The Ghost Train (3)
“Kyaaaah!”
A scream pierced the air just as I was about to move. I’d been wetting my throat with alcohol to shake off the fatigue when it happened.
“Th-that thing…!”
“Whoa.”
A massive red shape was devouring the rear of the train like it was scarfing down an oversized sausage. The blurry form grew clearer and more defined with every car it swallowed.
“Want to get off now?”
“R-really?”
“Just kidding. It’s already too late.”
Yeah, stop being so damn stubborn. Still, she seemed skilled enough that there was at least a chance she’d survive.
“Give me your sword.”
The fact that she handed it over without even asking what I was going to do with it showed just how terrified she was.
Shing.
My face reflected perfectly on the elegant blade. I gripped it tightly. The sharp edge bit into my palm, but I didn’t loosen my hold. Instead, I slowly channeled holy power into it.
I had no intention of making it explode like a bullet, so I used my senses to feel out the sword’s limits.
“Here.”
“This is…”
“It’ll protect your soul until tonight is over. Of course, you’ll have to dodge the physical attacks yourself.”
A soft glow emanated from the blade. I quickly disinfected my wounds with the remaining alcohol and tore off a strip of my priest robe to bandage them.
“Are you okay?”
“It’s not my first rodeo. I’m fine.”
Healing abilities were a power granted only to those chosen by the Moon, so someone like me had to rely on good old-fashioned brute-force treatment.
“Please give me your orders.”
“Just stay alive while we head to the engine room.”
“Huh? But isn’t this the engine room?”
“You were with McDowell and you don’t know a single thing about malevolent spirits?”
When a soul corrupted by deep resentment fully degenerates into a malevolent spirit, it comes to despise every concept that defines humanity. I don’t want to be like you! It might sound like childish reverse psychology, but once you see what it does to people—turning them inside out, body and soul—you won’t be laughing.
“The origin of this ghost train is the laborers who died during the early days of the railroad industry. Those poor bastards absolutely hate trains.”
“Eep!”
The woman shivered violently as a sudden chill swept over her. The ghost train, having devoured the entire locomotive, was now radiating cold air intense enough to make even seasoned mages tremble.
“This is technically the real train’s engine room, but the ghost train’s engine room is on the opposite side. The direction of travel is the same, but the perspective is reversed.”
Explaining it in words would be pointless. Better to just let her experience it.
“And obviously, the only passengers on a ghost train should be ghosts.”
“Pardon?”
[C-Crackle. Unauthorized p-passenger detected. E-eliminate all living beings!]
The mechanical clatter of the train mixed with the malevolent spirit’s furious voice. Souls collected by the train and the victims sacrificed to the ghost train began swarming toward us.
“It’s saying it’ll kill everyone except itself.”
The engine room had already transformed into a decrepit passenger car. The sound of something violently pounding on the old cabin door echoed through the space.
“O almighty Sun—”
“Uh…?”
Was it really that strange for me to recite a proper prayer? The woman made a weird noise, but I ignored her. I didn’t want to chant this embarrassing chuuni prayer either.
“Our Father who watches over us through the stars of the night sky—”
Still, I couldn’t exactly go into a UFC match against hundreds of ghosts with nothing but my bare hands.
“Your shepherd stands here today to guide the lost lambs.”
Whoosh!
Damn, that’s hot. Flames of divinity erupted alongside the light. It seemed the Sun was quite pleased that I was finally greeting it properly after so long.
“You really are an exorcist…”
“What, did you think I was fake? Why are you talking nonsense when we’re already in this mess?”
The intense light and flames sank into my body.
“I’ll say it again—stay alive on your own!”
Boom!
Before the ghosts could break down the door, I smashed through it first and charged out.
“Grrrrr!”
“Graaaah!”
The ghosts, consumed by the ghost train’s powerful resentment, could only express their rage toward the living.
“Lost little lambs! Behold your shepherd who shall lead you to the Sun!”
Bang!
That shepherd’s name is Dante, and his holy weapon is a shotgun. Every time he spits fire, he personally turns the lost lambs into perfectly roasted meat and sends them straight to the Sun’s table. What a magnificent shepherd!
“Kyaaaa!”
