‘Clothes really do make the man.’

Luca could not help but be impressed, although he didn’t show it outwardly.

If he thought of Isella’s usual image, he couldn’t even imagine her in a dress.

But now, that had become reality.

Isella’s dress, slightly revealing the lines of her body and appropriately adorned with frills, was a sight to behold.

The slightly thicker garment conveniently concealed her more robust physique.

“W-Wow……”

Ottbo, too, seemed unable to hide his amazement.

Especially, he could not take his eyes off Milia.

‘Indeed, if I set aside her personality, she is quite pretty.’

Her hair resembled the gold of spring sunlight.

Her face was always shining with a cheerful, carefree smile.

And her somewhat delicate frame stirred a protective paternal feeling.

All of these made her a very charming girl.

On top of that, the dress she wore today accentuated her fresh appeal even more.

“How is it? Surprised?”

“This time, I am genuinely surprised.”

“Hehe. Right?”

Milia wore a proud expression.

Meanwhile, Isella just twisted around in embarrassment, unable to say a word.

‘Quite perfect.’

The classic reversal charm of a female bodyguard protecting a young lady.

It felt like their ideal example.

“But at this rate, we’ll be late.”

“Oh my, look at the time! It’s all because Isella kept refusing to wear the dress.”

“M-Milady……”

Isella, clutching the hem of her dress uncomfortably, made a distressed face.

Luca couldn’t help but let out a little chuckle at the sight.

Then he approached her, lowered his head a little, and held out his hand.

“May I escort you, milady?”

“Luca Traverse… Are you making fun of me…?”

“Not at all. I am asking you to be my partner, quite seriously. Isella.”

Luca lifted his head to meet her gaze.

Seeing the unwavering look in his eyes, Isella instinctively averted her eyes.

“…… Do as you wish.”

*Grabs!*

“!”

Luca promptly took Isella’s hand and led her straight toward the campfire.

“Whiii~ Luca’s far more natural about this than I thought.”

“Not just more than we thought, he’s always been natural.”

Seeing this, Milia let out a whistle, and Ottbo looked at their backs, enviously.

“So, what will you do, ‘my knight’?”

“Uh, uh?”

Milia glanced slyly at Ottbo.

Ottbo seemed flustered for a moment, then took a deep breath and held out his hand to her.

“May I escort you, milady?”

“Hehe, why not try a different line?”

“Uugh… This isn’t easy……”

Ottbo made a face quite like Isella’s.

With a soft chuckle, Milia took his hand.

“I’m counting on you, my knight.”

“…… Gladly!”

The night of the Founding Festival grew deeper.

* * *

“Feels like my toe bones have been crushed.”

“S-Sorry about that.”

After dancing, Luca and Isella sat by the edge of the campfire to rest.

Isella had stepped on Luca’s foot multiple times.

Whether it was because of the campfire or another reason, her face was blushing bright red.

“B-But it’s my first time dancing, so it’s unavoidable…!”

“I’m not complaining, just saying it hurts, that’s all.”

“…… Tsk.”

Isella had a vexed look on her face.

Seeing that, Luca let out a little laugh.

“It’s been a long time since we talked like this.”

“……”

“We won’t see each other for a while after today. Anything you want to say?”

At Luca’s words, Isella’s expression grew a bit calmer.

She gazed into the campfire.

“There’s nothing I want to say.”

“I see.”

“But I have something to ask.”

Luca turned his head casually to look at her.

Isella was still gazing at the fire.

“Milady keeps telling me to enjoy this school life, but I don’t know how.”

“That’s no easy question.”

“I don’t like to admit it, Luca Traverse, but you and I are quite similar, I think.”

“In what way?”

“Speaking style, behavior, like that.”

At this, Luca nodded honestly.

“True, our way of speaking is similar. People might have trouble telling us apart when we talk.”

“What are you saying?”

“Just something to it. Anyway, I get what you want to ask. It seems to you like I’m really enjoying school life, is that it?”

