2ND GEAR - FIRST ENCOUNTERS CAN NEVER BE UNLUCKY

A world full of magic is something wonderful until you realize that you cannot use magic at all.

That is why I, Jonathan Wardenorth, am a cursed being. Being born as a normal person in a world of spellcasters is hell by itself. I was defective in the magical society for my entire life.

My involvement in the magical society started when I was four years old when my father brought me to a Speedmage Tournament. It was the most popular sport of modern magic where mages from different countries participate and race to become the fastest human alive.

My eyes are filled with joy when I saw mages speed up and leave colorful contrails on the ground. I saw an awesome display of spells and maneuvering skills of the players. The thrill of being the fastest runner in the magical society makes me want to be a Speedmage too.

However, my dreams were crushed when I was five years old. I had myself checked in the hospital for my magical aptitude.

“You better give it up. Jonathan does not have any magical circuits in his body. There is no way he will be able to cast a spell his entire life.” The magical doctor said.

It was the most heartbreaking revelation of my entire life. My dreams of becoming a Speedmage crumbled at a young age. Heck, I will never become a magus at this rate, much to the disappointment of my parents who are well-known spellcasters.

My terminal of despair is to watch the Speedmage Tournament on our old magical TV. I watched awesome moves and spells of Speedmages every time I get depressed. Little by little, the Speedmage Tournament became the very icon of my sorrow.

Once, my parents saw me crying right in front of the magical TV screen. I was so sad that my tears and snot are flowing down my chin.

“Mom, Dad… Can I become like them?” I pointed at the Speedmages on the TV screen.

“Jonathan!” My mother and father hugged me tightly to comfort me. They never answered my question with either yes or no. They do not want to hurt my feelings.

But I know deep inside myself that I will never be like them.

It’s not just my dreams that were shattered. My whole life was ruined before it ever began. Most kids refused to play with me because I cannot cast magic. That may be the reason why I grew up with no friends or acquaintances. People looked at me with judging eyes, both with pity and disgust.

Over the years, I’ve gotten used to the treatment of the people around me. I became antisocial, aloof, and not caring about anything in the world. I despise magic and mages all my life. I gave up on idolizing Speedmages. I hate this magical world I was born into.

I have no other way to live but to live a normal life; a boring useless life without the help of any magic. The only way for me to have a decent living is to become a merchant in this world. In this way, I can still secure my future without suffering from my defect.

As soon as I turned eighteen, I enrolled myself in Saint Crusade Academy, the most prestigious school in our country. I took up a course on commerce for me to expand my knowledge in the world of business.

Unfortunately, the Saint Crusade Academy is the home of many prestigious mages. Houses of royal bloodline all over the continent go to this academy as a jumpstart to their career and become the most recognized mages in all. I may be in a different course with these mages, but it is guaranteed that magic will take part of my life from now on.

Well, beggars can’t be choosers. I will get used to it eventually. I just need four years to stay there until I graduate from my course. Until then, I will live with the mages.

But everything changed when I had my first encounter with a certain someone…

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That brings me back to this very first day in my academy. I live pretty far away, and I have to catch the train to make it in time. If you ever see an average short guy with a fair complexion, spiky black hair, and brown eyes, running like an idiot on the sidewalk early in the morning, that’s probably me.

“Gah… hah… hah…” I was panting as I ran with my remaining energy.

I was rushing down the road with my pocketwatch in my hand. It is 6:44 AM, and the train will leave at 7:30. I pretty much have three-fourths of an hour to get to the station, and at this rate, I will get to the terminal in just thirty minutes. I nonchalantly slowed down to a walk to rest.

While walking down the road, a sweet breeze ran on my face. I looked at the source of the air and noticed that there was a beautiful view of the sea on my left. There is a white sand beach that is completely devoid of people. The sea waters sparkle like jewels, and at the horizon are distant islands that peek at the edge of the earth.

I closed my eyes and continued to savor the tranquility of the scene, but then I heard a loud thud! I was about to ignore it but I heard another cry!

“Waaaah! Help! Help me!” It was a feminine cry.

I looked around and saw a teenage girl with long pink hair and milky white skin. She is wearing a white and blue academy uniform with the same sigil as my school. Oh, there’s nothing to worry about as she is not in danger at all. Maybe she’s just a weirdo, crawling on the white sand beach and digging like a lost dog.

“Waaaaah! I lost it! I can’t believe I lost it on my very first day!” The girl cried.

I am no hero nor a good samaritan, so I just ignored the girl and went on my way. I was to about to pass through but then I heard her holler again.

“Someone! Anyone! Help me! I lost something very important!”

She’s pretty noisy, and it’s grinding my gears so I decided to approach the girl with an irritated gaze. The pink-haired girl immediately noticed me, and I saw her sparkling blue eyes.

