63. A Beaming School Trip
63. A Beaming School Trip
I dismissed the useless Mini Allens and borrowed the wisdom of my past life instead.
One thing I'd learned from dealing with people like this in my previous life was that they were as impossible to reason with as flat-earthers.
Shove evidence right in their faces and they'd only see what they wanted to see. In the end, the only answer was to stop giving them attention.
Any further conversation would be a waste, so I hurried to wrap things up.
I ignored Talullah, who was shouting furiously, and tried to turn my attention back to Leon and Pia.
But Talullah still had business with me, apparently, because he grabbed me by the collar.
"You uncultured, insolent wastrel, mocking us to the bitter end...!"
The moment he grabbed my collar, I couldn't help but be taken aback.
I might have been overestimating myself, but even if I wasn't quite a walking nuclear missile, I prided myself on being at least as dangerous as a grenade with a loose pin.
And yet a bureaucrat who'd never done a day of training had just grabbed my collar.
As the saying goes:
Fear the man who drools, not the one who spits in the street.
The man in front of me was exactly that type, and it was starting to scare me.
Talullah seemed to misinterpret my fear, continuing in a triumphant tone.
"Ha! You really are afraid outside a Sanctuary, aren't you, since you've only ever fought inside one?"
No.
I'd pulled off the Ballpen Magic just fine a few months ago.
Then something I shouldn't have seen caught my eye on his forearm as he shook me by the collar.
'Huh.'
It was a needle mark.
The moment I realized that, I began scrutinizing his face more carefully, something I hadn't bothered to do before.
Dilated pupils, dry lips, faint traces of a nosebleed under his nose hair.
And—as if his hands were trembling—a mess of razor nicks under his left jaw.
I was no doctor, but with this much evidence, the conclusion was one.
As soon as my reason drew its conclusion, the chaotic Emotion Control Tower settled down immediately.
Reason: Eh, what, he was just a junkie?
Fury: Should've said so sooner. Wasted energy.
Forgiveness: Haha... drugs are a bit much even for me to forgive...
Joy: Huh? Wouldn't I get in serious trouble if I laughed with him? I withdraw.
Hatred: Dealing with a junkie is a waste of time. Meeting adjourned!
In an instant, the inner Big Bad Wolf was soothed back to sleep.
'Right. What was the point of getting angry at a junkie?'
I shook off Talullah's hand and shared what I'd discovered with Leon's friends.
Among them, the one called Ron protested to me on behalf of the others.
"Don't waste any more time. Let's all just wait until His Highness Prince Leon returns."
"But they insulted His Highness!"
"These guys are just your typical third-generation noble scions. You know the type—throwing drug parties every day."
At my words, Leon's friends, including Ron, pointed at themselves in disbelief.
A gesture meaning: Hold on, I’m a third-generation noble too.
"Ah. I misspoke. Not you guys. You're the kind who spreads Magical Mari posters around the room and watches the live broadcast alone while everyone else is at a drug party. I know that, so don't worry."
"...Is that supposed to be a defense?"
"Absolutely. That's a defense."
What was wrong with Magical Mari?
It was a mainstream hobby with thirty-percent viewership ratings.
Muttering, "Please don't feed the monkeys~," I began quarantining Leon's friends from the standoff.
As I shooed away Pia's followers who kept trying to prolong the conflict—especially the junkies—Talullah's companions joined in on the condemnation.
I let their criticism go in one ear and out the other, slowly beginning to clean up the Emotion Control Tower.
Because ignoring them was all it took, no matter what junkies said.
But then, the next words successfully got under my skin.
"That's exactly why the current generation of the Price Family is said to be the worst."
"..."
"The Spear of the Empire has grown too old. The present Guardian Duke was the only one in history who failed to become a Hero, and none of his children can get into a Social Gathering. The Price Family had truly fallen."
"...."
Congratulations.
You had managed to get under my skin after all.
The alarm went off in the settling Emotion Control Tower.
- Code Red! Code Red! Serious Allen Mode!
At that, the emotions seated in the meeting room each flipped the nameplate in front of them to reveal a different side.
Misanthropy (formerly Hatred): These barbaric medieval bastards. This was why you couldn't be nice to them without them climbing all over you.
Mea Culpa (formerly Forgiveness): Without the shedding of blood, there was no forgiveness!!! Deus Vult!!!
