Chapter 250: Driving Certification
The salesman stared at them, blinking rapidly.
From the expression on his face, one could tell that he genuinely hadn’t even expected the question.
"You don’t know what a driving certification is?" he asked.
"We don’t," Lukas said.
The man took a breath, suppressing the urge to ask what kind of idiots they were. It was clear that they were new in town, so there was a possibility that they didn’t actually know what it was.
"A driving certification is a licensed test. It covers the rules of the road, traffic signals, right of way, speed regulations, all of it." He answered with a patient smile. "Once you pass, you’re legally permitted to operate a vehicle in Salaria."
"Without one, if you’re caught driving, you’re looking at a fine at minimum. At worst, you’d be arrested and jailed until it’s sorted."
"Jailed?" Akira asked with a frown.
"Yes. Jailed," he confirmed. "Beyond the legal side of it, there’s also the practical side."
"How would you know the rules of the road if you’ve never been taught them? Other drivers follow a system and if you don’t know the system, you’re a hazard to everyone around you, including yourselves."
Melody had gone very quiet during this explanation. Lukas glanced at her.
She was staring at the dark blue sedan with the kind of expression one could find on someone watching something they loved being slowly carried away from them.
"All these people," she said quietly, "standing between me and my beautiful car."
"Melody."
"It’s not fair," she continued, her voice dropping further. "I just want to drive it. I just want to sit inside and go."
"Melody."
She sighed, long and dramatic, and turned away from the car like it physically hurt her.
Lukas pressed two fingers to the bridge of his nose and exhaled.
Back on earth, he’d driven for years, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to transfer that to whatever system they used here.
He looked at the salesman. "Where can we take the test? And do you have any reading material on the rules? A book, a pamphlet, anything?"
"We do carry the official rule book," the man said. "Though I should mention, it’s not free."
"Of course it isn’t," Lukas muttered. "How much?"
The salesman named a price. Lukas paid it without further comment, and the man disappeared briefly before returning with a slim book, its cover stamped with the official seal of Salaria’s transport authority.
Lukas flipped through it, scanning the pages.
There were more rules than he expected, covering intersections, speed limits across different zones, signals, pedestrian right of way, and a full section on penalties for violations.
But thankfully, the rules were all familiar to what he’d had back on earth.
He handed the book to Melody.
Akira immediately leaned in beside her, reading over her shoulder.
Melody flipped to the first page, scanned it, then looked up with an expression of both despair and disbelief.
"How am I supposed to memorize all of this right now and then go take a test?" she asked.
Lukas chuckled. "You’ll manage."
He turned back to the salesman. "Where can I find the testing center?"
The man pointed to the exit. "It’s the next street over. You can’t miss it, there’s signage on the front."
Lukas nodded before looking at Melody and Akira, both still hunched over the book.
"Come on," he said. "Let’s go to the testing center."
Melody looked up from the book, eyes wide.
"Wait." She looked at Lukas. "Did you already memorize it?"
"Trust me," Lukas said, his grin giving nothing away.
"That’s not an answer," Akira said.
"It’s the only one you’re getting."
The salesman covered a laugh with the back of his hand. "Well then. Best of luck to you."
Lukas glanced back at him as they moved towards the exit. "Won’t need it."
They stepped out onto the street, turning in the direction the salesman had pointed.
Melody still had the book open, walking and reading at the same time. She had a focused expression on her face as if she was trying to absorb the information through willpower alone.
"Can I take the test too?" she asked, not looking up. "Today, I mean. Right now, with you."
Lukas shook his head. "Not today."
She finally looked up. "Why not?"
"Because you’ve had the book for five minutes," he said. "Take a few more days with it and study it properly. A little more waiting won’t hurt you."
Melody’s mouth opened to argue.
"Good things come to those who wait," Akira said from her other side, nodding sagely.
Melody turned to look at her. "The only things left for people who wait are leftovers."
"That’s not how that works."
"It’s exactly how that works. Someone else gets the good thing first, and by the time the patient person arrives, all that’s left is whatever wasn’t good enough for everyone else."
"That’s a terrible way to look at it."
"It’s a realistic way to look at it."
Lukas stopped listening to them, his attention pulling away from the argument without warning.
In that split second, he’d sensed that tingling feeling that came with noticing that there were eyes on him.
He didn’t slow his pace or look around, keeping his expression blank while his senses swept the street around them.
People were moving in both directions around them, with a few standing in front of the stores and laughing.
There was nothing out of the ordinary. No one stood out and there was nothing he could pin down.
Whoever had been watching them was gone.
A slight frown appeared on his face. Had he imagined it?
His instincts had never let him down before, but he couldn’t place a source, and a sensation without a source was difficult to act on.
He stayed on guard, but decided to let the thought go.
The testing center appeared on the next street exactly where the salesman said it would be, its signage clear above the entrance.
They pushed through the door into a small lobby where a city official looked up from behind a front desk and greeted them.
"Hi. I’m here for the driving certification test," Lukas said.
"Name and ID, please."
He provided both. The official recorded his information, then gestured to a hallway.
"Right this way, sir. Your companions are welcome to wait here."
The room they led him to was small and quiet, holding a single desk with a paper exam already laid out. He sat, picked up the pen, and began working through it.
He smiled more than once as he read the questions. They weren’t easy exactly, but they weren’t difficult for someone who already had experience driving like he did.
Twenty minutes later he was done. His papers were collected and he was led back to the lobby. Melody and Akira both looked up the moment he appeared.
"How did it go?" Melody asked.
"How hard was it?" Akira added.
"I’m confident," Lukas said simply, dropping into the seat beside them.
Melody narrowed her eyes. "That’s all you’re going to say?"
"That’s all there is to say."
Akira leaned back in her chair. "He’s either very good or very stubborn."
"Probably both," Melody said.
Lukas said nothing to that, smiling to himself.
And that was when he felt that sensation again, of someone watching them from somewhere he still couldn’t locate.
His eyes narrowed.
This time, he was sure he hadn’t imagined it.
