87
Chapter 87
One new thing I learned this time.
Lucy was much more docile and obedient than I had thought.
'I merely told her we had somewhere to go together, nothing more.'
Before I could even explain the details, she began preparing to head out.
When I asked if she wasn't curious about where we were going, or if she even had the time, it seemed my will was the only thing that mattered to her.
"If it is what you desire, I shall simply carry it out."
A textbook answer.
The very picture of a typical knight.
'She definitely didn't have this kind of personality before.'
When we first met, she was quite timid and clumsy. Now, there was no trace of that girl.
Her official status was still supposed to be that of an Apprentice Knight.
Yet she possessed power and a demeanor that didn't show a hint of being a rookie.
As I was thinking that... I suddenly recalled a certain fact.
"Come to think of it, what did you do about your status as a knight?"
This might get a little complicated.
She hadn't been officially knighted, so she wouldn't have the Empire's Self-destruction Brand.
Still, that didn't change the fact that she was a knight belonging to the Empire.
If she had been AWOL this whole time, it could cause massive problems once discovered.
That was why I asked with such concern.
"That is fine. I was just dismissed yesterday."
Lucy answered calmly.
My face naturally filled with confusion.
I wondered what she had been doing when she went out alone right after waking up.
She got dismissed during that time?
Was something like that even possible?
As I looked at her with doubt, she seemed to notice my gaze and continued her explanation.
"I thought I would be suspected if I simply quit, so I cut off my arm."
I had no choice but to doubt my ears.
Wondering if I had misheard, I continued to listen closely to Lucy's story.
"I reported that I was injured during duty and that the Temple couldn't heal it, and the Knight Order immediately kicked me out."
Listening further didn't change anything.
My face naturally turned pale with horror.
Let's set aside the sheer audacity of the Imperial Knight Order for kicking someone out without any compensation the moment she became one-armed from an on-duty injury.
She did that to herself?
Just to leave the Imperial Army a day sooner?
Could a normal person sever their own arm for that? It must have hurt like hell without an Anesthetic Tool.
"Do not worry. I can Regenerate my arm at any time."
Lucy spoke nonchalantly.
Politely adding that she appreciated my concern.
"I have finished preparing to leave. Let us go, Lord."
Lucy strapped her sword to her waist and stood up.
She made those crazy statements one after another, yet looked completely unfazed.
Naturally, I was speechless.
For now, there was the Geas. I knew she would obey my commands absolutely.
Seeing her like this, she seemed incredibly loyal to me, to the point where she would desperately try to protect me rather than harm me.
Even so, wasn't that taking it a bit too far?
'......Should I just force Ms. Rubia awake and bring her along?'
Thinking that, I let out a deep sigh and stood up from my seat.
How should I put it.
A sense of anxiety about the journey ahead began to well up inside me.
*****
A luxurious black body.
Intricate and beautiful golden gears, and transparent tubes flowing with blue Mana Stone fuel.
'It's a spectacular sight no matter how many times I see it.'
It was undoubtedly a train brimming with steampunk aesthetics. Though it was a bit disagreeable that only Nobles and their Attendants could ride it.
While I was admiring the train, Lucy went through the ticket and identity verification process ahead of me.
Unlike with Ms. Rubia, the verification seemed to take quite a while.
Well, Valiere was a fallen house.
Even among Nobles, the treatment would inevitably differ to some extent.
It wasn't really anything to make a fuss about, though.
We waited about thirty minutes before we could board the train.
Since it was divided into a Noble-only car and an Attendant-only car, we had to board separately, though.
I looked around here and there for a seat, and soon found a suitable one to sit in.
It was a situation where I had nothing to do until we arrived anyway.
It was while I was blankly admiring the scenery out the window.
The sound of laughter reached my ears.
A strangely unpleasant laugh.
The sound, which had been soft at first, grew louder and louder. I turned my head to find the source of the noise.
The one suddenly laughing like a madman was... the old gentleman sitting next to me.
Wondering if something was wrong, I tried to say something to the old gentleman, but.
Before I could, the old gentleman stood up from his seat.
Drawing everyone's attention, the old gentleman leisurely stood in the center of the train car.
And.......
His face melted away.
...It was the sight of a Disguise Formula being dispelled.
"Finally, the time has come."
His true face was revealed.
A black-haired man covered in scars smiled unpleasantly.
At that sudden change, the train car instantly erupted into an uproar.
However, not caring about what the others were chattering about, the man opened his mouth while still wearing that unpleasant smile.
