***
There were no other passengers inside the car, and a man with an unusual gaze and a rather large build was holding the black-haired guy’s neck in one arm and aiming a pistol at his head.
“Raniel?!”
The black-haired guy was startled and his face lit up as soon as he saw me.
“What, do you two know each other?”
That clueless bastard.
Doesn’t he know that pretending not to know each other is more advantageous for negotiations in this kind of situation?
“Whatever, just drop your weapon and surrender. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee the hostage’s life!”
“…What happened to the other comrades?”
“They’re dead.”
I omitted the word ‘socially’ before ‘dead,’ but I felt no need to kindly explain it to the terrorist.
“So the riffraff couldn’t even properly buy time…”
“The authorities were already aware of your terror attack! All the bombs have been disarmed.”
“…Was there a heretic on our side?”
“I can’t tell you that, and in any case, your terror attack is over. Stop your meaningless resistance and surrender!”
“I am not afraid of death. And that guy, having come here prepared for martyrdom, is likely the same.”
The gun turned towards me.
This heartless bastard, does he mean he doesn’t care about the hostage?!
I trembled with rage at the sight of the vicious terrorist who didn’t care about the hostage.
“Ah, damn it, as I thought!”
I quickly pushed the hostage away as if throwing him and simultaneously rolled as I flattened myself on the floor.
Bang!
“Why do all you damn cultists do the same thing?!”
And a beat later, with the sound of a gunshot, gunpowder smoke rose from the spot where I had been standing.
[The hostage isn’t working, I see.]
I had expected it to some extent. Installing bombs on the train, and an announcement that didn’t even set any conditions.
Would guys who were just planning to die together even care about a hostage?
Of course, I didn’t particularly care either.
“Karon! If you’re a proud student of the Imperial Academy (not yet), then be prepared!”
I immediately aimed the Mana Blaster at the terrorist.
“Hey, hey, hey hey! Raniel! No, right?! Right?!”
I caught a glimpse of the black-haired guy frantically shaking his head from side to side, but I pulled the trigger without hesitation.
BOOM!
The Mana Blaster fired with a hearty sound.
“Raniel! You crazy bastard! Wh-what if you actually hit me…!”
BOOM! Bang! Rat-tat-tat! BOOM!
As expected, towards the vicious terrorist who showed no regard for the hostage’s life, I too pulled the trigger repeatedly.
“Uwaaaaah! Somebody help me!!”
Leaving the pitiful black-haired guy’s screams behind, I trembled at the sight of the vicious terrorist and ended up just destroying a bunch of surrounding objects to no avail.
Fwoooosh!
The window shattered from a ricochet, and a fierce, cold wind from outside blew into the passenger car.
Thanks to the harmony of the cold wind, the blizzard, and the shattered objects, my vision became quite limited.
“Tsk. Just getting in the way, useless.”
The terrorist clicked his tongue briefly, and then something rolled towards me.
Naturally, I immediately aimed my gun at it.
“Don’t shoot! You crazy bastard!”
The rolling object desperately shouted at me, struggling.
The thing that had rolled over was the black-haired guy.
“You, you! You were really trying to kill me just now, weren’t you?!”
“It wouldn’t have killed you even if it hit.”
It only looked that way; I had adjusted the power so there was no chance of instant death.
At worst, a compound fracture?
I grabbed the collar of the stammering black-haired guy, pushed him towards the partition as if throwing him to take cover, and then quietly stared at the area behind the dust and dirt.
‘Enemy’s position?’
[Displayed immediately.]
A red dot marking the enemy appeared on the interface window in front of me, and my and the black-haired guy’s positions were also displayed as green dots.
Looking at the display, it seemed the terrorist had thrown the black-haired guy at me to buy time, and was planning to retreat and escape this place.
But I couldn’t let him get away unscathed, so I immediately chased after him.
Perhaps because of the series of gunshots from before, the other train cars were as quiet as a mouse.
There were some people, but it was clear that they were all hiding and trying not to even make a sound.
