Ikelite Academy was bathed in sunlight that morning, and the woodland path was unusually quiet.
In the distance, birds hopped among the treetops of the Alchemy Institute Botanical Garden, occasionally letting out melodious songs.
"..."
After hurriedly fleeing Cat Boss Restaurant, Lanchi and Hughberlian walked along the road leading to the Magic Engineering Institute Main Building. Neither of them said a word, as if by silent agreement.
It was already near the end of the semester, with Examination Week approaching. There were hardly any new classes left, and students going to and from class had become much less common around campus. Returning to the campus they had been away from for so long, the two felt as if half a year ago had been only yesterday.
Finally.
They spotted a familiar landmark up ahead.
On the way from the Sage Institute to the Magic Engineering Institute, there was a Cold-Pressed Juice Shop that offered more than thirty varieties of pure fruit juice, mixed fruit juice, and fruit-and-vegetable juice. Before leaving Ikelite, they had often seen many students carrying drinks from this shop after class.
The shop had opened just last year, but it had already become an old establishment.
The two exchanged a glance, paused there for a moment, and bought two drinks without even having to queue.
Hughberlian remembered that after the two of them had finished Teacher Theresa's "General Knowledge of Magical Genealogy" class in the Learning and Education Building, they had walked this same road while chatting and drinking cold-pressed juice. That was when they decided to travel to the Northern Continent to seek out Askesang and had begun this graduation project.
Who would have thought they would actually complete it?
All they could do was marvel at how quickly time passed.
After returning from the constantly