Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Heading to the Capital (2)
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Before explaining this situation, it was necessary to delve a bit deeper into Tiria Weibin… no, now Tiria Portman.
She was the only daughter of the Weibin family, the former lords of this land, and had lived her life as the sole noble lady of this territory.
Naturally, her life couldn’t have been the same as Elric’s.
She was a woman who had received education in tradition, history, elegance, and refinement from the moment she could walk.
From childhood, she had deliberately shunned convenient modern skills in favor of etiquette training rooted in ancient customs.
It was undeniable that such an upbringing had influenced her conservative tendencies.
She was ignorant of all things that relied on complex mechanisms and electricity.
She believed lighting fires was the job of candles, farming should be done by human hands, and travel required horses and carriages.
The current situation was an extension of that mindset.
When confronted with a machine, some people ignite with curiosity and a desire to challenge it. Others raise walls of wariness and rejection.
Elric was the former, Tiria the latter.
To her, mechanical contraptions that had only recently taken root in the world—especially a massive iron beast spewing steam like a train—were nothing more than savage monsters.
“Let’s take the carriage.”
She was stubborn.
It was an unyieldingly stubborn declaration of will, which sparked a small dissatisfaction and a great mischievous urge within Elric.
As mentioned before, Elric was the type who, upon encountering something new, was seized by curiosity and a drive to conquer it.
Her new side was no exception.
“What if I insist on taking the train?”
Tiria’s expression darkened.
But this time, she didn’t scare him.
It felt intimate. It went without saying that an otherworldly perfect stranger felt less close than one showing human flaws.
That wasn’t all.
Elric had a firm belief that he was quite knowledgeable about advanced civilization.
Of course he was—his close friend from youth, Elbus Graham, was a man from the capital, the heart of continental civilization.
He wanted to share that convenience and wonder with Tiria too.
And he had a perfect excuse.
“Truth be told, during the magic beast hunt last time, I overexerted myself climbing the mountain. The wound’s acting up, so it aches even when I’m just sitting still. If I ride something as bumpy as a carriage, my knee will hurt too much and cause trouble.”
He threw in some exaggeration for good measure.
Elric rubbed his knee with his hand and made a pitiful face.
Tiria’s lips pressed into a thin line.
She was hard to read due to her unchanging expressions, but context made it clear she was embarrassed.
“…Wouldn’t a train be just as bumpy?”
“A carriage is worse. Trains move so fast from the start that you barely feel the vibrations.”
“How do you know that so well?”
“Why, I took the train on the way here to Weibin, didn’t I?”
“…”
It was more accurate to say he had seized the momentum.
“Besides, a train saves time too. A week-long trip to the capital can be done in a single day. And that’s not all? It cuts travel costs dramatically. Haven’t you always preached frugality, my lady?”
His points were spot-on one by one.
It was a contest Elric couldn’t lose.
Why not? A train was ultimately an upgraded carriage.
A mode of transport evolved into a superior form by the progress of civilization.
Tiria’s objections, rooted merely in emotion, were inevitably feeble.
What followed was her string of defeats.
“Meals…”
“There’s decent food on the train.”
“My behind will hurt…”
“You know, first-class seats use premium cushioning. They’re padded with cotton and such underneath, making them more comfortable than the chairs we’re sitting on now.”
“The lavatory…”
“First class has one.”
First class was designed to satisfy even those haughty capital nobles.
Everything their modest noble lady desired was present without exception.
In chess terms, it was checkmate.
Tiria had no escape.
And unlike ordinary people, who might get emotional and frustrated when things didn’t go their way, she was the type to rationally concede.
“…I’ll consider it.”
“Consider” was as good as agreement.
“Got it!”
Unwarranted excitement welled up inside him.
*
There were no surprises.
In the end, Tiria decided on the train, and the mansion began preparations for the trip to the capital.
Meanwhile, the only “incident” for Elric was having to work more in the shortened timeframe.
And Tiria applying even stricter standards to that work.
“That’s wrong. Do it again.”
Her even, unyielding tone, her emotionless face without a hint of feeling, and her ironclad thoroughness.
