Chapter 77
Chapter 77
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: NO ADULTS ZONE (4)
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-Rumble! Clatter!
Something like grand, majestic music should be playing.
This was a train that ought to be barreling across wide-open plains, with a vast lake stretching out beyond the windows.
‘But the folks riding inside are a different story.’
Unlike some train bound for a magic academy, the passengers here weren’t cute little kids—they were beastkin adventurers packed with muscle and reeking of sweat.
“Hey, that meat’s mine!”
“What’re you saying? Finder’s keepers!”
The beastkin squabbling over their lunch meat.
Places like the Turk Company covered basic food and lodging for any commission free of charge.
That’s why everyone usually jumped at their jobs, but this time, even these beastkin adventurers were shying away—enough that they made up the entire group taking it on.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ “That brat? The brat from the Grendel Mountains?!” It was all because of that infamous punk they called “the brat.”
No wonder even mid-tier adventurers known for their roughness had turned it down, and the elf guild master herself had warned that hardly anyone would sign up.
Adventurers who’d crossed paths with that brat had all come crawling back half-dead and covered in blood.
Some were legit heavy-hitters over level 100, and word was even they got wrecked without landing a hit—which was reason enough for everyone to steer clear.
But these adventurers had snatched up the job anyway.
⚙ PARTY MEMBER ⚙ Rough-Maned - ‘Kuru’ Lv.80 Red-Fanged - ‘Jarr’ Lv.82 Hard-Clawed - ‘Sran’ Lv.77 Swift-Legged - ‘Urun’ Lv.81 And those names weren’t exactly ordinary either.
Beastkin often slapped on epithets like they were item affixes, sure—but weren’t these a bit too on-the-nose?
One of them even felt deliberately picked...
‘Doesn’t matter either way.’
No need to overthink it.
They were just extras to fill out the numbers.
I could handle the brat solo; they just needed to mop up any straggler mobs chasing from behind.
They could manage that much.
At least most of them seemed normal—excluding that bear beastkin Kuru and wolf beastkin Urun scrapping over the meat.
“Here’s your lunch for today!”
“......”
So... how was I supposed to react to this?
Food was more of a hobby for me.
Demons didn’t need much of it, and even in my high elf form, I only occasionally craved a sip of water—actual nutrition wasn’t a must.
I just ate on a whim when my mouth felt idle.
“Hey, what’s this?”
“The children’s set meal! It’s one of the options Mr. Stran suggested for onboard dining. I figured a cute little mage girl like you would love it!”
Children’s set meal, huh.
Sure enough, my not-so-small tray held fried rice, a hamburger steak, salad with sweet-and-sour dressing, shrimp tempura, sausages, grilled pineapple...? And a bunch of other stuff.
Yeah, total kid bait.
Stran wasn’t even married, but somehow he knew all the picky-eater winners. Made sense, considering his roots...
Ha. Ha. Ha.
“Hm? But who ordered the children’s set? There’s no kids on this train.”
That’s when a guy who looked like the head chef emerged from the galley.
He was a Turk Company employee I knew by face, and he was in the know about my shrunken state.
“Ah, Manager! The cute little mage over there said ‘anything’s fine,’ so I thought this would hit the spot!”
But this lady was a fresh face—either a total newbie or from another department. Never seen her before.
Which meant she had no clue who I was.
“Little mage...? There’s no mages on this train—gasp?!”
“Huh? What’s wrong, Manager?”
“You idiot...! I handed you the company manual myself—did you even read it?!”
“Huh? What manual?”
So...
On looks alone, she could mistake kid-sized me for an actual kid.
My adventurer profile didn’t have a face pic—just “white-haired, red-eyed mage”—so serving me kiddie grub wasn’t out of the question.
“S-sorry! She just started a few days ago! My apologies, High Elf ma’am! What’re you doing? Apologize already!”
“H-huh? Oh, s-sorry!”
......Yeah, I guess that tracks.
Not like she was dissing me as a kid or anything. Just a simple mix-up.
So hold it together. Yeah, it pissed me off a bit, but I couldn’t just nuke the whole train.
Throwing a fit here would make me look exactly like a brat. Breathe. Endure.
“It’s fine. Accidents happen.”
“Th-thank you!”
I swallowed my irritation and headed back to my room.
Come to think of it, Louis probably hadn’t eaten—couldn’t have, really. Time to grab him some grub.
Perfect, it’s a kids’ set.
Ideal for a guy whose body, mind, heart, and everything else screamed “child.”
-Step. Step.
“Oh, it’s that little miss from earlier. Why the death glare at lunch, though?”
Was the world just dying to mess with me today?
That beastkin adventurer—Kuru, the one who’d picked a fight before we boarded—came at me again.
I was just passing by, and the jerk casually ruffled my hair while yapping.
“Hey, Kuru! You again...!”
“Not bummed your fave side didn’t show up, right? Adventurers gotta chow down on monster meat if they have to—eh?”
-Gurgle!
“Gaaack?!”
So this time, I gave his guts a good twist.
Psychic magic like telekinesis was perfect for putting punks in their place without the mess.
“Looks like all that monster meat finally gave you the runs. You sure you’re beastkin and not just a wild animal?”
“Ugh... my gut, my gut...! Ugh, you lot just gonna watch your buddy suffer?!”
