"Let's go. She is asking us to ride her." Belen smiled and gracefully jumped onto little Scarlet's back.
"Alright." Max nodded and also climbed onto her back, along with Leticia.
"Let's go, little Scarlet." Belen directed the fowl to fly in academy's direction.
Swoosh!
Little Scarlet chirped happily and with a flap of her wings, she flew many meters above ground. Then with another flap, she shot in academy's direction like a jet. Because of the sudden acceleration, the trio almost lost their footing on her back for a second.
Belen glanced at Max and smiled wryly, "She is a little too excited. Should I tell her to slow down a bit?"
Max shook his head, "No, it's alright. Let her fly at her top speed. It would be good if we can reach the academy as soon as possible."
"Hehe! Let me be useful here." Giggling, Leticia suddenly waved her hand. Wind elemental Mana surged out and formed a barrier around them, blocking the fierce wind.
"Thank you." Max smiled. After watching the fleeting scenery below for a while, he became bored. He lay down, his head resting on Belen's lap, and closed his eyes.
A beautiful and loving smile appeared on Belen's face and her heart felt sweet. After some hesitation, she started running her fingers through his hair.
Seeing that he chose Belen's lap instead of hers to lie down, Leticia pouted a little. However, unlike before, there was no sign of envy on her face. Smiling slightly, she scooted near Max and held his hand.
Feeling this, a small smile appeared on Max's face.
A middle-aged man standing near the town's entrance watched as Max's group flew away. After they disappeared on the horizon, he sighed and took out his communication crystal, "I apologise young master. I didn't get any chance to kill the target."
He was Dalton's assassin and had been tailing the trio from the valley because Dalton had ordered him to find an opportunity to kill Max.
[Where is he now?] Dalton's angry voice sounded in his ears.
"H-He has left for the academy on a three-star flying mount, young master." The man hurriedly answered.
[Trash! Scram back to the family then.]
The man's face scrunched up because of the insult. Clenching his teeth, he nodded, "Yes, young master."
...Royal Academy...
Bang!
Dalton threw his communication crystal at the wall in anger and cursed, "This bastard! Where did he find so many grade-three talismans?"
After a while, he calmed down and murmured, "Do I have to request a peak three-star elder to kill him now?"
...Royal Academy...
Two graceful figures walked out of a restaurant. Academy's disciple couldn't help but turn their heads to take another look at them. These two were Anna and Flavia.
Anna's face was now paler and a perpetually worried expression could be seen on her face. Flavia wore a veil on her face, which masked her expression, but her eyes also held hints of worry.
After finding out that Max had gone to find his friend who was claimed to be to lost in the wilderness, both ladies had been worried about his wellbeing.
Flavia had thought that she was worried about him because he was her only friend. However, as days passed without his news, she realized that he had taken a special place in her heart.
A week ago, she came to Max's dorm room to check if he had returned and ran into Anna.
Initially, she had misunderstood the relationship between Max and Anna since Anna was living in his dorm room and her heart had become heavy because of it.
However, after talking with her, she found out that Anna was his sister, relieving her worries.
Because Anna was his sister and had been worrying about him, she started spending some time with her so she wouldn't feel lonely.
As they slowly came to know more things about each other, they became friends.
"Flavia, it'll be two weeks in a few days since he went out. Shouldn't he have returned by now? Maybe we should visit elder's hall for help?" Anna asked, distressed.
Flavia glanced at her and sighed inwardly. She then shook her head, "No. You know Max had accepted the search mission for his friend on behalf on the search department and since he is on a mission, according to the rules, the academy wouldn't do anything about it before the mission's duration has passed."
"I... I know, but I'm worried." Anna sighed. "You know how dangerous it is outside for a two-star mage."
"You know he isn't alone, right?" Flavia smiled reassuringly, "Don't worry, he will be fine."
"Mhm. I hope so."
...
The sun had yet to set and people could be seen going up and down the cloud mountain range on the flying beasts.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a magnificent scarlet coloured sparrow streaked across the sky like a bolt of lightning and headed to the main mountain peak of the cloud academy, attracting many people's attention.
"Such a beautiful mount!" A few female disciples couldn't help but exclaim after seeing little Scarlet.
Whoosh!
A short while later, little scarlet pierced through the clouds and landed in front of the academy's gate.
After they jumped down, Belen stroked the bird's head and praised. "Well done, little Scarlet. You saved us a lot of time. Now come and rest."
Chirp~
Little Scarlet chirped and rubbed her head on Belen's abdomen before vanishing into her beast storage ring.
Leticia took a deep breath and commented, "Ha! We are finally back."
"Hmm. Let's go." Max nodded and walked toward the gate. Belen and Leticia followed.
After they showed their identity tokens, they were granted entry.
Although he wanted to return to his dorm as soon as possible and meet Anna to let her know he was back, so she wouldn't worry anymore, they first had to go to the mission hall to report about their mission.
After a while, the trio walked out of the mission hall.
Leticia looked a little worried and asked, "Max, was it okay to report that we didn't find Rima?"