“Kreeeegh!”
“Uwaaaaaah!”
Behind the ghosts’ delighted(?) screams came the woman’s shout—or maybe it was a scream. When I glanced back, I saw her frantically slicing through the ghosts that were lunging at her from the hole I’d made, desperately chasing after me.
“I told you to get off!”
“S-shut up!”
She clearly hadn’t expected to go through this kind of hell. Tears streamed down her face as she fought with everything she had just to survive.
“Stop!”
“Kehk!?”
This ghost train really pulled out all the stops. The moment I tried to move to the next car, the car itself began shifting, transforming into a giant monstrous shape. It had four arms, the place where the door should have been had become a mouth, and why the hell did it have so many eyes?
“Graaaaaah!”
“Why do they always roar like that when they appear…”
It just made me want to shove something in its mouth. I lobbed a grenade straight into the roaring bastard’s gaping maw as it tried to show off its presence.
Booom!
“Run!”
“Uwaaaaah!”
We burst through the unextinguished flames and black smoke. There was a reason we had to move quickly—these things all had incredibly annoying abilities.
Crunch.
The ghost train began ripping off the parts where the holy flames had taken hold. It was their way of dealing with the undying fire using their powerful regeneration. Since I couldn’t afford to get torn apart along with the sections it was ripping off, I ran like a madman. Thanks to it converting an entire car, the next one had fewer ghosts.
“Haa… haa… Do you do this every day?”
“As if. Save your breath for running instead of talking nonsense.”
“I-I’m saying this because I want to become an exorcist!”
“Did a ghost possess you or something?”
With a skilled knight like her standing expressionlessly beside a noble, money would practically fall from the sky. What kind of nonsense was she spouting?
“Because the knights of this era aren’t real knights.”
“Oh please, you fell for that romantic knight crap from novels.”
She was clearly the type who’d read knight novels and gotten completely hooked on the fantasy. Standing up for the weak, defeating evil, asking for nothing in return…
She’s basically an exorcist.
Helping relatively weak victims, fighting things that don’t require any careful consideration, and receiving nothing but a pathetic amount of support funds.
“I’d love to talk more, but let’s keep moving for now.”
When the only sound left was the noise of the train, an eerie feeling began to creep in. We’d killed quite a few, but since we hadn’t performed the weakening ritual yet, the number of ghosts should have been unimaginably high.
Yet the next car and the one after that were completely empty of even a single ghost’s shadow. We reached the final car in silence and arrived before the engine room.
There was something there that was different from the other ghosts.
“Krrk. Krrrk.”
Four arms, two heads, and countless eyes covering its entire body. Although it had materialized, unlike the translucent ghost train, whatever it had done made it feel completely solid.
Tick. Tick.
“Tsk.”
My shotgun, which I’d only received recently, was already busted. Certain internal mechanisms must have been destroyed. I began pouring holy power into it.
“See that thing that looks like a heart?”
“Yes!”
“Blow it up with this.”
“Hik!”
When I tossed her the grenade, she recoiled like she’d been handed a burning coal. Well, I’d been the same way once, so I couldn’t really say anything—but still, panicking like that in this situation was a bit much.
“You know how to use it, right?”
I’d heard that knights these days were taught how to use firearms as part of modernization.
“I-I know how, but…”
“Then do you want to fight that thing instead?”
“I shall demonstrate a knight’s charge!”
I left the woman—who had taken a combat stance while holding the grenade—behind and ran forward. All of the monster’s countless eyes turned toward me. Just as I wanted.
Whoosh.
I hurled the shotgun loaded with maximum holy power.
Booom!
The explosion was on a completely different scale from a normal shotgun blast, but the mass of ghosts was clearly different. Some of the ghosts escaped from its eyes and blocked the spreading flames while its four arms moved.
A barrage of punches followed, their afterimages barely overlapping.
I can’t dodge this.
If I can’t avoid it, I’ll just meet it head-on!
To be honest, I thought the shotgun would at least make it flinch a little.
“Uwaaaaaah!”
I completely canceled out the four-armed rush using only two arms.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The priest robe I was wearing was torn to shreds, and wounds were carved into my body even though it was reinforced with holy power.
Boom!
Crash!
