Time passed as Instructor Esta took a brief nap while seated on the coachman platform, and I entered the carriage, politely asked for permission, and sat by the window for the journey.
‘One thing they’ve truly nailed is transportation.’
In a typical medieval fantasy world, traveling between domains by carriage would consume an enormous amount of time.
Unless you could teleport via magic, traversing vast territories comparable to modern-day Europe or the Korean Peninsula would take ages.
For instance, if there were a banquet in the capital, people from small provincial towns would leave by carriage a week in advance, and even then, they’d consider it “late”.
Without cars or trains, the majority of one’s time would be spent traveling.
Even if the carriage tirelessly rolled along the roads, it wouldn’t reach speeds anywhere near 80 km/h, so arrivals would inevitably be delayed.
Honk!
But things are different here at Bread Academy.
Listen to the miracle-like whistle and the thunderous roar of the magic train speeding across the land.
‘It’s always impressive no matter how many times I see it.’
Compared to the Golden Carriage racing down the road, the magic train’s speed is overwhelming.
Had we boarded the magic train to the resort, we’d probably have already arrived, unpacked, and started relaxing by now.
“Phoenix, what are you looking at?”
“The magic train reflected in the carriage window, Miss Yunia.”
“You’re watching the magic train, right?”
“Partly.”
Yunia approached my side, her gaze following the last car of the magic train disappearing ahead.
“Come to think of it, our first meeting was on a magic train, wasn’t it?”
“That’s right.”
Our very first encounter had been aboard the magic train headed for the Academy.
“Back when we entered the Academy, I thought we’d use the magic train to go everywhere.”
“Usually, taking the magic train gets you anywhere within a day.”
Everything is relative, but the magic train, with its dedicated tracks and nothing else running on its rails, reaches the maximum speed attainable in this era. In some sections, its top speed rivals the KTX.
Since all trains pass through Esdinas Academy, the magic train frequently becomes the player’s main mode of transport in the game.
‘In-game, the map would load after moving from the terminal to another city.’
Players would always head to the terminal before traveling.
They’d visit all the shops in the terminal, checking for newly released items or stocking up on potions and first-aid supplies to prepare for potential events on the train.
Experienced Bread Academy players knew to always come well-prepared when venturing outside the Academy.
The magic train could take you anywhere, and anything could happen aboard it.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t use that train.
Riding even the standard seats of the train would inevitably lead to incidents.
“Miss Yunia, do you want to ride the magic train?”
“I’d like to try it once, but we’d need to disguise ourselves, right?”
For us, using the train freely posed many complications.
VIP.
Even if we rented the VIP suite of the magic train, attendants assigned to the special cabins would likely attract unwanted attention to us, members of the special class from the Old School Building.
“Are we doomed to ride the Golden Carriage forever?”
“Though it takes a bit longer, we get the freedom to move around as we please, don’t you think?”
“That’s true, but…”
“Unless we somehow get our own personal magic train, we’ll have to rely on Silverstar’s help.”
Until we have alternatives like private transportation, a mage capable of wide-area teleportation, or artifacts capable of flight, conventional means will remain our best option.
“Who knows? Maybe one day there’ll be a flying inn, where we can relax and reach our destination without any obstacles along the way.”
“Does something like that exist?”
“…Miss Yunia, my hypothesis is purely hypothetical. Don’t misunderstand.”
“Misunderstand how?”
“As if my words mean, ‘Such a thing exists somewhere in this world, but I can’t reveal or let you use it yet.’”
“Uh… isn’t that exactly what you mean?”
Yunia tilted her head in doubt.
“Usually, when Phoenix says something like that, it ends up meaning, ‘Something like that might exist, but you’re not ready for it yet.’”
“Even if that’s true, do you think there’s really such a thing as a flying inn?”
“Um… metaphor?”
“Wrong.”
It wasn’t a metaphor.
“Really not a metaphor?”
“Nope. Put your hand on my heart and check. Am I lying?”
“Alright… hmm… You’re not lying?”
“Of course not. Why would I lie about something like this?”
Because it wasn’t an exaggeration.
A flying inn.
Securing it would be worth considering once I had three S-rank companions.