"Nobles and the dogs of Nobles! Your time of judgment has arrived. We, the 'Harbingers of the Apocalypse', have come to judge you."
Those words.
As soon as they heard that, everyone's faces turned pale.
It was only natural.
Because it was obvious what that bastard was trying to do.
A suspicious man who had sneaked onto the train using a Disguise Spell Formula. What came out of his mouth was a blatant hatred for Nobles.
And of all things, this train was a symbol of Noble authority, the perfect target for anti-Empire organizations to set their sights on.
A Terrorist.
A Terrorist was on the same train as me.
I bit my lip and racked my brain.
Where the Bomb was installed.
Whether it could be stopped.
What on earth the best course of action would be.
But...... no answer came to mind.
It couldn't.
Incapacitating him was possible at any time, but dealing with the Bomb was a different story.
I didn't see anything like a Detonator in his hands.
It was highly likely he had installed a Bomb on the train set to go off automatically after a certain time.
No matter how I dealt with the Terrorist himself, the Bomb would explode regardless.
Even if Lucy and I made it out safe, the others would be helplessly caught in the blast.
Countless people would lose their lives.
It was a completely hopeless situation.
Cruelly, time continued to tick away.
And the Terrorist opened his mouth again.
"You will all fall to Hell with me right here."
He declared so with his arms spread wide.
The man, finding something amusing, laughed like a madman and began the countdown.
The numbers slowly decreased.
People falling into panic.
But the countdown didn't stop, and soon, that moment arrived.
A deafening explosion rings out.
People are reduced to lumps of meat.
Countless lives vanish in an instant, and the train overturns.
......None of that happened.
The faces of everyone trembling in fear were dyed with doubt. No one had died.
The train was peacefully heading towards its destination.
Far from overturning, it boasted the Empire's excellent technology, running stably without a single shake.
The Terrorist had frozen solid in that bizarre pose, arms spread wide in a laugh.
In this current situation.
There was only one thing I had to do. I stood up from my seat and headed towards him.
"...This can't be. This can't be. How could it fail not once, but three times?"
He was muttering something to himself with a displeased look.
Then, his gaze suddenly shifted to me.
Once again, madness filled his eyes.
"Was it you.... Was it you who has been interfering with the noble plan of our Harbingers of the Apocalypse......."
The Terrorist gnashed his teeth.
He pulled a Dagger from his coat and charged at me.
But I did not dodge.
His blade struck my abdomen directly.
The Terrorist laughed at the sight...... but soon wore a bewildered expression.
He must have realized it.
That the sensation of stabbing me was strange.
With a dumbfounded look, he checked his Dagger.
Not a single drop of blood was on the blade.
The blade was bent as if it were made of rubber instead of steel.
"......Huh?"
Naturally, a stunned groan slipped from his mouth.
Breaking out in a cold sweat, he looked at me as if he realized the situation had taken a bizarre turn.
But noticing it now was too late.
I brought my fist down hard on his head.
-Clang!
It sounded more like metal colliding with metal than a fist hitting a person.
He collapsed, foaming at the mouth.
...That was the end of that amateur Terrorist.
*****
"I really don't know how to thank you."
After the Crew members tied up the culprit and dragged him away.
The Conductor called me over and offered his gratitude.
As I listened to the detailed story from the Conductor....
It turned out they weren't even a real terrorist organization.
"You're saying they announced a terror attack but never actually carried one out?"
"That's right! I absolutely cannot understand what those crazy bastards are thinking either."
Starting with that, the Conductor poured out his grievances to me.
A bizarre organization that only made terror threats without actually following through, the Harbingers of the Apocalypse.
He complained that he had no idea why they did such things, and that interrogating them only ever resulted in bizarre lies that gave him massive headaches.
"They claimed they definitely planted the Bomb, but a 'Black Wolf' ran off with it in its mouth, causing the terror attack to fail. It's as if they think we're complete idiots."
Apparently, that was how they explained away the two previous fake terror threats. The Conductor asserted that they would surely spout more nonsensical excuses this time as well.
Completely dumbfounded, I asked the Conductor.
"...Aren't they just Terror-wannabes rather than actual Terrorists?"
"Exactly. Thanks to them, I'm the only one suffering."
After chatting for a good while, the train finally arrived at its destination.
Saying that I had truly been a great help this time,
along with a promise to remember my face and a request to reach out if I ever needed anything, I parted ways with the Conductor.
'What a bunch of absolute morons.'
The world is vast, and there are plenty of idiots.
Realizing that fact once again, I regrouped with Lucy and made my way toward Blacksmith Street.