The foggy dust caused by the explosion subsided.
“Uurgh.”
Shaa.
Crouching down, I woke up while shaking off the broken debris that covered my body.
Fortunately, there were no injuries to my body. Even the broken debris couldn't pierce the coat I had been wearing.
'It's a good thing I wore a sturdy one just in case.’
The corridor and the wall of the compartment, which had been fine not long before, were completely blown away.
The chilly wind that was running on the snowfield blew through the gap and scratched my face like a blade.
"…I thought it was a normal robbery."
I couldn’t believe he had detonated a bomb that was wrapped around his body in a situation where he was electrocuted by electricity magic.
That was something that would never be seen from a train robber.
It was more severe than a robbery, and they were closer to fanatics, if I may say so.
The mindset of dying together even though he knew he was going to die.
'Are they the rebel remnants of the Prince’s faction who fled the kingdom of Utah? No, they're busy hiding right now. These bastards are different.’
As I was sweeping my face with my hands in frustration, I sighed, feeling my loose skin.
No wonder the cold wind was cutting into my face.
"It's expensive, though. What a shame."
Riiipp.
I took off the camouflage mask that I had been wearing on my face.
I didn't need to keep using it since it was already torn due to the shock of the explosion and the grazing of the debris.
Since I couldn't keep the face of a man in his 40s with wrinkles and whiskers anymore, I threw the camouflage mask out of the train.
I thought the train was going to be a little safe, but I didn't expect an unpredictable incident to happen.
'Come to think of it, where is he?’
Ludger, who had said he was going to be a professor at Sören Academy, could not be seen.
Soon after, I realized something.
When the explosion had happened, he couldn't react and was likely swept away.
The desolated wall was half blown away and broken. There was no trace of Ludger.
When I slightly stuck my head out and looked down, I saw a steep cliff.
Deep down the cliff, there was a raging blizzard and foggy snow clouds that buried its base.
'…He must be dead.’
Anyone who thought that he was a mere robber would be bewildered when the robber blew himself up with a bomb.
If he had known beforehand, he could have prepared a spell, but unexpected situations always happened.
What a pity for him.
To think he had died on the day he was appointed as a professor for the famous Sören Academy. I prayed for the repose of Ludger's soul with a small, silent prayer.
'It's not time for me to be relaxed either.'
Since I knew that they were no ordinary robbers, my alert level was several stages higher than before.
If they were all going to blow themselves up when their plans went awry, no matter how strongly that Magic Engineering train was protected by various spells, it might derail.
'That could be their real aim: seeing that kind of extreme act happen.'
‘Let's run away.’
After making that decision, I headed to the compartment behind that one.
Sraak.
When the door from compartment four to compartment five opened, a conductor with his face full of tension appeared.
"Oh, sir, are you all right? Wh-what on earth is hap…”
He was slightly bewildered and stuttered at the sight of me standing alone in the corridor and at the bulkhead that had flown away.
"There's a robber attack; they’re armed with dangerous explosives. I was almost swept away by it,” I replied calmly.
“I… I see.”
"I think they're focused on compartment number one, so we'd better step back."
"Oh. I was actually about to evacuate the other passengers to the back."
"That's a relief."
I approached the conductor with a relieved face.
And as soon as I narrowed down the distance so I could reach him by stretching my arm, I grabbed the conductor's collar and threw him down to the ground.
Baam!
"Argh! Why… why are you doing this?"
"Did you think that kind of petty acting would work in front of me?"
“P-pardon?”
The conductor looked up at me with a confused face.
If it were someone else, they would have erased their doubts by looking at his extremely victimized expression, but I was not convinced.
"I thought something was odd. I refuse to believe that it's so easy to break through the Magic Engineering train, which is protected by strong defensive magic and magical stones attached to it. And right when it was running fast through the rugged Arette Mountain, raiders appeared as if they had been waiting."
"Wh-what…”
"It's practically impossible without someone working from inside the train assisting… Unless someone turned off the magic that should have been operating."
“…”
At that moment, the conductor's face changed in an instant.
* * *
* * *
He moved his hand and tried to pull something out, but I already knew and had prepared for it.
I thrust a sharp knife under his chin.
"Stay still."
"Urgh."
"You're quick to move. As expected, this is not an ordinary robbery. Tell me, where do you guys come from?"
“…”
"…Or keep your mouth shut. Well, that's up to you."
I wasn't really curious about it anyway. I lifted that man up with a knife around his neck.
If my prediction was correct, something might have happened in the compartment that he had come from, compartment five.
"Move."
With a knife held in my right hand on his neck, I overpowered him by bending both his arms back with my left hand and then kicked his feet.
Uurgh.
He clenched his teeth and refused to budge, but when I twisted his arm a little more, he immediately moved.
He should have done it from the start.
"How many colleagues do you have here?"
“…”
"So you won't say it? Then I'll have to make you talk."
At that moment…
Something was heard from compartment number five, where he had come from.
It was a small sound that could almost not be heard from compartment number four, where a blast of cold wind blew from outside the train from its missing bulkhead.
My extremely alert ears caught the sound properly.
Click…
It was something I had heard so often that I recognized the familiar sound immediately—metals colliding with each other.
—It was the sound of a rifle hammer being pulled.
Knowing so, I threw the conductor forward and fell flat on my stomach right away.
Ratatatatatatatata!
Immediately above my head, a barrage of countless bullets penetrated the door and passed through.
---!
The conductor I had just pushed fell as he was honeycombed with bullet holes without being able to react.
Debris and dust were scattered. I covered my head with my hand and glared at the door.
The bullets showed no signs of stopping soon.
'Is it a machine gun? They've prepared very well.’
—Then they had no choice but to take that action as well.
