Train Heist Recruitment
Preparation
“It’s a really tiny little problem. The Reverse Factory noticed it first and is trying to recover it. That’s all.”
“…So you’re telling me to boldly walk up to something the Four Major Guilds are after and just snatch it away?”
“Yep. Exactly!”
“……”
This guy has lost his mind.
“Are you insane? You want me to fight a guild?”
“Well, what’s the big deal? You’re already mortal enemies with the Styx.”
“The Styx is the Styx. They aren’t one of the Four Major Guilds!”
Even if the Styx held considerable influence in the shadows, they were still operating in the shadows. Comparing them to the Four Major Guilds, who could openly wield power in broad daylight, was ridiculous. The sheer absurdity of what Chrome was asking caused my polite speech to vanish on its own.
“Aww, don’t worry. I’m not telling you to just run in blindly and steal it!”
“You have a plan, then?”
“Of course I do. Just listen. It’s a genuinely workable plan, I swear.”
I genuinely wanted to turn around and leave without looking back, but Chrome grabbed onto me and refused to let go, launching into a presentation with his robots.
“Alright! First, the Eye System is currently located in West Street.”
“…West Street?”
“It’s the district completely covered by the mental image of the Western Epic. More precisely, it’s inside the pioneer train running through West Street.”
“And what exactly does that mean? It doesn’t mean I can just fight the Four Major Guilds there, right?”
“Correct. That’s exactly what it means!”
“…What?”
Chrome nodded as if my sarcastic remark had actually been accurate.
“What comes to mind when you think of the Western Epic? Lawless territory. The laws of the other districts don’t apply in West Street.”
“Like the back alleys?”
“Hmm. A little different. The back alleys have no laws at all, but in West Street, only the rules of the outlaws apply. And within those rules, even the Four Major Guilds are nothing more than fellow outlaws like you. No matter what happens, they can’t complain.”
“Hmm…”
I listened to Chrome’s explanation, but could things really go that smoothly?
“Even if you say that, what if they take revenge outside the district?”
“Revenge? Haha, that’s a funny thing to say.”
Chrome let out a snort and declared that such a thing was impossible.
“With Arizona standing guard, how could they pull something like that?”
“Arizona…”
“The ruler of West Street. If anyone openly seeks revenge, Arizona herself will come and flip everything upside down.”
So the district’s owner would personally enforce her own rules. If that was the case, maybe it really was safe?
“Of course! They could still secretly harass you from the shadows where no one can see.”
“That’s still revenge!”
“Which is why! I have one suggestion. Just cover your face and rob them!”
“Cover my face? You think hiding my face is enough to…”
“It works. Trying to dig up the identity of someone who covered their face isn’t considered ‘secretly harassing from the shadows.’”
“Hmm…”
Honestly, I wanted to refuse and say it was ridiculous, but the Eye System was tempting, and I was gradually being convinced by Chrome’s words. Should I really just go for it?
“…Let’s say I accept the request. Do you have an actual plan to secure the Eye System? You’re not seriously telling me to fight the Reverse Factory head-on by myself, right?”
“Of course I have one! No matter how crazy I am, I wouldn’t tell you to fight the Scavengers head-on.”
“Scavengers?”
“That’s the name of the Reverse Factory’s recovery unit.”
“Ah, got it.”
“For now, the Eye System is currently hiding inside the pioneer train to avoid the Reverse Factory’s pursuit. While the train is running, even the Reverse Factory can’t touch it, so it was the optimal choice.”
Having said that, Chrome brought up what appeared to be a map of West Street and showed it to me.
“See this?”
“What is it?”
“The pioneer train’s route. The train is currently here, at the Red Mountain Range. The Reverse Factory is planning to raid it here, at Sandhill. And there are still three days left until the pioneer train arrives at Sandhill.”
“Three days?”
“That’s right. We’re going to make full use of this time.”
Even with three days, how exactly were we supposed to use it? When I tilted my head in confusion, Chrome spoke as if it were obvious.
“The biggest problem right now is that you can’t handle the Reverse Factory’s forces alone, right?”
“True.”
“Then the solution is simple. Just call in a ton of friends!”
“Friends?”
“It might be too much for you alone, but if your friends all swarm in together, even the Reverse Factory would have a hard time, don’t you think?”
“What are you even…”
When I expressed doubt at Chrome’s cryptic suggestion to call in friends, he showed me a post from HunterNet.
Believe it or don’t, I don’t care
Deleting this in 10 minutes.
“Our ‘nothing to lose’ bulletin board friends.”
“…So you leaked information on HunterNet to recruit train robbers?”
“I didn’t recruit anyone. I simply leaked the information. The train robbery enthusiasts formed their own group voluntarily.”
“Train robbery enthusiasts… what the hell…”
“It’s pretty common on HunterNet, you know?”
I made a mental note to take everything posted on HunterNet with a massive grain of salt. Chrome’s plan looked incredibly reckless, but if a decent number of people actually showed up after seeing the post, the manpower problem would be solved. Of course, that would create a whole new set of problems.
“It all sounds good, but let’s say people actually gather and rob the train. Then what about the Eye System?”
