Chapter 10
“Is your house this way too, Karon?”
“You too? That’s great! I was getting bored since I didn’t know anyone.”
The black-haired guy and Linia, despite only recently meeting, were chatting like old friends who’d known each other for years.
Both of them are pretty good at making themselves at home.
Sure, Linia’s like that because she’s naturally simple-minded, but that black-haired guy? I still can’t figure him out.
Black hair on the outside, black soul on the inside?
[That’s discrimination!]
Suddenly, the AI interrupted my thoughts.
‘Why are you butting in out of nowhere? Feeling guilty because you’re black all over?’
[…]
‘Kkamsoon?’
[Even if you’re my master, if you keep going any further, you’re going to get divine punishment!!]
Bang!
The moment the words "divine punishment" entered my mind, a deafening explosion rocked the train.
“What the heck?! What’s going on?!”
“An explosion?! Terrorists?!”
[Oh no! A train terrorist attack! It’s one of those classic tropes where something always happens when the protagonist boards a train!]
‘Is now the time to talk about tropes?!’
Whether it’s an accident or a terrorist attack, figuring out what’s happening is the first priority.
“Attention passengers. This is an announcement from the End Cult.”
Luckily, thanks to these polite terrorists making an announcement, we were able to figure it out immediately.
“The heavens have passed judgment on humanity for its sins! Yet the Empire treats this as a joke! We must no longer sin. To deliver this warning, we have no choice but to take control of this train. We ask for your full cooperation.”
[Their logic is weird. What does humanity’s sins have to do with taking over a train?]
‘That’s why they’re a cult.’
Dealing with people who lack logic is always the most exhausting.
“A train hijacking?!”
“This is bad!!”
Meanwhile, Linia and Karon, having heard the broadcast, were panicking.
“Calm down. Are future students of the Imperial Academy going to freak out over something like this?”
“This is a real emergency! How are you so calm, Raniel?!”
“Raniel, do you have a plan?”
“Of course I do. You think I wouldn’t prepare for such an obvious cliché?”
[Did you really have a plan?]
‘Shut up and scan the surroundings.’
[After scanning, there appear to be four bombs installed on the train.]
‘Bombs?’
[Yes. Three are installed on the exterior of the train and one inside.]
I thought it was just a hostage situation or a simple train hijacking.
Were they planning to blow up the bombs and become martyrs if things went south?
‘What a pain.’
The fact that most of the bombs were installed outside made things even worse.
The only one who could even attempt something on the exterior of a moving train was Linia, thanks to her aura skills.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Nothing.”
I had zero faith that this idiot could handle the delicate task of defusing a bomb.
If so, should I equip the prototype and attempt to disarm them myself…?
[Considering activation time and my current state, delicate work like that would be impossible for me.]
Yeah, I fixed you up, so of course I know. I wasn’t expecting anything.
[If even 10% of my original performance were restored, I could disarm those bombs without causing any collateral damage—even while blowing them up!]
Would you still call that "disarming" if it explodes?!
Anyway, disarming the bombs would still be impossible even with the prototype equipped.
If that’s the case…
‘Can you detect the terrorists?’
[It’s currently impossible, but I think I could if I went outside.]
‘Outside? Well, I’ll have to go out there eventually anyway, so it doesn’t really matter….’
Still, it’s not ideal to just charge out there recklessly in this chaotic situation.
It’s better to organize what needs to be done before heading out.
After figuring out my plan, I called Karon over.
“Karon, take this.”
“What’s this?”
I opened my dimensional storage and pulled out a Leventesia Workshop Mana Blaster, commonly referred to as a shotgun, and handed it to Karon.
“Where the heck did you pull this out from? Is it a gunpowder weapon?”
“It’s not a gunpowder weapon. Anyway, I’ve already adjusted its output for non-combatants. At that setting, you can subdue someone without killing them, even if you shoot them.”
“Oh, so I just have to lower it from Linia’s setting to the non-combatant level, right?”
Karon immediately adjusted the shotgun’s output after I handed it to him.
“By the way, non-combatant is for regular people, Linia’s setting is for those who can use aura, and Father’s is for stronger targets….”
“Why the hell is my name part of the output settings?!”
Because the test subjects for the output experiments were none other than Linia and Father, obviously.
[If you say that out loud, you might get punched.]
‘I’m not that dense, so I’m keeping my mouth shut.’
