Of course, even after Wylde pledged again, Luca still got hurt and experienced dangerous situations.

Wylde could not always be by Luca’s side, and Luca likely did not even want that.

Still, he did his best.

Following Luca down south during the temporary break had been part of that effort.

There, Wylde saw Luca and realized something.

‘Luca has grown a lot.’

Luca, too, had achieved substantial growth on his own.

He became someone who could survive well by himself, even without Wylde’s protection.

No matter how many adversities came his way, he was capable of overcoming them.

‘Even so…’

But the worry and the desire to protect him had not changed.

‘Bella’s reaction is also strange.’

The reason for even more concern was Bella’s reaction.

Her meaningful response made Wylde worry even more.

‘This time… I’m within arm’s reach.’

Moreover, the important point was that this time, he was within arm’s reach.

Since Bella had also informed him of the location, it was a situation in which he could help.

‘But…’

Wylde recalled Luca’s words.

― If you come, things will get complicated. If you secretly follow me, I’ll cut all ties, so keep that in mind.

“……”

That, above all, he really hated.

He felt that he wouldn’t be able to bear it if he became awkward with Luca again.

“……”

Wylde fell deep into thought.

He quietly glanced at the window through which Luca had left.

The blue moon was gleaming beautifully.

“……!”

Suddenly, a passage from a novel came to mind.

“Haha! This is as far as you run, miss Freed!”

“Ugh… Is this the end for me…?”

Members of the Secret Society Zero encircled the blonde woman.

Amidst them, miss Freed bit her lovely lips and drew her sword.

“Even if I die here, for the peace of this world, I’ll take at least one more of you with me!”

“Don’t worry. You won’t die here! Hah!”

“Yeah, yeah! We’ll let you live and dote on you plenty! Churup!”

Members of Secret Society Zero smacked their lips with relish.

As they, daggers in hand, drew closer, miss Freed’s eyes quivered.

Hee~ Heheehng!

“!”

At that moment, with the sound of a horse’s cry, someone dropped between them.

A black fedora, cloak, and a mask.

Holding a rapier that gleamed in the moonlight, a knight bowed his head.

“Good evening, gentlemen.”

“Z!”

The masked knight Z—Miss Freed shouted upon his entrance.

“Diego! I told you not to come! If you come, I’ll never see you again…”

“Haha! I have no idea what you’re saying, milady.”

Chuckling, the masked knight Z turned his head slightly to look at her.

“What stands here is the masked knight Z, a nameless one who loves justice.”/

“……”

Wylde bit his lip for a moment before hastily heading to his own room.

He took out the Z-mask he had been strongly impressed by after seeing the masked knight Z.

As he gazed down at it for a while, Wylde pulled out his student handbook.

Tring! Click.

― Hey, Wylde. What’s up?

As someone answered the call, Wylde spoke flatly.

“Hayes. I have a favor to ask.”

* * *

“If you just go straight in this direction, you’ll get there!”

“Understood.”

Luca, spreading his celestial wings, was flying.

He couldn’t help but marvel at the speed, which was beyond his expectations.

‘Not only is it great to be able to disregard terrain, but the speed itself is quite impressive.’

Faster than a typical auto-carriage.

It even felt faster than running using his own magic power.

“At this pace, I think we’ll arrive in under an hour!”

Bella was also wide-eyed in wonder at the speed.

“Aren’t you getting tired?”

“I’m alright, more or less.”

“Amazing.”

Flying with celestial wings wasn’t that taxing in itself.

The energy was borrowed from the space, and, besides, the purpose of celestial wings was to reduce the burden of the sky’s power on the body.

It was only difficult at first, but once you got used to it, there was nothing better.

Pii!

Whistle, flying at his side, spoke up.

“Master. Once you get familiar with it, you’ll be able to fly much, much faster than this! Remember how it was when we synchronized.”

When he first synchronized with Whistle, they had arrived at Mount Two-Peaked, which was quite far from the academy, in a flash.

