Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Knight
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Knight.
Ah—
Detestable name.
The train's corridor was incredibly narrow. Barely wide enough for one person to pass, with seats, passengers, and all sorts of luggage obstructing the way.
It wasn't for nothing that the kidnappers had chosen a train as their target. They must have thought that inside here, they could block the knights' superhuman movements or the mages' spellcasting. Uneducated thugs believed they could defeat superhumans with guns, the pinnacle of civilization.
In reality, they were wrong.
"U, uwaaaah—!?"
The kidnapper wildly swung his gun around, trying to aim. But the moment he lined up his sights, the enemy had already vanished from that spot.
The opponent didn't just stick to the corridor—he clung to seat armrests, walls, ceilings like a spider, exploiting every tiny foothold.
Movements so bizarre no human could imagine them. Before such motion, the kidnappers couldn't resist properly, like bugs trapped in a web. Like prey hunted by a seasoned predator, in an instant, a sharp sword tip pierced a vital spot by exactly one inch.
"Kuh, uugh…!"
The kidnappers with holes punched in their throats clutched at the wounds desperately, as if a dam holding their lifeblood had burst. But just as water couldn't fill a hole-ridden dam, no mere first aid could mend their punctured bodies.
Thud—As the blood-drenched kidnapper collapsed, Enri lightly shook off his sword and headed to the next car. The moment he opened the door, kidnappers who had been lying in wait thrust their gun barrels toward him.
Despite all their efforts to stay silent, their intrusion had been discovered.
"Fire—!"
The instant the kidnapper shouted,
Enri's vision froze.
It was as if the world had been captured in a single painting. In the halted world, Enri calmly rolled his eyes, scanning the kidnappers. Among them, one stood out even through the mask covering his face: distinctive ears.
Ears pointed sharply like arrows. An elf.
'So there's an elf.'
That explained how they'd noticed. An elf with hearing rivaling Enri's could easily pick it up. Enri sighed inwardly as he eyed the guns aimed at him.
No matter how fast Enri moved, outpacing bullets was impossible. Nor could he swing his sword six times to slice six bullets. If that were possible, the world would long ago have been conquered by Enri's kingdom and its slaves.
But failing to move faster than bullets didn't mean he couldn't dodge them.
Nor did moving slower than bullets mean he couldn't cut them.
Enri's gaze locked onto the paths of the gun barrels. In his mind, those trajectories shone clear as lasers. Thus, he pinpointed the spot where all five bullets converged.
Slash—.
"Wh-what?"
With a single swing, he cleaved every bullet flying toward him. The moment the shooter missed, it became the knight's turn entirely. Enri dashed forward, beheading the flustered kidnappers.
Without hesitation, he pressed onward.
To the next car.
"—You won't call it cowardly, will you, knight."
"Ah—."
"Crumble."
Enri watched the train car crumple under magic.
The kidnapping of the academy cadets was orchestrated by the Anti-Kingdom Alliance, but not all the kidnappers were alliance members. Among them were down-on-their-luck criminals and vengeful sorts looking to spite the nobility.
They couldn't recruit dozens solely from the alliance. Secretly gathering that many was risky enough, and failure would deal a massive blow to the group.
Naturally, such hastily assembled kidnappers were full of problems.
"Whoa—fuckin' hell… What do you gotta eat to grow tits this big, milady?"
The elf Narin frowned as she watched a criminal poke at the chest of one academy cadet with his gun barrel. If it had been the prince, she'd have stopped it immediately, but touching a noble girl wasn't a big deal.
"Damn. Bigger than any whore I've seen. Milady, why not switch careers? I'll be your regular customer. How about it?"
"……Stop."
"Whoa, scary. —You little bitch."
Slap—!
A raw sound of violence echoed, one you'd never expect in such a place. Startled nobles looked toward the source, while the slapped Lady Cordelia gazed up at the kidnapper in disbelief.
The kidnapper who struck a noble's cheek trembled with excitement at the taboo of a commoner touching nobility.
"Think this is still your mansion, huh? Your bedroom? Comfy? Want me to make it uncomfortable?!"
"Kyaaah—!"
He grabbed her hair, yanking her up forcibly. Overwhelmed by pain and terror, Cordelia just squeezed her eyes shut and trembled.
As the kidnapper grinned sadistically at the sight, a voice so cold and sharp it chilled the train's air to freezing rang out low.
"—Hey."
A charisma born of innate blue blood that would freeze any commoner stiff.
"Touch her with so much as a fingertip, and I'll make you wish for death."
"……Ha, haha—! Whoa, scary."
The kidnapper clearly shuddered at the voice.
But reason—that no one could harm him here—overpowered instinct.
"Hand."