Everything was the same as before, but Elric had reason to think she was retaliating.
Of course, he wasn’t foolish enough to show it.
He humbly accepted and followed her instructions.
A week passed.
It was the day of departure for the capital.
“Young Master, Lady. Let’s be off.”
Their entourage consisted only of Aldio, the head maid, and two maids to attend Tiria.
The Portman family’s capital residence wasn’t large enough for more.
It was a modest house bought by Elric’s late father, the previous family head, purely for business convenience based on location.
Excess personnel would be impossible.
“…But are you sure we don’t need escorts?”
Even after arriving at the station, Tiria couldn’t shake her anxiety and asked as much.
Elric smiled and replied.
“Trains don’t take escorts. This railroad is a pan-continental enterprise with robust security of its own, so unless one of the Continent’s Seven Strongest makes a move, accidents won’t happen.”
“You’re saying it would be different if one of the Seven Strongest appeared?”
“At least in the Ferdinand Kingdom, we don’t need to worry about it.”
Even in the west, it was the same.
He hadn’t met them personally, so he couldn’t say for sure, but none of the Seven Strongest Elric had encountered were insane enough to terrorize a railroad for no reason.
The most likely candidates—Igret of the Flame Flower or Demon King Jerdia—were major shareholders in the company running the railroad.
The possibility converged to zero.
“Are you scared by any chance?”
Tiria’s head snapped around.
“No.”
Her tone was stiff.
It tickled Elric in a strange way.
Her straight-backed posture and her pure, mysterious aura felt slightly cracked.
She resembled a small herbivore desperately hiding its fear.
To Elric, who still hadn’t outgrown childish pranks, it was stimulating.
“Then we’re good. The train will be here soon.”
First class had its own waiting area.
It was the railroad company’s provision for arrogant nobles, allowing Elric to chat calmly with Tiria.
How could he not? At Weibin Station, the only nobles heading to the capital were themselves and the Weibin family.
And he already knew the Weibin family’s schedule.
They had left for the capital three days ago.
By now, they were probably flitting about their beloved social gatherings.
‘Hmm…’
Attending the royal banquet would mean seeing their faces again.
It didn’t sit well.
After all, he’d hammered in that he had no intention of allying with them again and even issued near-threats, so discomfort was inevitable.
Elric idly toyed with the dagger at his belt, sharp enough to kill.
If they hadn’t come to their senses and tried something again, what should he do?
He was pondering that when—
Pwooooo—!
A horn blast vibrated the air.
Immediately after, a chug-chug-chug like a monster’s ragged breathing echoed from the steam.
“It’s he….”
Elric, mid-sentence, saw it.
“…re?”
Tiria’s body had frozen solid.
Her gaze stared into empty space.
Her soul seemed to have fled.
Elric could confidently say he’d never seen her this tense.
To show emotion on her face, no less.
Her fear of modern civilization was more severe than expected.
And that wasn’t all.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
Elric’s keen senses detected her quickening heartbeat.
“…My lady?”
“Let’s go.”
Her voice was rigidly frozen.
Tiria stood, her movements markedly stiff.
Like a wooden puppet.
Elric struggled to keep his lips from curling up involuntarily.
Hiiiisss—!
The train stopped, and the door opened.
A sturdy-looking man in uniform stepped out.
At least knight-class, an armed soldier wielding mana.
“Are you Baron Portman and his wife?”
Elric nodded at the man’s amiable approach.
The man smiled brightly and bowed.
“We’ll serve you with utmost sincerity.”
His manners were impeccably trained.
Elric led Tiria onto the train.
At that moment, mischief struck.
Elric glanced at Tiria and whispered.
“My lady, you have to take off your shoes to board the train.”
The light vanished from Tiria’s eyes.
Her gaze fixed piercingly on Elric.
Had he crossed the line? Realizing his prank had gone too far, Elric apologized preemptively.
“…Sorry.”
Embarrassed, he scratched the back of his neck and boarded.
He didn’t know.
That for a fleeting moment before his apology, Tiria had genuinely meant to remove her shoes.
The truth quietly buried itself.