Chapter 113 - Hi, Jack? (2)
A half-destroyed train car, assailants standing on its corridor and roof, weapons in their hands.
And, a hint of panic as we appeared.
This was all just circumstantial evidence, but it was enough for to draw a single conclusion.
“Hijacking……!”
They intended to detach the head and tail sections of the train, where the main facilities were located, to prevent any additional enemy reinforcents.
That was likely the reason they were trying to sever the connection between the cars.
After reaching that conclusion, what I had to do was set.
Click.
I cut off any further thoughts racing through my mind and imdiately drew 『Outlaw』 from my coat.
Because this was what absolutely had to be done right now.
Bang, Ba-bang-!
Less than a second after identifying the enemy, gunshots rang out.
“……!”
As a result, the two assailants on the roof of the train died from the gunshots of 『Outlaw』 without even managing to scream.
“Hey, wait……!”
“We have to run!”
Yuna and Elwin seed quite flustered by the situation, but I shouted.
Creak, creak-
The train’s coupling was in a precarious state, looking as if it would snap at any mont.
‘Whatever the enemy’s objective is for doing this, if we miss this chance, it’s all over.’
Fwoosh-!
And right after shouting, I leaped towards the opposite end of the train car.
“Hey, hey!”
“……I understand, for now!”
Whether they fully understood my words or were just following along in the heat of the mont, the two of them followed .
And right after that.
Creak.
Clank!
The coupling, weakened by the explosion and barely holding the train cars together, finally gave way and broke off.
“……”
And when I looked back, the cars of the Railroad Mysterium from Car 8 onwards, detached from the main body, had already beco distant dots.
Whooosh-
I felt the strong wind rushing into Car 7, its rear blown wide open.
“What in the world is this…….”
And before us stood ard assailants, looking sowhat bewildered by the sudden situation.
What would happen next? Would they really maintain this standoff?
“Ki, kill them!!”
Having grasped the situation amidst the sudden turn of events, the assailants shouted and charged with their weapons.
“Tsk……”
I clicked my tongue at the sight and checked the condition of my allies.
“Hey, now…… what…….”
Yuna seed unable to accept the situation, still looking confused…….
“……There’s no other choice.”
Elwin, on the other hand, accepted the situation relatively quickly and was drawing his sword.
‘It’s a bit too early for this.’
Originally, the main characters of weren’t supposed to engage in a life-or-death battle with perfectly living humans until much later…….
How did it co to this?
Flutter.
I changed the Knight Robe, which I had transford into a coat until now, back to its basic form.
It was a point where even the magic used for form transformation had to be dedicated solely to defense.
And.
Shing-
I, too, drew my sword.
It was a deathmatch involving the main characters of far earlier than expected……
but well. There was nothing to be overly concerned about.
Because I was here.
Fwoosh-!
Although it was sowhat difficult to maintain balance due to the rear being blown open by the explosion, I steadied myself and dashed forward.
‘Let’s see their skills.’
Sothing I had learned through hundreds of deaths and hundreds of battles was the importance of a probing attack.
To ascertain the enemy’s skill level and, if they surpassed my expectations, to create a situation where I wouldn’t be killed instantly.
Therefore, I swung my sword from the maximum possible distance, attacking the one at the very front of the three assailants.
And the result.
Clang-!
“Keuk……!”
It was clear from the first exchange.
‘They’re not that strong.’
Co to think of it, if they were tasked with trivial work like planting bombs, it was unlikely they possessed exceptional skills.
After that thought, it was smooth sailing.
Whoosh-
I charged at the one who had barely blocked my initial attack and swung my sword once more.
He had yet to recover from the impact of my previous attack.
In that case, what would be the result?
Splurt-!
With the sound of sothing splashing, crimson blood shot into the air.
“Keo…… heok……!”
Thud.
And right after, the body of the assailant, who was slightly larger than , fell forward.
“You…… Imperial…… son of a bitch…….”
The assailant spouted sothing that made no sense from my perspective, looking up at with bloodshot eyes.
Eyes filled with all sorts of hatred, resentnt, and rage.
The emotions held within those eyes were all too familiar.
Because after I first fell into this world, and after I began to kill people without hesitation……
I had seen those eyes hundreds of tis.
They were the eyes of those who had sought the lives of others, now facing their own deaths.
It was a familiar, if grimly humorous, situation, but there was no way I could stop.
There was no ti to get lost in sentint.
‘Next.’
As soon as I determined that the enemy was completely defeated, I quickly scanned the battlefield for my next target.
Clang, clang-!
Elwin was skillfully fighting two assailants at once.
Even if he had never killed a person, he was the prodigy of a Sword Saint.
His near-perfect ntal fortitude, even at this point, must have been the driving force.
But…… in Yuna’s case.
“Eu…… Eugh……!”
Clang-!
