Chapter 11
"RaNiel, you bastard!!"
Linia sprinted across the roof of the speeding train.
"It's cold! I'm freezing to death too!"
And she continued to remove the bombs.
Using the magic tool RaNiel had given her, she detached the bombs and hurled them skyward with all her might—over and over again.
Boom!
The task was, of course, incomparably faster than when she had to carry RaNiel.
The tablet displayed the bomb locations in great detail, so there was no need to wander around aimlessly.
It was definitely efficient, but—
"This is unfair! Somehow, this feels incredibly unfair!!"
Cursing RaNiel repeatedly, Linia dashed across the train roof.
After removing all the external bombs, she finally entered the train to deal with the last one.
"Brrr, it's still freezing even inside. Looks like I've arrived, though."
Hugging her chilled body with both arms, she shivered before quickly checking the tablet.
The marked location was inside one of the passenger compartments.
There was a lock on the door, but she easily "disabled" it with her brute strength and stepped inside.
There, she found a man dressed in a hooded cloak, covering his entire body—looking incredibly suspicious.
"You... Who are you?!"
"Hmm? The tablet definitely marks this spot as a bomb location. So why is there a person here?"
"I asked you who you are!!"
"Hmm..."
Linia glanced back and forth between the tablet and the mysterious man.
Then, she noticed a small note written on the tablet.
<※ If someone is hiding a bomb directly, subdue them properly before they can detonate it.
P.S. Don't forget to throw the bomb out of the train.>
---
Meanwhile, in another first-class compartment, separate from where RaNiel and his group were.
Despite the commotion outside, the room was eerily quiet, as if completely disconnected from the rest of the world.
Inside, a small girl with silver hair and red eyes sat next to an elderly gentleman with a kindly expression. The two calmly sipped their tea.
The old man was the first to break the silence, smiling as he spoke to the girl.
"How did your exam go?"
"I was given the special treatment of taking it alone in a private room. Wouldn’t it be strange if I did poorly?"
The girl responded sulkily to the old man's question.
"It was for your safety. The exam content was exactly the same as what the other examinees took."
"Having a private room itself is already a privilege."
"Once you enroll, there will be no more special treatment."
"...I understand."
At his words, the girl trailed off and sipped her tea again in silence.
After finishing her last sip, she quietly looked around the room.
"It's awfully quiet, isn't it?"
"Travel is usually a quiet affair."
"You say that, but haven’t you once secretly surrounded me with a magic barrier for 'safety' without telling me?"
"Haha, at my age, I wouldn't overextend myself like that."
"Mm-hmm. I was fooled once before, so I don’t trust you."
The girl narrowed her eyes at him skeptically, but the old man merely smiled kindly and continued.
"Yawn... I must have been nervous during the exam—I'm feeling sleepy now."
Some time later, the girl let out a small yawn, covering her mouth with her hand.
"You should get some rest. We still have a long way to go."
"Then I'll close my eyes for a bit."
As the girl lay down on the bed in the first-class compartment, the old man’s gaze turned sharp for a brief moment, scanning the empty space in front of him.
"I was ready to step in if needed... but for now, I’ll just watch."
He muttered to himself quietly.
"Raniel, you've raised a very interesting son."
Then, he smiled once again.
"My ears are itching."
[Someone must be badmouthing you, Master.]
"There’s no way. Who would curse someone as diligent and righteous as me?"
It was true.
I had lived my life with great diligence.
I worked hard to earn money, and now, I was efficiently paving my way to a professorship by enrolling in the academy.
[Hmm...]
‘What? Why? Isn't this proof that I’m living an incredibly hardworking life?’
[Well... I suppose so.]
‘What do you mean, "I suppose so"?’
[There's a terrorist ahead.]
‘Are you changing the subject?’
Well, dealing with the terrorist was more important right now anyway.
How should I handle this?
[Based on my detection, they don’t seem to be armed.]
‘Oh? Then let’s keep it simple.’
With that, I confidently opened the door to the next carriage.
There, I was met by a man whose face and body were concealed by a mask and hood.
"Oh, you’re working hard."
"Who the hell are you?!"