Destruction Impulse (formerly Fury): %**&^$&^&^*&&%!!!!!!
Madness (formerly Joy): Why is everyone so serious? Let’s just show them some Ballpen Magic and laugh it off together.
Reason: Now, now. Calm down, everyone. Care to look at this?
The only one that stayed the same, Reason, continued to function exactly as before.
Because I had to crush that bastard rationally.
Reason immediately began checking several items.
Is it manageable?
- It's manageable.
Is it self-defense?
- Very much self-defense.
Can it be done?
- One right arm would be more than enough.
Resolution passed by all five Mini Allen members.
As my expression suddenly went blank, Ron, who had been watching me, began edging backward.
And quick to catch on, he and Leon's other friends put some distance between us.
Turning my back on Pia's group, I approached the escort train.
"Coward! You'd turn your back after disgracing your family?! The Guardian Duke must have raised you wrong!"
Ignoring the man shouting behind me, I placed a hand on the escort train.
Through my fingertips, I felt the distinctive energy that told me the train still functioned as a Sanctuary.
I nodded at the sensation, then walked back toward Talullah and his junkie friends.
Rather than hold their tongues, intimidated by my build as I approached, they threw themselves into personal attacks with even more rabid abandon.
Right up until the moment I reached them face-to-face, their momentum didn't flag.
In one corner of my mind, I marveled at the power of drugs even as I placed my hands on the shoulders of two who had already crossed a distant line.
Only then, as if he'd finally sensed something was wrong, did one junkie follower stop his verbal assault.
Meaning the rest still hadn't caught on.
To those who still couldn't read the room, I calmly delivered my verdict.
"Dear guest. Thank you for choosing the Riv Train Recapture Scene Experience Course."
*
A little earlier, having left Allen and the followers by the escort train, Pia and Leon had slipped inside the Skeleton Train to exchange a quiet word.
Though it was a private conversation, what they discussed was utterly mundane.
How their morning had been, where they'd spent their time playing.
It was the kind of light exchange that merely asked after one another's well-being.
But the meaning beneath it was far from light.
[Did moving alone produce any results?]
[Very effective. The fish have finally taken the bait.]
[I suppose they were wary of me last time. So, what's next?]
[I'll have to throw them another piece of bait they'd covet.]
[But it will be dangerous. Will you not need an escort?]
[It's fine. Isn't diving into the vortex the only way to hunt a Leviathan? Besides, I've made every preparation for this operation.]
[Understood. I ask just in case, but was this train your bait as well?]
[...]
Pia averted her gaze.
Leon's lips pressed together.
The brief, awkward silence only ended when Leon spoke.
"Well... it is Allen."
"Yes..."
The conversation with hidden intent resumed.
[It's taken quite a while. How many years was it?]
[Five years. They've crossed the line far too much in that time.]
[Then, for this operation, is it night or day?]
[It’ll be difficult to keep it completely secret since nobles are involved. And Allen’s drawn attention our way...]
[It will be a bit noisy, then.]
[But we can't delay any longer.]
[Very well. Then, I wish you luck.]
Leon and Pia fell silent.
As always, the end of their talk was accompanied by an exchange full of affection:
- Stop flirting with Allen.
- Shut up, big brother.
Having ended their conversation, the two left the Skeleton Train and returned to their group.
They crossed the mound from the landslide, which Allen had made easy to climb, and rejoined the others, where Leon’s group greeted them fervently.
"Your Highness! Your Highness!"
"What's all the commotion?"
"That is... over there..."
Ron Flamebell stopped speaking and pointed toward the escort train.
Following his finger, Pia also looked in that direction and saw a human silhouette through the train window.
A nearly two-meter-tall figure was playing ball with people smaller than himself.
Bang!
"S-save me!!!"
Suddenly, the door of the Skeleton Train flew open, and one of Pia's followers—the one we'd been wondering about—came sprinting out.
But a chain flew through the open door, wrapped around his waist, and dragged him back inside.
Thud!
And the door closed again.
"Y-Your Highness... c-could you perhaps stop him...?"
"Leave it be. Even I cannot stop that."
Leon told his group to pay it no mind and led them away from the spot.
Left alone, Pia spread a mat on the spot with bright, sparkling eyes and spent a full hour re-watching Riv's action scene.