Remembering that, he realized he really was going slow now.

“Still, this is excellent, considering there’s no strain on my body.”

“It’s good to get even more used to flying with celestial wings, master. Being able to fight while flying greatly increases your tactical options in battle.”

Watching the chirping Whistle, Bella, who was being held in Luca’s arms, tilted her head.

“Is Whistle able to speak out loud now, like last time?”

“What do you mean?”

Luca didn’t seem to immediately understand Bella’s words, so Bella rolled her eyes and explained.

“I feel like I can hear Whistle’s voice.”

“… Whistle. Can you now speak so others can understand you?”

Given Whistle’s growth, it was no surprise if he’d developed such a skill.

But Whistle shook her head.

“I could, but I’m not doing it right now.”

“Then how is Bella able to understand you?”

Looking puzzled, Luca looked at Whistle, who then looked Bella up and down.

Clicking her beak a little, she spoke.

“Probably… because she’s gotten pretty used to the power of the sky.”

“Gotten used to the sky’s power, huh.”

“She’s experienced having her body restructured with the power of the clouds, and has even drawn out lightning from Master’s body before. Frankly, you could say your bond has gotten stronger.”

Indeed, except for Luca, Bella was the one who had experienced the power of the sky the most.

She’d survived a deadly crisis thanks to the power of the clouds, and had rescued Luca when he was in an overloaded state.

“That’s true… It’s incredible.”

Bella, too, seemed amazed by her own changes, and then, with a subtle tone, asked,

“Then… does that mean I’ll be able to use the lightning you use, master?”

“That’s…”

Luca glanced at Whistle.

Whistle tilted her head.

“Don’t know? Maybe we should try it sometime, but… as you know, it won’t be easy. It’ll hurt.”

“Yeah, it definitely hurts.”

“It definitely does…”

Having both experienced the power of lightning, the two agreed immediately.

After briefly shivering as she recalled the experience, Bella took a quick glance at the Map and then looked around in surprise.

“Ma-Master. We’re not heading the right way!”

“You just said to keep going straight…”

“You veered a little as we were going!”

Going perfectly straight in one direction is harder than one might think.

* * *

“Haa…”

Ottbo anxiously looked back and forth between his student handbook, the door, and the window.

Since Luca replied with “Understood,” there had been no further word.

‘When will Luca get here? Since he returned to the Traverse territory, it would take at least three days to reach here… Will the restriction preparations be finished by then?’

After realizing a restriction had been placed on him, Ottbo did some research.

He’d learned that, no matter how simple a restriction, it required significant time and preparation.

But this was the Gress family.

There was likely enough readiness here for restrictions.

Ottbo bit his lip.

‘If Luca arrives after the restriction is placed, what happens then? Can he save me if I lose my memories?’

Locked in his room, all sorts of stray thoughts swirled in his mind.

His anxiety grew, filling his head with hopeless thoughts about the future.

‘If I lose my memories… would I ever get them back?’

Ottbo felt tears pricking his eyes.

He hated the thought of losing the happy memories from the academy.

All those moments he’d overcome countless adversities with Luca—those were too precious to him.

‘… What would Luca do in this situation?’

Suddenly, Ottbo wondered.

What would Luca do if he were here?

That boy who always handled any crisis calmly—how would he respond now?

‘I’ve done what I can to ask for help.’

The only one capable of helping in this situation was Luca.

Milia and Isella could also help, but it was unclear whether they’d come right away if called.

‘I have to think rationally.’

Emotionally, he wanted to ask them for help, but, rationally, that wouldn’t accomplish anything.

They might be in the middle of something important, and diverting them here could have major future consequences.

‘For now, I need to buy as much time as possible. Even if I’m overpowered quickly, every second counts.’

With that in mind, Ottbo began to prepare various magic arrays throughout his room.

‘I need to think of an escape route too.’

He thought of getting the Map, then remembered it was in his bag.