I tried to walk past him, but as expected, he stopped me. My life never lets me take the easy route.
"You don’t recognize me?"
"Who the hell are you?"
"You shouldn’t be asking that!!"
When I raised my voice, the terrorist started darting his eyes around nervously.
"Why! Why! How could you not know me?! How could you do this to me?!"
As I dramatically shouted and closed the distance between us—
"O-Oh, s-sorry…!"
Seeing the terrorist lower his head apologetically, I immediately pulled out an electric wrench from my dimensional storage—something I had made for fun in my spare time.
Clang!
A satisfying impact sound was followed by—
Crackle!
"Guh!"
A jolt of electricity surged through the terrorist’s body, shocking him into unconsciousness.
The wrench had a simple function:
Hit someone → Electrocute them!
Simple is best.
It had only one feature, but it was perfect for whacking someone on the back of the head.
Of course, it was useless against monsters who wielded aura or magic, but that was a different story.
For an ordinary human without trained mana control, one hit was enough to knock them out.
[Master.]
"What?"
[The dimensional storage was originally designed to store and charge me, wasn’t it?]
"Yeah?"
[But the way you’re using it these days, we might as well call it a four-dimensional pocket instead.]
"Well, where else am I supposed to put my stuff?"
Come to think of it, it really was incredibly convenient.
I was starting to feel like I should make a similar storage item just for keeping things.
In the meantime, I approached the unconscious terrorist and started looting.
Even if he was just a low-level grunt, I wasn’t about to pass up free loot!
‘Tsk, not much here.’
Aside from some small change and bits of metal, the only useful things I got were his hood and mask.
Wearing them would allow me to completely conceal my face and body, which seemed handy.
I immediately put them on.
Then, as usual, I pulled out a pair of handcuffs I had made for fun, restrained the terrorist, stuffed a rag in his mouth, and tossed him into a corner of the train.
Wearing the robes of a cultist felt a little unpleasant, but it would help me avoid unnecessary trouble going forward, so I had no choice.
With my disguise on, I kept moving forward.
[There are two more terrorists ahead, this time they’re armed.]
‘Where are they positioned?’
[One at each end of the corridor. Also, there are people in the passageway who appear to be hostages.]
'I see.'
Once again, I immediately opened the door and stepped inside.
A hooded terrorist turned to me, exuding an intimidating aura.
"Why did you leave your post? Get back to your-"
"Password!!"
I quickly cut him off and shouted.
"What? W-What all of a sudden...?"
"Password!"
Since he wasn't catching on, I kindly repeated myself.
"Uh, well... our password is..."
Clang!
Before he could finish fumbling for an answer, I struck his head with my wrench.
Crackle!
And electrocuted him.
That's one down.
"You bastard! What the hell are you?!"
The other terrorist, standing at the opposite end of the corridor, turned to me in shock and raised his gun.
I confidently met his gaze and shouted:
"This fool didn't know the password! He's a heretic!!"
"Huh? What do you mean...?"
"Wait! You were stationed with him, which makes you just as suspicious! Don't come any closer and state the password!"
I boldly approached the gun pointed at me.
"The password is... 'The tides of time are changing. Starting today,' right?"
"Hmm. Fortunately, it seems you are not a heretic."
Observing his reaction, I slowly nodded.
[Master, did you know these guys had a password?]
'Do you think I did? I just blurted something out.'
[Wow, I really thought you knew everything and acted accordingly.]
'Sometimes, you have to act with confidence even when you don't know.'
[But what if they see through it?]
'Compared to the survival difficulty of my last life, this is easy mode. No worries.'
[That's not an answer at all.]
Ignoring the Al's complaints, I turned to the now slightly confused terrorist.
"We received intel that a heretic infiltrated the train. I'll hold this position-go report to the others immediately!"
"A-Alright! I'll leave it to you."
The terrorist turned his back to me.
I immediately gripped my wrench.
"Wait a minute. Now that I think about it, you seem suspic—"
Clang!
"Guh!"
Just as he started to sense something was off, my wrench delivered a righteous electric shock.
Crackle.
[That actually worked? Why did that work?]