When I was thinking about it, they stopped shooting, thinking it was enough.
'He shot his colleague mercilessly even though his colleague was crossing the compartment. They didn't even let him send any signals.’
It meant that the conductor, who had already become a hole-filled rag, had told them in advance.
—If they don't hear from him for a while, he must have been caught, so shoot him relentlessly.
'The suicide-bomb terrorists were like that as well. I'm sure they're crazy.’
‘Why did this happen when I got on this train…?’
I got up from my position while sighing at my unfortunate life.
After shaking off the powder and dust on my body, I glared at the door again.
Soon after, the door was smashed, and three bulky men rushed into the corridor.
"What? There's still someone alive"
"We shot that much, and he didn't die?"
"Who are you to talk about dying or not as you please?" I uttered in an irritated voice while looking at them talking amongst themselves.
They exchanged glances and soon began to approach me in a ferocious manner.
The corridor was narrow enough for only one person, so if I had to go against them, I had to deal with one person at a time.
It was obvious that they looked much rougher and heavier than I was.
I didn't want to fight if I could avoid it. I refused to have a clash in a pointless place.
'But if I surrender now, they won't accept it.’
Looking at the people who approached me with the determination to kill me, no matter what I tried to do to appease them, they wouldn't buy it.
They had not the slightest bit of intention to let me live.
"I want to ask you one thing…"
My unfriendly tone made them raise their eyebrows in offense, but I had no choice. It was just my nature.
"What? Are you going to cry for your life now?"
‘No way.’
"…How dare you attack this train? Aren't you afraid to die? The rescue team will be here soon, right?"
"Ha! I wondered what it was, so it was just lame intimidation?"
The guy at the forefront snorted at my warning and drew a sword that suited his size.
I had asked him seriously, but he seemed not to think my question was worth answering.
"I'll cut you in half with a single slash."
The big man slowly approached me, and I slowly backed away.
However, the partially destroyed train's cabin had a limit, and naturally, my steps had to stop.
If I tried to step back any further, I would fall outside the broken train.
"Hehe. There's no place for you to run anymore."
"I see."
If I jumped out of the train from there, I would end up like Ludger.
However, my front was blocked by his large body, so I had to pass through them to go forward.
"I'm busy, so I'll finish you as soon as possible!"
—It was when he was about to spring out at me while spouting such words.
I invoked the spell I had prepared in advance.
Boom!
The sound of an explosion spread through the air as the man who was about to swing his sword at me bounced back like a cannonball.
Thump, bam!
Those who were standing absentmindedly behind him could not react and bounced off each other before rolling on the floor.
“Uuuurgh. Wh-what…”
"A wizard?!"
It was quite powerful magic power, but there was no sign of much distress as they were pretty strong.
No. They were wearing something inside their clothes, to be exact. Was it like a protective suit?
‘Then I should just give a stronger blow…’
I carved a sorcery while releasing the mana I had gathered. The three-dimensional pattern that was drawn in the air soon turned into a spell, and in an instant, it became a big wind and lifted the men who were about to stand up into the air.
They must have been confused because it felt like an invisible giant hand was clutching them.
"Oh, ooh?"
"Let… let go of this! Put me down!"
“I’ll put you down, just as you asked.”
I used the wind to move them by myself.
—To the outside of the wide-open train.
"Sa-save me, please! I beg you!"
They shouted desperately, but I didn't say yes or that I would spare them. They were the bastards who attacked that train with the intention of killing everyone. They would stab me in the back if I showed them any mercy.
As I threw them out of the train, their screams echoed and slowly faded into the distance.
“Tsk.”
Having gotten rid of the attacker, I pulled a hair tie out of my pocket while arranging my hair which had become quite messy.
Because I didn't pay much attention to beauty treatments, my hair had become quite long, and if I didn't arrange it in time, it would be quite cumbersome.
I tied my flowing hair together around the back of my neck.
"It's better now."
While I was thinking of running away again, the door of compartment number three opened and new people appeared.
Once I got rid of one group, others kept appearing.
There seemed to be no end to it.
That was why I wanted to leave quickly.
"What the…”
The men who came from the third compartment saw me standing alone inside the half-destroyed fourth compartment, and my face hardened coldly.
"Kill him!"
Someone who seemed to be their captain was furious as he gave the order.
At the same time, the guys who were waiting pointed their rifles at me.
Looking at it, I desperately held back my sigh.
‘Yeah. What can I do? Now that I've come this far, I should see the end of it.’
"Shoot!"
The captain gave the order and his subordinates pulled the trigger.
But the bullets didn't come out.
Clack! Clack!
“Oh, ooh?”
"What are you doing?"
"The… the guns are broken!"
“What?”
While everyone was talking, I prepared the next spell.
If they were together like that, it was easy to get rid of them from where I was standing.
But there was one thing that I had looked over…
—There was also a wizard among them.
Shooo!
The spell that I casted was canceled midair.
The wizard stared at me with a wary eye as he pointed his wand at me.
"I didn't know there was a wizard among the train passengers."
“…”
"Whatever, since it’s like this, you should die with them as well."
What was with his words? He had been resolved to kill me from the start.
I figured those guys were terrorists and that whatever I said there wouldn't work.
I took my watch out of my pocket and checked the time.
Ten minutes had yet to pass since they started to attack.
'Is there still… a little bit of time left?’
The scenery passing by outside was still cold and bleak.
When I had seen it through the window, I had thought it was beautiful, but because the bulkhead wall in between disappeared, it had become quite scary.
There was still some time before the train left Arette Mountain.
It would be hard for the supporting troops to come right away.
'I have no choice…’
When I thought about the train’s location and the time that had passed, I had at least five minutes left.
'…But to hang in there.'
