Heading North (2)
Shift change.
Train attendant Libera blinked at the altered schedule.
"Um..."
She tried to ask a 'colleague' what was going on, but they ignored her like she was invisible and breezed past.
"Libera! You haven't started your shift yet?"
"Ah, Team Leader..."
The team leader of the train's hospitality crew scowled at Libera.
"Suddenly the shift changed, so..."
"Suddenly? There's no such thing as set in stone in this line of work. We adjust as needed on the fly."
"Ah..."
"You're on storage duty starting today, got it?"
Libera wanted to protest, but the words wouldn't come out.
Newbie attendant Libera. She couldn't afford to defy her seniors over every little thing.
This was a train. No escaping or hiding from them here.
"I'll... head to the storage car."
"Good. And since you were late, I'm pushing your relief time back an hour?"
"..."
"Answer me."
"Yes..."
The senior smirked at Libera. She averted her eyes and headed for the storage car.
Whispers trailed behind her.
"Why's she always late?"
"Who knows~ Probably throwing a fit 'cause she doesn't wanna get her hands dirty~"
"Hilarious. Bet she's dolling up to snag a guy."
"You can tell just by looking. She's man-crazy."
Clunk.
Libera entered the storage car and shut the door.
And then.
"Hic... h-hic..."
She started sobbing uncontrollably before she knew it.
How had things come to this?
Libera was the daughter of a poor carpenter.
The moment she came of age, she went to an employment agency to find work just to survive.
The agency hooked her up with a job as an attendant on a luxury train.
Surprisingly, she landed it on the first try.
The secret was simple.
[Oh. You've got some looks on you.]
[Pardon?]
[Pretty face. Dress you up nice, you'd make a fine sight.]
Her standout appearance. Mysterious blue hair. Skin white as snow. A modestly full chest.
The interviewer figured she'd look the part in uniform, smiling and serving the empire's nobles on a high-end train. That's why he passed her.
Libera's first job success... turned into isolation from her colleagues.
[What? Hired for her face?]
[Crazy. Thinks the world's her oyster?]
[Country bumpkin all dressed up is still a bumpkin.]
A torrent of envy and jealousy.
The attendants, puffed up with shallow pride from serving imperial nobles, decided Libera wasn't 'worthy' of tending to them.
Especially.
A young, handsome noble. The youth who bought a Noble Class ticket, Dante Aision, drawing all the young ladies' gazes in the dining car.
The attendants instantly saw eye to eye.
Absolutely not...!
No letting that Libera anywhere near that noble!
Of course, a young, handsome, wealthy noble taking interest in a 'nobody' like Libera? Unthinkable.
But what if? Just in case.
They couldn't stand the thought of her even catching his eye.
It just rubbed them wrong!
So they swapped her shifts.
Banished Libera—the one handling service—straight to storage.
Libera wasn't stupid. She knew her colleagues, her seniors, despised her.
But how could she quit?
This was a stroke of luck to land. And for a poor carpenter's daughter, options were painfully limited anyway.
"H-hic... sob...!"
All she could do was sob in secret where no one could see.
She told herself not to be weak... but she couldn't help it.
Libera was human, a woman after all.
It was right then.
"Looks like you're going through something tough."
"...?"
A voice suddenly spoke from the darkness...?
Libera whipped her head around in shock and collapsed in place.
"Th-that, th-that...!"
Libera gaped in horror.
"Y-you...! The guest from dinner last night in the dining car?!"
"Are there guests who don't eat in the dining car?"
"..."
No mistaking it. Handsome man in crisp uniform. Noble, upright speech. Unwavering eyes.
The man from dinner who'd shut down the young ladies...!
Dante Aision.
"What are you doing here?!"
She couldn't comprehend it.
Wasn't he VVIP? Paid a fortune for the ticket... so why prowl the storage car?!
"Ahem."
Dante cleared his throat.
"Just looking for something briefly."
"If you're looking for something, you should've called an attendant..."