And beyond those people, up ahead, was the guy trying to move to the next train car.
As soon as the terrorist came into view, I aimed the Mana Blaster at him.
“Freeze! Move and I’ll shoot!”
At my words, the terrorist who was moving ahead with his back to me raised both his hands.
“Drop the gun.”
Thud.
The guy, who had obediently dropped his gun, slowly turned around without me even telling him to.
Looking closely, he was a guy with a very menacing scar on his face.
“This is absurd. Were they all taken down by a frail-looking guy like this?”
“Your subordinates were even frailer than me.”
“Your body may be frail, but you’ve got some nerve.”
“If that’s a compliment, then you have no talent for compliments.”
“Pull the trigger. This life was meant to be thrown away anyway.”
“That’s not a bad idea, but how about you get arrested by the authorities and spill the beans on your comrades instead.”
“Then I’ll pass on some information in return, so how about you tell me who the heretic is.”
“What?”
“I released the hostage willingly. I’ll cooperate with you, so just tell me the name of that heretic.”
Was it my imagination that I felt something strange for a moment?
Why on earth did this guy release the black-haired guy so willingly?
Of course, the black-haired guy looked too frail to be a useful meat shield, so he might have been useless.
Still, it was strange that he released the hostage so willingly.
And where could he even escape to on this train, only to be caught from behind by me at the end of the train?
‘No, of course, most of them were riffraff from the start, but this is…’
“You, what on earth are you scheming…”
Click.
“…!”
Not far away.
From a distance where, unless one’s marksmanship was exceptionally poor, a hit was 100% guaranteed, I heard the metallic sound of a bullet being loaded.
‘What? There was another one?’
The terrorist in front of me was now grinning.
“I’ll investigate the heretic slowly. So, farewell, boy.”
Bang!
“Watch out! Raniel!!”
In the moment my life flashed before my eyes, I thought that I really needed to meticulously overhaul the Prototype’s scan and search system.
Crash!
Linia flew in, shattering the window, and pushed me aside.
“Kyaak!!”
Instead of me, who had been pushed away, Linia was hit by the bullet and then rolled on the floor.
“Linia!!”
As my body was thrown, I screamed with bloodshot eyes.
Linia got up, grimacing slightly, and fumbled at the spot where she was hit.
“Oww, that hurts. I think it’s going to bruise…”
“…”
“…”
For a moment, the terrorists and I stared at her, at a loss for words.
My god, not a single drop of blood.
I knew she was tough, but to be shot from this distance and still be that unscathed?
I was momentarily dazed by Linia’s absurd toughness, but we were in the middle of a battle.
Having immediately assessed the situation, I took cover behind Linia.
“Raniel?”
Linia sent me a dumbfounded look, but I ignored it, aimed the gun at the terrorists, and shouted confidently.
“Surrender! You’ve confirmed that bullets are useless against us, right?”
The terrorists looked at me as if I were absurd, then immediately moved their hands to their triggers.
With their surprisingly fast movements, I hastily clung to Linia’s back.
Bang!
“Hwak!”
Bang!
“Ack!”
The evil terrorists’ shots were all blocked by Linia’s body.
“See that? Your struggles are meaningless! Surrender!!”
“What kind of trash is that…”
“Even in our cult, we don’t use comrades as shields…!!”
Trash? Who are you to judge people when you’re a terrorist?
“Raniel, it hurts so much. Huhu.”
“You evil bastards! Can’t you see this poor girl shedding tears?!”
“Wh-what kind of guy is that…”
The terrorist clutched the back of his neck.
I didn’t miss the opportunity and immediately aimed the Mana Blaster and pulled the trigger.
BOOM!
“Kuaak!!”
Unfortunately, it was not the guy who looked like the leader with the scar on his face that got hit, but the guy who had interfered.
“You bastard!!”
The terrorist, not tired of it yet, moved his finger to the trigger.
But there was no need to worry.
Because I had the reliable shield named Linia!
“Hwaaak! I don’t want any more!!”
