"And who are you?"
"The name's Dorman. I've been looking after your party for a bit."
"I see. We're in your debt."
"Don't mention it."
The mage approached with a face that knew nothing of the ways of the world and said.
"Mr. Dorman says he was riding in Car 2. He's going around the area doing relief work right now, and he even shared some food with us."
"Did you eat?"
"Not yet. It felt a little wrong to eat without you, Mr. Kaindel……."
So it's not the worst case, at least.
As I sighed inwardly, this time the spirit summoner sister came over and asked.
"……Did anything happen?"
Anything…….
Something had, but I wasn't confident I could properly explain what I'd seen.
Besides, compared to the mess in front of me now, it didn't seem like much of anything.
"Not really. What about you two? Are you all right?"
"Yes. I'm fine now."
"I'm okay too."
"Good. Then……"
I looked over Dorman, who was grinning away, and his companions.
Four in total, all men.
Their levels…… naturally, they'd be higher than ours.
"You look pretty worn out. You all right?"
"Your cheeks are sunken. Shall we talk over something to eat?"
Saying so, he held out a pouch of jerky.
I barely held back another hollow laugh.
'Delvers.'
Those who explore the unknown forest.
Naturally, these bastards are no volunteers.
If anything, no one moves as thoroughly by self-interest as they do.
And bastards like that, doing relief work?
Sharing food, no less?
I don't buy it. I can't buy it.
These bastards certainly had some purpose, and they'd approached us while hiding it.
The puzzling part was why they weren't making their move right away, instead putting on this clumsy act…….
"Mr. Kaindel……?"
"……"
When I didn't take the offered jerky, the mage bastard glanced at me nervously.
Ignoring him, I opened my mouth.
"How were things in the forward cars?"
"Hm?"
"There should have been more Delvers."
"Ahh. They've already entered the forest. We were left to handle the cleanup."
Is that true?
I had a feeling it probably was.
The Delvers in Cars 1 and 2 were mostly first-rate to begin with, so they'd have no need to go around picking up scraps like these bastards.
"Which brings me to my point. Your companion told me a <Shadow> came out here. And that you killed it."
His patience isn't very deep, it seems.
Showing his true colors already.
"I killed it. But not alone—I had help from those two."
"……Help, you say?"
I nodded and spoke to the mage.
"Kazen. Belated as it is, good work. A mage's rear support really is reassuring."
"Pardon? Ah. Thank you."
"You did well too, Kria. You cast Haste, didn't you? Contracting with a spirit that can cast attribute buffs at your age—impressive."
Behind the bangs of the startled Kria, I could see her eyes darting about in confusion.
An expression that said, what's gotten into this bastard all of a sudden…….
"……"
Toss a pebble into a calm lake, and sure enough, the ripples spread.
I watched Dorman's snakelike gaze sweep over the siblings. A look that said, 'These green kids are really a mage and a spirit summoner?'……
But in fact, that's how the two of them are dressed.
'Dorman.'
A name I remember.
'Class: warrior. Rank-4 Delver. Traits held: <Insight Eye> and <Opportunist>.'
Unlike the Kazen and Kria siblings, about whom I'd had no information at all, the survivors from Cars 1 and 2 would mostly be names I knew.
I'd even taken him on as a companion before, so I remembered his rough characteristics as well.
'Assessed grade: D.'
This assessed grade is a value grade I personally assigned to companions.
Grade D means small fry by the standards of forward-car passengers.
That's probably why he'd been assigned chores like scouting the area—but my reality was that I didn't even reach small-fry level.
"Hmm."
Dorman scratched his chin.
He swept his eyes over my whole body with an openly persistent gaze, until they landed on the leather pouch tied at my waist.
"……"
Coincidence, no doubt, but it was the pouch holding the <raw stone> that had dropped from exterminating the Shadow.
"……Kaindel, was it? It looks dangerous around here, so let's move together for the time being. From the look of it, your companions need a bit more treatment too."
"I appreciate the thought, but we're Delvers too. I'd rather not owe a debt."
"What's a debt in a situation like this? We'll just help you, so come along."
"There's nothing that really needs your help—"
"Hey."
Dorman said with a smile.
"Just come along while I'm asking nicely."
The mask he'd been wearing so clumsily came off in no time.
I knew it. Sons of bitches.
Wasn't it only after entering the forest that Delvers started acting like Plunderers?
"U-um……?"
Only now realizing something was wrong, the mage edged over to my side.
I looked at Dorman's face and said shortly.
"Eat shit."
"Haha."
As Dorman burst out laughing as if amused, one of the small fry next to him spoke.
"Should we kill him?"
"Leave him able to talk. He might have hidden the raw stone somewhere."
"Right. But one of them's a mage, isn't he?"
"His fingertips were trembling. Textbook mana depletion. He won't be able to use any threatening magic."