Leaving the bewildered Al behind, I gathered the two fallen terrorists and looted their belongings.
[You really never forget to loot, do you?]
Since ancient times, stripping the defeated of their possessions had been the rightful privilege of the victor.
Once I finished looting, I pulled some handcuffs from my dimensional storage, restrained them, and tossed them aside.
Since I didn't find a detonator, one of the remaining three must have it.
[Seems like you'll need to be more cautious from here on.]
I immediately kicked open the door and marched forward.
[Not that you actually plan on being cautious.]
Caution? I wasn't about to waste my time with these nobodies.
I just wanted to go home in peace.
If they wanted to pull off a terrorist attack, they should've done it on the next train-why did it have to be the one I was on?
All I wanted was a peaceful trip home.
Muttering complaints in my head, I pressed forward without hesitation.
[One hostile ahead.]
I just wanted to go home in peace.
If they wanted to pull off a terrorist attack, they should've done it on the next train-why did it have to be the one I was on?
All I wanted was a peaceful trip home.
Muttering complaints in my head, I pressed forward without hesitation.
[One hostile ahead.]
Once again, I kicked open the door and immediately locked eyes with another terrorist.
The moment he saw me, he tensed up with suspicion.
Without missing a beat, I recited the password:
"The tides of time are changing. Starting today."
As soon as I repeated the phrase I had heard earlier, the terrorist visibly relaxed and let down his guard.
"Confirmed. What's your business here?"
"There's a heretic among us! I'll secure this area -go report it immediately!"
"A heretic?! Understood!"
This time, without a hint of suspicion, the terrorist turned his back and started moving.
Yes. See how much better things go when they don't waste time questioning me?
Feeling proud of his obedience, I swung my wrench straight at the back of his head.
Clang! Crackle!
"Guh!"
[Master, I know I asked this before, but... things have been going smoothly so far. What if something had gone wrong?]
"I'd deal with it when the time comes."
[Your repairs aren't even complete, and you only have one life! Can you please be more careful? At least send that gorilla instead!]
"Our gorilla is already working hard. Besides, even if you're not fully repaired, do you think this kind of rabble could pierce your armor?"
[Well, that's true, but...]
As always, I looted the fallen terrorist.
Unfortunately, since I already had a hood and mask, there wasn't much to gain.
"What kind of broke terrorists are these? I'm already short on research funds, and this isn't helping at all..."
Finishing my disappointing looting session, I straightened up.
I pocketed the loose change and stored it in my dimensional vault before checking my tablet.
"This is the last one, right?"
[Yes, assuming Linia did her job properly, there's only one left. Master, but I think you need to be a bit more careful this time.]
"Why?"
[There's a hostage.]
"A hostage?"
Well, it makes sense. They wouldn't just plant bombs and sit around waiting.
Honestly, I'm more surprised that none of the other terrorists had taken hostages before now.
"Not like that's my problem. I'm no knight or hero."
[The hostage is someone you know. You know, that cliché.]
"The black-haired guy?"
[Yes, the black-haired one... He's the hostage.]
Of all the civilians here, why did they have to take him?
"Let me guess-he pulled out a Mana Blaster and started acting tough before getting caught?"
[Judging by the situation, that's likely.]
For a moment, I considered just taking both the terrorist and him out together for convenience's sake.
But... as annoying as he is, leaving him to die feels a bit too much.
[Looks like it's my turn to step in!]
No. If I let you loose, we won't just derail the train-we'll lose the entire thing.
[Awww...]
"I've got a plan, so just watch for now."
Ignoring the sulking Al, I took off my hood and mask.
[Huh? Why are you doing that?]
I then dressed the unconscious terrorist in my disguise.
Finally, I pulled a Mana Blaster (shotgun) from my dimensional vault.
[Master, what exactly are you planning?]
Hoisting the unconscious guy up, I aimed the shotgun at his head.
Then, with that setup, I kicked open the door and stormed inside.
"DON'T MOVE! I HAVE A HOSTAGE!"
When it comes to hostage situations... sometimes you just have to fight fire with fire.
"Drop your weapon and surrender! If you don't, I can't guarantee the safety of the hostage!"
