Chapter 152.
It was past eleven at night when our carriage arrived at a large city with a train station.
In a normal scenario, we would have had to stay up all night outside the city before entering early the next morning. This time, though, we were able to enter the city immediately thanks to our civil servant ID cards and the military order. So, we headed straight to the train station.
"But can trains also stop at night?” Flam asked.
Dano replied, "Under imperial law, trains cannot stop in the city at night, just like carriages."
Dane Walker added that even if there were express trains that traveled non-stop until morning, it was impossible to board them as they were moving.
"Then why are we heading to the train station?" Flam asked.
I showed him the military order and explained, "If you have a military order, you can stop the express train for a moment to get on. It"s a kind of privilege."
The train tracks running through the empire had been built for military purposes, so one could say that they existed for special cases like these. For the record, train tickets were also free if you had a military order. But...
"I didn"t really want to experience this kind of privilege," I remarked. I didn"t like it because all these special privileges were contingent on partic.i.p.ation in the war.
I don"t need privileges, so send me back to the capital! My whole body was still throbbing from getting trampled by stone statue number 10. I just wanted to sleep in a soft bed now.
Flam also nodded in response. "I agree. War is a tragedy."
Dano sighed as he touched the handle of the sword on his waist. "We can"t help it. It’s our duty as servants of the empire.”
There was one more privilege the military order provided, which was that we could board the train armed. In the first place, it was usually a battalion unit or a company unit at the minimum that moved according to military orders like this. Therefore, the order provided preferential treatment to get rid of procedural ha.s.sles and let the troops move quickly.
"Well, it’s still fortunate that it"s not a war between nations, but rather a war against demons,” Dane Walker said as he momentarily smiled bitterly.
Come to think of it, at Dane Walker’s age, it was highly likely that he had been conscripted into the Blood Emperor’s war of conquest in the past. Normally, magicians were the first to be conscripted.
"It is certainly much better than a war that takes the lives of other people. The act of risking your life for someone is n.o.ble," Flam commented.
Dane Walker and Dano seemed to agree with Flam. But I didn"t completely sympathize with what they said.
Of course, even so, I didn’t intend to ignore or belittle those who risked their lives in the demon territory. Even if people didn’t feel the fact that their peaceful lives were built upon others’ sacrifices, it was something everyone knew deep down.
There were acts of righteousness, but there were no righteous deaths. I just didn"t like the idea of justifying death as righteous.
But I didn"t say anything. It wasn’t something I needed to say, and it would be weird for me to say it.
Screw morality. I was one who considered the safety of myself and the people around me, more so than the safety of many people I didn’t know.
It seems I’m a little upset, thinking about how I’m suddenly being dragged to a battlefield without any notice. I’ve become more emotional than usual.
- The train is now approaching Barreheim Station. Please take a step back for your safety.
A train pulled into the station. The four of us were the only ones boarding, so it was amazing that a broadcast had still played...
...although, of course, it was a recorded broadcast that had to be played whether or not there were pa.s.sengers.
"I think I said something unnecessary,” Dane Walker said as he read my expression, looking awkward.
I smiled and said, "No, what you said was right." When the train stopped completely and the door opened, I got on board first. "Come on, let"s get to work."
We were joining the main unit led by Guild Director Glont in Asterium, a large city in the Asteria Dukedom.
* * *
At midnight, the lead unit commanded by b.l.o.o.d.y arrived in Warrant, which was also known as the Last Bastion.
b.l.o.o.d.y sighed as he watched Mac, Leisha, and Lancelot, who were on horseback next to him. "I said you guys should just stay in the capital. Why are you guys following me all the way here?"
Mac shrugged and said deftly, "Aye, but it"s better to have even one more hand. Isn"t that right, Miss?"
"That"s true- hey, I told you not to call me Miss!" Leisha did some horseback acrobatics to turn and kick Mac’s side, but Mac easily dodged it.
"Hahaha! You still have a long way to go!” Mac teased.
As Leisha was trying as hard as she could to hit Mac somehow, and Mac avoided it while teasing Leisha, b.l.o.o.d.y hung back behind them and asked Lancelot, "Are you okay? You said there"s a good chance that Den"s in the capital. Is it okay for you to leave the capital?”
Lancelot answered with a bright smile, "Yes, even if Den is deeply involved in the empire, he will mercilessly abandon it if things seem too dangerous. The empire must be safe in order for us to find Den!” He knew Den all too well.
b.l.o.o.d.y was surprised that Den’s friend didn’t hesitate to mercilessly imply that Den was a trashy fellow. At the same time, he questioned whether his nephew had a healthy friends.h.i.+p. However, he quickly decided to put it aside, concluding that they probably played around all the time.
At that time, the knight captain in charge of Warrant’s security came out to meet b.l.o.o.d.y in person and saluted him loudly. "Loyalty!"
b.l.o.o.d.y got off his horse, fully armed, and accepted the knight’s salute. "Long time no see. Still working hard, I see. It’s hard because of all the troublemakers in Warrant, isn’t it?”
b.l.o.o.d.y clearly remembered the man as a person who had helped a lot with the distribution of military supplies when he had last been a.s.signed to the demon territory.
