathering, something she had spent countless hours trying to achieve before even coming to Regarth. Back then, Arakil had stressed the importance of learning this, and now it felt almost as natural as breathing.

When she finally stopped her Core, she immediately felt better, as if she had suddenly surfaced from underwater while holding her breath. Thankfully, the incident took only moments, so nobody seemed to notice Lily's brief distress, and they returned to settling in.

The seats looked plush and comfortable, and Rose motioned for Lily to sit next to her. Lotte took the left seat, and Alice took the seat next to Rose. Directly opposite them sat Hana, Arthur, Thomas and Clarissa. Finally, Wallace sat next to Hana, while Garet sat opposite him next to Lotte.

"Where's Fredrick?" Arthur asked, clearly wondering where Clarissa's butler was.

"He didn't make the cut," Alice answered. "Anyway, keep my seat warm; I'm going to quickly check on the other students."

With that, she practically jumped out and went to the other carriage, no doubt to warn them against any tomfoolery.

"Wait, if Fredrick didn't make the cut, why are you here?" Arthur asked again, looking at Wallace.

"As blunt as always," Wallace sighed. "I'm not in the dueling; I'm here for Thaumaturgical Agriculture."

"Huh… Doesn't Clarissa kick your ass there, though?"

"Yes, but need I remind you that I placed second in the duels," Clarissa replied. "While I could sweep the competition for agriculture, it's not worth even half the honor of the duels."

Wallace shrugged and spread his hands, as if that explained everything. Since he was probably the best earth mage in their class, it made sense he was the runner-up.

"Wait… How many slots did we get for dueling?" Arthur asked again, clearly counting with his fingers.

"Five," Hana answered.

Arthur looked confused, continued counting on his fingers, then stared at Garet. "Buddy, how did you make it?"

"Beast Handling," Garet answered.

Arthur raised his eyebrow. "That's not crafting."

"It's still a magical profession," Hana answered this time. "Although I have no idea how you're the best."

Garet actually laughed out loud and scratched the back of his head. "Beats me. I was honestly surprised, but for whatever reason animals love me, so here I am."

"It doesn't make sense," Clarissa replied. "You're loud and obnoxious; you should scare them off more than anything else."

"I don't know what to say. They've always loved me like I'm their best friend."

"Maybe something from your bloodline," Rose suggested. "It's pretty much the answer to anything weird."

The carriage filled with acceptance and confirmation at that remark, as if it really answered everything, and Lily heard a tiny, pained groan in her head. Arakil clearly hated this excuse when the two of them weren't abusing it for Lily's sake, especially if he was curious about the genuine answer.

Before another topic was reached, Alice came back and sat down in her seat and let out a sigh before rubbing her temples. "The sooner this trip is over, the better…"

"Come now, Alice, you should be excited," Rose replied. "Regarth should definitely be winning it this time."

Lily caught Alice briefly glancing at her before looking away. "That's not what I'm worried about…" she whispered.

"I'm glad you're confident, but I heard from my parents that Stremweth has a secret weapon," Clarissa said to Rose.

"We do too," Rose said, nudging Lily.

"Yeah, I'd like to see Stremweth stand up to the dark moon," Arthur said, nodding as the rest of the cabin seemed to shudder.

"It's not called that…" Lily whined.

"Just be careful not to cause any unfortunate accidents; we don't want you getting disqualified," Clarissa replied, much to everyone's surprise. She pouted at the others' reactions and quickly added, "She's representing Regarth; of course I want her to do well!"

"Yeah, it's different now that we are all on the same team," Wallace agreed.

"You say that as if you haven't been intermingling in the dungeon," Alice pointed out. "Your bunch might be the one with the least team spirit for the factions."

"I mean… I only care about Terravix because I happen to be in it," Rose admitted.

"If the chairman heard you saying that, I think he'd cry," Clarissa replied, earning a nod from Alice.

"Anyway, you troublemakers should put on your belts. We will be leaving any moment now," Alice said, pointing to the belts attached to the seats.

Hana and Clarissa showed how to use them, and the rest of the group copied them, fastening themselves to their seats. Hana kindly explained that this was for safety, though they rarely saw use for them thanks to modern enchantments.

Alice snorted. "You kids are spoiled; I remember riding ones where you had to grip onto metal bars like your life depended on it."

"You're not that much older than us," Rose said, raising her eyebrow.

Alice coughed awkwardly and refused to say any more, while Hana continued her earlier explanation. Presumably, most of this info came from her mom, given her connections, and she explained how the enchantments kept the entire carriage stable for the occupants and even kept it from rocking outside. The waist belts were apparently there in case the enchantments were underpowered and things got shaky, but with a carriage full of mages, that was virtually impossible.

Apparently, there was a funny story about special chairs and other enchantments being tried on designs until someone rightly pointed out that a simple belt would suffice, and it's stuck around ever since. She also explained that, regardless of its flight, other enchantments were designed with emergencies in mind.

[It's quite a feast for the eyes. I know you can't see them all, but I've been using my Magesight since we got in here, and every nook and cranny is crammed with enchantments. I'd almost say it's overdesigned, but considering safety was their priority, I shouldn't be one to judge.]

Lily curiously used her own Magesight and saw the entire room light up. She couldn't see the individual enchantments or their designs like Arakil, but at least she could watch the Mana flow through them. Earlier, she had still been nervous, but seeing the room practically light up with Mana gave her much-needed relief.

"Oh, looks like we're off," Lotte said, pointing out the window.

"I didn't even feel it…" Lily murmured.

"I did say it would be the smoothest ride of your life," Hana replied with a cheeky smile.

Everyone went silent as their eyes were drawn to the windows. Without them knowing, the carriages began to rise into the air, and the world below grew smaller and smaller. They watched eagerly as the distance between them and Regarth expanded, and other carriages floated beside them.

If Lily's eyes hadn't told her they were off the ground, she would've sworn they were still waiting, and even as the carriage drifted to the side, she didn't lose her sense of balance. Once again, her eyes were opened to the world of magic, or in this case, enchanting, and she watched, still amazed, as the carriages lined up like a convoy, ready to head out together.

With her Magesight active, Lily saw invisible chains of Mana linking the carriages, and once they were all hooked up, they began moving forward in unison. It was a marvelous sight, and almost all her earlier worries vanished as the still-rising sun met them through the clouds.

Next stop—Tresnia!