From my perspective, having already faced an assailant, the difference in skill between the assailant and Yuna should have been absolute.
However, Yuna was barely managing to parry the assailant’s attacks with a trembling hand.
Her expression was one of soone who hated this kind of fight, or perhaps was terrified.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
“Die, die!!”
In contrast, the assailant showed no signs of hiding their glistening killing intent, shouting as they continued their assault.
“Why, why……?”
Yuna was still unable to grasp the aning behind this petty and stray killing intent.
‘……I should help Yuna first.’
Yuna was not accustod to the killing intent felt in a real battle like this.
The enemy, on the other hand, was directing their killing intent at Yuna without restraint.
Being ntally cornered, if she made a clumsy mistake and fell backward…… it would be a disaster.
“Yuna-ssi, get a grip!!”
I shouted as I ran, sword in hand, toward the assailant who was close to Yuna.
“Eu, uwaaah……!!”
Clang-!
Hearing my voice, Yuna looked in my direction with a confused expression, then mustered her strength and knocked away the weapon of the assailant she was facing.
And that was a decisive opening.
Slash-!
I was not a man so rciful as to see that opening and simply withdraw my sword.
Especially not for an assailant who had aid their blade at us with the intent to kill.
“……!”
Thump.
What ca into view at that mont was Yuna's shocked expression.
And after collapsing forward from the sword strike…….
Thud, clatter……!
It was the sight of the assailant's body tumbling out into the open air, a space conveniently cleared by the bomb.
I then looked at Yuna, who was standing there dazedly, holding her sword.
“……Hey, you……”
She seed at a loss for words in her panic, rely muttering inarticulate sounds.
“……”
Was this situation still too much for Yuna?
However, there was no ti to hesitate.
Unable to find the right words to say to Yuna in that short ti, I turned my back and ran toward the enemies Elwin was facing.
Although Elwin appeared to be handling the situation calmly at a glance, the fact that he hadn't yet subdued opponents with such a significant skill gap…… could only be explained by an instinctive aversion to killing people.
In that case, who had to do it?
Was my role simply to watch this situation unfold?
I didn't think so.
***
Slash-
Even though it was a 2 vs 2, against enemies we were already confronting, and with a significant skill gap, it wasn't difficult to quickly gain the upper hand.
“……Looks like we’ve mostly sorted things out.”
Swish-
After cutting down the last enemy, I skillfully flicked the blood off my sword and spoke to the others.
“……I, I guess so…….”
“Uh, uh…….”
They could only offer clumsy replies with dumbfounded expressions.
‘I thought this might happen.’
Well, it wasn't that I didn't understand.
Although they were promising cadets, the interpersonal combat at the academy was, at its core, a mock battle without any killing intent between the participants, clearly intended to be non-lethal.
I figured they would react this way if suddenly thrown into a real battle where killing intent clashed.
‘I tried my best to handle things so this kind of situation wouldn't arise…….’
Either to avoid a situation where we had to kill people in the first place, or for to handle it before such a situation arose.
That was the principle I had in mind…… but being suddenly thrown into a slaughter was beyond my expectations.
‘This is a headache.’
I opened my mouth again with a complicated expression.
“……For now, let’s check the passenger rooms in this 7th car. If anyone got caught up in this, we have to protect them.”
That was the instruction I gave. When thoughts are complicated, it's best to keep the body moving.
“R-right…….”
“Yes.”
Elwin nodded, seemingly having cald down to so extent, while Yuna, still pale and visibly shaken, began to move.
“……”
Normally, the best course of action would be to quickly move through the cars and reach the Princess in Car 1…… but forcibly dragging them along would likely be too much for their minds to handle.
They were also too valuable as allies to leave behind, and I didn't know what kind of formidable enemies might lie ahead.
In that case, I might as well use this as an excuse to give them a mont to breathe.
I stood by the entrance leading to Car 6 and watched them.
And Yuna, who seed to be heading toward a passenger room to check…… suddenly turned in my direction.
“……?”
What is it, why is she suddenly coming towards ?
The question arose, but it didn't take long for it to be answered.
Yuna rummaged through her clothes, then took sothing out of her pocket and handed it to .
“……Wipe the blood, off your face.”
In Yuna’s hand was a handkerchief. The one I sotis saw her use to wipe her sweat.
“……”
I slowly looked at the handkerchief, then at Yuna’s face.
Yuna was still unable to et my eyes.
“……Thank you, Yuna-ssi.”
What more could I say?
After offering those conventional words of gratitude, I wiped my face with the handkerchief, and imdiately after, Yuna headed toward the passenger rooms of Car 7 without even taking the handkerchief back.
‘This is complicated.’
That was the thought that ca to mind.
But the ones with more complicated thoughts than were likely Yuna and Elwin.
Knowing that, I didn't add anything else.
Just waiting, for a very brief mont, until they could sohow compose themselves.
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