The crew mber who had been standing in the corridor wearing a crisply pressed uniform had turned into a cold corpse. Esperanza leaped over his body and fired magic power strong enough to pierce through from the wild boar's forehead to its back.
After five consecutive shots, Esperanza confird the boar monster was dead and turned around to shout.
"Bring everyone from the passenger compartnts to the dining car!"
It was better for people to stay together. Especially now, more than ever. The train was a place where it was difficult to establish a base camp, and weapons were scarce.
"That's right, they said it's better to stay together in tis like this."
An elderly gentleman rose from his seat and ca outside. He knocked on each door of the passenger compartnts in the car ahead.
"Is anyone inside? Please gather in the dining car as quickly as possible! We have magical weapons!"
Other people began following the elderly gentleman's lead, knocking on compartnt doors.
anwhile, everyone found their own tasks to do. The bartender began making chocolate drinks for crying children, officers gripped their guns and divided up areas to guard. Sylvia Humphrey gathered her mother, other ladies, children, and elderly people. It was their job to explain the situation to people moving from the passenger compartnts to the dining car.
The train was still running. Through the forest and into vast plains where golden oat fields stretched out on both sides.
And Esperanza was running about a span above the swaying train. White magic power swirled beneath her feet. Without doing so, she felt like she would lose her balance and tumble.
In an instant, she had crossed over one passenger car. Here, she couldn't see whether the crew mber had safely escaped or what had happened.
'They must still be in the compartnt?'
She should have killed that assassin. She had rendered him unable to fight, but you never knew what might happen. If the assassin had used sothing like a poison needle while Cider was distracted by the dungeon occurrence...
Her steps stopped. Esperanza roughly threw open the door to compartnt 12.
"Are you okay..."
Her words stopped. Her lips moved weakly. Where had he gone?
"He's not dead."
That couldn't be. First, the door had been closed, and there was no body. Looking at the blood flowing on the floor, it was clear the assassin had been subdued. Even knowing it couldn't be, Esperanza blankly surveyed the empty compartnt.
Where had he gone? Where... She frantically searched through her inventory but couldn't find her communicator. Co to think of it, she seed to rember taking it out to repair it before coming.
'Why at a ti like this!'
It had been quiet for months!
So what now? Well, he hadn't co to the dining car, and she hadn't seen him while coming this far, so if she continued all the way to the front car while searching...
"Agh! Get away!"
Esperanza, who had stopped thinking, turned around and fired wildly. This ti it was a monster she knew. Eight pitch-black legs and red eyes. Feeling goosebumps rise on her back, Esperanza raised her magic power output to maximum.
Bang!
As soon as she heard the sound of the corpse exploding, she quickly hid behind the door. Bug shell fragnts hit the door and fell.
"Who's there? Ugh."
She didn't seem to be injured. Esperanza helped up the woman who was staggering against the corridor wall. Her attire didn't seem like she would ride such a luxurious train. A maid perhaps?
"I, I'm Judith Flinn. I'm Lady Donovan's companion... Our lady has collapsed! Could you please help?"
Esperanza looked around the corridor. People had locked their doors tight. Not one of them was thinking of coming out. Among them, there was only one door that was open. Compartnt 5. The strange sound from earlier must have been the old lady's groans.
"I'll help, so go straight to the dining car."
After helping Esperanza lift Lady Donovan into a wheelchair, she imdiately turned around. The door to the adjacent compartnt, which had definitely been closed, was slightly open, and eyes appeared through the crack before disappearing. It seed like they were checking the outside situation.
'Really, not a single person will co out.'
No matter how important it was to look after one's own safety, at this point, she couldn't help but feel disgusted.
"Run. Hurry!"
Judith Flinn ran while pushing the wheelchair carrying Lady Donovan. If she had had peace of mind, she would have explained the situation to the people in this car too and sent them to the dining car. But Esperanza was anxious and impatient.
'What if sothing happens while we're wasting ti.'
One precious person, and countless others. The scales tipped to one side. Esperanza left the passenger car without regret.
"Can you hear my voice? Where are you? If you can hear , please answer!"
While crossing between cars, Esperanza had to encounter countless monsters.
