14 14TH GEAR - AM I GETTING TREATED LIKE A DOG?

14TH GEAR - AM I GETTING TREATED LIKE A DOG?

"Come here, Goku!"

A sweet voice blended with the cool ocean air.

It was a bright sunny morning here in the Eastern Islands where Fluonessia lives. This was my first time here, and I'd say the place is quite suburban compared to the mainland. The people here live as simply as possible, and there's not even a magical technology in sight. I can see vast fields of farmlands, and at the edges of the island are fishermen readying their boats to work.

I have agreed to fetch Fluonessia this early in the morning. It's Saturday, so there are no classes in the Academy.

"I'm sorry, Jonathan! I had to walk my dog every seven in the morning! It's my routine every weekend! Tahaha!" Fluonessia said.

"It's fine. Do what you have to do." I waved back with a smile.

Fluonessia is in her casual clothes, which is a pure white silky summer dress that reveals her long milky legs. She looks like a fairy in such a simple outfit that emphasizes her cuteness.

I looked at the dog, which seemed to be a german shepherd breed. It sat right in front of me and panted with its tongue out. It looks tamed and docile. I had the urge to pat it.

"Don't worry, Jonathan. Goku is a good boy. He doesn't bite." Fluonessia said.

"What is his name again? Goku?" I asked with the suppressing urge to laugh.

"Y-Yeah, why?" Fluonessia blushed in embarrassment. "I-I named him after my favorite anime character, isn't it cute?"

"That's actually a good name, though quirky," I said.

"I-I'm quite an otaku myself, tahahaha!"

Fluonessia scratched her head in embarrassment. Then she tried hard to change the embarrassing topic as she sat and then offered her hand to the dog.

"Paw!"

The dog put his paw above Fluonessia's palm.

"Turn around!"

The dog turned in a clockwise fashion.

"Sit!"

The dog sat obediently.

"Play dead!"

The dog lay down on the ground with its belly exposed.

"Wow, that's a well-trained dog right there," I commented.

"That's not all he can do!" Fluonessia stood up proudly. Then she offered a ridiculous command to the dog! "Go make a sandwich!"

"Woof!"

Goku barked then ran towards the entrance of a three-story traditional wooden house which is apparently Fluonessia's home. After about a minute, the dog returned with a sandwich in his mouth. It laid the sandwich right on my foot as if it was offering sacrifices to a god.

I... I was at a loss for words. I don't even know what to think of it.

Meanwhile, Fluonessia looked at her pocket watch and shrieked.

"Ah! It's almost time! We decided to meet up with Prez in the Shopping District before eight, right?"

"Yeah. Shit, we won't make it to the ferry departure time!" I said.

Eastern Islands are separated from the mainland as it is covered by a body of water. The only way to arrive at this island is to have a private boat or board a ferry unless you know a magic that makes you fly or swim.

The ferry departs every hour, and we may have been at least five minutes late. If we wait for the next ferry, we will be an hour late for our meeting with Prez!

"We have no choice!" Fluonessia pumped her fists, then she offered her hand to me. "Come take my hand!"

"W-What!?"

"With my Wind Accel, I can run fast enough to step on the water!"

There's no doubt that Fluonessia can run on water. There are even lizards that can cross rivers just by running really fast. Most Speedmages can do that, and that's a pretty popular way to transport from island to island. However, we're talking about Fluonessia here.

The first time I took her hand, I crashed into a garbage truck. The second time, I plunged into a cold swimming pool. Who knows what happens if I take her hand for the third time?

"Don't worry, I have prepared a countermeasure against that last time!" Fluonessia excitedly pumped her fists as she revealed a packaging tape! "Tadaaa!"

"W-What are you going to do with that?"

"Let's wrap this to make our hands stick together so that our hands won't slip free again!" Fluonessia suggested.

"We don't need that!" I cried.

"What do you suggest then?" Fluonessia tilted her head with curiosity.

I gritted. There's no way this wouldn't turn ugly, but it's not like we have a choice. Taking her hand is the only way we got it. I gulped and manned up myself, then took her hand.

"Just make sure you won't accidentally lose your grip."

"Roger that, coach!" Fluonessia smiled with a blush.