"It was something attendants couldn't find for me."
"???"
Dante played innocent.
No way could he admit he was rummaging the storage for bugs...
# Day two of the journey.
Dante woke refreshed in the wide, plush bed, took his time getting up, and finished his morning shower.
Showering in your room? Luxurious to some.
But a shower in a train car? Common sense.
At least by Dante's standards...!
Dante dried his hair and pressed the call button.
> Do you need assistance?
"Room service for breakfast, please."
> Yes. We'll prepare and send it right over.
Too much hassle to go to the dining car.
Mornings were slow anyway... and after shelling out for Noble Class, leaving the room felt like a waste(?), Dante figured.
Dante requested breakfast room service as naturally as breathing.
The attendants delivered his meal to his room without batting an eye.
This was the treatment he'd paid for with the Noble Class ticket...!
'...Delicious.'
Dante sliced into bacon, eggs, and more.
If he had to pick the best part of this rofan(?) world, it was the food.
Everywhere he went, it was tasty!
...Well, sure, since he was always throwing gold around for meals. Only the best, naturally.
The nobles around him treated dining like that as a given, so Dante was right at home with pricey eats.
Breakfast done.
"..."
Dante stared blankly out the window.
The train chugged along, belching black smoke.
Endless green wheat fields outside... and it hit him anew.
The empire was huge.
Ten days to the north? Seriously?
Sure, trains here were slower than modern ones, prone to breakdowns, but still.
"Bored..."
He needed to kill time somehow.
Locked in for ten days—if he didn't find something, boredom would kill him.
[Bzzzz~! Mana's running low~!!!]
[Everyone stay inside! Shut the doors and hide!]
Dante's honeybees, the Noon Fairies, had hunkered deep in his body, not stirring.
No mana sources nearby, so they dug in for the long haul.
Overkill in Dante's eyes, but whatever.
A few days without mana wouldn't starve the larvae.
"Might as well wander."
Dante strolled the train like it was a casual walk.
The lounge had folks killing boredom with cards.
Some manly types nursed drinks at the bar from morning.
"Hey~! Young fella. Join for a drink?"
"I'll pass."
Dante skipped the lounge.
No pressing need to mingle.
If boredom hit hard, he could circle back.
Instead—
Dante instinctively sensed mana waves.
Bug mana. Even on a speeding train, small bugs were a given.
The waves pulsed strongest from the [tail car].
Lots in the storage section.
'Might check it out.'
Pure magical curiosity.
Were train bugs different? If so, how?
That pulled him to storage.
Clunk... Dark, no light, stale air.
A dingy spot no human would touch.
Tic! Tic!
But bugs sensed Dante's presence and poked heads out one by one.
Dante extended a hand naturally.
Legs aplenty, sleek bodies. Grima bugs—nimble predators—swarmed around him.
'Cockroaches around?'
Grima. Ugly as sin, but beneficial insects.
Famous cockroach hunters, devouring hordes of roach nymphs and eggs daily. Helpful little guys.
...Of course, grima meant plenty of cockroaches—their prey—lurking nearby.
'Even luxury trains can't escape it.'
Where humans live, bugs thrive.
Universal truth.
Dante searched for other bugs beyond grima, but nothing caught his eye.
Still, he lingered in storage awhile.
Bugs had a calming effect on him.
Probably from infancy, surrounded and nurtured by them.
"Yeah, yeah. Eating cockroaches, right?"
[C-could you please ask them not to eat me, Teacher Dante?]
"Already did. Don't shake, Teacher Bar."
[Th-thank you...!]
Teacher Bar wiggled his antennae and hid deep in Dante's sleeve.
As Dante played with the bugs.
Clunk!
"...?"
Someone entered storage.
Attendant? Dante peeked out.
"H-hic... sob...!"
"..."
A woman's crying.
Indeed, a young female attendant wiped tears, sniffling.
'Skin's incredibly pale.'
Dante narrowed his eyes, observing.