I was astounded for a moment. The pink-haired girl was adorable. She has the face of a fresh twelve-year-old girl but her somewhat short but well-endowed body tells otherwise.

“Whoaaa! A person! Thank goodness somebody is here to help me!” The pink-haired girl prayed.

“What, you rarely see a person before?” I irritatingly asked.

“No!” The pink-haired girl energetically shook her head. “This is my first time here, and I thought this beach is abandoned! I’m super duper grateful that a person is here!”

I sighed. “Okay then, so what is this important thing you’re looking at in the sand?”

“Wah! How did you know that I was looking for something?”

“Because you’ve been screaming about it a few seconds ago?”

“W-Was I that loud!?” The pink-haired girl gasped.

“Just tell me what we’re looking for so that we can be on our way.” I groaned. It’s still early in the morning, and my energy is being drained by this noisy idiot.

“O-Oh, right! I am looking for an accessory that resembles a wing! It looks like this!” The pink-haired girl showed me her hairpin which looks like it was made from cheap plastic.

“Alright. How did you lose it?”

“I was running from that island over there, and then I swooshed over the ocean, and then boom! I hit the sand of this beach! I passed out for a couple of seconds but when I stood up, my hairpin is missing!” The pink-haired girl said.

She was pointing at the island at the horizon a while ago, and she said she “swooshed over the ocean”, which means she used some kind of magic to travel through extreme distances and terrain. Including the clue that she’s wearing the academy uniform, it is safe to say that I have run into a mage. Just my luck.

I checked on the footsteps on the white sand as it gives clue where this idiot went in first. While I was busy searching, the pink-haired girl stood up and introduced herself.

“My name is Fluonessia Asahime from the Eastern Islands! Nice to meet you!”

“Likewise,” I said while I’m digging in the sand with two hands. If she could just help me search for her hairpin, that will be great.

“What’s your name, oh kind person?”

“Jonathan Wardenorth.” I briefly said. I felt an object on the soft sand, so I immediately cleaned it and saw the blue wing hairpin she’s been looking for. I showed it to her. “Is this it?

“Waaaaaah! Thank you! Thank you very much! You’re my hero!” She squealed.

I just ignored her praises to me as I checked on my pocket watch. And then I realized that it was already 7:35 AM! I missed the train, and I will surely miss my very first class!

“Shit! The train departed already! Did I take a lot of time dilly-dallying here!?” I muttered to myself.

“Huh? You missed the train?” The pink-haired girl tilted her head like a curious puppy.

I just sighed. I want to blame my tardiness on this woman, but I can’t. It’s my fault for helping her anyway, so I will just charge it to experience not to involve myself with idiots, mages, cute girls, or all of the above.

“Don’t worry, Mister Jonathan Wardenorth! I am here! T-Tahahahahaha!”

“So what if you are here?” I cringed.

“I’m a magus, and I can use speed magic. Since you helped me look for my hairpin, I will help you get into the academy in no time!”

Wait, she said earlier that she came from the Eastern Islands, right? If she is a skillful mage, then going to the academy is just a piece of cake for her! Maybe I’m in luck!

“Really?”

“Believe it! I may be a failure as a mage, but I have this experimental speed magic that is super duper convenient! Just hang unto me!” Fluonessia said as she offered her hand.

I have no reason to refuse, except those words like “failure as a mage” and “experimental speed magic”. But I have no means of going to the academy at this rate. I took her hand without a second thought, and then she looked forward to the direction of the school. Her pose seemed reminiscent of those Speedmages I saw on the TV back when I was a kid. Is this girl-

“You ready?” Fluonessia asked.

I just nodded in affirmation.

If my calculations are correct, the distance from here to the academy is about fifty kilometers. A Speedmage can cover that distance in just five minutes.

Magical sparkling clouds of dust converged on her foot, and then she bolted forward with extreme speed!

“Fluonessia, taking off!”

As soon as she shouted, a sonic boom was created. We traveled from the white-sand beach to the train tracks, above the mountains, and through the city square! It was a mind-blowing experience for me to hang unto a Speedmage, as it was my first!

It was a smooth ride as the magical energy of the pink-haired girl served as a protective shield that prevents the side effects of being too fast. We were way too fast that we reached the entrance of the Saint Crusade Academy in just a matter of three minutes!

Before we could stop, Fluonessia smiled at me with a hint of guilt.

“U-Um, Jonathan… I’m sorry I haven’t learned to stop smoothly. So we will have to crash somewhere with less impact!”

“W-What!?”

This pink-haired idiot! What kind of magus knows how to speed up and does not know how to slow down!?

“Hang on!” She shouted.

Boom!

Fluonessia finally saw a dumpster truck and decided to crash through sacks of garbage on our very first day at the academy.