“Each cartridge can be fired about ten times on the non-combatant setting, so use your ammo wisely.”
“Got it… but why are you giving this to me?”
“Do you plan on going unarmed with terrorists running around? If you don’t want it, just forget it.”
“N-no! I’ll take it! Please give it to me!”
Karon gripped the mana blaster tightly, his expression deadly serious.
This should be enough to arm him.
“Linia.”
“Hm? What about me? What are you giving me?”
“This.”
I took out a variety of climbing gear from my dimensional storage and handed it to her.
“Are we going mountain climbing or something?”
Linia tilted her head as she looked at the equipment.
“Not a mountain—this train.”
“The outside of the train?”
“Exactly.”
“Wait, why?!”
Linia was dumbfounded. Did she think I was actually going to send her to climb a random mountain?
“There are bombs on the exterior.”
“And you want me to disarm them?!”
“I’m coming with you.”
I explained the plan to the horrified Linia.
“Is this really okay?! Are we seriously doing this?!”
“I’m already regretting it.”
I answered, trembling as I was tightly strapped to Linia’s back.
Although it was just the start of winter and not particularly cold, the wind on the speeding train made it feel several times colder.
“F-focus. If you fall, we’re both dead.”
“You think I’m not focusing? I’m giving it everything I’ve got right now!”
With her feet wrapped in aura, Linia carefully advanced along the train roof, step by step.
Watching her walk across the speeding train while carrying me was proof of how incredible martial artists were.
If worse came to worst, I’d planned to use an ice axe to anchor us forward, but it didn’t look like that would be necessary.
Whooosh!
“Argh, it’s freezing! I never thought I’d actually have to walk on top of a train!”
“Neither did I.”
While Linia trudged on, I busied myself tidying up her hair at the back of her head.
To prevent any accidents, I tied her hair as short as possible.
“Still, this kind of reminds me of the old days. Me carrying you, and you tying my hair.”
“And then you’d bawl your eyes out the moment you made the tiniest mistake.”
“Well, back then, everything in the world seemed scary to me.”
It wasn’t exactly the time or place to get lost in nostalgia, but memories from the past started surfacing in my mind.
“You were in pretty bad shape back then. You’d hit your head on the ground over every little thing. Maybe that’s why you ended up a blockhead.”
“My body’s tough, but not so tough that I’d lose intelligence over something like that.”
Back then, she was in such bad shape, always hunched over and crying about everything, and now she’s a full-fledged martial artist using aura? She really grew up, didn’t she?
“Wow, seeing how you used to be bedridden and unable to move, and now you’re running around like this, it feels like raising you was worth it.”
Just as I was lost in thought, Linia chimed in with a wistful tone.
This little brat. Her memory is so warped. Who raised whom, exactly?
“Raised me? You’re joking, right? I’m the one who turned you into a proper person.”
“No, I’m the one who raised you.”
Talking about pointless old stories somehow loosened the tension and made the cold more bearable.
[Um…]
‘What now?’
[Sorry to ruin the mood, but just a bit further ahead, there’s a ladder. If you climb down, you’ll find a bomb on the underside of the train.]
‘Ah, right. Sorry. The bomb takes priority.’
[Even I sometimes lose focus, you know. It happens.]
‘No, you can’t lose focus!’
Anyway, it seemed we had finally reached the location of the first bomb.
It’s freezing. I need to deal with this quickly and soak in some hot water later.
“See up ahead? The part where the cars are connected?”
“Yeah, I see it.”
“Take that ladder down and position me so I can see the underside of the train.”
“So I need to climb down backward?”
“You’re smarter than I thought.”
“Do you think I’m a gorilla or something? Of course, I get it.”
For a brief moment, I remembered a gorilla from a previous life’s lab experiments, one who had a slightly higher IQ than Linia.
But the moment I brought that up, I’d probably get thrown off the train, so I wisely kept my mouth shut.
Moments later, Linia reached the space between the train cars and began climbing down the ladder backward. As she did, my body flipped upside down, and blood started rushing to my head.
“This is dizzying.”
“If you look up, it’ll make your head spin even more.”
I glanced up—now the ground—just to test it, and the blurred train floor sped past my eyes.
It was nauseating.
Thankfully, we arrived at the bomb’s location quickly.
There, attached to the underside of the train, was a small square box that was clearly not part of the train’s original components.