He’d been pigging out earlier, so twisting things up now? That had to sting bad.
Probably glued to the toilet for weeks.
Heh heh. Stress melting away already.
Way more satisfying than a plain beatdown—watching them squirm hit different.
“See? Told you he’d pull something.”
“Karma’s a bitch. Ignore him, Jarr. Punk needs this wake-up call.”
“Served him right, stealing everyone else’s meat too.”
“You... bastards... ugh!”
Stress dumped. Onward.
Anyway, I had to endure a week with those idiots.
Train was quick, but no high-speed modern bullet—about a week to the beastkin lands, roughly Arke’s distance away.
-Creak!
“Hm. Next time, maybe just snap his neck.”
I returned to my cabin-like seat, set the tray on the table, and eyed the box.
It was about big enough for one person, and my seal made it airtight—no escaping no matter what went down inside.
So to get out...
-Flash!
“Come on out already, Louis.”
-Splatter!
I had to teleport him myself.
Unsealing from outside was a pain.
I’d rigged it to pop open if his life was in real danger, but those tentacles absorbed his mana while pumping in just enough nutrients to keep him from wasting away.
Yeah, no interest in the details.
“Louis?”
Bit of a mess potential, so I coated the area in mana first.
“Ugh... ueh... uh, ah...”
No way was I letting that nasty slime splatter me.
‘Half out cold.’
Damn, had I overdone it?
Louis’s state post-box was... intense.
-Churup! Churp!
The tentacles still clung tight, slithering inside his clothes—arms, legs, chest, lower belly, even down his throat.
His gut twitching was proof.
Oof, seeing it live was kinda creepy.
He was limp and mumbling nonsense, barely conscious—no reaction even when I waved in his face.
Side note: he was down to a thin rag barely covering him. Buck naked underneath.
Time to fetch his clothes too.
‘Eh, he had it coming.’
No guilt here.
Think about what he pulled on me.
Caught me off-guard adjusting to this body, pounced, then sicced those tentacles to spout garbage.
Then climbed on top, bound my limbs with tentacles, and... whew.
-Slither.
Tempting to dump him in some filthy alley with the thugs, but nah—let him off this once.
Couldn’t fly worth a damn yet; wasting the time invested would suck.
“Hey, that’s enough.”
-Tschur...
At my command, the tentacles peeled off.
‘Eerily obedient.’
Louis slumped against the chair, still shivering, slime oozing from his mouth and ears.
That mixed saliva-and-slime goo? Nightmare fuel. Clean it quick, then magic-wash him...
“Hah... hng... heuk, hnggh...”
Thighs glistening and twitching nonstop, couldn’t even hold himself up—just moaning.
Washing him like this? Tricky.
“Louis.”
“...Y-yes?!”
“You with us now?”
“I-I’m sorry... I messed up bad, Cyan...”
“Feeling your sins yet?”
“N-never again... promise...”
I hadn’t demanded a full kowtow, but that grovel? Good enough.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 2.
That evening.
The train barreled on without pause.
No real ambushes either.
A few plain monsters spotted us and gave chase midway, but none could match our speed—they all fell behind.
Some even got mulched under the wheels.
-Clatter!
A mouthwatering aroma wafted through the cabin.
“So good!”
“What, wanna top it with tentacle slime?”
“J-joke’s too far. Not funny anymore...”
-Clack.
Louis took a bite of his dinner steak, eyes tearing up in bliss—then dropped his fork at Cyan’s quip, appetite gone.
“Tentacle” dragged yesterday back.
⚙ RECALL ⚙ “Cy, Cyan?! W-what is this?! It’s pitch black—I can’t see a thing!” What came after those words...
Sudden drop of weird liquid on his face, then slimy, wriggling unknowns wrapping him tight—shoving into every hole on his body.
“Ugh...”
......Just remembering sent chills down his spine.
No helping it—Louis grabbed his fork again, shoving down the kids’ special sausage to drown it out.
The burst of juicy flavor chased the tentacle trauma for a bit, even sparking a smidge of joy.
“Tch, you sure pack it away. Looked half-dead not long ago.”
Cyan rose from his seat, ignoring Louis.
-Creak!
“Huh? Where’re you off to, Cyan?”
“Just handling some business. Don’t worry about it.”
He cracked the cabin door and headed off.
“......Tch.”
Once the coast was clear, he stared out the window before teleporting out on the sly.
-Clatter! Clatter!
“Sure enough, they show at night.”
The reason? Dozens of mystery horses hot on the train’s tail.
This train outpaced normal horses by a mile.
Yet those things kept pace without breaking a sweat. How?
‘No special enchantments.’
-Swish!
Sudden ambush arrow straight at Cyan.
‘Those bastards, confirmed.’
-Crack!
Cyan snatched the shot aimed at his brow, snapped it, and locked eyes on the shooter.
“......Skeleton Rider goblins, right?”
There, goblins astride skeletal horses were thundering after the train at terrifying speed.
-Clatter! Clatter!
“Kieeeek...!”
⚔ ENEMY SCAN ⚔ 👹 Name: Swift Skeleton Rider Goblin – Lv.75 ❤️ HP: 30,000 ✨ MP: 500 ▶Plains goblins riding undead mounts. Wield bows and arrows looted from human adventurers.