"Really, there's no consistency at all!"
In the artificially created dungeons by Daria, the types of monsters that appeared were similar, or at least there was a monster repertoire that ca out by dungeon type.
However, the new dungeons born from the Golden Claw's side effects had none of that. The types of monsters that appeared, and even the types of special terrain that occurred, were all jumbled up. You'd be fighting in an open field when suddenly a tower-like structure would appear...
Fortunately, there was no special terrain here. She just had to keep going forward.
Esperanza, who had jumped over the connection between cars, stood on the debris of a broken compartnt door. Inside the large hole in the wall, passengers were trembling.
"Let go of this! Honey, stay still!"
So brave lady swung a chair toward her husband's grip that was holding her. However, because the chair was too heavy for the lady, her back bent sharply and she lost her balance and tumbled.
The monster's gaunt arm swept the lady all the way to the wall. The wall crumbled, revealing the compartnt on the opposite side.
"Ahhh!"
"No!"
A dripping mouth opened wide. The captured man turned pale and struggled, but it was useless. The monster, so huge its horns could pierce through the train ceiling, bared its sharp teeth.
Bang!
Blue light pierced through the tender gums. Esperanza rushed to right in front of the monster in an instant. She leaped up using the monster's gaunt arm as a stepping stone and stabbed her sword into its mouth.
Grrk! The monster let out a pained groan. The sword that had been stuck deep in its throat was pulled out, and at the sa ti, blood spurted. Esperanza stepped back, then used the force of charging forward to slice the monster's neck in one blow.
"Miss, please help over here too!"
At the sight visible through the broken wall in the opposite compartnt, a hollow laugh escaped.
There were many monsters in the car. But she hadn't thought of salamanders. A fire-breathing monster, how terrible. Wooden walls, bed sheets, bookcases. There were too many flammable things here.
"Step back! Go into another compartnt!"
She was busy to death, so why were there so many monsters? Esperanza irritably swung and threw her sword, and when the salamander dodged the sword, she imdiately drew her gun.
Dealing with a reptile that moved at terrifying speed, especially one that breathed fire, was extrely tricky. Esperanza gritted her teeth and pulled her body back. Just then, the train swayed. So monster seed to be causing a disturbance. Her back roughly hit the wall.
The salamander stuck flat to the floor flicked its tongue. It even had wings. In an instant, it flew up to Esperanza's eye level and breathed crimson fire.
"Ah, really!"
The heat felt like it would crack her face. If the fire accidentally spread to the train, it would be the end. There was no other way. Esperanza aid precisely at the flas shooting out from inside the salamander's mouth.
Two magic bullets exploded the flas. Small sparks scattered in all directions. Esperanza's skirt hem turned black. Esperanza's next bullet was faster than the salamander preparing its second attack. The bullet that pierced through the monster's body also penetrated the window.
Crash! With the sound of flying fragnts, the monster fell to the floor. Esperanza dusted off her skirt and stomped on the burning cushion with her foot.
"It's over."
"Thank you!"
The trembling people ca out one by one. There were three compartnts devastated by the salamander's flas, and the people who had been staying in those compartnts were injured but didn't seem to have major wounds. They were lucky. The car she had just crossed had already had five or six people dead.
"To the dining car... it's quite far from here though. For now, everyone stay together. It would be better if you're in one compartnt."
"Our compartnt should be in the best condition. Just pack so simple belongings and co."
"I brought so snacks from the dining car earlier, everyone please have so and calm down."
Watching this scene, Esperanza rummaged through her inventory and brought out two of the few remaining magic pistols.
"Ah, by any chance. Did a tall, blonde gentleman pass by this way?"
"We didn't see him."
"Neither did we. Since we were in our compartnts, we didn't have occasion to look outside."
"Sorry we can't be of help."
She hadn't expected much, but she couldn't help feeling disappointed. She had no choice but to go further.
"Are you leaving?"
A young lady suddenly asked. Her clothing was slightly different from people of Osdern, and her speech had a distinctive accent. She seed to have co sightseeing with her family.
"Um, you really need to be careful. I don't know much about these kinds of monsters, but earlier there was even a monster that looked like a human."
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