Chapter 442: Two Matters

On the Sea of Knowledge.

A small boat suddenly burst forth from a churning whirlpool. Freya, the veela, sat aboard, cradling a tiny bat in her arms. She immediately unfurled her Silver Wing, noticing with a spark of excitement that her virtual wings had already begun to take shape.

At this rate, even if she stopped taking the risks necessary to conjure whirlpools, her Silver Wing would fully condense in about a month.

Even with the little bat's assistance, creating whirlpools remained a grueling challenge. First, they had to track down a Knowledge Creature. Then, they had to carefully whittle its strength down to the brink of death without accidentally killing it. From there, they had to tail the creature until it completely exhausted itself and dissolved into the sea. Only then would a whirlpool form.

Accidentally killing the creature, losing its trail, or failing to find a Knowledge Creature at all were standard setbacks. Despite possessing the Secret Poison Diary for quite some time, the veela had only managed to successfully manifest three whirlpools.

"See that? I'll be fully condensing my Silver Wing in no time!" She chirped happily, lifting the little bat in the air. "Once that happens, I'll finally be able to ascend to the Continent of Time. Maybe I'll even run into him in the Virtual World!"

The little bat flapped its wings, and Freya seemed to understand its unspoken thoughts perfectly. "You think my sorcery class isn't strong enough? Hmph, I don't need to force it to Gold Rank first. His diary contains information about the Golden Fish!

"At the end of yesterday's entry, he realized that the Sea of Knowledge actually exists inside the belly of the Golden Fish. Today, he's supposed to update on how to find it. He must have used that exact shortcut to reach the Continent of Time himself! After all, he's even lazier than I am. Back when we lived together, I never saw him train a single day in his life. There's no way he went from zero to a Two-Winged sorcerer in just a month without finding some kind of backdoor. I just need to follow in his footsteps, and sooner or later, I'll catch up! Come to think of it, it should have updated by now..."

The veela summoned the diary, and a red bookmark instantly caught her eye in the top-right corner, signaling a new entry.

However, as she flipped it open, she realized it wasn't the continuation about the Golden Fish she had been anticipating. She groaned. "Why isn't it about the Golden Fish? How could he leave me hanging like this? What a jerk!"

On her shoulder, the little bat nodded vigorously in agreement.

Despite her annoyance at Ashe's cliffhanger, curiosity won out, and she began to read. Lowering her gaze, she dove into his latest written thoughts.

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June 8

Today, two distinct incidents occurred. The first happened this morning and left me quite displeased, though it wasn't entirely unexpected. The second took place tonight. Initially, it had absolutely nothing to do with me, but when viewed alongside the morning's events, it unravels into a mystery shrouded in deep uncertainty.

Chronologically speaking, I ought to recount the first event first, but I find myself compelled to start with the second...

***

In the afternoon, atop a sky highway bridge paved with a pale blue glow.

Three Raven Aerial motorbikes sped wildly forward, propelled by the blessing of the Miracle Road. Their streamlined frames cut cleanly through the wall of air resistance, allowing them to safely accelerate until they blurred into afterimages.

Riding at full thrill, the rider of the middle bike suddenly popped a wheelie, lifting the front tire high into the air. The passenger behind shrieked, clinging tightly to the female rider. "Miss, I'm begging you! Can you please drive more steadily?!"

Aboard the three Raven Aerials were the six members of the Funeral Agency. Pankey and Harvey rode one, Ashe and Annan another, while Iger and Lys took the third.

Normally, Ashe would have ridden with either Lys or Iger. However, because he didn't know how to handle a motorbike, he couldn't carry Lys. As for Iger, the man firmly refused any prolonged physical contact with Ashe, as if terrified Ashe might do something to him. This reaction left Ashe feeling oddly rejected.

At first, Ashe thought this arrangement wasn't bad at all. Holding the Lady's slender waist while enjoying the ride felt like a bonus perk of the agency. But the moment the bike tore onto the skybound Miracle Road, all his romantic notions vanished. She was simply driving too fast!

Ashe had never pegged Annan as a quiet, well-behaved girl, but he hadn't expected her to have such a wild side. She pushed the bike straight to its absolute limit, tearing down the highway like a maniac. Iger and Pankey, who had originally intended to cruise leisurely, were forced to push their own steel beasts to the max just to keep up with her.

As if that wasn't enough, she clearly relished showing off motorcycle tricks. Lifting the front wheel was just the warm-up; the real highlight was the way she took corners.

The first time she accelerated and leaned hard into a turn, Ashe felt like he was about to be smeared across the asphalt into a puddle of paste. From that moment on, every time a curve appeared ahead, he clung to Annan for dear life, trying to practically merge his body into hers.

Seemingly satisfied, Annan eased off the throttle slightly. Her voice crackled through the helmet. "Fun?"

"Fun my ass! I—"

"Looks like my service hasn't been good enough. I still have plenty of tricks I haven't shown you—"

"No, no, no! I'm having a blast! I'm practically dying of joy! I can't take any more of your 'treatment,' Miss!"

Annan chuckled. "Heh. This is just one side of me. You'll have to get used to it."

Ashe widened his eyes. "This is only because we're not taking a hovercar this one time, right? Don't tell me there's going to be a next time?"

"Of course. I like riding motorcycles," Annan said. "Do you?"

For some reason, Ashe caught a trace of nervousness and anticipation in her tone, like someone sharing their favorite hobby with a friend. It suddenly occurred to him that Annan probably hadn't had many friends growing up, and this dangerous passion of hers likely lacked Pankey's approval. She had probably never had anyone to share it with.

More importantly, Ashe needed a way to stop her from speeding like a lunatic. He said quickly, "I love it! Can you teach me how to ride?"

"But you don't sound like you like it very much."

Ashe said with absolute sincerity, "I'll learn to love it for your sake! Please, teach me!"

Annan snorted with a smile. "Sweet-talker. No wonder you managed to upend the Happiness Ranking."

Ashe's face darkened. Just then, Annan suddenly stood up slightly on the footpegs and asked, "Are you ready?"

Riding behind them, Iger and Harvey saw what she was doing and immediately accelerated, ringing their bells frantically. Ashe, however, was still completely clueless. "Ready for wha—"

Before he could finish, Annan smoothly vaulted up and dropped back down, shoving Ashe into the driver's seat while she slipped behind him, pressing against his back. In the blink of an eye, they had switched positions. She grabbed his hands and forced them onto the handlebars. "Left hand is the clutch, right hand is the front brake, left foot shifts gears, right foot is the rear brake. Got it?"

Ashe was on the verge of a mental breakdown. "Couldn't you have taught me while you were still driving?!"

He couldn't keep up with her pace at all.

Annan said matter-of-factly, "You learn the fastest by doing it yourself. Alright, don't focus on what's behind you. Just concentrate on the road."

He hadn't been paying attention before she said that, but now, all his nerves immediately hyper-focused on his back. Ashe thought. As expected of the Lady. With just one sentence, she managed to make me genuinely enjoy motorcycles!

With a master-level rider personally guiding him, Ashe quickly picked up a new skill he could practically add to his Sorcerer's Handbook. Not only that, he even instinctively grasped the rhythm of an "accelerate-decelerate-accelerate-decelerate" trick, repeating it until Annan pinched a bit of flesh at his waist to stop his antics.

Once Ashe managed to ride steadily, Annan suddenly spoke up. "Starting this morning, the Empire has lifted your wanted status. Congratulations. You're legal now."

Ashe said gloomily, "It's because of the Heretical Arts Ranking, isn't it? But I don't feel happy about it at all."