Chapter 34
Chapter 34
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Sleipnir and Mimir
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Kieeeeng-!
The overheated engine roared with explosive intensity, as if it might burst at any moment.
Chik! Chiiik!
With every burst of steam, the surrounding scenery whipped past.
The eight wheels, wrapped in monster hide, crushed jagged, rugged rocks without a care and kept rolling forward.
Atop the trailer charging across the plains, Loen’s eyes sparkled.
Having rolled back the canopy overhead, a cool breeze tousled her yellow hair. She adjusted her glasses and exclaimed in an excited voice.
“Aah, to think I’d get to ride the kingdom’s transport vehicle Sleipnir, the one I’ve only heard about! Heading to the eastern border!”
Helena picked up her words.
“If you’re this thrilled already, what’ll happen when you see the kingdom train Mimir?”
“No way! Helena, you’ve actually seen Mimir?”
“I have.”
“You’ve really seen everything, haven’t you?! Ah… anyway, Sleipnir and Mimir! I really made it to White. Loen White! Kugh… this is thrilling! Kang Geohan Yellow—no, Kang Geohan White! It’s all thanks to you! Choosing to smash the core and conquer the sector back then was the best decision!”
Tears glistened at the corners of Loen’s eyes.
Kang Geohan couldn’t help but chuckle at her honest reaction.
“You like it that much?”
“I love it! Thanks to you, all four of us got assigned to the same unit! That’s the best part. My friends.”
Loen White grinned broadly.
Helena White watched the scene, then muttered softly.
“…To be precise, it’s five.”
Her gaze flicked toward the corner of the trailer.
Two stone-faced squires stood on the shaking trailer, with a blond pompadoured young master sitting between them. It was Gerot White.
Gerot, who had passed the training camp fourth after Kang Geohan, Helena, and Loen, had also been drafted into the eastern pioneer unit and was heading to the eastern border on the same trailer.
‘He looks completely dead inside.’
As Kang Geohan assessed, his expression wasn’t good.
Gerot had entered the training camp ranked third, right after Helena and Kang Geohan.
That alone had bruised his pride beyond endurance, and now being pushed to fourth by Loen of all people—his inner turmoil was easy to imagine.
But Gerot wasn’t throwing a tantrum like before.
With the other four having built thick bonds of friendship, an outsider like him couldn’t just…
“You filthy native scum. Where the hell are you sneaking those glances?”
…act out.
“Don’t get cocky over some training camp graduation scores. Luck doesn’t hold up in real combat. That’s when the gap between you and me will show for sure.”
Whether he truly believed it or needed to believe it to feel better, desperation seeped from Gerot White’s face.
‘He’s consistently rotten, that guy.’
Even after being outdone by Kang Geohan for the past three months, his personality hadn’t changed.
Kang Geohan brushed off Gerot’s provocation with a laugh, but the prideful Hakrux couldn’t.
Hakrux glared at Gerot with blazing eyes. Mana surged within him, heat haze rippling over his shoulders. Was he gearing up for a rematch to settle the score from when Gerot had beaten him before?
But Loen White stepped in first. She shot to her feet with her small frame and shouted. Heat haze roiled around her too.
“Gerot! How dare you insult a fellow knight like that…!”
It was a different reaction from before.
Thinking her friends Kang Geohan and Hakrux had been insulted, she couldn’t hold back her anger—her shoulders trembled.
It was the first time they’d seen her this furious.
“Apologize right now! Or else…!”
“Hah? Or else what? Now even you punks think you’re something….”
Gerot stood as well. With a chiiik—the sound of boiling steam—heat haze rose from his entire body.
The situation teetered on the brink of violence.
Only then did Kang Geohan rise with a small sigh.
Gerot flinched.
Gerot White still dismissed Loen, but not Kang Geohan.
No matter how much he trash-talked Kang Geohan, the repeated defeats in past evaluations wouldn’t let him underestimate the man.
As the heated tension paused, Kang Geohan walked to one side of the trailer and pulled out a pile of mana stones.
He gripped one dumbbell-shaped mana stone in each hand, elbows pinned tight to his sides, and began alternating lifts.
“You all fight. I’m going to train.”
Rafal, who’d been sitting on one side of the trailer, jumped up.
“Ah, training? Guess I should join. Teach me some.”
“Sir Rafal White… no, Sir Rafal Black. Shouldn’t you be the one teaching me?”
“I’ll teach you. Anything on efficiently using mana, I’ll teach plenty. But growing mana fast? That’s your specialty, right? Let’s share the good stuff.”
It wasn’t just Kang Geohan’s group that had been promoted this time.
Zaksen Silver had run enlistment tests on the instructors too, and Rafal was the only knight to pass. Reassigned to the eastern pioneer unit, he’d been promoted from White to Black.
Was it the Black rank fueling his motivation? Rafal, even more sly than before, sidled up to Kang Geohan and started chatting.
“That’s a 100-pound mana stone, right? Must be insanely heavy for your mana, and you’re just lifting it one-handed like that?”
“Lifting heavy seems to grow mana best.”
“That only works because it’s you, doesn’t it?”
“I can handle heavier weights than most… but you’ve got to keep challenging your max to increase it.”
“Makes sense. Alright! Time to up my usual weight too.”