At Luca’s words, Isella unconsciously pouted her lips.

“You do all sorts of things. Like with Pasmo Thier and everything.”

“Hmm… Hearing that name from you feels a bit awkward.”

“……”

Isella fell silent.

Luca looked into the campfire with her.

“If you’re thinking that way, I think you’re already listening well to what Milia says.”

“…… What do you mean?”

Isella asked back.

In response, Luca stood up.

“If you can’t figure out what I’m saying, you should learn some more dancing.”

“?”

“I’ll be off first. Smooth things over with the others, would you?”

Luca left the campfire just like that, and Isella, left alone, wore a complicated expression.

“Learn some more dancing……?”

While she digested that riddle, Luca arrived at the edge of the campfire, where almost no one was around, the campfire’s glow barely reaching.

Then he looked out into the darkness.

“Bella.”

“Yes, young master.”

Bella appeared.

She seemed confused as to why she was being summoned at this timing.

Luca Traverse held out his hand to her.

“Would you like to have a dance?”

“…… Excuse me?”

Bella was flustered.

After gazing at him for a moment, she gave a faint smile and took his hand.

“Gladly!”

With the end of the Founding Festival, the long festival truly came to an end.

* * *

“Haa. So tired.”

“Luca! This is no time for that! We need to hurry!”

Early the next morning.

At an hour when he normally wouldn’t even be awake, Luca carried a travel bag, heading to the auto-carriage depot.

Beside him, Ottbo was moving his luggage, looking in perfect condition.

“We’re late! At this rate, we’ll miss the train!”

At the depot, Hav and Moula were already waiting.

Luca looked at them with eyes half-shut.

“Don’t you guys ever sleep……?”

“We used to wake up even earlier back home.”

“Horrifying……”

They loaded their things onto the auto-carriage and got in.

If following a set route, the auto-carriage would drive itself.

As soon as the four boarded and closed the door, the vehicle started moving quietly.

“Luca. Did you stay up late last night? You look really tired.”

“I slept about the usual. But I usually get up at seven, and now it’s five, isn’t it?”

“That’s true.”

Ottbo nodded in agreement.

Luca pouted at him.

“Ottbo, you’re usually weak in the morning, so why are you fine now?”

“I barely slept!”

“…… Why?”

‘Not sleeping’ equals ‘less tired’?

That didn’t make sense.

As Luca looked at him skeptically, Ottbo grinned.

“I just wasn’t sleepy yesterday, somehow, and I can just sleep on the train!”

“Pfft, as if you can sleep comfortably there.”

“What do you mean?”

Ottbo showed pure confusion.

Luca smacked his lips.

“Isn’t it uncomfortable to sleep in a magic train seat?”

“Why would you sleep in the seat?”

“Where else would you sleep, then?”

At Luca’s question, Ottbo made a strange face.

“You sleep in a bed, of course.”

“…… Oh? Did you reserve a room with beds?”

“Oh, right. You guys don’t know, do you?”

Ottbo scratched his cheek at Luca’s response.

“The train we’re riding today is entirely owned by the Gress family. So, they booked the super-deluxe suite for us.”

“Super-deluxe suite……?”

Luca knew about deluxe suites but not ‘super-deluxe’.

Magic trains had three classes of cars.

Standard seats for commoners at the end, roomed seats for nobles, and deluxe suites with beds for high-ranking nobles.

In the original story, the main character had never heard of a room better than the deluxe suite.

“Well… yeah… there is such a thing.”

Watching Ottbo scratching his head, Luca pursed his lips.

‘Bringing this guy along really was the right choice.’

The feeling from the start was different.

“S-Super-deluxe suite? What’s that?”

“I don’t know either, Hav.”

“Are we really allowed to even be in there……?”

As commoners, Hav and Moula worried they’d be kicked out.

They’d thought they’d get seats in the standard car, or if lucky, in the roomed car.

