16. Gganf Hatred Cuts Ties Even with 'Truth'
Just as I was about to drift off to sleep, a sudden loud noise shattered the silence.
The entire train car shook violently, and screams from the passengers echoed from the rear.
If it wasn’t some fool secretly filming with a camera, this had to be a major accident.
“Uwaaaah!”
Hearing Megi Lieutenant’s scream, I quickly organized the current situation in my head.
First. The possibility of a train accident. The odds weren’t zero.
But the Empire’s trains weren’t ordinary steam engines. They were the crystallized fusion of science and magic.
Even if something went wrong, the magic systems would activate and prevent most disasters.
Yet right now? It felt anything but ordinary. No matter how I looked at it, this wasn’t normal.
The noise was one thing, but the crew who should have been broadcasting the situation were nowhere to be seen.
That left only one terrifying possibility.
“Terror.”
That was the highest probability right now. So who was behind this terror?
On my list of suspects were three names. Two of them belonged to nations bordering the Empire: Lasquer and Abillesti.
“But those two reasons are far too flimsy.”
Even if relations with the Empire were strained, those countries weren’t that far gone.
More importantly, Lasquer had been renowned for its knights since ancient times, while Abillesti stood on the foundation of magic.
That meant neither place lacked the self-respect to commit such an act.
Therefore, the most reasonable conclusion in this situation was clear.
“Damn it. Those fucking Gganf bastards.”
They had recently fought the Empire, lost decisively, and carried out a massive retreat.
Even their own Heigens brethren had been annihilated.
In the middle of this hopeless situation, they even used the excuse of trying to drive a wedge between the Empire and the elves.
No matter how you looked at it, this was the work of the Gganf. The radical Luzens elves.
And as I had predicted, another scream suddenly rang out from the car ahead.
“Kyaaaak!”
“Shut your mouths, you inferior humans!”
“E-elf! Elves!!”
“I told you to shut up! Everyone shut up! There are ways to kill you all!”
Saying such nonsense to ordinary civilians. Anyway, the Gganf hate was science, right?
Looking at these guys, Truth would definitely say they were worse than shit.
“Megi Lieutenant.”
“Y-yes, sir.”
“You have a pistol, right? Get ready.”
“A-a-are we actually going to fight?”
“Of course. What kind of Empire soldier would I be if I didn’t protect my fellow citizens in a situation like this? That’s the entire reason I exist. Whether it’s good or bad, scary or not, this is something I have to do.”
It was a bit unfair. Of all days, why a weekend?
Even after retirement, I had to deal with those damn Gganf.
At least during my military days I got paid for it, but now? No. In this world.
Still, it was fine. My heart felt lighter than when I went to pick up the protagonist quartet.
Those damn Gganf bastards. The filthy creatures who had slaughtered dozens of the lives of our platoon members.
Because of them, people who shouldn’t have died had died. People who shouldn’t have been injured had been injured.
It could have been resolved with dialogue. The dove faction, the Heigens, had proven that.
The Empire had also wanted to negotiate rather than spill meaningless blood.
But the Luzens Gganf bastards had kicked it aside. They had thrown every curse imaginable to force us into war.
“Megi Lieutenant. Do you have combat experience?”
“P-please, I-I don’t have any. I don’t.”
“Then just cover me. I’ll handle the front. You just shoot the Gganf who come running at me.”
“A-ah…”
“You don’t need to obsess over headshots. Forget about aiming for the head. Always aim for the body. Preferably the chest. Or the stomach is fine too.”
Headshots had been a kind of illusion even in my previous life, something that only worked in games.
In reality, if you aimed a gun at a target, hitting the body was already amazing.
More so here, landing an exact headshot with this pistol was only possible for a highly skilled sniper.
“C-can I do it well? I-I have no experience…”
“Have you done any shooting practice? It’s the same thing. Just think of it as shooting at a target and pull the trigger. A moving target. But now it’s a target that makes sound too.”
“U-uuuaaah…”
Seeing Megi Lieutenant on the verge of breaking, I felt more pity than frustration.
I would have been exactly like that at first. No, 100% like that.
Even in my previous life, I had done soldier duty, but I had never actually shot and killed anyone.
I had never seen anyone fall with my bullets scattering blood.
“Megi Lieutenant.”