Linia, whom I had trusted so much, hastily ducked.
Bang!
At the same time, the terrorist pulled the trigger.
My life flashed before my eyes again.
[The left hand is just for support!]
Simultaneously with the interface window intruding on my life flashing before my eyes, my vision was momentarily blocked.
Ting!
The sound of a bullet being blocked.
BOOM!!
With the sound of something shattering in all directions, my vision returned.
As my vision returned, I immediately assessed the situation.
It seemed that before I was hit by the bullet, the Prototype had popped out at the right moment and equipped itself.
I quickly scanned the surroundings.
‘Is this a rag or a train?’
The side of the train was cleanly torn off, as if it had been scratched by a giant claw.
[Oops, I failed to control my strength. My mistake!]
‘Did you even intend to control it? No, before that, can you even control it?’
[Kukukuk, I am afraid. My unrestrained power is so very frightening!!]
In short, it seemed that delicate control was still not possible.
Anyway, to assess the situation, it seemed that as the Prototype came out, the side of the train was torn off by the recoil.
If it had gone wrong, it could have literally snapped in half.
It was a good thing I didn’t take it out inside the train. Though all that effort is gone now.
“Wh-what is that thing?! Damn it!!”
Bang! Rat-tat-tat! Bang!
The terrorist panicked and fired bullets like crazy, but it was a futile effort now that this thing was out.
“Damn it! Wh-wh-what is that monster?!”
The terrorist, who had emptied his magazine in an instant, threw the click, click, empty pistol on the floor and shouted.
“Damn it! Damn it! Damn iiiit!!”
“It’s all useless. Just accept reality now.”
“Shut up! It’s not over yet!”
What do you mean, it’s not over?
All the bombs on the train had been disarmed, and all the terrorists except that guy had been subdued.
“Your struggling is pathetic.”
“Kuhuhu, say what you want! We’ll all die together for God’s will.”
Suddenly, the terrorist took something out from his pocket.
What the guy took out was a flask.
Inside, two liquids, green and purple, were separated by a thin partition.
[It is not classified as a bomb by my sensors.]
So it’s not a bomb. If it’s not a bomb, is it a biochemical weapon?
[It is a substance not in the database.]
“The moment these two liquids mix, a swamp of death will be created that will take all living things in this vicinity with it!”
[…he says.]
The kind terrorist immediately revealed the contents of the flask.
Damn it, it seems my guess was right.
Of course, it wasn't that I hadn't anticipated something like a biochemical weapon.
There were still fields of study like alchemy and magic that I didn't know about, so it wasn't that I hadn't thought about substances not in the Prototype's database, but I was a little flustered.
[A man should stick with explosions if he started with them! Using poison now! How petty!!]
I ignored the Prototype’s useless nonsense and fell into thought.
‘What should I do about that?’
There was no time to think leisurely.
The culprit was in the middle of a desperate struggle.
“Don’t come any closer! The moment you do, I’ll set it off and end it all!”
“Shut up and just put that down, will you? It seems pretty clear whether your hand is faster or a bullet is faster.”
“It doesn’t matter if you shoot. No matter what, the moment the flask breaks, my faith will be proven!”
As I thought, shooting it with the blaster wouldn't solve the problem.
[How about blowing it all away with the High-Mass Blade?]
‘Are you planning to blow up the train to stop the poison?’
Then we wouldn’t have to distinguish who the terrorist is, which would be convenient. Damn it.
It would be great if I could just slice off his wrist with perfect accuracy, but if I missed even a little, it would be a massacre ending.
“So, what do you want me to do?”
“First, the release of our cult members imprisoned in the Empire. And you have to guarantee my and my comrades’ safety.”
Sorry, but I’m no knight.
I don’t have the authority, nor do I want to.
“Of course, you can refuse. Then we’ll all just die on this train! Kuahahaha!”
This is why I hate dealing with crazy cultists.
As I was getting fed up internally, I noticed a strange presence in the distance.
In the midst of this chaos, there was one guy squirming, very stealthily and without any presence.
