Chapter 41
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: It Was Finally Discovered
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How many people were still alive on this train?
For now, Harrison was alive. But just barely.
Pools of dark red blood on the floor were mixed with the green blood of the monsters, clotting together.
A snake-like monster slithered across the disgusting slime.
Screech—
Squelch—
From a short distance away, the horrifying sound of something squelching as it crawled across the floor grated on Harrison's ears.
What in the world was that monster?
Harrison held his breath, dropped to the floor beneath a seat, and slowly crawled forward.
A corpse lying on the floor came into his view.
The monster, crawling through the aisle between the seats in search of living prey, was still behind him. And the door to the next car was just ahead.
Harrison grabbed the ankle of the corpse blocking his path and, with all his might, hurled it down the aisle behind him.
Graaah—!
While the monster behind him seized the corpse with a triumphant shriek, Harrison scrambled to his feet and ran.
He slammed the door to the car he’d just left right before the fast-crawling creature could reach it. Then he turned, leaped into the next car, and shut that door too.
He had barely managed to make it to the luggage car.
It had taken a full day just to get this far. Thankfully, the luggage car wasn't far from his seat. The train's cargo area was packed with baggage, making it easy to hide.
As he frantically searched through the luggage and finally found the gun case he had stored, Harrison came face-to-face with an unexpected person hiding among the baggage.
Vibrant pink hair, bright blue eyes. A gentle, puppy-like face, and features prettier than most women.
Jose Cambron. The very weapons expert he had hired to teach Cherry how to use them.
Jose’s bright blue eyes widened as he met Harrison’s gaze. His mouth formed a small ‘o’ in surprise as he whispered.
“Counselor?”
Jose wasn't the only one who was shocked. Harrison couldn't hide his surprise at seeing such an unexpected person in such an unexpected place.
“What are you doing here? Shouldn't you have been in Brunel by now?”
Harrison asked, bewildered. He’d thought it was strange when Cherry said no one had come to see her…!
“I got here as fast as I could. I’m a busy man, you know?”
Jose replied petulantly, his lower lip jutting out. He looked just like a child.
‘Come to think of it, he is a child.’
Harrison recalled that Jose Cambron was only eighteen this year.
But despite his youth, it was hard to find anyone who could handle all sorts of weapons as skillfully as Jose Cambron. His easygoing, sociable, and friendly nature seemed like a good match for Cherry, which was why Harrison had gone to great lengths to hire him…
But what good was any of that if he couldn't even reach Brunel or protect Cherry?
And Jose being here meant Cherry was in Brunel all alone.
“If I had known you were so busy, I wouldn't have bothered hiring you. I called for you expecting you to arrive in Brunel before me, so what am I to do, running into you here?”
Despite Harrison's rebuke, Jose just smiled and replied nonchalantly.
“Hey, now. That’s your fault for not checking my schedule properly, Counselor.”
“Are you blaming me…!”
“Shh.”
Jose pressed a finger to his lips. Just then, they heard something entering the luggage car.
Hiss—
Hiss—
A chilling hiss.
It was the sound made by the unidentified monster that had caused this whole disaster.
Harrison and Jose quickly hid themselves behind some bulky luggage.
The monster’s form appeared, moving past the neatly stacked baggage.
Bumpy, reptilian green skin. It walked on two legs, but a tail protruded from its rear. The creature’s reptilian mouth was smeared with blood.
“What in the world is that thing?”
Jose whispered quietly, lying flat on the floor.
Harrison wondered the same thing. What was the true nature of this bizarre creature?
And why, two full days after this horrific incident, had there been no response from the imperial family or the police?
‘Could it be they’ve abandoned this place?’
The thought occurred to him that the authorities, having failed to control the situation, might have sealed off the entire train station and its surroundings.
“Are you heading to Brunel?”
Harrison nodded at Jose’s question. Jose immediately unlatched the case in front of him.
It was filled with various weapons and firearms. It seemed Jose had found Harrison’s gun case first.
Jose took out a long Winchester rifle. It was a repeating rifle typically used for hunting large game.
“To have so many firearms at a time like this… what a stroke of luck.”
Jose’s mutter reminded Harrison of the strange request Cherry had made.
“There’s someone I want to shoot to death.”
“Swords, crossbows, axes, things like that. One of every kind! But Harrison, I don’t need a teacher…”
“Please make sure to prepare plenty of weapons, with spares. Since I’m doing this, I want to do it right. I’m even planning to build an armory. You know how I am, right?”
The timing was too coincidental. And then there was Cherry’s suspicious behavior all along.
Perhaps, Cherry might have known the world would turn out like this.
If so, she could be safely hidden away in her newly purchased mansion in Brunel, fully prepared.
Harrison looked at Jose. He had to survive and meet Cherry to solve this mystery, so he had to do everything in his power to stay alive.
Jose opened the magazine, loaded it with bullets, and after chambering a round, handed the rifle to Harrison. He then took out another rifle of the same type and loaded it.
“I’m a delicate sniper, and I have to use a brutish hunting rifle like this.”
Jose muttered, closing one eye to look down the rifle's sights. Soon after, he finished checking the weapon and extended a hand to Harrison.
“Brunel is closer than the capital from here, so we have no choice. Let’s go together.”
Harrison took Jose’s hand, got to his feet, and nodded.
There were three gun cases in total. One of them was filled entirely with ammunition. Harrison carried two, while Jose took the remaining one and led the way.
Jose aimed the long-barreled rifle at the reptilian monster that had just passed and pulled the trigger.
Bang—!
With a heavy gunshot, the bullet struck the reptilian monster, and its head exploded instantly.
But the noise attracted other monsters, which began to swarm them. Jose and Harrison quickly dispatched two monsters at the entrance and rushed outside.
After getting off the train, Jose fired continuously at the approaching monsters and shouted to Harrison, who stood back-to-back with him.
“By the way, how do we get to Brunel?”
“First, we’ll follow the train tracks. I know the way from there. I memorized the map, so just follow me!”
Harrison reloaded his rifle and walked forward. Instead of entering the train station, he went straight down to the tracks.
“Wow, you’re a genius, Counselor!”
Jose trotted along behind Harrison.
Grrr—
Kuaak!
The problem was that the loud gunshots were attracting an endless stream of monsters. Using firearms against these creatures seemed to have clear pros and cons.
“Counselor, I think we need to run.”
With Jose’s desperate cry, they finally started running for their lives, gun cases in hand.
***
Ethan and I came down from the observatory to get ready to go to the village.
The sun had completely set, leaving the inside of the mansion dim. I used an oil lighter to light the wall-mounted lanterns, which seemed to bring a little warmth to the estate.
It was late spring, but the nights were still quite chilly. I figured I’d have to light the fireplace to raise the temperature.
Returning to my room, I sat in front of the fireplace and flicked the lighter. But the firewood just wouldn't catch. A small flame would flicker to life only to die out moments later. Was it because the wood was old?
“What’s wrong? It feels like there’s no draft…”
I looked up the chimney, but it was too dark to see anything.
“Is it blocked?”
The fireplace definitely didn't seem to be working properly.
Inside the fireplace grate, the torn piece of cloth and the chalkboard chalk were still there.
As I sat before the fireplace, staring at them as if mesmerized, I heard Ethan’s voice calling me.
“Miss Cherry?”
Only then did I manage to snap out of it and get up.
As I turned to leave the room, another voice suddenly spoke from behind me.
“Don’t go.”