As the two men grunted and competitively lifted the mana stones, the tension that had filled the trailer moments ago from imminent explosion melted away.
“…Tch.”
Gerot White clicked his tongue in frustration, glanced at Kang Geohan, hesitated, then gritted his teeth and walked over to grab a mana stone of his own.
Loen and Hakrux, who’d been standing awkwardly, did the same after a moment’s glance around. They pulled out mana stones too.
Helena, who’d been sitting, sighed and stood to join the training, and Kaltz, who’d been guarding Kang Geohan’s side, grabbed the heaviest mana stone.
They couldn’t fall behind their comrades and rivals who were all training.
Zaksen Silver, leading this group, watched the whole thing and inwardly marveled.
‘I thought these trainees were exceptionally talented… turns out there’s a reason.’
His eyes gleamed with interest. Soon, his gaze turned to Kaltz.
Watching Kaltz sweat profusely, Zaksen casually stood and headed to the mana stone pile.
He didn’t want to lag behind a worthy rival either.
Before long, the entire trailer buzzed with fervent training.
Kang Geohan shook his head.
‘Sure enough, they won’t fight if you make ‘em sweat it out.’
Of course, that didn’t erase the grudges between them.
“Hmph! A commoner always acting all high and mighty. He’d grovel in front of real nobles…!”
Loen couldn’t resist sniping, even as sweat poured off her.
* * *
The kingdom transport vehicle Sleipnir was several times faster than a semi-automated carriage, reaching its destination after a full day’s run.
There, Kang Geohan’s group encountered the kingdom train Mimir.
“Wow! Wooow!”
Even after boarding, Loen wandered in a daze, gasping in awe at her surroundings.
“Cut it out already. You’re embarrassing us….”
The shame fell to Helena.
But Helena was the only calm one.
Hakrux scanned the area tensely.
Kang Geohan wasn’t screaming in excitement, but he was just as entranced as Loen.
‘Huge…!’
That single word dominated Kang Geohan’s mind.
With his 21st-century memories, he hadn’t expected much from a “kingdom train.”
But the real thing before his eyes blew his mind completely.
‘How do they even move something this massive?’
The kingdom train Mimir was gigantic, like a skyscraper laid flat.
Dozens of giants, 8 to 12 meters tall, were loaded in four neat rows with plenty of space to spare—a sight of pure wonder.
The interior was no different. It looked less like a train and more like a massive shopping mall.
And this colossal thing
moved.
Chiiiik-!
Belching thick steam, shaking with clunks and jolts, it surged forward with overwhelming power.
A force like a tsunami, like a mountain.
That power captivated Kang Geohan.
Mimir, paused briefly, began moving again.
Zaksen Silver assigned the group private cabins and gave them free time.
“We get off at the end of the line. It’ll take four days. Relax until then.”
Once Zaksen Silver entered his own room, Loen’s eyes sparkled as she turned to the group.
“Let’s explore the train! I smelled something delicious over there earlier! They must sell food!”
Hakrux quietly moved to her side, signaling his intent to follow Loen on the train adventure.
“Hmm… sure.”
Helena joined Loen’s plan with a nonchalant expression.
Loen now turned to Kang Geohan. But he was lost in other thoughts.
‘Curious….’
He desperately wanted to know the principle behind moving this massive train, how it worked, who made it move—everything.
The civilization of Raniakea, which he’d only seen as backward, occasionally astonished him like this.
A civilization handling energy on a scale unimaginable even on Earth. Witnessing it firsthand, wild imaginings bubbled up in Kang Geohan’s mind.
‘If they can build a train like this… maybe they can build giants just as powerful?’
It sounded absurd, but his heart raced.
Power to crumble mountains, to summon tidal waves.
Just imagining such a giant made his mouth water.
‘If such giants exist… how strong would you need to be to pilot one?’
He wanted to grow stronger. Stronger without a single moment’s rest. To feel that immense power.
“Kang Geohan…! Come explore with us!”
His determination swelled so much he didn’t even hear Loen shouting right beside him. He just stared blankly up, down, front, back, left, right.
Watching Kang Geohan, Kaltz smiled knowingly.
“Master. Naturally, Mimir has training facilities too.”
In that instant, focus snapped back into Kang Geohan’s hazy eyes.
“Training facilities?”
“Yes. Incredible ones. You’ll likely see a whole new world again. Shall I guide you?”
“Y-Yes! Let’s go!”
“Of course. And this time… I’ll explain what you saw last night.”
At Kaltz’s words, Kang Geohan’s eyes blazed even fiercer.
What he’d seen last night: the duel between Zaksen Silver and Kaltz Black. The advanced mana techniques they’d displayed—knight secret arts. Kaltz meant to teach them now.
Chiiik-!
Mana burst from the excited Kang Geohan. Seeing the rising steam, Kaltz smiled coolly.
“Of course. It won’t be easy to learn.”
Kang Geohan bared his teeth in a grin.
“No pain, no gain.”
The train sped on,
and Kang Geohan confronted a vastly wider world and astonishingly immense power.
“…He’s not coming with us, huh?”
Loen drooped her shoulders watching Kang Geohan.
“…Trained the whole way here, and now more training.”
Helena just shook her head.