Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: The Hijacked Train
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Inside the train.
The academy cadets, bound with ropes, trembled in anxiety. The professors and escorts responsible for them had long since had holes punched through their skulls.
3rd Prince Cassius let out a groan at the situation, glaring at the hijackers. It was clear who their target was.
“...Isn’t one hostage—me—enough? Let the others go.”
“—What the hell are you saying, you damn bookworm?”
A hijacker who heard Cassius approached with disbelief and jammed the gun barrel hard into his cheek. He could feel the cold metal rubbing against his cheek flesh and teeth, tearing at them.
As a strong iron scent filled his mouth, another hijacker warned the one prodding the prince’s cheek.
“Enough. He’s a valuable hostage. Don’t do anything stupid.”
“Aah? I’m not gonna shoot. Who do you think I am, some idiot...?”
Overhearing the exchange, Cassius realized they weren’t a unified organization. At the same time, lists of groups bold enough to target royalty flashed through his mind.
Pandemonium, Khan’s Warriors, remnants of the Seven Kingdoms, foreign rabble, simple bandit gangs...
But in that moment, Cassius froze at the intense grassy scent. As far as he knew, only one race gave off such a smell.
“Anti-Kingdom Alliance.”
Elf.
The race that once held the most territory on this continent, now stripped of nearly all of it by the kingdom and confined to a narrow strip of forest, harboring deep resentment toward the kingdom.
The hijackers clamped their mouths shut at the words “Anti-Kingdom Alliance,” then glared at the 3rd Prince with blazing eyes. Their attitude suggested he’d guessed right enough, but knowing wouldn’t change a thing, so whatever.
As they’d said earlier, Cassius’s value outweighed everyone else here combined. They wouldn’t lay a hand on him just for figuring out their identity.
“The forest fairies’ dignity has truly fallen to the depths. Such a ruthless raid? How many people have you killed?”
Cassius recalled the moment of the attack. A carriage had appeared out of nowhere, racing alongside the train. As usual, the train ignored what seemed like bandits and pressed on, only to be half-destroyed by cannon fire from the carriage.
Bandits poured through the gaping hole in the train’s side, while infiltrators hidden in the carriage sprang into action simultaneously, slaughtering guards and escorts in seconds and seizing their position.
The academy cadets had been helpless against the assault, planned over who-knows-how-many days. Sure, they were all mages and knights, but not battle-hardened veterans.
They were just apprentices in training. No one could stay calm watching their professors’ heads get blown open, lead balls embedding in their flesh.
“—How many people have you killed?”
“Yes. This incident will draw international condemnation—”
“And what about you? How many did you kill to build your kingdom?”
“...That’s.”
“I know.”
Incomprehensible names suddenly burst from the hijacker’s mouth.
“Nazin, Aru, Gimi, Hiyu, Pir... and countless more. What about it? Do you know the names of those who died for you?”
“...”
“We don’t forget. We never forget! Unlike you humans, who forget grudges after a few years, we remember blessings and vendettas from hundreds of years ago!”
Rage erupted. Grudges accumulated over eons longer than a human lifetime—too profound for Cassius, who’d lived barely a dozen years, to grasp or imagine—clutched at him.
Overwhelmed by the outpouring emotion, Cassius lost his words and clamped his mouth shut, but managed a retort anyway.
“...The train has a fixed destination. No matter what you do, you can’t change course. And when it reaches the next station, it’s over. You’ll all be arrested. Executed.”
That was it.
The reason the prince could remain so composed.
By now, news of the train’s capture would have spread via communication stones. The kingdom, horrified by the prince’s kidnapping, would have declared a state of emergency, mobilizing knights, mages, and the full army.
No matter how capable they were, they couldn’t defeat the kingdom’s forces head-on. If they could, they’d have conquered the kingdom and claimed its lands long ago.
But the elf from the Anti-Kingdom Alliance scoffed, lips curling in mockery.
“—Humans truly have impressive imaginations. Elves craft things unheard of in lifetimes. This is a prime example.”
The elf raised the gun in his hand. The thunder-bringer. The tool that had driven elves into even narrower confines.
And a perfect match for elves, infallible marksmen with perfect aim.
Elves who had lived thousands of years didn’t know how to make such things. But ignorance of creation didn’t mean ignorance of use.
“But you think the benefits of that civilization will always favor only you?”
Screeeeech—!
In that instant, the train lurched violently, a deafening roar echoing. As the swaying train steadied, Cassius realized something had changed.
The scenery outside had shifted. More precisely...
The train’s direction had changed.
“Have you forgotten who we are?”
Elves.
The race beloved by great nature.
Spirit callers. Druids.
For them, forging tracks in real time was child’s play. Redirecting the train to their desired path? Equally effortless.
A feat impossible for humans, permitted solely to elves.
“Yaaawn...”
Rear car of the train.
Hawk, who’d been scanning the surroundings vigilantly through the window, raised his gun at the sight of a horse charging from afar, kicking up a dust cloud.
“Sorry, but we’ve already claimed this... spot!”
Bang—!
The thunderclap, powerful enough to deafen ears no matter how many times heard, roared. Smoke instantly shrouded his vision.
Coughing and waving away the acrid haze, Hawk was certain the rider charging toward them had been hit. Visibility was zero from the smoke, but no one remained atop the horse barreling their way.
As he leisurely reloaded, confirming the kill...
“Mind if I ask something?”
“Wha—!?”
Hawk jolted back at the green-haired man who’d appeared right in front of him. He thrust the gun barrel forward, glaring fiercely, but the man spoke without a care.
“Are there academy cadets here?”
Gulp.
Hawk just glared in silence. The man stared back wordlessly.
“Hey—what was that n—”
“Don’t come closer!”
And then.
His comrades, hearing the gunshot and rushing into the rear car to check...
The man spotted the bound civilians beyond the door and drew his sword. Certain this was his destination.
Arrogant bastard—.
Hawk fired at the outdated knight daring to grip his sword hilt. To teach him no swordsman outran a bullet.
But.
Ting—.
A sound lighter than could be imagined rang out once.
Thud...
Hawk and his crew collapsed on the spot.
Enri, having dispatched the hijackers, quickened his steps toward the forward cars. Two shots had rung out in succession. By now, they’d realize something was up ahead.
Enri closed his eyes cautiously, focusing on the sounds.
-What’s going on?
-Go check the back. Knights might be chasing us already...
-Mommy, mommy...
To Enri’s ears came every sound from the front car and beyond—footsteps approaching this way, voices barking orders at those standing still, a child’s terrified sobs, and more.
From it all, a map formed in his mind: the train’s length, the number of hijackers aboard, the types of weapons they carried. And...
-...Rescue team?
-Your Highness...
-Tch, if it weren’t for the hostages...
Voices of the prince and what sounded like nobles.
Enri snapped his eyes open and thrust his sword forward. The moment he did, a hijacker beyond the door gap staggered with a grunt, impaled on the blade.
Pushing the hilt, Enri advanced through the door, smoothly withdrawing his sword amid the hijackers’ shocked stares. Blood trickled down the blade, pooling on the floor.
“Fuck, shoot—”
Slash—!
What followed...
was the knight’s one-man show.