"I have a question. Why are we walking when we could just use airships?" Isaac asked, his expression tinged with confusion.
"Ah, right, I forgot about that," Haruo said as he stood up from the ground, brushing off the dust casually.
"Yeah, but we're still broke," Ena muttered, crouched down with her hands rubbing her temples, glancing up at Haruo with a weary expression.
"And whose fault is that?" Haruo said, glaring down at Ena with a pointed look, his stance steady and his gaze unwavering with disappointment in his expression.
Ena quickly turned her head, sensing the familiar threat of a slap to the temple coming her way, judging by the way Haruo's gaze sharpened and the tension building in the air.
"As much as I want to throw her off a cliff, she's still right," Haruo said with a hint of disappointment in his voice. "Right now, we can't afford much, since we spent most of our money on materials and food, especially with the fine we still have to pay."
Theodor raised his hand lazily, bread sticking out of his mouth as he balanced several food in the crook of his arm. "I can pay, though."
"WHY ARE YOU EATING OUR FOOD STASH?!" Haruo exclaimed, his voice rising in disbelief. Meanwhile, Theodor kept munching away, completely unfazed, his focus on the bread as if Haruo's outburst was just another day in the life.
Leo, in the middle of it all, grabbed food from Theodor's stash. Haruo quickly rushed toward Theodor to stop him, but Theodor just sprinted away, his expression unfazed, with some of the food falling from his arms.
The rest of the division quickly joined in, creating a commotion as they chased after Theodor through the city streets. "Catch him! Don't let him eat all of it!" Haruo yelled, urging the others to keep up.
Finally, Theodor came to a halt, arriving at a large building. With a dramatic flair, he extended his arm in a presentation gesture, palm flat as if revealing the building itself, while continuing to eat without a care in the world.
Haruo and the others stopped, staring at the building. Haruo glanced at Theodor, still eating, then back at the building, realizing Theodor hadn't stopped once, still munching without care.
"AH, WAIT! SOMEONE STOP HIM FROM EATING!" Haruo shouted, pointing at Theodor. Tatiana quickly jumped toward him, trying to snatch the food from his arms and mouth.
"What is this place?" Ena asked, her gaze sweeping over the unfamiliar surroundings.
"This is the entrance to the airport," Leo said, gesturing casually toward the large structure ahead.
The building was massive, with a grand entrance framed by tall stone pillars. Above, a roof jutted out, held up by sturdy supports, casting a wide shadow over the entryway.
The stone walls were thick, and the roof was lined with intricate details, giving the place a sense of strength and grandeur.
The place buzzed with activity, the noise of people entering filling the air. Inside, the technology was so advanced it was visible even from the outside, with gleaming surfaces and moving parts.
The building itself was massive, easily twice the size of Kilian's manor, towering with its sheer scale and impressive design.
"So where are the airships?" Haruo asked, eyes scanning the building, his attention flicking between the impressive structure and Tatiana and Theodor still bickering over the food.
"Up there," Leo said, pointing upwards with a smile, his eyes glinting with excitement.
Though it was high in the air, Ena and Isaac could see it, though they struggled to make out the details through the thick clouds. Haruo, on the other hand, had no trouble seeing it clearly from that distance.
"I can't see it properly," Ena said, squinting as she tried to make it out more clearly.
"Really? It's as clear as day for me," Haruo said.
"You don't count; you're basically a walking binocular," Ena replied.
"Are you guys done gawking?" Tatiana said, her hair a mess and food clutched in both hands, while Theodor, tied up in rope, remained unfazed, still munching on the same piece of bread.
"That asshole ruined my hair, for goodness' sake! Can we just go already?" Tatiana said.
"I mean, we can go, but... Theodor's eaten like a quarter of our stash," Haruo said.
"So? Can't we just hunt? That'd be easier than restraining him," Tatiana said.
"Yeah, but the problem isn't that we can't hunt—it's that we don't have time. Hunting takes ages, especially with this many people to sustain," Haruo said.
"Traveling all the way to the Northern Kingdom is really far. Even with airships, it'll take at least two months to get there," he added.
"Is it really that far?" Isaac questioned.
"Yeah, this whole continent is about the size of a small planet. I read it in one of my science books back then—probably around 15,000 kilometers in diameter," Ena said, looking up as she tried to remember the estimate of the continent.
"Wait, you study?" Leo said in disbelief.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Ena exclaimed, her frustration evident.
"Nothing..." Leo muttered, avoiding her gaze as he looked away.
Haruo sighed, rubbing his temples. "Alright, you know what, we'll worry about our food later. How about we just go up there and buy ourselves a ticket?"
"Yeah, that seems understandable," Tatiana said.
"Fine," Ena replied, shrugging slightly.
"Mhm," Leo grunted, nodding his head with his arms crossed.
Finally, the whole division made their way toward the building, except for Theodor. Tatiana simply dragged him along by the rope, his indifferent expression unchanged as he chewed on his bread.
"The fact that you guys don't have IDs and are unfamiliar with this place means you must be foreigners," Leo said, taking the lead and showing them the way. "Since you're new here, might as well guide you along."
"You guys do know how to buy a ticket, right?" Leo said, turning his body toward them. When they didn't respond, he raised an eyebrow. "Right?"
Leo sighed, placing his palm over his face. He wasn't frustrated, more like surprised at how oblivious they were.