A presence that even I had only detected with the Prototype’s search system, not with my naked eye.
‘The black-haired guy?’
[Why is Karon over there?]
The guy who had been taken hostage and then thrown away earlier had suddenly appeared behind the terrorists without a sound.
‘The guy who was making a fuss to save his own skin earlier?’
[He had a surprisingly cool side to him! As expected of a supporting character, this is what you have to do!]
Karon, as if he knew his life was on the line, looked at me with a very cold, hardened face.
The terrorists still hadn't noticed his presence.
It wasn't that I trusted the guy, but since the situation was favorable, I figured I should at least draw their attention.
“You guys. All that talk about release and safety, aren’t you just spouting nonsense without any thought?”
“What do you mean?”
“In the first place, if you were guys who thought about your comrades, you wouldn’t have thought about dying.”
“Kuhuhu. You’re a sharp one.”
While I was drawing their attention by making small talk, the black-haired guy approached the terrorist.
“Uryaaaaap!!”
He immediately let out a kiai and charged.
That blockhead, really!
I wasn't expecting anything, but to think he would shout while launching a surprise attack?!
“Wh-what?! This guy! The one from before…!”
Karon managed to cling to the terrorist, but he couldn't even touch the flask.
And the terrorist, while flustered, showed a look of anger and glared at me.
“Y-you bastards! You tricked me! If it’s come to this, let’s all die toge—!”
And in that moment, a very brief opening was created.
The very brief moment when Karon charged and the terrorist turned his attention away from me.
‘Eject.’
[Pardon?]
‘Eject me.’
I immediately voiced the thought that came to my mind in the sudden situation.
The AI, who didn't understand at first, understood the second time, and the front armor of the Prototype quickly opened.
[Launching Master!!]
Fwoooosh!!
Then, I, who was inside the Prototype, was launched, cutting through the air.
“Wha—?!”
“Got it!!”
I snatched the flask in an instant.
I immediately wrapped my arms around the flask to keep it from breaking and rolled on the floor.
“Linia! Finish him!!”
“Got it!”
I immediately gave the order to Linia.
“Keoheok!!”
When I stopped rolling on the floor and looked at the terrorist, he was being battered by Linia’s hands.
The terrorist side was taken care of, so I ignored it and immediately turned my attention to the flask.
It was a time bomb-like structure where the thin membrane inside the bottle separating the two liquids was slowly melting and mixing.
I didn't know exactly what phenomenon would occur right after the two liquids mixed,
but I could tell that the green liquid on the left was a structure close to gunpowder, and the one on the right was a substance that directly caused toxicity.
‘Doesn’t this look like it’s continuously melting?’
[Master. You saw correctly. The bottle inside the liquid is continuously melting due to a strong acid! It’s going to explode soon.]
“Kukuk. That bomb was designed from the start so that it couldn’t be stopped. I knew you guys wouldn’t listen to our demands anyway.”
“No, these lunatics…”
“It’s already too late! The moment you try to disarm the bomb, if the circuit maintaining the barrier is damaged, the liquids will mix immediately! In other words, it’s absolutely unstoppable…”
BOOM!
“Keoheoheok!”
“You’re distracting me, so shut up!”
I’m fine. If I wear the Prototype, I can survive somehow.
There’s a high possibility that Linia will be fine too. She’s fine even after being shot bare-bodied.
On top of that, if I protect her while wearing the Prototype, the chances of her dying are almost zero.
‘In that case, does it just end with the train exploding?’
People will die.
Is that okay?
“Raniel, what are you doing?! Give me that, quickly!”
As I was lost in thought, Linia suddenly shouted.
I was about to say a word to this impudent maid for daring to raise her voice at her master, but.
“No, you have to throw it out of the train like before! What are you doing?!”
“Ah?”
Come to think of it.
The bomb disposals so far, they weren't disarmaments, they were solved with physics.
I felt incredibly let down for some reason.
“Linia!!”
I threw the flask to Linia.
Linia immediately caught the flask.
“Here I goooo!”