I immediately extended a hand infused with mana and scanned the box.
It looked simple on the outside, but its interior was surprisingly intricate.
“Detonator, external controls, explosion amplifier, shock absorber.”
“Can you disarm it?”
“It’s going to take longer than taking apart clothes.”
I didn’t need to remove everything.
Carefully, I began removing and rearranging the circuits that controlled the explosion amplifier, detonator, and external controls.
I couldn’t do anything about the physical explosives or the rest of the mechanisms, but this would at least neutralize the bomb to some extent.
The problem was that the circuitry was more complex than expected, and there was a time limit.
The bigger problem was:
"Ugh."
"What's wrong? Something wrong?"
"There are plenty of issues, but trying to work upside down is making all the blood rush to my head."
"Ah, yeah, I guess that would be hard for a weakling like you."
"The fact that you're fine working upside down is what's weird here."
No matter how you looked at it, working like this wasn’t going to be feasible.
"Sigh, no choice. I’ll detach it and work on it from the top of the train."
Carefully moving my mana, I detached the bomb from the underside of the train.
"Done. Let’s head up."
"Got it!"
The moment Linia responded, she scaled the train’s outer wall like she was possessed by a spider, quickly getting back to the roof.
Once we were back on top of the train, the blood that had been rushing to my head returned to normal circulation. At the same time, a headache began pounding in my skull.
"Ugh, my head."
"Are you okay?"
"No, I’m not. We don’t have time."
One problem after another. If I could’ve just disarmed it normally, this would’ve been over already.
As I clutched my head, struggling to recover my composure, Linia alternated between looking at me and the bomb.
"Why don’t we just…"
She picked up the bomb.
"…throw it away?"
Before I could stop her, she struck a perfect throwing stance and hurled the bomb straight up into the sky.
"Hey!! If you just throw that…"
I had considered throwing it as an option. But without knowing the bomb’s full explosive power, I would’ve needed to throw it a considerable distance to avoid collateral damage, which was why I’d already dismissed the idea.
Ping!
"……?"
The sound that followed wasn’t what you’d expect from someone just tossing something. It sounded more like the sonic boom of a jet breaking the sound barrier.
And then—
BOOM!
Far above in the sky, at the very edge of my vision, a tiny star twinkled. No, based on the explosion sound, it wasn’t a star—it was the bomb becoming a star.
"……."
‘Is she even human?’
As I stared blankly at Linia’s innocent face—completely unaware of her own absurdity—the image of the bomb-turned-star overlapped with my own.
I suddenly felt I should treat Linia a little better going forward.
"Ugh, it’s cold."
"I’m cold too."
I wanted to go back inside right away, but there was still work to do.
Have you finished scanning the train exterior?
[Yes, scan complete! If you provide the materials, I could probably build an entire train for you!]
Nicely done. Not sure if I’ll ever need to build a train, though.
What about the cultists?
[All accounted for! Six of them in total, and I’ve pinpointed their locations!]
As the AI reported this, an interface appeared in front of me, marking the locations of the terrorists.
For sensors that weren’t fully operational, the results were impressive.
[Heheh. That’s because I’m brilliant!]
Yeah, you did well this time.
With their locations marked, I could now take a route that avoided the terrorists.
‘I’m freezing my ass off. Find me the quickest route inside.’
[Got it! Initiating guidance.]
"Let’s move. We’re heading back inside."
"Finally! Ugh… it’s so cold."
Following the AI’s guidance, we managed to re-enter the train.
The moment we got inside, I untied the straps that had been securing me to Linia’s back.
“Oh? I don’t have to carry you anymore?”
“Exactly.”
There was no longer any need to stay strapped to her. I had memorized the circuit patterns needed for separating the bombs, and there was no reason to carefully dismantle them anymore.
“But there are still three bombs left, aren’t there?”
“You can handle the rest on your own.”
“W-What are you talking about?! How am I supposed to disarm bombs?”
Of course, it wasn’t because I trusted Linia’s intelligence. It was her brute strength I was relying on.
“Enough, just take this.”
I handed her a small cube-shaped magic tool and a tablet displaying the locations of the remaining bombs.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a magic tool I improvised by reverse-engineering the circuit pattern from earlier. It’s not very durable since it was rushed, but it should work up to five times without issue.”