She bent her knees, ready to dash off any minute. To add my security measures, my two hands held her wrist tight. Then I closed my eyes and prayed to all gods I could think of. Please let this trip be safe! Please let this trip be safe!

"Wind Accel!"

Swoosh!

With a swift dash, dusty smoke filled our former positions. All that's left is the dog and his filthy sandwich on the floor.

You know what? Fluonessia ran on water, and she crossed the wide sea just by running at full speed. I was amazed that she can keep the Wind Accel up until we finally crossed the large body of water.

Fluonessia's mana pool must be absurdly vast like the sea. She can keep up a speed spell without breaking a sweat!

"This is how I go to school every day! Awesome, right?" Fluonessia happily said.

"R-Right." I nodded.

We finally arrived on Eastern Beach which is the place we always meet each other before going to class. Since this is Saturday, there are lots of tourists who are enjoying the cold water, the warm sunlight, and the fine white sand. There are umbrellas erected around the place.

"Ah! I can't see a landing spot! There are too many umbrellas everywhere!" Fluonessia cried.

That's it. That's the cry I did not want to hear but expected anyway. The sound of her panic. I thought I have decided not to ever take her hand, but I never learn from my past mistakes. I just closed my eyes and laughed as I meet my inevitable doom.

Boom!

Dust of sand showered around, and the umbrellas flew down back to the ground like parachutes. It was lucky that there were no people who got hurt, except for us two who got our heads buried in the fine sandy ground.

<>

"You two are late." President Ericka's eyebrows twitched as she glared at the two of us.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! It's all my fault!" Fluonessia cried as she bowed over and over.

We made it to the Shopping District thirty minutes late. We took our time looking for a bathroom to clean out sand from our outfits. There was a long line back there so it took a lot of minutes just to make ourselves clean.

Speaking of clean outfits, Prez is kind of cute in hers too. She is wearing a white turtle neck sweater vest, a black pleated skirt, and dark stockings. You would mistake our president for a supermodel wandering around the Shopping District.

"Let's go to the shop now. We still have to buy Fluonessia her Speedmage equipment." Ericka flipped her long wavy hair to the side as she started to walk in her high heels.

"Right! I'm so excited!" Fluonessia excitedly pumped her fists and then walked beside our president.

I just followed the two like an obedient dog. As the two started to talk about girly fashion matters that I couldn't comprehend, the feeling of being alone dreaded me. It's not like I miss that pandaman, but Cruzo said that he will not come to our shopping activity because he has some matters to attend to. He is currently participating in a burrito-eating contest, and it's not like his presence is needed for Fluonessia's shopping anyway.

The Shopping District is full of buildings and stalls. The people gather here at weekends which makes it nauseous for an antisocial like me.

I was relieved when we avoided the crowd as we finally entered a building that has the logo of SSS - Speed Spell Shop. When the door opened, we entered a corridor that has a view deck to an underground oval that has two Checkpoint Towers.

"Whoaaaa! It's so wiiiiiide!" Fluonessia dipped her face in the glass. "Hey, hey, why do they have this oval underground?"

"SSS is the best shop where we can buy our Speedmage Suits and Speedmage Shoes. It is great for the shop to have a testing ground for their products." Ericka explained.

"Awesoooome!" Fluonessia's eyes sparkled.

Prez and I continued to walk, leaving the amazed Fluonessia who seemed to be paced out. We finally entered another magical door that lead us to the actual products of the shop.

The room is wide and full of Speedmage posters. There are display racks that show the latest model of Speedmage shoes. All those bright colors and brand names of the shoes made me nerd out.

"Wait, isn't this the newest model of Bezarius!?" I touched the very first white-and-gold Speedmage shoes that caught my eye. Then I jumped to the glittery black-and-silver model. "And this is Silverback, the obsidian edition! Cool!"

"Welcome to SSS!" The man at the counter greeted me. "Do you want to try out that shoes?"

"Urk!" I was slapped back to reality when the shopkeeper grabbed my attention. I slowly put the shoes on the display rack and forced a smile. "I-I will not. I'm not a mage, so..."

"Get the fuck out then!" The shopkeeper yelled!