“Blow it away!!”
Linia lifted her leg high, got into her usual pitching form, and threw the bomb towards the sky.
“Hyaaaaaa!! Become a staaaaar!!”
Piiiing!!
A chilling sound of something tearing through the air, on a different level from what I had heard before, split the space.
And a moment later,
BOOOOOOM!!!
As if to say that all the bombs that had exploded so far were just a diversion,
an explosion of truly overwhelming scale was embroidered in the sky.
Ironically, the colors, a mixture of purple and green, created a strange hue, making it feel like watching a spectacular, large-scale fireworks display.
[It’s beautiful! As expected, explosions are art!!]
Art, my foot. If that had spread here, we would have all just died.
Well, although I grumbled internally, it was quite a sight to behold.
A huge explosion of green and purple mixing like waves, and then the embers fading away, flowing like gentle ripples.
Everyone’s eyes were captivated by the sight.
And.
“The terrorist?”
Having come to my senses, I immediately scanned the surroundings.
“Huh?! Where did he go?”
“Y-yeah, where?!”
At my words, Linia and Karon, who had also come to their senses, looked around for the terrorist, but they couldn’t see anyone other than the guy who had been hit by the Mana Blaster earlier.
It seemed he had slipped away while we were distracted.
‘But we were distracted, what were you doing?!’
[E-even I can get distracted sometimes!!]
I pointlessly scolded the AI, but it was my fault for being distracted.
[But it should be fine.]
What do you mean, it’s fine…
Bang!
At that moment, the door of the car was thrown open violently.
“Search every nook and cranny! Don’t let a single rat escape!”
“Yes, sir!”
The Knight Order stormed in.
Honestly, is it a national rule for these public officials to always show up late?
Fortunately, it seemed the Knight Order had caught the escaped terrorist, as I could see the limp figure of the terrorist.
[It’s a cliché, isn’t it?]
Yeah, it is.
I stealthily glared at the black-haired guy, who was stretched out on the floor, completely one with it.
<><><>
“Ugh. Why is being interrogated more tiring than catching the terrorists?”
“Still, it’s a national agency doing its job, so of course we have to cooperate.”
“No, I’m cooperating, but why do different guys come and ask the same questions twice?”
At first, the Knight Order that had just stormed the train investigated as if they were interrogating us, then they disappeared in a hurry as if something urgent had come up.
And a little later, another group of knights and soldiers rushed in, searched the train thoroughly, and investigated us once more.
“Well, maybe it’s because they’re from different departments?”
Anyway, it seems the lack of cooperation between departments is the same here as it was on Earth.
‘By the way…’
Earlier, when I was being questioned for the first time, the knight who was interrogating me showed me a black plaque, saying it was something that came from the terrorist.
‘Let us comfort the earth, soaked with the blood and flesh of our comrades, with the blood and flesh of the nightmares.’
It was a phrase that wouldn’t be strange for a cult, but it was strangely bothering me.
“Anyway, they said the Knight Order would praise our meritorious service and give us a reward and a plaque of appreciation, right?”
“That’s a matter of course.”
A civilian took down terrorists on behalf of the public authorities, so were they going to let it slide with just words!
Separate from the reward the Knight Order said they would give, I diligently calculated the cost of the magic tools and blaster ammunition I had used (the ones the black-haired guy fired) and handed them the bill.
[The Knight Order people were really gnashing their teeth at the end!]
‘That’s not my problem.’
As I was thinking about this and that, we arrived at the transfer station.
It had been a while since I had moved my body, and I was incredibly tired.
I need to get home quickly and stretch out.
‘Come to think of it, this is where I part ways with the black-haired guy, right?’
As I was packing my things and preparing to get off,
“Raniel Leventia.”
At that moment, the black-haired guy called out to me, so I stopped and looked back.
“What? Do you have something to say?”
I replied casually, but the guy mumbled for a long time.
“The black armor I saw on the train…”
“Yeah, I’m not telling you. Go away.”
“…Alright.”
