Chapter: 292
The hunting squad finally set out, even though their departure was slightly delayed due to various matters.
As the starry sky group created by Ari and Sylvia began to ascend into the air, picking up speed, the city that was visible below quickly shrank into a small dot and disappeared.
For a moment, everyone was gazing in the direction where the city had been, and as soon as it was no longer visible, people began to glance around, one by one.
“It’s funny that we’re saying this now… but we’re really flying in the sky…”
“Yeah, right….”
The faces of those looking around reflected a mix of slight fear along with a greater curiosity.
To put it more specifically, it was the reaction of first-time flyers. I found it a bit strange that everyone was reacting this way, but soon realized that it was completely normal.
This place, excluding the city, was a world tainted by magic.
There hadn’t been much of a need to travel long distances, so there likely wouldn’t have been any aircraft made either.
Therefore, aside from Sylvia, who had flown here once before to rescue me, it was only natural that today would be everyone’s first flight experience.
Once I realized that, I couldn’t help but understand everyone’s reactions.
I felt the same excitement when I boarded a plane for the first time for a business trip.
…To be honest, I was much more of a mess than they were.
Because when I first boarded a plane, I genuinely thought I needed to take off my shoes.
What could I do? When I asked the internet how to prepare for a flight, everyone told me to take my shoes off…
I was also new to business trips, but I had done some thorough pre-trip research so that I could play the senior role to my junior who was accompanying me, and although I managed to finish the check-in process without any trouble,
while taking off my shoes, I confidently said, “Got it? You take off your shoes when getting on a plane.” then everyone around me, including my junior, burst into laughter, which has left a trauma in me to this day.
Moreover, that guy, who laughed the loudest, teased me until the end, saying, “Hey, senior. I’ll take mine off too, so I won’t be alone; it’s less embarrassing, right?”
Just how funny it must have been for people to whistle and clap as they watched me get teased.
I really can’t figure out what would suit people so well to shout like that.
Did they think my disgraceful appearance, having lost the dignity of being a senior, was fitting?
How could they say such harsh things to a stranger… people can indeed be quite mischievous…
Anyway, someone must have taken a picture and posted it online because there was a time when “Barefoot Couple on Plane” became a joke among my friends.
Ahhh, just thinking back to that time is so embarrassing…!
As I kicked away that suddenly coming back memory of embarrassment in my mind, I gradually became accustomed to the view from above and heard people starting to chatter.
“Wow, looking at it this way, I can really feel that the area outside the city isn’t livable at all. Everywhere you look, it’s all clouded with magic.”
“…Still, from up here, it feels a bit different. Usually, I just pay attention to the demonic beasts flocking to the city, and I hadn’t really cared much about what the outside world looked like.”
Most of them, who had been guarding the front lines and had seen the area outside the city, reacted as if the landscape was terrible, covered by magic.
Occasionally, there were a few who showed a hint of intrigue among them, but that was extremely rare.
However, Florene’s reaction was quite different from theirs.
“I’m seeing… the world outside the city…”
Florene’s murmurs reached my ears.
With a fervent glance as she eagerly looked around at the world below, her eyes were full of wonder.
“It’s really vast out here…”
Vast, as Florene observed the large expanse of the world with her eyes.
For her, the outside world had probably been nothing more than a story from a book.
Even if she had understood logically that there was a world much broader than the city, this was likely her first time seeing it firsthand.
Realizing that the world she knew was not all there was brings a certain kind of astonishment.
This would be so for adults, but even more so for a child.
Thus, I could guess that the astonishment Florene was feeling right now was quite considerable.
Since Florene was a pure child-like figure among us.
The joy I felt upon seeing the small waterfall at the back mountain must be similar to the awe she was experiencing now when faced with something like Niagara Falls.
Thinking of it that way, the scenery she was looking at now was definitely not as dull and dark as what the other adults might feel.
While I was pondering like this, as Florene was excitedly gazing around, she clung to Dwight next to her and asked him a question.
“Hehe, isn’t it amazing, Dwight? Look, you can’t see the end anywhere!”
Dwight brushed off Florene and replied in an indifferent tone.
“…Don’t cling to me. And isn’t it not that amazing? It’s just covered in magic everywhere. I’m not interested unless it’s about magic.”
“Ah… Umm, sorry… Did I get too carried away?”
At Dwight’s cold response, Florene’s expression visibly drooped, and she muttered in a defeated tone.
Seeing her like this, I breathed a sigh toward Dwight in my heart.
What the heck, Dwight. Even if you’re a magic nerd who doesn’t care for anything but magic, such a reply is…
It’s fine to love magic.
I could understand being fascinated by a technology that enables such swift flight without feeling cold or wind while allowing conversations as if they were right next to each other.