“……”
“All you have to do is hold it up to the bomb, and it’ll detach immediately. After that, just toss it outside within ten seconds, like before. Easy, right?”
With this, even Linia should be able to handle the bombs by herself. It’s freezing out there; there’s absolutely no reason for me to tag along.
As I finished explaining, Linia gave me a hollow stare.
“What’s with that look? Are you falling for my genius after watching me whip up a magic tool in just 20 seconds?”
Truthfully, I didn’t make it from scratch—I just modified something I already had. But hey, I made it, so it counts.
“No, it’s just… I’m starting to question whether your humanity is even intact.”
“What?”
“This is too much! Do you not care about me at all?!”
Looking at Linia getting all emotional without any logical basis, I delivered a very rational and efficient response.
“Do you seriously think I’d send you out alone just because I’m cold and don’t want to bother? This is the best decision for both of us, based on careful calculations!”
“What are you even saying?!”
“Let me break it down for you: if I fall off the train or if the bomb accidentally explodes, I’ll die. But you won’t.”
“…What?”
It was true. Based on the prototype’s scan, Linia’s physical durability wasn’t a joke. She was closer to a walking weapon than a human. Considering the train’s speed, there was virtually no chance of her getting seriously hurt.
On top of that—
“Your aura level is S, right? Even without your natural physical specs, the aura will protect you. You’re practically invincible. I, on the other hand, would die instantly just from falling off the train.”
“……”
“This isn’t about me being cold or lazy. It’s a well-thought-out decision, carefully weighing the risks to my life and your abilities.”
After my explanation, Linia reluctantly nodded.
“Fine, I get that I won’t die if I fall off. But if I do, how am I supposed to get home?”
“Walk?”
“Are you insane?”
Hmm, she had a point. Walking back from here would take forever.
I immediately pulled out a pouch of money from my dimensional storage and placed it in Linia’s hand.
Jingle.
“What’s this?”
“Not enough?”
I pulled out another pouch and put it on top of the first one.
Linia fell silent, seemingly convinced by my perfectly reasonable actions.
“Alright, then. Let’s get moving. It’s freezing with the door open.”
I carefully pushed Linia toward the door and sent her outside before closing it behind her.
Click.
“Ah, that’s better.”
[Master, you really sent her out because you were cold and didn’t want to bother, didn’t you?]
“Obviously.”
[As expected, Master is like trash!]
‘Trash? I just acted rationally.’
[Of course, even though you're like that, I understand and love you!]
‘I don’t need that!’
After warming up a bit, I started to take action.
At the Imperial Central Knight’s Headquarters.
Amidst the rising unrest due to recent frequent incidents within the Empire, an unprecedented crisis struck, causing the entire Empire to fall into shock. The entire Knight's Order was thrown into chaos.
“A train…terror?”
“A hijacking incident in the heart of the Empire!”
“The End Times Cult, how far do they plan to go with this?!”
“Contact the local garrison and the knight branches in the areas the train is passing through immediately!”
High-ranking officials of the Knights' Order were sweating profusely, holding meetings and issuing orders in real-time.
However, among them, someone who hadn’t been part of the meeting was crossing the hallway.
“Vice-captain, where are the members?”
“Yes, as you instructed, I’ve gathered them, but… all the other commanders are attending the meeting. Is it okay for us to move like this?”
“I’ll take full responsibility.”
The man answered firmly and immediately opened the door to the waiting room of his unit.
Click!
Click!
The members waiting inside immediately stood up and saluted.
The man gestured for them to sit and spoke.
“We don’t have time, so let’s get to the point. From this moment on, we will operate independently.”
“……”
“……”
All the members seemed taken aback, but they didn’t immediately speak. Instead, the vice-captain carefully asked on their behalf.
“Is there a specific order that came down?”
“There was an urgent message from the elder.”
“……!”
“……!”
The members, who had been confused, widened their eyes and immediately fell silent.
There was no one in the room who didn’t know who the 'elder' was.
“The elder is aboard the train where the terror attack is happening, and he has personally requested our support. Naturally, his location and whereabouts are highly classified, so we need to handle this before the Central Knight's Order or the Public Security Knights take action.”
“But if the elder is on board the train, isn’t there no need for us to act?”
“If it was just him alone, there wouldn’t be any problem.”
The captain said with a bitter smile.
“But, Her Highness the Princess is also on the train.”