“U-uuu…”
“Megi Lieutenant.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Snap out of it. Do you want to die? If you don’t kill them, they will kill you. You. Do you have family?”
When the lieutenant nodded, I smiled. Perfect timing.
That was how you fought better with attachment. You had to have a reason to live to truly live.
The first ones to die on the battlefield weren’t the whiners.
The ones who acted without even forgetting fear were the first to get the bullet shower.
Forgetting fear wasn’t something you did. You overcame it. That was how you lived.
And the reason to overcome that. For Megi Lieutenant right now, that reason was family.
“Think about family. Live. To live, shoot. Shoot and hit. Every time you hit, you take one step closer to your family. Think like that. That’s enough.”
Even though he was an officer, after I explained it like that, he seemed to have calmed down a little.
After nodding, he gripped the handgun he always carried.
The squad leader had given it to him as a gift, but did I really have to get it dirty with Gganf blood. Damn it.
“Let’s go. Time to work.”
*
“The last method to maintain the crusade is to rekindle the extinguished flame. This time, bigger, so no one can stop it.”
“You are the patriots, the martyrs. Don’t be afraid, act. The forest will embrace you!”
Hearing the captain’s words, the young elves desperately held back their chests about to burst with tension.
Empire. The disgusting Empire that had shown humiliation to our forest’s race.
Not even fighting these invaders, but stupid compatriots shouting for peace.
Everyone hated it. Why did we have to bow our heads. Why?
The great children of the forest. Elves who were far superior to these lowly humans.
Because they had fewer numbers, did we have to accept their superiority?
The young ones soaked in defeat were easily seduced by the old ones.
You are the hope, they whispered. You can change.
And to those, they gave guns, knives, and magic bombs.
“Don’t look back! Sit! Sit down!”
Right now, one of them was shouting at the passengers of the Empire train. Emvhu.
“The target is the Empire train. There is one heading toward the Academy area. Seize it and explode when you reach the Academy station. Not just them, but their children too. Let them know the fear of our forest’s children. Make them pay with more blood, more screams!”
“If that happens, the Empire will throw off its mask. Then the stupid compatriots will know their true form, reflect on the past, and come back with us. For the glorious crusade!”
In fact, Emvhu had no interest in such things. Not even persuading his compatriots, or the crusade.
He just hated the Empire. Naturally, he hated it because he heard Empire curses everywhere.
Why he hated it, now he didn’t know. Just when he heard ‘Empire’, only the word ‘evil’ came to mind.
So he volunteered. Despite the fear of dying, he shook his head.
When he killed a human crew member just before, he briefly felt guilt but suppressed it hard.
Everything was just for the sake of compatriots, as the captain said.
He didn’t even think whether the compatriots wanted war or peace.
“Front row! Where the engine is!”
“Move! Keep moving!”
Half of the twenty elves stayed in each car, two by two guarding.
And the rest advanced forward, subduing the crew and heading to the engine room.
There were a few Empire soldiers, but they were pushed back in numbers and couldn’t do anything.
“Engine room! Where is the engine room!”
“Hik! T-t-behind the special room! S-save me! Save me!”
“If you want to live, shut your mouth and lie on the floor! Let’s go! Brothers!”
Following the captain’s words, Emvhu moved quickly with his comrades.
And just as he was about to open the door to the special room—
Taang!—
The captain fell without screaming, flames, or noise.
In front of him stood an Empire soldier holding a pistol, tense.
“U-uuu!”
He hurried to reload, but it wasn’t easy like that.
Seeing this sight, the elves who had been frozen at first rushed in with rage.
“Ugh!”
Suddenly, a man fell from the ceiling of the car and covered one elf.
Another elf reflexively attacked him, but the man easily dodged, grabbed the opponent’s arm, and stabbed deeply with the dagger under the armpit.
“Aaak!”
Red blood spurted. The elf stabbed by the dagger staggered and retreated.
Just once. Just stabbed once, he couldn’t even stand properly.
“Hoze!”
Emvhu himself was quite close to a comrade. He fell bleeding.
There, Emvhu’s eyes rolled back, only thinking to kill that man.
The space was narrow, hard to shoot. Then, like him, with a knife—
Thud!—
The man raised his leg without any hesitation.
“Guek!”
With pain as if his whole body was torn, Emvhu fell holding his crotch.