'Northern blood maybe?'
Plausible. This train ran west to central to north—empire-spanning.
She was likely a northern attendant.
Dante stepped out quietly.
Creeping in shadows forever? Nah.
A person was crying. Basic decency to ask if she needed help.
Dante knew nothing of her situation.
But he'd witnessed her distress firsthand.
Ask, and help if he could. Right thing to do.
That's the upbringing from his parents.
"Looks like you're going through something tough."
"...?"
She startled, but calmed after a few words.
"May I have your name?"
"Libera... Libera."
"Dante of House Aision."
"Um... I don't know much about nobles... House Aision...?"
"Earldom on the western coast."
"!"
Libera bowed hastily.
"A-an earl...!"
"? My father's still alive, you know?"
Why kill off a healthy stranger's dad(?)
Dante blinked in confusion, then got it.
True commoner. Zero clue on nobility.
No concept of succession or family heads.
"Wh-what should I call you..."
"Dante's fine."
"Yes. Then, Sir Dante..."
Dante spread his handkerchief for a seat.
Habit from caring for Sara young—innate courtesy.
Libera was blown away...!
'A n-noble using his handkerchief for me!'
So kind!
Heart pounding, she sat.
"Didn't mean to pry. Just happened to see you crying. Care to share your troubles?"
"...Well."
Libera hesitated.
Should she? But exhaustion won.
She desperately wanted to vent.
Out poured the buried story.
"Struggling to fit in at your new job?"
"...Yes. Colleagues hate me, seniors pretend I don't exist. Or worse, they bully me outright..."
Dante frowned slightly.
Workplace bullying... serious if true.
Everyone deserved happiness.
Why toil amid scorn and mockery?
Teamwork was hard enough without isolating someone sneakily. Nasty.
'But these issues... need both sides' stories.'
Dante didn't peg Libera as pure victim.
Villain types existed, right? Act villainous first, then whine 'they bully me~' later.
Truth surfaced fast.
Thud! Thud!
"Libera! You in there?!"
Someone hunting her.
Libera shot Dante a panicked look.
"S-senior's here!"
Dante said instantly.
"Send her packing."
"??? Me?!"
Alone with an attendant in dim storage? No upside for Dante.
"Say you're busy catching bugs."
"B-bugs...?! Where would bugs even...?"
Dante snapped his fingers.
Grima hiding in corners surged out en masse!
Clunk!
"Hey! Libera! What're you doing, slacking off?! You shirking again..."
Dante slipped into a blind spot.
Easy to spot if searched, but.
"Libera?"
What the senior saw—
Countless grima crawling the floor...!
"Kyaa, kyaAAAAAHHH!!!"
"S-senior!"
The senior's pupils quaked as she glared at Libera!
So that's what the wench was up to...!
Battle royale(?) with bug hordes!
Agh... gotta bail!
"Wh-what's with all these bugs?!"
"Th-there's, you know! Senior!"
"I'll check back tonight—clean 'em all up! See one, and you're dead!"
"..."
"No slacking! Now!"
Thud! Door slammed.
Dante pulsed mana waves again.
Bugs vanished clean as ever.
Libera beamed like she'd banished them herself.
"Wow...!"
Eyes sparkling, she gazed at Dante.
"Sir Dante! You're a mage?!"
"Yes. As you see."
"Illusion magic! Amazing!"
"...?"
Illusion magic?
"Never seen that spell! Summoning creepy bug swarms as illusions... incredible!"
Dante eyed Libera, then spoke.
"Not illusion."
"...Pardon?"
"Can't use illusion magic at all."
"???"
Not illusion~ Not illusion~
Dante's voice echoed in her head.
Then those bugs were... real... live... bugs?!
Goosebumps crawled up her arms.
"Kyaa, kyaAAAAAHHH!!!"
"..."
"Th-then real bug swarms...!!!"
Too much red pill?
Dante shrugged. Water under the bridge.
He waited beside her till she calmed.