"I see."
An <Insight Eye> holder, sure enough?
This bastard's eye is sharper than I expected.
And despite talking like that, he was staying thoroughly on guard while closing the distance bit by bit.
Now openly drawing my weapon too, I murmured in a low voice.
"Magic. Can you use it?"
"O-once or twice……"
If there was one thing those bastards had overlooked, it was that the mage bastard's mana pool wasn't big to begin with.
The lower the grade of magic used, the lower the consumption, so it becomes usable again quickly.
Without entirely ruling out the possibility that they were eavesdropping, I gave my instructions.
"When I signal, use it. Like before…… you know what I mean?"
"Yes……!"
I carefully gauged the distance to the opponents, and the moment my judgment was set, I shut my eyes.
"Now!"
"Light……!"
Light burst beyond my eyelids.
"Agh!"
"Fuck! My eyes!"
The instant the curses erupted ahead, I turned on the spot and sprinted.
When I checked behind me, the spirit summoner sister, who'd been a little further off, was keeping up well.
'Straight to the forest like this!'
Once we made it inside the forest, no matter how great those bastards were as pursuers, they'd have no choice but to lose us.
Barring any other variables, we should be able to enter the forest directly like this.
Right—barring any other variables.
TWANG—
A bowstring?
The instant a chill shot down my spine, I scanned the surroundings with sharpened senses, but.
"Aaagh……!"
The scream burst out from a little way off.
"Kria!"
The mage rushed frantically to his sister.
The sight of the spirit summoner with an arrow lodged in her shoulder came into view.
"I figured this would happen."
Along with a voice tinged with cynicism, a woman revealed herself from beyond the broken train wreckage.
Judging by her outfit, an archer.
'One was hiding!'
Just one? Or a few more…….
"M-Mr. Kaindel!"
The mage sent me a look pleading for help.
In that instant, several possibilities flashed through my mind, but—
'Fuck.'
It was already too late to run anyway.
"Never thought you'd set off a Light there."
"Fuck! My eyes sting so bad I could die. Don't expect to die a clean death, you lot."
I sensed presences behind me, and Dorman's group revealed themselves, tears streaming down their faces.
'Surrounded, are we?'
Left and right were blocked by train wreckage—
And ahead, the archer lay in ambush.
The distance to the forest was still hopelessly far.
'Fuck.'
To buy even a little time, I took the <Tentacle Whip> from my breast.
The bastards, who had seemed ready to pounce at any moment, hesitated at the unfamiliar form of the equipment I'd produced.
"Ohh……. Looks like Unique equipment."
Dorman, with his <Insight Eye>, licked his lips and let his greed show, though.
"Unique equipment? That's the expensive stuff, right?"
"It varies, but sell it and you'd get tens of millions of Seeds at minimum."
"Ohh."
And greed, by its nature, is contagious.
The ones around him snickered and spouted bullshit about how much it would come to per head if split up.
'What do I do?'
The back of my head itches.
I was certain that the moment I moved rashly, an arrow would fly.
And it was no situation for getting help from the defective siblings.
'……No choice but to gamble.'
That was the moment my thoughts reached as far as the <Trait raw stone> in my pouch.
"……!"
From among the shattered fragments of the train, something shot out like an arrow.
[Lv.19 'Blade Weasel']
This thing?
"Aaagh!"
The archer screamed.
The weasel, having closed in instantly, had clawed the archer's face.
"A Magic Beast!"
"There was still one alive?!"
While the bastards snapped into a guard stance in an instant, I hid behind a nearby train car along with the siblings.
"How's the wound?"
"I don't know……. Damn it, if only there were a potion left……!"
"K-Kazen……."
Just then, the sister took a potion from her breast.
"Ah, y-you didn't use it earlier. Well done!"
This surprised even me.
The wound hadn't been large, but she'd been bleeding from the head, so I'd assumed she'd poured it right away.
"Treat that first."
"Yes……!"
How's the situation?
I could hear curses and some kind of commotion, but…….
Just as I was about to carefully peer out from behind the wall.
"……!"
My eyes met the weasel's.
The Blade Weasel from earlier.
I drew the mantis scythe warily, but the weasel tilted its head and strode right up to me.
Swish!
The moment I swung the scythe on reflex, the weasel dodged nimbly.
Then, as I braced for the thing's attack…….
Kyuu…….
The weasel looked at me with sorrowful eyes.
"What the……"
What on earth is this situation?
[There is a Magic Beast expressing goodwill toward you.]
[Upon completing a class change, you may tame it.]
[Hidden conditions have already been met.]
⁝
[Change class to <Tamer>?]
The phrase 'hidden conditions' snagged in my eye.
As far as I know, there's only one case in FoS where a phrase like this appears upon a class change.
"……A hidden class."
[A certain Beast God watches your choice.]