Before Norman could wonder about it, she kissed him. By the time he registered the sudden act, he found himself pushed back into the sofa seat.
“Mmnh–“
She even slipped her tongue in. Stunned, he opened his eyes wide only to find hers were open too at point-blank range.
Her bewitching, shimmering odd eyes. The deep kiss lasted over 10 seconds.
“—-Teehee, my my.”
“……..What was that?”
The moment he asked,
a dull thudding sound came from outside the cabin, like something repeatedly falling over.
“….Cklares?”
“I’m controlling it.”
After a brief pause to consider her response,
he checked the weight of his folded coat and donned his felt hat.
“So it’s safe to go out there?”
“I wouldn’t recommend it. Of course, if I’m with you it won’t matter if it’s out there, the most horrific battlefield, or a crime-ridden Unlaws – not a single hair on your head would be harmed, Sensei. In fact, I’d make it such a wonderful time you’d think we were just on a lovely date. But still, we shouldn’t be courting danger needlessly, should we? We could just stay in here and pick up where we left off with the kissing. What do you say?”
Her rapid-fire proposal was clearly teasing, so he replied:
“I’ll take that to mean it’s safe then.”
“…..Well well, what a shame.”
He didn’t seem too disappointed.
●
When I stepped out of the room, there were numerous corpses lined up.
“At my school, you know…”
“Yeah?”
“There was an incident where mannequins were scattered in the drama club’s storage room. I was asked to solve it. It caused a bit of a stir, thinking it might have been a thief.”
“I see.”
“In the end, it turned out that a cleaning kid had just accidentally knocked them over and scattered them. For the adorable reason of being scared of getting scolded, I even did the aftercare.”
“Wow, sounds like you were really relied upon.”
“—The mannequins back then looked kind of like this.”
“Unfortunately, these are the real deal.”
Sighing at Cklares’ words, Norman looked around inside the train car.
Two passenger cars with rows of compartment seats.
They had become steel coffins running on the rails.
People lying down. And dead.
“….I hope the drivers and such are okay at least.”
Norman asked Cklares, who was loosely embracing him with her arm.
Resting her head on his shoulder with her arm loosely wrapped around him, she tapped the floor a few times with her cane.
“For now, it’s best to leave the windows open. I’d still prefer if you didn’t leave my side though.”
“Got it. Well, there’s no point just standing around, so shall we take another look?”
Entering a nearby passenger room, he examined the corpses again.
A middle-aged man in an expensive-looking suit was sitting slumped over with drool dripping from his mouth.
However, there were no signs of struggle or resistance.
“Doesn’t look like they were attacked. No external injuries either. Cklares, what did it feel like to you?”
“Something unpleasant.”
She tilted her head slightly as if thinking.
“Let’s see if Sensei’s arm can change my mood.”
Without hesitation, she embraced Norman’s arm.
“I got the sense that something was mixed into the air, but I couldn’t tell what exactly. For now, just focus on guarding Sensei and my private room.”
“Thanks to that, I cheated death too. …Wait, what was with that kiss? If your ability was protecting us, then the kiss wasn’t necessary, right?”
“I just felt like kissing you.”
“…I see.”
Well, if that’s how it is, fair enough.
“This is…no, this is very bad.”
“What’s on your mind, Sensei?”
“Regardless of who or what was targeted, it’ll be trouble if we arrive at the capital like this.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than he quickly started walking while still embracing Cklares’ arm.
“My my, what brisk movements for Sensei Norman. What will be so troublesome?”
“A train full of corpses arrives, and the only two survivors – what’s the first thing that comes to mind?”
“A fated couple who miraculously survived through the power of love.”
“That those two are the culprits.”
“Kukuku, I’m glad you didn’t deny it.”
The moment Cklares laughed, the train car shook violently.
“Whoa!”
Their center of gravity was disrupted enough for their bodies to float momentarily. It only lasted a few seconds, but
“Why thank you, Sensei.”
