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With the Airspace Pass, the Capital's defense mechanism remained dormant throughout, and Red-Eyes Black Dragon continued its flight toward the site of the Card Master Association's Capital branch, drawing the attention and envy of residents along the way. To be able to fly through the Capital's airspace without setting off its defenses, the owner of that dragon was without question a big shot among big shots.
"An Airspace Pass? So that's why you weren't the least bit worried." Only after Luke produced the pass did Lyra recognize the object for what it was, and she couldn't help a soft gasp. "Only the Capital Governor holds the authority to issue this thing. Even Elder Edmund, a peer of the Governor's, has no way of issuing one. Though naturally, Elder Edmund owns an Airspace Pass himself."
"You've got sharp eyes." Luke nodded in acknowledgment. He genuinely hadn't expected Lyra to identify the Airspace Pass at a glance.
"The gap between one person and another really does exist." At that, Lyra shot Luke a resentful little look. "But the gap between a person and a monster only runs deeper still."
"Is that any way to talk?" Luke reached out and gave Lyra's cheek a pinch, drawing an indignant huff from the girl.
---
Meanwhile, at the Card Master Association's Capital headquarters, Roland Hargrove was in the middle of briefing his daughter Elise on matters concerning Celestial Academy. With Edmund away, the affairs of the Association's Capital branch had fallen, for the time being, onto Roland's shoulders.
"I've already had a word with Instructor Moira Ashwood. Once you've enrolled through the Trial Road, you should go and pay her a visit." Roland's tone carried the weight of instruction. "Instructor Ashwood is a rare plant-system specialist among Card Masters. Even within Celestial Academy she ranks near the very top, and she's one of the mere handful of instructors there at the Sovereign Realm."
The Hargroves were one of the Capital's foremost clans, with Edmund, an Immortal Realm powerhouse, as their pillar, and their web of connections reached even into Celestial Academy. Academy Head Tobias Wren was on decent terms with Edmund, so when Roland had asked Moira Ashwood to take Elise under her wing, she'd agreed without much hesitation.
Sovereign Realm instructors were exceedingly rare to begin with. For an ordinary person, merely securing an audience with one would have been difficult in the extreme.
"I understand, Father." Elise nodded, and privately resolved that once she'd enrolled at Celestial Academy, she absolutely couldn't let herself fall too far behind Luke.
Recalling Luke's showing in the exam, a flicker of complexity crossed Elise's eyes. She had a Sovereign Realm father and an Immortal Realm grandfather, along with resources her peers couldn't hope to match. She refused to lose to anyone her own age. The monster Luke could perhaps be set aside as an exception, but even so, she couldn't allow herself to trail him by too great a margin.
Reading the little calculations turning in his daughter's heart, Roland only smiled and made no move to stop her. If anything, he was rather pleased about it. After all, with Luke there as a benchmark, Elise's own improvement would only come the faster.
He had originally intended to make the trip to Celestial Academy alongside Elise, but once he learned she'd arranged to travel with Luke and Lyra, he'd let the notion go. A daughter had her own circle of friends, and on that score, Roland considered himself a fairly open-minded man.
It was just that, thinking on it further, Roland couldn't quite suppress a private twinge of worry. By his read, Elise seemed to harbor a certain interest in Luke. It hadn't yet crossed into anything romantic, perhaps, but at their age, the step from interest to genuine attraction was a short one indeed.
Not that Roland had any objection to that. Luke's talent had been proven many times over. The trouble was precisely that Luke was too outstanding. As Luke grew, the swarms of wild bees and prowling butterflies that would inevitably gather around him, all those alluring, scheming women, were already taking shape in Roland's mind.
Ai. Being the father of a daughter really is an exercise in worry. Roland sighed inwardly.
"President, our monitoring has picked up a dragon-type card spirit approaching the Association at high speed. It hasn't triggered the Capital's airspace defenses." Just then, the beautiful secretary's report cut Roland's musings short.
"A dragon-type card spirit, and one that hasn't set off the airspace defenses?" Roland's brows drew together. "So they hold an Airspace Pass. But I can't think of anyone who possesses a dragon-type card spirit."
"Father, could it be Luke?" Beside him, Elise ventured a guess. At the Youth Training Competition, Luke had summoned a dragon-type card spirit, and there'd been that recent news of Governor Aldric personally visiting Ashenvale besides.
"Him?" Roland hesitated. A fresh exam graduate holding an Airspace Pass did seem rather far-fetched. And yet Elise's instinct about the timing fit uncannily well; the dragon-type card spirit had appeared right at the hour the youngsters had agreed to meet.
Even Roland himself didn't possess an Airspace Pass. Only someone at Edmund's level held such a thing.
"Let's go have a look, then." Unable to arrive at an answer, Roland decided to see for himself, and made his way with Elise toward the plaza.
By this point, the plaza that had once hosted the Youth Training Competition had already drawn no small number of onlooking Card Masters.