But even if you have no interest, shouldn’t you respond a bit more sincerely to a girl clinging to you that enjoys your company?
Or is he just intentionally avoiding relationships because he’s a magician?
As if you can’t become a magician unless you keep your virginity until thirty or something.
While I was internally grumbling like this, Dwight suddenly sighed and muttered while looking at a gloomy Florene.
“…Hey, Florene, have you ever been to a zoo?”
“A zoo…? If you mean that huge one, I went a few times when I was little…”
I suppose the zoo Florene was talking about is the one we visited with Yoon Si-woo and the kids from the orphanage last time, right?
It was a place that remained vivid in my memory because it had magical creatures like unicorns.
As I recalled the memory of the zoo and listened, Dwight continued speaking.
“That zoo was created by my ancestor, Lady Viola, before the world was completely covered in magic, to prevent the extinction of animals. She traveled around to gather various creatures.”
“Oh, is that so…?”
“Yeah, so… sigh…”
As Florene tilted her head with a subtle expression of “So what?” to Dwight’s unrelated explanation about the zoo, Dwight hesitated and muttered in a small voice.
“I don’t find interest unless it’s about magic, but imagining a world where animals brought by my ancestor roam freely… makes me a bit interested, in that sense…”
Dwight said this as he turned away.
Though his expression was hidden, he couldn’t hide his reddened ears.
Wow, Dwight, that indifferent reply was really a buildup for classic tsundere dialogue!
It was clearly a considerate answer directed towards Florene, and as I marveled at it with a smile, Florene hugged Dwight with a bright smile and exclaimed.
“Dwight…!! You’re so kind! I love it…!”
“…I told you not to cling to me.”
But seeing that he didn’t push her away as firmly as before implied that Dwight likely wouldn’t turn into a lovesick magician any time soon.
…Oh? Then, what about Martina?
Just as I was momentarily confused by the existence of a beautiful elite single female magician who could rival a magical creature, Florene, who was flirting with Dwight, called out to the cheerful Marin.
“Hehe. Marin, doesn’t it feel amazing to see how vast the outside world is for the first time?”
“Ah… Me? Yes, it does.”
As Marin lightly smiled, watching their affectionate tamper with a gentle expression, she pondered for a moment before responding.
“Honestly, I don’t really know if it’s amazing, but there’s something I’ve always wanted to see from outside.”
“Something you want to see? What is it?”
“…The sea.”
“The sea?”
At the mention of the sea, Florene widened her eyes in surprise, and Marin softly murmured with a smile.
“Yeah, since I was little, I’ve always wanted to see it directly at least once. I’ve wondered if it’s really as blue and deep as the books describe. So, I know I shouldn’t think this way, but I can’t help but feel a bit excited about actually seeing the sea.”
“Hehe, so what! If you want to see it, you want to see it!”
“…Right? Hehe.”
Even though everyone knew the hunt was a serious matter, there was something strangely heartwarming about Marin’s smile, which couldn’t hide her excitement.
What could I say, it stirred up feelings long forgotten from childhood.
“…Speaking of which, I was so curious about what the outside world looked like when I was little. I had totally forgotten about that.”
“Yeah, right. I used to dream of going to the floating islands where the Joins lived… I had forgotten about that too…”
Maybe because of that.
In response to her words, the heroes, who until now had been indifferent to the scenery outside, began to share their own nostalgic anecdotes, creating a sentimental atmosphere.
At that moment, as I watched the people talking about the places they longed to see as if they were children, Sylvia smiled and asked.
“Scarlet, don’t you have anything you want to see? Somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit?”
“Me? Well, I don’t know… Nothing in particular comes to mind.”
Unlike everyone here, I had seen the sea a few times and had experienced flying in the sky on a plane.
…Well, there are places I’d like to visit, but they are now unreachable.
As I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders, unable to express this, Sylvia muttered.
“Hmm, it seems Scarlet lacks a childlike wonder.”
“What? Then what about you, Sylvia? Do you have something special?”
As her strangely provoking words made me snap back in question, Sylvia replied with a mysterious smile.
“Well, actually, I don’t have any particularly special places either.”
“What? Then you’re no different from me.”
“Haha, that’s not quite it. I’d be fine going anywhere.”
“Eh? What do you mean by that?”
As I tilted my head at Sylvia’s ambiguous remark, she stared at me with a bright smile and murmured.
“I’m confident I’d like any place I go with you, Scarlet. There’s nothing more exhilarating than embarking on an adventure with your closest friend.”
“…What? Is that so?”
I laughed as if I couldn’t believe Sylvia’s words.
To be honest, I was incredibly happy to hear that, but I felt too shy to let it show.
Thus, I filled the nostalgia that had once occupied my heart with the laughter of my newly formed friends.
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