"It is not, sir!" The captain couldn’t hide his feelings when the knight he respected most, b.l.o.o.d.y, praised his hard work.
"What do you mean it’s not? I know everyone gets told this is the worst place to get a.s.signed."
Being sent to Warrant from the capital was like being told to resign and leave. So, many of Warrant"s civil servants and soldiers were local residents, and they were energetic in their defense of their home.
“No, I"m from here as well,” the captain replied. There was no way the leader of the pa.s.sionate soldiers here wouldn’t be from Warrant.
“Ahahaha, is that so?” b.l.o.o.d.y remarked, pausing for a moment before asking, "And where is William?"
The captain pointed to the outer castle wall in the distance. "General William is in the interim command room."
"Is that so?" b.l.o.o.d.y ordered the lead unit to rest and headed to the interim command room. Mac, Leisha, and Lancelot followed behind him.
"Loyalty!" A soldier guarding the command post recognized b.l.o.o.d.y and saluted him.
b.l.o.o.d.y roughly accepted the salute and went into the tent. "Your face has gotten thinner since the last time I saw you." As soon as he saw William, he clicked his tongue as if he were looking at a pitiful person.
"Well, I’ve had a hard time. Honestly, the situation would have been uncontrollable if Mirpa Ainsmall-nim hadn’t been here.”
"Mirpa, that old woman...” b.l.o.o.d.y trailed off as he looked around.
Leisha said, "There’s soundproof magic here, so you can speak freely.”
William was impressed by Leisha. "Oh, you recognized it at a glance. It"s a spell I put a lot of effort into. Indeed, befitting of Mirpa-nim’s best pupil."
Leisha was embarra.s.sed by William"s compliment. "No, I’m still too lacking to be called Teacher-nim"s best pupil. Many other pupils have already crossed the wall of the Magic Way and become madosas.”
"No, Mirpa-nim complimented you a lot. She said you were a genius, and among the top five students she"s ever taught."
The first of the five Mirpa had picked, naturally, was Den.
"Thank you."
"I heard that you were fourteen years old when you rose to the level of a great magician, and you"re now challenging the wall of the Magic Way?"
"Yes, but I don’t even have a clue as to how yet.” Leisha scratched her cheek idly.
William clapped his hands, as if to say ‘That’s great!’ before remarking, "My niece is in the capital, and she"s your age. Would you like to meet her?"
Leisha gladly nodded at William"s suggestion. "I"d love to! My younger brother is the only magician I know around my age.”
"Haha, you"re about the same age and level, so maybe you guys will get along well."
While they were talking about something that would have freaked Den out, b.l.o.o.d.y coughed dryly and cut off the conversation that seemed to have no end in sight. "Keuhmm! So, I heard old lady Mirpa and hyung-nim were here. Where are they?" He inwardly quivered with fear even as he asked the question. He was afraid of being punched for not having caught Den yet.
"Mirpa-nim is taking your nephew around the area to sweep up demons, and Doomstone-nim went deep into the demon territory alone, saying he had a bad feeling.” William sighed. "Honestly, I was hoping that Doomstone-nim would deal with the Turtle Carrying a Mountain.”
b.l.o.o.d.y shook his head at William. "If hyung said he had a bad feeling, the situation is probably going to be terrible. For the longest time, hyung’s intuition has practically been at the level of prophecy.”
When William heard b.l.o.o.d.y, he stuck his tongue out as if he’d heard something terrible. "There"s going to be a worse situation than the Turtle Carrying a Mountain moving south? What, is another one of the four great demons going to come down too?"
"I don"t know, but I"m afraid that may be a possibility if hyung moved based on his intuition. Don"t you think so?” b.l.o.o.d.y turned and asked Mac.
Mac nodded in affirmation. "Boss-nim’s intuition is terrifying. Whenever I tried to secretly drink alcohol with the youngest master, boss-nim noticed it like a ghost.”
He had even set up a detailed plan with Den and targeted Doomstone"s liquor, but Doomstone had surpa.s.sed all of the circ.u.mstances that Den accounted for and kept his liquor safe.
Once, Den had even obtained Hestia"s cooperation by acting cute, but still failed. Doomstone"s super intuition had been enough to easily surpa.s.s Den and Hestia"s combined resourcefulness.
From Mac"s point of view, there could not be a better example of Doomstone"s intuition. However, to William, who didn"t know the sheer extent of Den and Hestia"s strategies, it only sounded ridiculous.
"Then why didn"t he notice Denburg Blade running away with his intuition?" William asked.
Mac was left speechless. In truth, he also thought it was strange. If Doomstone had moved personally, he would have caught Den within three days, even before the game of tag, but Doomstone hadn’t done anything.
"Still, you’d better be careful, since Doomstone hyung-nim doesn"t move rashly," b.l.o.o.d.y insisted.
William nodded at b.l.o.o.d.y"s advice. "Well, if you’re going as far as to say that, I"ll be careful."