Cklares was now snugly in Norman’s embrace.
The lush body of the bewitching girl and her fresh scent.
“Are you okay?”
“Of course. That was quite the big shake though.”
“…This isn’t good. The train engineer might be done for too. If we derail, we’re in trouble.”
“I appreciate you relying on me, but even I would probably break a bone or two.”
“Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
And when they proceeded to the next dining car, sure enough, corpses were scattered everywhere.
But what was lying in wait was not just that.
“Hm?”
It was a giant snake.
An enormous snake I had never seen before, at least 3 meters long, came lunging at us.
—Thunk.
In response, Cklares, the girl called a fairy, simply tapped her cane.
“Fairy Hand Spriggan”
The giant snake was instantly cut straight down the middle vertically.
The spurting blood stained the dining car, but
“My, that was quite a surprise.”
Not a single drop reached the smiling Cklares and Norman.
“I’ve seen snakes before, but never that big of a size. What about you, Sensei Norman?”
“Snakes that size don’t normally exist. Let alone inside a train car like this.”
Not normal. Abnormal.
In other words,
“—A train hijacking by the Unlaws.”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
●
“The problem is whether the culprit behind this incident is still on the train.”
Inside the dining car, while rummaging through the corpses, Norman said:
“Like I mentioned before, if we arrive at our destination without grasping the situation, we’ll be treated as suspects. We need to find either the culprit or some kind of clue, otherwise the moment we get to the capital, we’ll be interrogated.”
“You’re being unusually talkative.”
Cklares, glancing sidelong at Norman examining the bodies, elegantly sat in a chair sipping tea.
“As for the train hijacking, what do you think the motive was?”
“The dead were nobles, merchants, and wealthy people from Balldlum. Anyone could have had political or financial reasons to kill them. Or maybe we were the targets, or it was indiscriminate terrorism. Or perhaps the cargo cars were the real target.”
“I see? So the cargo was the aim then?”
“It’s possible if it was for money. Though there is an issue with that theory.”
“Oh?”
“How would they retrieve it? Let’s say they did seize the cargo – where is this train headed?”
“The capital station.”
“Right. Even if there was a retrieval team waiting at that station, the capital’s station is huge with many unrelated people around. This is the latest luxury express after all, so it would draw a lot of attention. With most passengers dead too, safely seizing only the cargo from such a conspicuous train would be quite difficult, I think.”
“True, while not impossible, it does seem like too much trouble. Then was it to assassinate someone?”
“Hard to say.”
He pondered briefly.
When you want to kill someone, there are countless ways to do it.
You don’t need the Unlaws to kill people – it’s simple.
But, Norman thought:
“If it was to assassinate someone, poison gas seems questionable. There’s always the tiny chance of miraculous survival.”
In any case,
“For now, let’s head to the engine room. If the culprit is there, we’ll apprehend them. If not…we’ll figure it out then.”
“Rest assured, I can handle anything.”
With a thunk, the fairy smiled lightly and tapped her cane.
“In moderation, please.”
They proceeded to the next car.
●
“That earlier monster was probably just checking if we were alive after the poison gas. The time delay was likely waiting for the gas to disperse. In that case, the question is whether that snake was alone or had accomplices.”
“What’s your guess, Sensei?”
“Probably accomplices.”
Because:
“It’s clear these guys were working together.”
When they entered the next freight car after the dining car, mixed in among the cargo were five armed men lying dead.
Ruggedly armed with military knives and guns – definitely not passengers.
“Well well! If those were the snake’s accomplices as the Sensei says, then what does this mean!? Could there be others besides us!?”
“You work fast, Cklares.”
There was no need to ponder who did it.
“…Honestly, I was hoping for a bit more of a reaction, Sensei.”
The adorable fairy puffed out her cheeks in feigned displeasure.
“Surprise, or at least wishing you had left some alive for questioning – nothing like that?”
“Well, I can’t say I wasn’t hoping to leave some alive.”
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