Although the inn’s facilities were a bit dated, the breathtaking view from a dragon’s altitude was a spectacle in its own right.
“That’s an interesting idea. An inn that flies?”
Yurha chimed in.
“If marketed as a tourism product, it’d make a fortune—‘A Night in the Sky.’”
“Couldn’t we just enchant the Golden Carriage with levitation magic?”
“That wouldn’t be romantic.”
“Romantic?”
“Expensive things rely more on their allure than raw materials. I doubt Phoenix is subtly dropping a hint about something real.”
Yurha seemed to dismiss my words as idle chatter.
“After all, Junior Phoenix wouldn’t hide something as lucrative as a flying inn from me, right?”
“Of course not. An item as priceless as a flying inn, one that transcends mere tourism and qualifies as an irreplaceable treasure, would never be kept secret by me.”
“So, does it exist or not?”
“Miss Yunia.”
Ludmila, who had been listening nearby, called Yunia’s attention.
“Could it be this?”
Ludmila tapped her temple with her fingers, and Yunia, realizing something, let out an “Ah” and nodded.
“If it’s that, then maybe.”
“That? Junior Yunia, care to explain it to me?”
“It’s a figment of the imagination, a construct of Phoenix’s—or our—mental world. Something that doesn’t exist in reality.”
Did Yunia and Ludmila really think the flying inn was just an imagined concept born from trials?
“Hmm… So, it’s something that’s not yet technologically feasible? Should I interpret it that way?”
“If someone could make an inn fly continuously, they’d likely be a sage-level genius.”
“So, we just need to find a sage and make the inn fly?”
“Please don’t read too much into every word I say, Senior Yurha.”
“But you always leave hidden meanings in your words.”
“That might be true… sometimes.”
This must be what they call the curse of knowledge.
Knowing too much makes it hard to distinguish whether something is a spoiler or not.
Still—
‘I can say this for sure: If a flying inn existed, we wouldn’t have faced repeated ambushes from the Old School’s forest to here.’
I don’t lie.
“…Like those people approaching on magic bikes.”
At the very least, flying through the skies would eliminate the need to deal with raiding bikers.
“Hah, honestly.”
“Could they be hired by Silverstar’s opposition? This seems excessive.”
“Even if their side is malicious, they wouldn’t send nuisances this blatantly. Not even if we’re famous figures from the Academy.”
Yurha retrieved a wand from her coat and looked out the window.
“Junior Yunia, care to assist me?”
“Sniping, right?”
“Yes. Just crack the window slightly and point your staff outside.”
Yunia and Yurha extended their magic devices through the window, focusing their mana with closed eyes.
Outside—
“Screeeeech!!”
“Ratatatatatam!!”
Those whose identities are unknown, or whose identities I don’t want to know, are charging in a way that is hard to describe.
Were they running on foot?
No.
They were riding magic bikes.
These two-wheeled contraptions, resembling “scooters”, were ridden by individuals whose heads were covered with helmets—whether for safety or anonymity. Their torsos, however, were bare.
Correction.
They were wrapped tightly in bandages.
The bandages were so thickly wound that no skin showed, except for the wing bones protruding from their backs.
Helmeted, shirtless save for the bandages, and wearing what might have been underwear or swimsuits in the form of shorts, they rode with reckless abandon.
If someone saw them, they might call them “bike delinquents.” But whether they were truly “delinquents” or not would only be known upon closer inspection.
“This makes how many ambushes now?”
Yunia shook her head in disbelief, focusing her mana into the tip of her staff pointed outside.
“Do they really want to cut off someone else’s chest that badly?”
“Apparently so.”
With mana pockets exceeding 100, the two blondes from Bread Academy unleashed their power. Their words, however, did not reach the ears of the dozen or so bikers charging toward us.
Bang!
Magic missiles fired by the two Academy students struck the attackers—members of Vinyudan.
Indeed, when venturing outside the Academy, it wasn’t just monsters you needed to beware of.
Vinyudan was just as dangerous.
And if you were a female student of Bread Academy, even more so.
“I won’t let you go, you milk monsters!!”
“I’ll cut them off! For the equality of all mankind!!”
The Flattening of Humanity.
Vinyudan was a villainous group born of societal decay.