At that moment, Linia, next to me, flinched upon hearing those words, so it seemed she was planning to ask about it too.
No, haven’t you seen me take it out at the mansion sometimes to wash and inspect it?
I never particularly hid it from the people at the mansion.
I ignored Linia and opened my mouth, looking at the still-hesitating black-haired guy.
“What, is there anything else you want to say?”
“It’s nothing. You went through a lot today.”
“Yeah, right. I’m the one who did all the hard work.”
“What are you talking about?! I’m the one who was running around outside!”
Ignoring Linia, who cut in cluelessly, I was about to leave the car when the black-haired guy said,
“See you at the academy.”
“Say that after you actually pass the exam.”
“You’re right. I don’t know if I’ll be able to pass.”
“I’m 100% passing, but I don’t know about you.”
“You’re right…”
It seemed like he had more to say, but the black-haired guy swallowed his words.
I didn’t particularly want to hear it either, so there was no need to rush him.
“Ugh. It’s cold. I’m tired. I’m just going to stay cooped up in the car until we get home.”
“I plan to do the same.”
I boarded the train with Linia, who was shivering and had a fed-up expression on her face.
Finally, we’re going home.
<><><>
“Raniel Leventia. I thought I’d heard that name somewhere, but of all names, Leventia…”
Karon muttered to himself in the train car, recalling the events of the day.
A connection he had made by chance at the academy entrance exam.
Raniel Leventia.
Although the name Leventia was not the name of a famous family, it was a family name that was heard quite often in the Cliché family.
Mostly in a bad way.
‘It has nothing to do with me, the disowned son.’
Karon chuckled and recalled the events on the train.
His life had been on the line, but it had been resolved one way or another.
Especially the mysterious black armor he had seen at the end.
‘It felt overwhelming.’
The black armor that had burst out of an empty space with the force to destroy everything, tearing through the wall of the train like paper.
Even thinking about it now, its presence was enough to give him chills.
‘I’m curious what it is, but…’
Looking at Raniel’s attitude, it seemed that getting an explanation was out of the question.
Karon recalled the scene at the exam hall before the train.
Actually, he had pretended not to, but Karon had seen Raniel at the exam hall.
The way he solved the problems and made something more seriously than anyone else looked beyond serious; it looked happy.
It was a completely different image from himself, who had chosen the path of magical engineering as a means to survive.
“Magical engineering…”
The means that was magical engineering within Karon.
“If I were to get serious too, could I become like that…”
It was the moment it transcended being a means.
<><><>
Meanwhile, while Raniel’s group was being delayed by the Knight Order’s investigation,
among those who had gotten off the train, a girl and an old man were the first to set foot in the Leventia territory.
“How about we go back now.”
“What are you talking about, old man, after coming all this way?”
“There was the incident on the train, and the outside is dangerous, after all.”
At the old man’s words, the girl asked back.
“Then is it safe inside?”
“…That is.”
“We’ve come this far anyway, so it doesn’t make sense to go back without even checking. Anyway, this is the place where the so-called ‘black armor’ was discovered, right?”
“That is correct, it is said that a warrior in black armor was witnessed here in Leventia.”
At the old man’s words, the girl shook her head from side to side.
“It’s not a warrior, old man.”
Her long hair swayed accordingly, glittering silver in the sunlight.
“That is.”
Her crimson, ruby-colored eyes sparkled.
“An engineered product.”
The girl’s eyes sparkled as she clenched her small hands, which befitted her small frame.
“It may deceive others, but it cannot deceive my eyes.”
The quiet scenery of Leventia was reflected in the girl’s sparkling eyes.
“Haaah.”
Next to her, the old man with a magnificently grown beard put his hand on his forehead and let out a deep sigh.
“I will dismantle the identity of that black armor piece by piece!”
“You snuck out without the royal family’s knowledge, so please just refrain from any conspicuous actions.”
“Just trust me!”
The old man looked down at the small girl who didn’t even reach his chest.
“Haaah.”
He let out another deep sigh and shook his head from side to side.