The Magician of Sound

The next day, Kai made his way toward the school with his sister, albeit with teleportation magic. They had no class today because of the mission and quickly came to their base. 

In the room, no one had yet to come as there were still three hours before taking off. The journey was around two hours, so everyone took it easy.

Meanwhile, Kai still had another thing to do, so he turned to his sister and said, "Sister, I will meet the pilot first. You can wait here until the others come."

"Wait. Let me come with you." Tasha, who was sitting comfortably on the couch, abruptly stood up and walked to Kai. "You can let me handle this kind of thing, you know. After all, there is already too much burden in your hand."

Kai looked at her and wanted to tell her to let him handle it. Unexpectedly, he nodded and said, "Alright. Just go with me first since this is the first time."

"Sure." Tasha happily smiled, following him to the back of the school.

There were three helipads around the area, while only one of them had a helicopter. Kai and Tasha exchanged looks as they walked toward the helicopter, finding a middle-aged man. 

"Hmm…" The middle-aged man also recognized both of them. He came out of the helicopter and stretched his hand. "You must be Lion Group's Kai Carter and Tasha Carter. I am Rick, your pilot, until you leave the top 100."

"Nice to meet you." Kai nodded and shook his hand. According to the papers that Mia gave, they usually had one exclusive pilot until they had no right on the helicopter anymore. If the pilot in question couldn't go, there would be a substitute.

"I am not a strong man like you guys and can't even enlist in the military. The only thing I could help in this era is to pilot the helicopter and safely deliver you guys. Don't worry. I have ten years' worth of experience under my belt." Rick said while pumping his chest with confidence. "Besides, I still have wives in my house, so safety is a must for me."

Kai stared at her for a few seconds before nodding. "Yes. I am looking forward to our cooperation."

"Alright. Now that the introduction has finished, it's time to talk about the business." Rick's expression turned serious as he took out his device. He opened the map and started explaining. "I have read through the mission. Our target is around Prince Rupert again after the Bison migrated from Canada and somehow passed the line. Well, it can't be helped since the border is too vast."

Kai nodded in agreement. The border was too vast and ever-changing, so it was hard to keep an eye on every nook and corner. Even if they set up a kind of wall around, it would only be used for a certain period before they needed to set up another one after pushing the magical beast to a deeper area. 

"Anyway, I am going to carry all of you to Prince Rupert. Considering they have no flying beasts or beasts that could shoot a helicopter, I can get pretty close. However, I want to ask you first whether you want to jump off the helicopter or want me to land it first?"

To answer that question, Kai needed to look at Tasha first.

Tasha crossed her arms and pondered for a few seconds. "There is another thing I want to add. If I use the Teleportation Magic inside the helicopter, to teleport all of you will require a big magic circle… at least bigger than this helicopter. In other words, if I want to teleport you all at once, then I can only do it after we jump off the helicopter to avoid teleporting the helicopter… or parts of the helicopter with us."

"If I may ask, how long do you need to make the magic circle, young lady? It's to calculate my altitude and other things." Rick asked politely. 

"It won't take too long. Maybe a hundred meters above the ground is enough." Tasha thought for a moment and said. "If everyone jumps together, then yes."

"Young Lady. Although it pains me to say this, the helicopter only has two doors in left and right. Even if we cram it together, only four people can jump off at the same time." Rick said with a troubled expression.

"Let me answer that question." Kai suddenly took over the conversation. "We have a healer in our team so that he won't fight with us. After you drop us off, please land in a nearby area or just stay in the sky for a while."

"Hmm…" Rick closed his eyes for a moment before answering Kai's request. "The fuel that we use can fly the helicopter twelve our straight. I myself have no problem flying it that long. As long as we can go back to this place within twelve hours, I have no problem flying it continuously."

"Yeah. I can assure you the mission is going to finish within an hour or two." Kai nodded with a smile.

"I understand."

"How about the fuel and maintenance thing?" Kai asked since he was required to ask about it according to the guide.

"You can leave it to me. The money you store in the school for those expenses would come in the form of Magic Beast's core and maintenance. I am usually the one to change the fuel. If we need to fly more than twelve hours, I can even change it midway. As for the maintenance, I will give you a follow-up."

Kai looked down for a while, recalling if there were any questions he had yet to ask. He looked at Tasha, who nodded her head, and fell into deep thought. After a minute, Kai looked up. "I don't have any problem with it. I'm looking forward to our cooperation."

"Yes. Actually, I need to thank you." Rick smiled while scratching his cheek, embarrassed.

"Hmm?" Kai tilted his head in confusion. 

"My daughter is one of the gunners in Prince George. Your help has saved her life, so thank you."

"Ah." Kai was surprised for a second before nodding his head, composed. Although he treated it like it was nothing special, it surely made him happy. "In any case, my sister or I will be the one to inform you if there is a mission." 

"Sure." Rick smiled gently. After serving as a pilot for a decade, he had seen many kinds of students and their attitude. There were arrogant, humble, not caring types, and so on. Kai was one of the humble students, despite his achievement.

After his group saved his daughter in Prince Rupert's battle, he… or specifically, his daughter had been following his news, including the battle of Cuba Military Base. He found the name was similar when he learned that the Lion Group was searching for a pilot. Without hesitation, he quickly signed and picked up as their pilot.

He couldn't brag to his daughter because it wasn't decided yet until they finished the mission. However, by seeing him here, he knew he had successfully become a personal pilot for them. 

Noticing that the matter was finished, he quickly took out a board and a marker before handing it to Kai. "Can you sign this? I want to give it to my daughter so she can have the strength to fight in the front line. This is a father request and support for his daughter… maybe with a picture."

Kai's eyebrows twitched, thinking why the situation turned out like this. He wasn't a celebrity or something.

Meanwhile, Tasha chuckled from the side before whispering from afar. "General Sanders, Commander Jack, Sarah, and Marsha also have their own fan base in the military. Isn't it good?"

Kai wanted to hit because of this teasing, but couldn't do it in front of Rick. He only nodded with a smile. "Sure."

Taking the marker and the board from Rick, he signed his name before Rick asked Tasha to take a photo of him and Kai with the sign so that he could send it to his daughter.

After finishing all the matters, he returned to the room to grab all the things he needed, such as his radio. There was even a small camera on their shoulder to let Sanae see the scene. Depending on the situation, she might give some advice or order. She would also observe their condition if the group needed some reinforcement or not, taking responsibility to inform the base or group nearby to help them.

Michelle and the others arrived one hour before the departure. Tasha quickly informed Michelle and Ayaka that Kai seemed to have a fan in Prince George's base. Tasha and Michelle teased him for the whole time while Ayaka sat on the corner, thinking it felt weird to tease him.

Sanae didn't join them in teasing Kai, but she only made a smirk when Kai looked at her. Eventually, the excitement went down, and Kai shrugged the matter off. 

After finishing their preparation, the Lion Group finally left the room. Sanae quickly loosened her tie and raised her foot on the couch. Without Kai and the others here, she didn't need to watch her image. It would be funny to see if someone actually forgot something, but as careful as them, they wouldn't forget anything.

Kai and the others met Rick and did some brief introductions. After that, they went inside with Kai, and Michelle took the door position. This was just a Standard Operation Procedure to prevent any attack on the helicopter.

In fact, Kai already covered it with his ears, so there wasn't a need for that. After checking for one last time, they flew to the sky.