Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: On the Train-2
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Aria gaped in shock at the girl who had been sent flying, utterly speechless. She couldn't even manage a scream.
She wasn't unaffected. But the unrealistic violence had unfolded so naturally and brazenly that she hadn't had time to scream or even tense up.
"Leo...! Leo!!"
"Yes, miss."
Leonardo wiped the blood from his fist and looked at Aria.
"Why...? Why did you hit her all of a sudden?! I get that it felt good... but this isn't right!!"
In her shock, Aria blurted out her true feelings without thinking, but Leo pointed at the fallen figure with no change in expression.
"Take a good look. No matter how hard you hit someone, their face wouldn't distort like that."
Aria peered cautiously past Leo's shoulder at the fallen girl. Her shocked expression naturally twisted into disgust.
It couldn't be helped.
"...A man...?"
The girl's face was gone, replaced by a middle-aged man with a scruffy beard, his face half-smashed as he lay there.
It was too different to call him a completely different person, but the flimsy dress he wore left an unpleasant clue.
"Polymorph, a type of transformation magic."
A spell that changes the user into another being or creature—a mid-level magic requiring at least the 4th Circle. As long as mana remained, the altered appearance persisted.
The Sage stared pitifully at the cross-dressed man sprawled out, questioning it. Even a wise Sage would struggle to accept it immediately.
"Of course it's not true 4th Circle. If it were, he'd have dispelled the transformation and counterattacked with magic right away."
But Polymorph had various applications. Among them were derivative techniques even lower-grade mages could use.
"Probably a mid or high-level mage cast Polymorph first. And the maintenance time is supplemented by their own mana."
That way, even without 4th Circle mana or the spell formula, one could transform. Multiple people could maintain altered appearances for extended periods too.
"...How... did you know?"
"There were a few clues, to be precise."
The first suspicion arose when he helped lift her carry-on.
"It was heavy. Too heavy for someone of that build."
It was understandable to push a carry-on, but this person had tried to lift it onto the overhead rack. Height caused the failure, but the strength to lift it was there.
"...Just from that...?"
"Of course, there was more."
The next trigger was the hand holding the carry-on.
"It wasn't a girl's hand."
"There were no scars though..."
"No. The proportions of the arm and hand didn't match."
The arm-to-hand ratio was off. Rushing to erase scars by layering thick Polymorph made the hand swell unnaturally.
One might miss it without focus, but with deep knowledge of human anatomy, the incongruity stood out.
"Even that alone wouldn't confirm it. Could be a physical trait or some illness."
So Leo sought evidence to turn suspicion into certainty.
"Remember when I flicked the leaf off her head earlier?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah..."
No way she'd forget. It still made her angry thinking about it.
"I grazed her face with a nail coated in aura. Not deep, but enough to draw blood and cause pain."
And that's when suspicion turned to certainty.
"No blood, not even a whimper of pain. Even a light scratch on the brow should wrinkle it."
Another flaw of Polymorph. Covering the face like magical clay dulled sensation and pain in transformed areas.
"So I hit him. Polymorph dispels under strong impact anyway."
The result was clear as black and white.
His dazzling, intricate deduction in such short time left them all stunned in admiration.
The Sage fell silent. He knew Leo wasn't just brazenly revealing ulterior motives.
Regardless, having showcased such deduction, the priority now was uncovering the culprit's intent and details.
Leo began searching the unconscious man's body.
"Leonardo, shouldn't we tell the conductor or crew first...?"
"I'd like to, but that option carries risks."
Leonardo pulled hidden weapons and items from the dress while explaining.
"The conductor or crew might include accomplices."
"...Among the staff...?"
The bag's contents would confirm, but its weight and circumstances pointed to a terrorism bomb.
The ghost was ideal for this—able to pass through anything.
The Sage shoved his head into the bag to inspect it. Creepy, but the surest method.
Leonardo pulled out a small silver pocket watch-like ornament. Opening the lid revealed a mirror that illuminated the surroundings.
"Here it is."
It looked like a mirror, but this was a communication magic tool. Not some toy from a magic tower gift shop—this was professional gear for soldiers.
The Sage withdrew his face from the bag, spewing curses.
"...Ritual circle...?!"
Leo hurriedly stripped the man's clothes to reveal his back.
"Fuck... Why... of all things..."
Even minding Aria's presence, curses spilled out.
A tattoo of a snake with nine heads on his back.
It was the symbol of the black mage organization, [Hydra].
"...Black mages...?"
"Yes. I've seen this tattoo before."
Though from his previous life, he couldn't explain every detail.
"...Then what do we do?"
"...Use what's to our advantage."
Leo fiddled with the communication tool, clearing his throat. Aura wrapped around his vocal cords, gradually altering his voice to its original timbre.
Meanwhile, the other cabins were in full panic. The eerie quiet stemmed from the intruders' black magic, specialized for such terrorism.
"How's the situation? Daran?"
A man in a black suit glanced at the terrified passengers and asked. They were mind-attacked into insanity, stripped of any will to resist.
"Looks good. Once we take first class, we can start the ritual."
The suited man scowled irritably at the explanation from the robed man.
"What the hell's that pervert Moan doing? Hurry the fuck up."
"What do you expect from a pervert bought with money."
Then the communicator buzzed with an incoming signal.
"What?"
"Moan?"
"Ha... Quick contact."
Grumbling, the suited man answered.
"Yeah, it's me. What's up?"
The voice quality trembled, but it was unmistakably Moan's. No one could fake that grating, effeminate tone.
"What happened?"
"...Fuck... Where are you now?"
"Everything's taken except you. Sacrifices are all prepped."
"Fine, shut up. We'll set the bombs and head right over."
The call cut off abruptly.
"Gotta call the others too."
"What? We enough?"
"3-star knight and 2nd Circle mage is a tough combo. Leave one at the engine room, bring everyone else. Worst case, remote detonate and gas masks."
For them, this was the safest, surest option.
No bomb-defusing experts among the mind-controlled passengers, and this poison was a new type.
'Even if they remove a bomb, self-destruct it. They won't know the antidote.'
With that thought, the robed man contacted all black mages infiltrating the train.
The organization members assembled swiftly before the first-class section.
Train rails and engine noise muffled sounds from beyond, but caution was paramount.
"Everyone, prepare."
The apparent leader gripped the door handle, counting down with fingers.
One by one they dropped, fist clenched—then he kicked the door open and charged.
"...?"
But only two people in the cabin corridor.
One was their fallen comrade; the other, a girl with blue eyes and white straight hair.
The other first-class rooms had locked shut simultaneously, as if under orders, holding their breath.
"...What? Did that kid...?"
Before he finished, Aria charged. The narrow passage favored her alone.
Bang!!
The lead black mage was neutralized by her sheathed sword.
No matter how strong the mage, wide or area attacks were impossible in such confined space.
"It's this one!! Everyone, gas masks and release the poison!!"
But they had their ace too.
The mages donned gas masks en masse, dispersing poison created by black magic.
Without masks, inhaling meant death or at least unconsciousness.
"Gah...!"
"Take her... ugh?!"
The poison gas formed a smokescreen, blinding them—Aria, hidden within, picked them off one by one.
"...How...?"
The last black mage stared at the girl amid thinning poison clouds.
She already wore a gas mask—stolen from his comrade, obviously.
"Then..."
Imperfect or not, he had to perform the ritual now. Slaughter most passengers here, form a small ritual circle—better than nothing.
"Uwaaaah..."
Forcing mana and demonic energy, he conjured a purple magic circle in his hand.
"Two of them...!"
Aria rushed, severing his arm at the wrist with her sword.
"Now!! Detonate!!"
But amid the poison fog, even she missed the magic activated by the fallen man behind.
"We won!! Noble evil!! With these sacrifices, grant us power...!!"
With fanatic cries, he gathered demonic energy in both hands.
"...Huh...?"
But something was off. No bomb explosion, no screams from engulfed passengers, no writhing death agonies.
"...Good. Leo was much faster."
With that, she struck down the remaining foe.
Residual poison gas vented through holes in the ceiling—passages Leo had secretly drilled to access the front car.
Meanwhile, Leo tampered with the last bomb in another car. It powered down upon disassembly.
The regressor's knowledge was not to be underestimated.