Strata Magic School (3-8)
There are things on a trip more important than the destination itself... no, even more crucial than the destination.
It's your travel companions.
Who you go with matters more than where you're headed.
It's always happier to visit a place you don't like with someone you love than to go to your dream spot with people you can't stand.
The first day, thanks to Louis, I'd felt the former. The second day, thanks to Luna, I was basking in the latter.
Even though we were heading to the same place, yesterday had felt like trudging through a muddy field under storm clouds, while today was like strolling through a flowerbed with a gentle spring breeze.
As soon as Luna boarded the carriage, the coachman opened a small window and spoke to us.
"We'll be off now. Let me know right away if there's any issue."
"Yes."
With Luna's reply, the carriage finished its preparations to depart. The dean's carriage up ahead started moving, and ours followed suit.
Amid the rattling of the wheels, Luna murmured softly.
"Professor Sonya must be exhausted."
"Yeah... It's a shame there's nothing we can do to help even though we want to."
The dean's sudden whim had led Strata to try assigning him escorts, but he'd flatly refused, killing the idea.
Fortunately, his desired destination matched Sonya's, so the school had probably tasked her with something akin to bodyguard duty.
Someone of the dean's caliber wouldn't run into trouble anyway, but he was the heart and soul of Strata.
From the academy's perspective, they couldn't just send him off without a care.
"This really drove it home—the majesty of Strata's professors...."
Those guys who looked like major merchant lords at a glance had folded like lawn chairs the moment Sonya mentioned her professorial title.
To them, the dean was the sun hanging high in the sky—untouchable and serene, no matter what they did. Sonya, on the other hand, was a towering mountain right beside them.
The sun would just keep shining peacefully, but a raging mountain could turn everything around it to ash.
To them, Sonya probably loomed like a peak that could bury them in an avalanche at any moment.
Luna and I exchanged wry chuckles as we glanced back at the Strata procession, feeling its sheer power.
"For them to keep following after getting chewed out by Professor Sonya... the dean must be something else."
"...I think you're the impressive one, Su-ho."
"Me?"
It had gone from Sonya to the dean, then suddenly shifted to me as the final target.
"Do you know what the kids playing in the streets dream of becoming?"
'No way she's about to say I'm one of the pillars of their dreams, right?'
[....]
Why? She just said I was impressive.
While I mulled over my stray thought in silence, Luna quietly provided the answer.
"Great mages."
It was only natural, really.
Every kid idolizes heroes, and those heroes' titles become their dreams.
Plus, "great mage" rolled off the tongue easier for kids than "dean."
"But kids who dream of becoming great mages gradually shrink under the harsh realities of the world, until they grow up and grasp their own limits."
"..."
"They realize they're the kind of person who could never become a great mage—or even approach one. Just pathetic adults."
What could I say...
Luna had started off like she was observing from a third-party view, but at some point, she'd narrowed it down to a first-person perspective.
"Once they face reality and truly become adults, there's only one best choice left."
Standing as equals was never on the table to begin with.
So their top option boiled down to one thing.
"Strata..."
"Yes. Get into Strata and earn a great mage's recognition."
Luna's final words and her expression spoke volumes about her tangled emotions.
The person she wanted to surpass felt impossibly distant, making her own self seem utterly insignificant.
Luna clearly respected the dean.
It showed every time she explained him to me.
But the jealousy buried deep inside wasn't something she could just hide away because she wanted to.
It was impossible to erase, so she kept it out of sight at best.
[Thirst for Growth]
Luna always yearned for growth, and that very craving had drawn her to me.
A woman with such desires couldn't be free of jealousy.
After laying it out like that, Luna gazed at me intently.
"I really think you're amazing."
And that jealousy was directed at me, too.
"The fact that you can speak to the dean without hesitation, even touch him..."
Jealousy slipped out now and then, but her words to me rang true.
She might think I was a bit immature, sure...
I didn't play around or brush it off. Instead, I shook my head seriously.