But from Luca’s and Ottbo’s conversation, it seemed they’d be riding in some unfamiliar place.

After a whispered consultation with Moula, Hav asked tentatively:

“A-Are we taking the standard cars separately, then?”

“Why?”

Ottbo’s pure curiosity surfaced again.

Hav started rambling.

“Well… it’s just … we’re commoners… and you guys are nobles… wouldn’t it be weird to share the same room……?”

“The room’s big. Don’t worry. Should I even draw a curtain in the middle?”

“…… Huh?”

He had no idea what Ottbo was talking about.

“We’re talking about the seats on the magic train, right?”

“Yeah.”

“……?”

Then why ‘draw a curtain in the middle’? He truly didn’t get it.

So Luca said,

“You’ll see when we get there.”

“…… Okay.”

About thirty minutes later, the auto-carriage reached the magic train station.

Ottbo immediately took charge of the boarding process and guided them.

“Luckily, there’s still a bit of time left. We can have breakfast before we go!”

“I was starting to get hungry. Good timing.”

“J-Just a minute… I need a little rest……”

Hav, looking pale from motion sickness, wanted a break.

They went to a restaurant inside the station where they could get a light soup.

Ottbo pulled out a simplified train map and explained.

“We’re taking three trains. First, we board the central loop train here at Havok and get off at Malbab, a major southern city. Then we take the southern central train all the way to the southern end of the Hernan Empire, to the port city of Bixoro in the Lirev domain. Lastly, from there we take the southern coast train to Bizenne, the mining city closest to their home in Potro. Any questions?”

“How long does it take?”

With such a complicated route, Luca wasn’t paying close attention—he just wanted to know the duration.

Ottbo checked the schedule.

“Adding it up, we’ll be on trains for about eleven hours. The southern central and southern coast schedules don’t line up well. If we took a freight train on the coast route, it’d be faster, but those don’t even have regular suites, let alone super-deluxe.”

“Super-deluxe… I’m very curious what that is.”

“Luca, you’ve never used one? That’s surprising.”

Ottbo seemed a bit puzzled at Luca’s ignorance.

“I hardly ever travel anyway.”

“Haha, sounds about right.”

“Phew… I finally feel better now.”

Finally looking better, Hav let out a sigh.

At some point, all the soup they’d ordered was gone.

“Doesn’t feel like we ate much. Who finished it all?”

“Ah… haha. When you’re queasy, it’s best to fill your stomach……”

Hav looked sheepish; Luca clicked his tongue.

“It’d take too long to order more food.”

“Don’t worry, the food’s great in the super-deluxe suite. Since we’re like this, should we just board early?”

At Ottbo’s suggestion, Luca stood up immediately.

“Good idea. I have to see what this super-deluxe suite is all about.”

“You’ll love it!”

Ottbo, excited, led them.

Starting from the end carriage, they passed even the deluxe suites at the front.

Hav and Moula started to look anxious.

“A-Are we really allowed here?”

“We’re going to get chased out, Hav.”

“…… Yeah.”

Even Hav, who’d usually insist they’d be fine, was visibly tense this time.

That’s when Ottbo spoke to the attendant.

“We made reservations for the super-deluxe suite. We’ll head in.”

“What? Super-deluxe… Ah! O-Ottbo Gress, young master! Welcome!”

Recognizing Ottbo, the attendant hurriedly opened the locked door for them.

It was the carriage right behind the engine compartment.

Ottbo beamed at them and guided them in.

“Come in! See just how special a super-deluxe suite is……!”

The moment they entered, Luca was speechless.

“This is… what……”

“This is the super-deluxe suite!”

Inside was a room wider than a train car, a space that could be called a full-scale lodging facility.

“As expected, the home of drive magic is on another level.”

For the first time, Luca truly felt Ottbo’s prestige.

————-= Clacky’s Corner ————-=

Nothing beats having a loaded friend…

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep