'At last, the Green Academy's famous flight race, the first Magic King's Cup of the season is about to begin!　I, Grid, in my third year as a top-grader, will be doing the actual reporting!　And the commentary is very popular with the girls for its dandy mask!　It's Dr. Dumble!
"This is Dumble. Good day.

　As soon as a reluctant voice extended by green magic echoed in the hall, a high-pitched girl's scream rang out, which was surpassed by a high-pitched girl's scream.

''Kyah!　Dr. Dumble!
'Lovely!　Marry me!
'Dr. Dumble is a married man!　But I want you to hold me!

　The crowd seems to be getting more excited as the start of the race approaches.

'So, contestants, please take your starting positions!

　After receiving directions, the race contestants walked to a white line drawn on the ground of the training ground.
　It's a pretty long line, so even if there were around a hundred people, they could still line up properly side by side.

　I'm almost at the left end of it.
　The position of the line is determined by the year of admission, and we, the first year students, are on the leftmost side of the line.
　So, Skye was right next to me.

　I took a quick look around.
　Many of the contestants have tools to support their flight.
　As long as it's not a magic tool, you're free to bring your own tools.

　For example, a long stick.
　It is said that straddling this will make it easier to stabilize your flight.
　Some people were straddling a broom. Why a broom?　Maybe they didn't have just the right stick.

　Some were on surfing boards, others wore capes, others wore bird-like wings on both hands.
　There was also a young man who was almost naked, perhaps to reduce air resistance.

　By the way, I'm not carrying anything.
　Well, I've been training in the flesh for a long time, and this is what I'm most used to.

　The starter came out.

''Good!''

　--Doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

　The explosive magic was the signal for the start of the race.

　The contestants jumped out in unison to be the first to arrive.
　The wind of the flying magic that each of them had invoked rallied and a tremendous storm blew behind them.

''Oops!　Suddenly, it was second grade sophomore Marco, who got off to a great start!　It's accelerating fast, and it's pushing the rest of the field out of the way!　Ah, but without gaining enough altitude, I had too much momentum and plunged into the auditorium!''

　The student, Marco, who crashed into the bleachers, was knocked unconscious and retired.

He made the same mistake last year. He's not a good learner.

　The contestants fly out of the training grounds, looking downward at the audience as the commentator, Dumble, gives a scathing assessment.
　Incidentally, the play-by-play and commentary seemed to be done while moving around using their own flying magic.
　The contestants are said to use their own flying magic to move from place to place from one place to the next, taking shortcuts to get ahead of the competition.

　The route of the race had been communicated to the contestants beforehand.
　First, they would circle the academy campus several times before heading out of the academy.
　In other words, from the middle of the race, they would be flying through the city.

''One minute after the start!　It's only the beginning of the race, but it's already starting to fall apart!　The lead group is about 15 people!
'Looks like two of them are first grade freshmen.

　That's me and Skyke.
　We were flying side by side slightly behind the lead group.

　Skyke sees me flying right beside him.

What the hell are you doing following me at this speed?
We can afford this, can't we?

　Flying magic uses both magic and physical strength.
　The reason why the speed is slow even in the lead group is because the race is a long 20 kilometers, so if you go too fast in the first half, you will stall in the second half.

'The lead group is about to leave the campus soon!　And that's the first hard part!　Immediately after leaving the main gate, the players must take a big right turn!''
"A sharp turn at this speed is difficult even for an expert. "Sharp turns at this speed are difficult even for experts, and even more so with a group. It's very important to get a good position before you get to the curve.

　The main gate came into view up ahead.
　Everyone is pushing each other to get the best position possible.

　If you are too far inside, the centrifugal force will not be enough to keep you on course.
　But if you were too far out, the distance would be too great, and there was a danger of falling behind.
　That's why everyone is aiming for the middle of the road, which is just the right amount of salt.

　We passed through the main gate.
　All at once, they curved to the right.

　We couldn't get around, and two of us seemed to veer off course and hit the wall of a house.
　A few of us who had to take the outside further out lagged a bit, and the group went vertical.
　Me and Skyke got up to about the middle.

'Now the race is going into town!　The current lead group is 13 men!　Ah!　But one more person is getting separated from the pack!　Will they continue to drop out!''
'His expression looks pained. Apparently, he was flying at an over pace for him.
'But the two rookies are still firmly in place!

　It flew through the city.
　Residents were cheering from their feet, saying "Go for it!
　They had come all the way out of their homes to watch the race.

　By the time the race is halfway through, there are seven people in the lead group, including me and Skyke.

'We're almost at the turnaround point!　Many of the leading players are still around, including last year's winner!　And with two rookies in the middle of it all, it's going to be a very interesting race.