“Huh? You just go and retrieve it. The others who get their hands on it will only have their personalities stolen anyway, right?”
“…Wow.”
It wasn’t wrong. It was all technically correct. The casual way he talked about using everyone who gathered after seeing the HunterNet post as bait made me laugh dryly despite myself.
“Anyway. It’s not information I have to keep to myself, right?”
“Exactly. In fact, I’d appreciate it if you promoted it heavily.”
“Then… I can put together my own team?”
“A team? I don’t mind, but… do you even have any friends?”
“…Why are you treating me like some antisocial loner?”
“No, it’s just that you’ve only been in Shion for a week. There’s no way you’ve built up any connections yet.”
“I have a few ideas.”
Chrome didn’t seem to have high expectations for my network, but I did have a few thoughts of my own.
“Well, do whatever you want. Just prepare thoroughly and head out. See you at Sandhill.”
Chrome seemed to lose interest in my answer and waved his hand dismissively before turning his gaze back to the server that had become complete scrap metal. I shrugged once and left his shop.
Friends, huh.
Chrome wasn’t wrong. The only connections I’d made since coming here were Hwa-ryeong, Asha, and Oxy.
But wasn’t that enough? One was from the Magic Tower, and another was a government employee. As for Hwa-ryeong… well. She probably had something up her sleeve. Wasn’t my network pretty solid already?
“I should contact Asha and Oxy first…”
I wasn’t sure if they would come along, but if they did, they would be incredibly reliable assets. With that thought, I sent them messages.
Got a pretty good job in West Street.
If you’re interested, meet me at Sandhill in 3 days.
I really want to help, but
the back alleys have been pretty dangerous lately.
I don’t think I can go that far.
If it was something like hunting mages I could somehow help,
but why are you going to Tower Street?
You’re not trying to become a mage, are you?
Right?
Unfortunately, both Asha and Oxy gave negative responses. I hadn’t really expected much from Oxy, but not being able to borrow Asha’s power was genuinely disappointing. The back alleys being dangerous… did it have something to do with those riders who had picked a fight with Blackhorn? For now, I sent Oxy an excuse since she still seemed upset.
A friend asked to see my face, so I went ;;
You have a mage friend?
I do. Someone I met at the tryouts.
“Ah.”
I realized I had given the wrong answer and quietly tried to clean up the mess. I would have to explain things to Oxy properly when I met her in person later.
Hwa-ryeong accepted my proposal without even asking what the job was. Good. Now the only people left in my contacts were…
Estelle. Drake. Elly.
“Hmm…”
Only people who obviously wouldn’t help were left. Estelle didn’t seem like the type to get involved in something like this, and she probably didn’t have the time anyway. Drake also didn’t seem like the type to willingly jump into something this dangerous.
As for Elly… well. She just hated me. Still, out of the three, she was the one most likely to help. I needed to offer her some kind of merit. What could I use? For now, I set Elly aside.
The reason I had confidently told Chrome I could find allies to fight the Reverse Factory was because I planned to use my future sight effectively. First, I needed to figure out exactly what kind of enemies the Scavengers were.
“Scavengers, was it? The name was…”
Searching: Scavenger Unit
Various results appeared.
“Hmm. Let’s see…”
They got robbed by Monad and the Riders and lost the Eye.
They lost to the disciplinary committee at the Academy too.
And didn’t they lose to the Valkyries at the Magic Tower?
Aren’t they basically the weakest of the Four Major Guilds?
“…Oh?”
So this event had happened in the original story as well. As I read through the posts, I saw mentions of the Eye System being stolen. If I could get a clear picture of what happened back then, I might be able to gauge roughly how much manpower I would need.
Searching: Scavenger Monad
Searching: Eye System Seizure
“…I need more precise search terms. Tsk.”
I wanted to check the exact situation from back then, but without accurate keywords the noise was too severe to get any useful information. At this rate I would burn through all of today’s search attempts. Maybe I should change direction and look up the individual abilities of the Scavenger Unit members instead?
Searching: Scavenger Unit Members
Names of the Scavenger Unit members started popping up one by one.
“Finally getting somewhere.”
Especially Volti—she looks like a hamster, so freaking cute.
Volti, Julie, Omi? I was about to type each of their names into the search bar to check their abilities when—
“Hey. You there.”
“Hm?”
A group of rather suspicious-looking delinquents slowly surrounded me. A quick glance at their outfits showed they were wearing clothes similar to the riders I had seen earlier. Were they here for revenge?
“Our boss has something to discuss with you. Come with us.”
“Did you really think I’d say ‘Yes, sir’?”
“What?”
I immediately shoved the guy lightly, activated my ability, and sprinted away from the delinquents.
“Catch him! We must bring him in!”
“Yes!”
The delinquents immediately gave chase, but the next moment—
“Ugh…!”
“Ack…!”
They were suddenly struck by hailstones falling from the sky and collapsed to the ground.
“What the…?”
While I was still confused by the sudden turn of events, a familiar voice came from behind me.
“Hello~! What luck, seeing you again after just one day?”
“…Ciel?”
A white bunny girl holding a transparent vinyl umbrella even though it wasn’t raining waved cheerfully at me.