His smile never faded as he lifted his head, pulling out his ID from his mana storage with a casual motion.
"Alright, to get a ticket, you must have an ID," Leo explained, holding his up for emphasis. "Now, depending on how many badges or perks you have on your ID, it can be life-changing for you guys. You'll get discounts, better positions, and better services."
"Getting a ticket without one is simply impossible," Leo continued. "And during flights, attendants will check your tickets and IDs. If you have neither of them or if one's missing, you'll be thrown off the airship, so make sure you don't lose them," he added.
'So basically, they're our lifeline,' Haruo thought.
"Now, the scanning process is easy: first the entrance, then the counter," Leo said before finally entering inside. The shadow of the roof above them provided relief from the sun, cooling the air around them.
As they walked inside, they saw a machine. The top was flat and had a circular shape, firmly stuck in the ground. People were tapping their IDs on the flat part, and then the machine scanned their whole body, a soft hum filling the air as it processed each person.
"That's one of the machines," Leo explained. "You tap your ID on the top, and then it scans your body. Worst case scenario, the blue light turns red in the middle of the scanning process."
"Why?" Isaac asked.
"Data doesn't match your ID, or you're an unknown entity that doesn't exist," Leo said. "There are probably many more reasons why it turns red, but that's all I know." He tapped his ID, and the machine scanned his whole body before finally allowing him to enter.
"Oh, right, I forgot to give you guys your IDs," Haruo said, reaching into his mana storage. He pulled out two IDs and handed them to Ena and Isaac.
Haruo held out the IDs, gripping them lightly by the edges and extending his hand as if to suggest they should take them themselves. Isaac reached out to grab his ID but froze mid-motion, startled when someone from their team lost patience and snatched her ID straight from Haruo's hand.
'These people are so scary,' Isaac thought, a single tear slipping down his cheek as he hesitated to grab his own ID.
Meanwhile, Ena examined her ID thoroughly, bringing it so close to her face it nearly touched her nose. Haruo glanced at her, a trace of disappointment crossing his face as he shook his head slightly.
'I can never get used to her,' Haruo thought, observing Ena's meticulous examination of the ID. 'She's older than me, yet she acts like a total child. Then again, she is useful—I'll give her that much.'
"So, how much is a trip anyway?" Haruo asked, glancing toward Leo as they moved closer to the counter.
"Probably around $400," Leo said casually.
Hearing this, Haruo's face tightened as if he were about to crumble into dust. He shifted his gaze forward, mostly seeing Leo's back since he was ahead in the line. Haruo then glanced back to see Ena at the very end of the line, struggling with the machine as if it were her mortal enemy.
'I take it back, that woman is only useful in a fight—outside of that, she's just unnecessary weight,' Haruo thought, his irritation flaring like a swarm of chihuahuas yapping in unison.
To anyone else, though, he looked entirely calm, almost like he was just zoning out while staring absently at his back.
"Is there anything wrong?" Isaac questioned, noticing Haruo had stopped moving, unintentionally holding up the line.
"...No, I'm fine," Haruo said, stepping forward and finally making it out of the line. Leo, already waiting near the end of the line, gave a slight nod before Haruo moved to stand beside him.
"What's wrong with you? You look like the Hunchback with the way you're hunching your back," Leo said, glancing at Haruo with a raised brow.
Haruo grabbed Leo's collar, glaring at him with the intensity of someone ready to steal his soul and sell it to the devil for a few extra coins. "$400 for one flight? DO YOU KNOW HOW EXPENSIVE THAT IS?!"
"Not really... When you live in wealth and as an important aspect of the Andreev family, you can't really tell if you're spending a lot or not..." Leo said, glancing to the side, trying to escape Haruo's intense gaze.
"And like I said earlier, money isn't a problem when you're with us. I have around $30,000 saved in my account, and let's not even mention the Andreev siblings— they're loaded," Leo said with a sly smirk, rubbing his index and middle fingers together with his thumb.
Haruo let go of him and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. After the brief exchange, the rest of the division finally crossed the line and gathered together.
"Good, everyone's here. The next thing we need to do is go to the counter and buy tickets for our flight. Not much of a problem, since I'll be the one paying," Leo said.
And then, after a lot of explaining and going through the procedures, they finally managed to get their tickets. Of course, it wouldn't make much sense if everything went smoothly.
Earlier, guards quickly arrived and separated Ena from the group. She was visibly displeased, her temper flaring, and it seemed like she was about to explode the entire building. However, that didn't happen, thanks to Haruo being there to intervene.
The reason they took Ena to the office was that she had tapped the machine so roughly, repeatedly, that it caused a malfunction. The flat top of the machine even shattered from the excessive tapping.
So, they were fined for property damage. The total amount of money they lost that day was approximately $986 for materials and food, $300 for disturbing the peace and climbing off the wall without permission, $2400 for the tickets, and finally, $5000 for the property damage.
So that adds up to $8686 total.
"Why does it have to be like this?" Haruo muttered, hugging his knees, his face buried as he quietly cried.
"Why are you the one crying? I paid for most of the things," Leo said, crossing his arms with a smirk, though his tone hinted at a mix of amusement and frustration. He tried to fool everyone that he wasn't crying as well, despite the tears threatening to form in his eyes.