"Eut—!"
Squeeze—!
The kidnapper roughly groped Cordelia's chest. So brutally, even a whore wouldn't endure it. Purely to inflict pain.
"Touched it?"
As he smirked, the outraged 3rd Prince thrashed to rise. But bound hand and foot, he could barely move. The kidnapper sneered down at him and asked Narin.
"As long as no injuries, right? Can I use this bitch a bit?"
"……Don't go to another car. We need to prepare for contingencies."
"Not into doing it in front of people… but with a noble lady? Kinda exciting."
Heh heh. Chuckling lewdly, the kidnapper hurled Cordelia toward the inner seat and slowly undid his pants. Narin sighed and turned away. She had no interest in watching humans vent their filthy lusts.
Well, it'd be over quick. Human copulation didn't last long—three to five minutes at most.
She could endure that much. As Narin thought so and kept watch on the wailing cadets,
—Bang!
A faint noise, barely audible even to elven ears, reached Narin.
Trains were noisy anyway. Steam from magic stones, rolling wheels, wind through open compartments, passenger clamor.
But that gunshot stood out amid the din.
"—Wait."
"Huh? What?"
"Intruder. Someone's already here."
At Narin's words, the kidnapper startled and straightened his clothes. Just as he was getting his fun… He raised his rifle, glaring toward the door.
—Bang bang bang!
Now loud enough for human ears. Realizing the intruder was close, the kidnapper swallowed hard. Narin summoned spirits and stepped forward.
"Handle it. Wait here."
Click—.
The moment Narin left the criminals with the cadets,
Christopher, who had been waiting, untied his ropes and pounced.
"Gahk—!?"
Catching the sudden ambush off-guard, the criminal lost his gun and took a beating. Only when his face was a bloody pulp, unrecognizable, did Christopher start untying the cadets.
"My apologies, Your Highness. I should have acted sooner…."
"—I'm fine. More importantly, Cordelia—."
"……I-I'm okay."
In the inner seat.
Wiping tears, Cordelia forced a smile as she rose.
"A, ahaha— What now… I've been soiled, discarded."
"……Cordelia. Don't say that. You did nothing wrong. You didn't lose everything, did you?"
Of course, the criminal had groped her body, but she hadn't lost her virginity. And Cassius wasn't obsessed with purity enough to discard his beloved over that.
After comforting the weeping Cordelia, the 3rd Prince reclaimed his confiscated staff and led the cadets toward where Narin had gone.
"Reinforcements may have come to save us, but as nobles, we can't just sit idle."
That was the pretext, but there was substance too. Joining the reinforcements was the surest way to escape this train.
The cadets heading to the rear cars—
"What… is that…?"
Saw there.
A knight.
Grind—!
'Magic!'
The instant the train car crumpled, Enri realized it was magic and leaped out the window. Grabbing the frame, he climbed atop just as the car beneath him shrank like a cube.
Seeing seats and metal frame inside utterly crushed, Enri groaned softly.
'If I'd stayed inside, I'd be dead….'
This was the terror of magic. Dangerous enough to kill even mighty superhuman knights. On a battlefield, it could casually slaughter dozens to hundreds.
And at the same time—despite such mages existing, why they didn't rule the world became clear as something entered the train through a gaping hole in the front car.
The hole the Anti-Kingdom Alliance had made seizing the train.
The elf mage who casually wrecked an entire car scowled at Enri entering through it.
"Dodged that?"
Like I'd take it willingly.
Enri raised his sword without replying.
The reason even mages more powerful than cannons didn't conquer the world.
They needed time and preparation for spells, and knights specialized in exploiting those gaps.
In truth, Enri had slain over two dozen mages by slash and thrust while serving at the ducal estate—this distance, no mage could win against a knight.
"El-Drion!"
⟨ Eldrion ⟩
As the elf chanted, the wooden car writhed, targeting Enri. But reading it first, Enri dodged every attack and closed in.
Noses nearly touching. Seeing Enri's eyes up close, the elf recoiled in shock, but Enri's sword slit his throat first.
"Guh, guhk…!"
They needed the ringleader alive, but he was a powerful mage capable of crushing a car instantly.
Leaving him alive risked harm to the cadets.
Thrust—Confirming the kill, Enri turned to the gazes from behind. There stood the unharmed 3rd Prince and nobles.
Shaking off his sword lightly, Enri bowed before the prince.
"I've come to rescue you, Your Highness."
"Uh, uh—well…."
"Enri. Knight of the Claudia Duchy, Enri."
Hardly praiseworthy etiquette.
But the cadets just swallowed hard.
No noble would nitpick manners before the knight who solo'd professors, guards, and beheaded an elf mage who crushed a train car.