‘Map… Map…!’

Ottbo desperately tried to recall the geography around here.

Having grown up here, he was able to reconstruct a mental map, comparing what he’d once seen to his knowledge of the area.

‘If I have to escape on an auto-carriage… I’ll have to blow out that wall first…’

Ottbo set up magic on the wall opposite the door.

If someone came for him, he’d bust through the wall and make his escape.

‘Flight magic is too slow. I need to modify the bed to launch me out.’

It was a risky means of escape without safety devices, but if he could launch himself outside, he would land using flight magic, summon the auto-carriage, and flee.

‘If I escape in the auto-carriage, I just need to hold out until Luca arrives. Where should I hide?’

Fortunately, there was prize money from the racing competition in the trunk of the auto-carriage, so money wasn’t an issue.

He planned to hole up somewhere and hide until Luca arrived.

‘Good. With this, I can hold out for three days.’

Hope welled up in Ottbo’s mind.

His experiences with Luca lifted him from anxiety and despair.

‘I can do it. And I’ll escape from this dreadful family.’

Cronine Gress, a man of exceptional cunning.

A person who believed only in his own words, controlling his family as he pleased.

Having lived repressed under such a man—

Thanks to Luca, Ottbo gained hope for a new path in life.

His eyes sparkled.

‘I’ll walk my own path.’

Tap, tap!

“?”

At that moment, someone tapped on the window.

Ottbo, startled, looked toward the window and his eyes grew wide.

The beautiful moonlight.

Light-blue wings shining beneath it.

And more beautiful than either, a single radiant boy.

‘… Now I can see why Albino’s leader was called an angel.’

Fully understanding Ravinia’s feelings, Ottbo opened the window.

Luca entered through the window, casually putting Bella down and glancing at Ottbo.

“I thought you’d be crying, but you’re not.”

“… Did you use me as an excuse to go on a date with Bella?”

“Oh. Looks like you’ve grown up. Even talking back now.”

Luca grinned lightly, then glanced around.

“Looks like you’ve managed to prepare some things on your own too.”

“… Yeah.”

Preparing while thinking, “What would Luca do?”

Ottbo was a little nervous about what Luca would think.

“Hm…”

Luca said nothing for a moment, then glanced at Ottbo.

A faint smile formed on his lips.

“Not bad. So, what’s the plan?”

Luca’s words meant he was willing to go along with Ottbo’s plan.

Ottbo’s eyes grew wide, then he smiled brightly.

“… Might as well make it spectacular, right?”

“That’s a sentiment I quite like.”

Upon Luca’s answer, Ottbo broke out in a beaming smile.

“This will be the greatest adventure of Ottbo Gress’s life!”

* * *

“Hmph! That insolent brat dared talk back to me!”

“……”

Cronine Gress, puffing with anger, and Suironea Gress, anxiously watching him.

The two were returning after collecting supplies for restriction at the family laboratory.

“It was a mistake to send such a brat to the academy! If he’s just going to rebel, I’d rather turn him into a mindless puppet!”

“……”

Suironea Gress looked as if she wanted to say something but simply could not.

Ignoring or not noticing her discomfort, Cronine continued in outrage.

“From now on, I’ll keep him locked in the family and have him only research drive magic! Nothing else! That brat’s even corrupted Ferka!”

“……”

“This time, the restriction will be… total—”

Boom!

Just then, an explosion was heard from somewhere.

Cronine Gress flinched in shock.

“Wh-What is that? What’s happening?”

“Honey! Look!”

Suironea Gress spotted the source of the sound and pointed with wide eyes.

Cronine Gress looked where she gestured and eyes went round.

“What the…?!”

The place that had once been Ottbo’s room was now belching smoke from an explosion.

Bursting through the smoke, an auto-carriage raced along a path that had suddenly formed from clouds.

————-= Clacky’s Corner ————-=

Who would have thunk that Ottbo would get in trouble when he went back home?

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep