Chapter 189
Chapter 189
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 189
Chapter Title: Prim and Proper Lady, Old Ties, American, Long-Held Grudge (2)
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***
The train's interior was far more luxurious than expected.
Carpeting lined the corridors, the cabins were spacious enough to fit two beds side by side, and entire cars had been converted into various amenities.
But with no time to marvel at the opulence, Yeomyeong headed straight for the dining car.
In the center sat a small bar, with elegant tables lining the windows.
There, he ran into familiar faces.
Vice Captain Kim Mansu and Team 3 Leader Tianlin.
"...I got demoted from team leader."
"Demoted? Does that mean you got promoted?"
"Promoted my ass. I'm just a grunt in Team 1 now."
As she spoke, Tianlin conjured a small piece of ice above her palm.
Proof that she had become a mage, woven from mana and incantations.
Only then did Yeomyeong understand what she meant.
She had become a mage and been promoted to Team 1, made up entirely of superhumans, but apparently, she was the youngest there.
"Congratulations. You've become the dragon's tail."
"I preferred being the snake's head."
Yeomyeong chuckled and took a seat across from the two mercenaries.
As sunlight streamed through the window onto the table, Kim Mansu spoke up.
"Man, our little rookie, you look so much sharper now. I almost didn't recognize you back at the station."
Yeomyeong smiled faintly at that.
"You look noticeably better too... no, stronger, Vice Captain."
It wasn't empty flattery. Kim Mansu's mana was denser than the last time he'd seen him.
"Huh, you can tell just by looking?"
"Yes, it's obvious at a glance. What on earth happened?"
"Nothing major. When our mercenary group got absorbed under Dungan Heavy Industries, we picked up all sorts of good stuff. Heh, spirit elixirs really are the best."
Kim Mansu joked that Tianlin had become a mage thanks to the elixir too.
"...Don't embarrass yourself in front of the junior. It's all debt. You know how stingy those dwarves are."
Tianlin scolded him, but Kim Mansu brushed it off and kept chatting away.
About how they'd completely ceased operations in Manchuria due to pressure from the Korean government, how they were treated like traitors after joining the dwarves, how they'd nearly been sniped by Korean troops...
It could have been awkward to hear, but Kim Mansu said it all lightly, like it was no big deal.
Well, in the end, it had turned into a blessing in disguise, so all was well?
...Anyway.
After the train departed and the dining car staff left for elsewhere,
Kim Mansu cautiously changed the subject.
"So, why aren't you at the academy? I saw your face in the papers just a few days ago."
Yeomyeong shrugged.
"Personal reasons."
"Anything we can help with?"
Rather than prying, Kim Mansu offered assistance right away.
Yeomyeong shook his head with a smile.
"I'm fine. It's already resolved, and I'm on my way back."
"Good to hear. I was worried you'd gotten tangled in something crazy."
Tianlin nodded in agreement. Yeomyeong felt a warm glow in his chest and asked about the other mercenaries.
Or tried to.
Before he could open his mouth, Tianlin snapped her fingers as if remembering something.
"Hang on, you and the Saintess being here—does it require secrecy?"
"Secrecy? No, nothing like that..."
"But it'd still be trouble if the press or government found out, right?"
"...Why do you ask?"
Were there reporters or cameramen nearby? Unlikely. Hardly any Earthlings came to places like this.
That's why he hadn't used Tears of Blood's Illusion yet...
Tianlin's expression grew serious.
"There's a CIA agent on board this luxury car right now."
"...CIA? How do you know?"
"She's the client we're escorting."
You're spilling client info just like that? As Yeomyeong let out a hollow laugh,
Kim Mansu added an explanation.
"We were originally hired by Dungan Heavy Industries to escort a merchant... but the merchant preferred locals over Earthlings and switched to another merc group on the spot?"
"...Was that merchant named Tindamel, by any chance?"
"Huh? How'd you know?"
"..."
"Anyway, on our way back empty-handed, the CIA agent hired us."
Yeomyeong sensed an odd coincidence, then another thought struck him.
Was this really just coincidence?
A CIA agent coming all the way south of the dimensional gate, hastily hiring mercenaries to head back to Earth?
'...It's related to Drayterial.'
No proof, but his instincts were certain.
Yeomyeong gathered his thoughts and spoke.
"Vice Captain, I'm sorry to ask for help right after saying it's fine... but I need your assistance after all."
"What are you sorry for between us? Of course we'll help."
It could amount to betraying a client, but Kim Mansu nodded readily.
"Then first, maybe grab a mask or—"
Kim Mansu's words cut off there.
The moment he mentioned a mask, Yeomyeong's face suddenly changed.
To the face of a middle-aged man—one that made you wonder if this was what Yeomyeong would look like grown old.
While Kim Mansu gaped in shock, Tianlin, realizing it was an illusion spell, quipped,
"...Guess the mask is free."
***
Atop a large hill overlooking the tracks to the LA dimensional gate,
a woman with hair bleached bone-white sighed as she gazed at the rails.
"Train, oh distant path..."
Responding to her words dissipating into the air was a skull floating in midair.
"Leaving the old home, turning from the homeland. Strangers shun us, longing burns deep."
The skull clattered its half-rotted jaw and continued.
"Train, path of civilization. This land's green rivals home, yet my love is not here..."
The white-haired woman who'd spoken first shot the skull a glance. The gem embedded in its eye socket sparkled.
"'Homeland and Railway' by Baonic Lerak. I like it too."
The woman met the skull's gaze for a moment, then sighed and stood, brushing off her clothes.
"...I hate it. Parerok was a foolhardy idealist who actually believed Earth laid these tracks out of pure goodwill."
"Isn't that the innocence of a poet?"
"No, the foolishness of a noble. So what if they laid the tracks for free? Trains and maintenance cost money—all of it."
With that, she drew a staff from her bosom. A repulsive thing woven from human bone and monster muscle.
"Hah, starting already? The train won't arrive till lunchtime."
The skull remarked, but the white-haired woman ignored it, channeling mana and dropping a black gem at her feet.
Clink—the gem shattered on impact, unleashing a massive surge of twisted mana.
The warped mana flowed down the hill like rancid water. The earth shuddered, sunlight warped.
A miracle born from hundreds of corpses. Blood, flesh, and gold.
Ransacking alleys, digging graves, bribing undertakers...
In the old days, it wouldn't have been this hard.
If Brother Buzum were still alive, or if they still had connections to the Korean government!
...Pointless what-ifs now. The organization's coffers were thin, and the ritual had begun.
Rumble...!
In the next moment, the twisted mana spread to the tracks, forming pools. The dark red mana stagnated like sewage, fouling the air and soil.
A sight to chill any mage.
But the only spectators were two necromancers and the sun.
"...Let's begin."
Soon after, confirming the twisted mana blanketed the tracks, the white-haired woman raised her staff and chanted.
"Immortal King, come hither."
A massive magic circle bloomed over the rails, following her incantation and staff.
"Paradise, come hither."
Before long, the circle devoured the tracks and ground alike. It resembled a monster opening its maw...
Yet the landscape remained unchanged. Tracks and earth looked exactly as before the spell.
At least on the surface.
"Such a clean soul realm link. A real treat for the eyes after so long."
The skull praised, but the woman couldn't respond. The incantation's backlash made even standing a struggle.
The skull circled her sympathetically, but it was no real help.
Finally, after a long while, she spoke.
"With this... the preparations... are complete..."
Her sweat-matted hair seemed even whiter as she declared,
"That Yankee bitch... is ours now..."
***
The moment Yeomyeong finished talking with Kim Mansu, he headed to his cabin.
He planned to cast the illusion on the Saintess's face now and get a look at the CIA agent while he was at it...
But just then, weren't the mercenaries pouring into the dining car?
Half of them familiar faces, all tensed up like they were prepping for battle. He soon learned why.
Click, clack.
A woman entered the dining car, escorted by the mercenaries.
Mid-twenties, maybe?
She had an unmistakably Earthling look.
Not the steel-rimmed glasses or the neat suit rare around here.
A tidy orange bob, green eyes, faint freckles.
Features of an Irish-descended Earthling, the kind called "gingers," rare beyond the dimensional gate.
If there was anything else, it was how utterly exhausted she looked from head to toe.
Without prior warning she was CIA, you'd mistake her for an office worker dragging herself home after overtime.
'No superhuman, but a quasi with mana sense. Armed with... just a pistol at her waist, probably.'
Yeomyeong sized her up in an instant and tried to pass without a glance.
But as he took a step, she stared right at him.
What? Had she pierced Tears of Blood's Illusion?
Yeomyeong casually averted his gaze.
The mercenaries cleared the way to the corridor, but a languid voice stopped him in his tracks.
"Excuse me?"
"...What is it?"
"Riding the same train is fate enough—mind sharing your name?"
Her words were polite, but suspicion seeped through.
Doesn't seem like she saw through the illusion... then what?
Yeomyeong eyed her briefly, then replied curtly.
"On Earth, maybe not, but here, it's customary to give your name before asking another's."
"...Oh, right. Sorry, my job makes me forget that."
"..."
"I'm Scarlett O'Hara. And yours, sir?"
Scarlett O'Hara? Yeomyeong suppressed a frown. Obviously a fake name.
The heroine from *Gone with the Wind*. Testing him, huh?
Swallowing his suspicion, Yeomyeong answered readily.
"Rhett Butler."
"...Pardon?"
He threw back the male lead from the same book, and her expression crumpled slightly.
"You're an Earthling?"
"Why else would I be on a train to the LA dimensional gate?"
With that, Yeomyeong turned away.
The mercenaries moved to block him but stepped back at Kim Mansu's pointed coughs.
Moments after Yeomyeong left the dining car.
"Black hair, golden eyes... Coincidence?"
Scarlett's eyes narrowed as she watched his retreating back.
One hour until lunch. Thirty minutes until the Saintess kicked Korbus out of the cabin.
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