"It wasn't that big a deal. I'm not standing at his side out of arrogance, and I sure don't see myself as his equal."
"...I'm jealous of you, Su-ho, but it makes me anxious too."
Luna said she wanted to approach the dean as casually as I did.
Not in a bad way.
She just wanted to speak freely when needed, without pressure, and look him in the eye.
Because that was her dream...
"For me... Strata is my last shot at life."
"..."
The final chance for Luna, whose family had fallen.
Ambition is like a pupil in the white of every person's eye.
Without it, there's no goal. Without a goal, you can't see the path forward in life.
I believe ambition shapes our life's vision.
For Luna, that ambition was more vital and precious than anything.
If she couldn't achieve something great at Strata and just graduated ordinarily, her status as a Strata student might be the last highlight of her life.
That's why she couldn't act like me, even if she wanted to.
Offending the dean's sensibilities could end her Strata days on the spot.
"On the other hand, that's part of why I fell so deeply in love with you."
"Huh? Me?"
"You saved my last chance when it was about to slip away."
"Ah..."
Thinking back, if Luna had suffered that assistant professor's abuse, her school life would've been impossible now.
No—her time at school might've ended right there.
Once a gear slips, it can wreck the whole clock.
Luna seemed to shake off the memory, flashing a smile to change the mood.
"Come to think of it, you seem like the type who just says whatever's on your mind."
"Do I? I thought I was pretty selective..."
"That's selective? I still get a chill remembering that time..."
"That time? What'd I mess up? Tell me."
Had I slipped up with Luna recently?
I wondered if it was something from last night's sex. She'd been badmouthing Louis while riding me, and I'd gotten carried away, blurting out all sorts of rough talk.
As I pondered, Luna smirked at me and dropped one line.
"Don't wanna?"
"...? What? Out of nowhere?"
That wasn't like the Luna I knew.
And in casual speech, too...
Luna grinned mischievously.
"That's your hint."
"...Ah!"
The old memory hit me like a flash. I slapped my forehead and muttered.
"There were... circumstances."
"Oh? What circumstances made you snap like that over a simple dinner invite?"
Back when Luna and I weren't close yet.
She'd invited me to eat together, and I'd smiled and replied:
(Don't wanna?)
(...)
The look on her face back then was priceless.
She was probably feeling the same satisfaction now, watching me squirm, that I'd felt then.
Seeing your loved one flustered is one of dating's underrated joys.
But...
"Well? Spill it. How much did you hate me then? It was just refusing a handshake..."
"Urgh..."
At this rate, Luna would toy with me all the way to Levin.
Escape... I needed an escape...
Aha!
It hit me—a trump card to slip her grasp and turn the tables.
"Speaking of which, you saw me use the magic circle the day before that, right?"
"Y-Yeah...?"
Luna, who ignored everyone, had approached me with a dinner invite precisely because of my magic circle skill.
The ability to manifest a magic circle in reality just by envisioning it.
She'd caught me, but kept it secret and started showing me favor.
And her first act of favor? The dinner invite.
I flashed a triumphant smile at her puzzled look.
"Right... the magic circle."
"...?"
I unleashed my surefire escape move for the situation.
"How's the magic circle practice going?"
Luna was sharp. She instantly saw my question wasn't innocent.
"Hold on! You can't be trying to dodge like this here!?"
"Hey now! Dodge? It's what brought us together."
I'd been too busy with exams lately to check on it, but magic circles meant more to Luna than her grades.
Even so, when I exploited it to wriggle free like a glitch, she looked peeved.
"Tch, that's cheating!"
"Hey! Cheating? Come on, Student Luna... let's test those magic circles."
"Ugh..."
Luna grumbled with a sulky pout but started straining to draw one in the air anyway.
She couldn't bottle it up forever, though, shooting me side-eyes and muttering.
"Ugh... so annoying."
"Hahaha!"
Traveling with the one you love is always a joy, and right then, I felt it all over again.