I managed to block everything, but the impact sent me flying backward, smashing through the cabin door behind me and rolling across the floor.
“Ptoo! Tsk. It’s been a while.”
I thought things were going too smoothly. Of course I’d run into something like this. I prayed a proper car would come out soon, or even a divine beast—anything but this damn train. I swear I’m never riding it again.
I wanted to catch my breath, but the moment I took even a short break, my eyes would inevitably go to the woman who was secretly moving around.
“O Sun! I beg for an encore!”
Holy power surged within me once again. That didn’t mean it was infinite, though. It only looked that way.
Bang!
I leaped toward the creature as it tried to turn its body toward the woman. As I brought my leg down with all my falling momentum, it raised all four arms to block.
Gotcha.
The leg that looked like it was about to stomp suddenly hooked like a claw and caught onto the creature’s arm.
Whirl.
Using its arm as a pivot, I spun my body and took its back.
“Hup!”
The moment I landed, I stomped down hard. I drove all the strength and weight of my body into my lower half, then pulled it back up.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
As the engine room floor shattered from the shockwave, my outstretched fist glowed with light.
But my target wasn’t the damn ghost mass.
Booom!
A burst of light exploded against the engine room floor. Every single one of its countless eyes showed panic.
I gave a final farewell to the creature as it desperately rushed forward from the collapsing train.
“It was disgusting meeting you, so now get lost.”
“Forward thrust—!”
Booom!
A brilliant explosion marked the end, accompanied by my fully extended middle finger.
Under the sun rising after dawn, the hundred-year-old ghost train was successfully exorcised.
After not only socializing with the nobles but even elegantly exorcising a malevolent spirit, what could possibly be waiting for me?
Obviously, a written report.
“Brother Dante. Did you perform another unauthorized exorcism?”
“Wow, so you’re saying I should’ve just died? Ah, of course, nothing gets recognized unless there’s self-sacrifice—mmph!”
“Q-quiet! No! How could you exorcise the ghost train without permission!”
While regular priests and officials dispatched from the empire were taking care of the victims, I was busy arguing with an administrator sent from the Vatican. The cause was, of course, the unauthorized exorcism of the ghost train.
Exorcists existed to reduce the repetitive labor of regular priests, so it was understandable that the Vatican would get headaches over this.
“Ptoo. They should’ve let my master handle it from the start. I get that it’s convenient, but do you even realize how much the quality of the priests and novice exorcists has dropped?”
It might look like shooting, exploding, and beating things up is my daily routine, but this is me working hard. Novice exorcists and regular priests should be traveling across the empire, offering prayers and teaching people so that demons and malevolent spirits can’t take root. Yes, it’s annoying repetitive labor.
“They need to get out there more, see the signs of evil and demons with their own eyes. Are you raising flowers in a greenhouse? Gathering them all in the main headquarters like some sacred relics and just…!”
The same went for regular priests. I don’t like the saying that you have to suffer while you’re young, but living as a priest in this world is a continuous battle against doubt in one’s faith. Only by overcoming hardship and building mental strength could they survive until an exorcist arrived and avoid falling into corruption.
“I guarantee that anyone who suggests locking me up over this is definitely a demon’s pawn.”
There were plenty of bastards trying to live luxuriously by exploiting religious influence. The strangely devout Pope, who was like a snake, simply let them be because he didn’t have enough justification to strip them of everything they had.
“Th-that’s…”
“Shoo. Go write your report before the Pope fires you, yeah?”
I dumped the rest of the work on the competent but instinctively repulsive man. His face turned pitch black as he left.
“Here’s your luggage.”
“Hm?”
“What?”
“No, I just thought you’d already left.”
The woman I thought had already gone reappeared, carrying my bag.
“We fought together. Why would I leave?”
“Together my ass. You were on the verge of tears the whole time.”
“I-I wasn’t crying! There were just… a few tears…”
“Whatever. You saw what I do, right? If you become an exorcist, you’ll have to do stuff like that every day. You still want to do it?”
“Yes.”
Not even a second of hesitation.
“Sigh… Do whatever you want.”
“Really?”
Is this woman crazy? I sighed while speaking, yet her eyes were sparkling like that…