Chapter 36
That question seemed so unexpected that Aris widened her eyes and looked at Rivielo. When she saw the others waiting for her answer too, she barely managed to recall her memories and replied.
“Hmm… Klein is in the northern part of the Roaemena continent, so the weather was generally warm… and because of that, in midsummer it got unbearably hot. Around noon, after lunch, no one worked until the temperature dropped a little.”
“No work at all?”
Mirea revealed her curiosity, and Aris nodded.
“Usually for those two or three hours when the sun was at its peak, the shops would close, and you wouldn’t see a single passerby in the streets.”
“Sounds nice.”
At Sio’s carefree jealousy, Aris chuckled faintly.
“It was unbearably hot in the summer, so there was no choice. And in the west there are many tall rocky mountains, while in the east it’s mostly plains. Especially in the southeast, which is famous as a granary region.”
But since everyone had already heard the geography lessons dozens of times before departure, the group looked weary.
“Don’t you have anything to tell us besides those geography-class details?”
At Laila’s words, Aris fell back into thought.
“Uh… aside from that, it’s pretty ordinary. The people are laid-back too.”
“No festivals?”
“Even if there were, they weren’t anything big… I mean, how fun can a farming village really be?”
“You lived a boring life, huh.”
“Life before then had been filled with too many extreme ups and downs. So I actually liked that Klein was a little boring.”
While listening to this idle chatter over their meal, Mirea happened to glance out the window. The moment she did, she threw aside the bread she was eating and leapt to her feet. Her sudden reaction made the group stare at her in confusion, until she frantically smacked Sio on the shoulder.
“Senior, senior, senior! Hurry, check that with the scope!”
While Sio searched his bag for the scope, Aris pressed against the window to see what Mirea was pointing at. Even without binoculars or a scope, Aris could see it — something large and white in the sky, like a bird.
If only it hadn’t had two heads, Aris would’ve liked to think it was just a bird. She didn’t want to believe it was a beast, but it was. Sio, too, confirmed what Aris saw through the scope, clicking his tongue, though he spoke with utmost calm.
“Does anyone know where Captain Paulo is?”
“He should be with Kundulen.”
“Good. Join those two and meet in our cabin.”
At Sio’s order, Rivielo was the first to run off to find them. Sio shoved aside the flyers cluttering the table and dumped out the contents of his pack. Without a trace of panic, he began assembling his sniper rifle.
“Is Lord Raked still in his cabin?”
“He didn’t look like he planned to get out of bed anytime soon, so probably.”
While Sio’s hands worked quickly, Aris kept checking the situation. Laila, looking puzzled, asked,
“What’s going on? What is it?”
At that, Aris realized no one had explained to Rivielo. Mirea had spotted the beast first because she sat closest to the window and had sharp eyesight. Aris’s vision was several times better than an ordinary person’s, so she too could make out a beast at that distance without tools.
But Rivielo had been seated farthest from the window, his view blocked by Mirea and Sio. He couldn’t possibly have seen the beast clearly—yet somehow he already knew and had rushed off to find Paulo and Kundulen. It was strange.
“There’s a beast a little ways off.”
At Aris’s reply, Laila’s eyes went wide. She quickly confirmed the white speck flying in the distance that Mirea had pointed out, then narrowed her eyes at Sio’s sniper rifle. Sio finished assembling it, aligning the sights, and gave Mirea a nod. His eyes were now razor-sharp. To Mirea, who just moments ago had seen Sio grinning carelessly, he had never seemed more reliable. Sliding in a magazine, Sio gave instructions.
“Mirea, head to the front cars and check the situation.”
“Then I’ll go too.”
At Aris’s words, Sio hesitated a moment before nodding. He was about to move as well when Laila grabbed his arm.
“Sio, those are regular rounds, aren’t they?”
“Yeah.”
“Regular bullets won’t work on beasts. I’ve got magic rounds in my luggage. We need them.”
Mirea quickly pushed Laila toward Sio and, before moving, firmly warned him.
“Sio-senpai, take care of Laila. Got it? Laila, stick right by him. Don’t go off alone. As soon as you grab the magic rounds, you two head straight to Lord Raked.”
Then Aris and Mirea rushed toward the engine room. On the way, they passed Mirea’s sleeping car. She quickly pulled two swords from her luggage and began thinking of their next move. Would it be better to stop and fight the beast here, or was there a safer option?
Maybe it’d be better to speed up and get away quickly…
Mirea licked her dry lips. If only the beast were spotted by the patrols, but this was a mountainous, uninhabited area. No way the guards would notice right away.
And this wasn’t even an area where beasts usually appeared. They never laid down railways in beast-heavy regions. That meant preparations here against them would be poor. For now, the beast was just gliding through the distant sky. If they could escape the area without being spotted, they’d be lucky…
“No luck.”
Mirea muttered without meaning to. While she assessed the situation, Aris sighed, saying her bad dreams had been an omen after all. She was weighing all the possibilities. Was it mere coincidence that barely an hour after entering Luad, they had already run into an unexpected incident? No — too unlucky to be coincidence.
Mirea sprinted into the engine room. The engineer and his assistant, who had only been watching the tracks ahead, turned to her in confusion. They were men provided by the Rashvalen Association, but not combatants. That meant Mirea was responsible for protecting them.
“There’s a beast at four o’clock!”
The men’s eyes widened.
“What we do next will probably be up to Paulo—”
As Mirea hesitated, Aris stepped in.
“It’s fine. Don’t stop, just keep going. No matter what happens, I’ll protect you, so don’t worry.”
Then she pointed upward with her finger and slipped out the window, scaling the train’s wall and climbing up onto the roof.
“Wow, reassuring! If you said that to me, I might’ve swooned.”
Following behind, Mirea gave a crude whistle. Aris frowned.
“When you say things with that much confidence, it makes me want to believe you.”
“You know? Anyone in a leadership role has to learn that. A reliable demeanor, body language, tone of voice. Not all of it has to be sincere, so don’t trust it too much.”
“So that just now was bluffing?”
“No, this time I meant it.”
Aris quickly cleared up the misunderstanding.
“Then do you have a plan?”
“Even without Paulo’s orders, we need to at least keep it in check.”
They kept their eyes fixed on the beast gliding in the distance.
“Aris! Stay on the last car’s roof!”
Looking down, she saw Paulo shouting from a window.
“If the beast strikes suddenly, the last car will be most at risk!”
Aris immediately moved swiftly along the roof to the rear, maintaining a stance ready to respond at any moment.
“And me, Paulo?”
“You—go to the engineers and—”
“I already told them not to stop, to keep running.”
Paulo raised an eyebrow.
“Whose decision was that?”
“…Aris’s.”
Mirea answered cautiously, but Paulo didn’t seem to be blaming her. Instead, he nodded.
“That kid’s judgment is quick. Good. In that case, we’ll escape at full speed. While it’s still far, we’ll flee before it can close in.”
After telling Mirea that, Paulo headed for the engine room to check the situation. Soon, the train picked up more speed, clattering faster down the tracks.
“Don’t come this way… Just don’t notice us and pass by…”
Mirea drew both her swords. But her hope was in vain—the beast was drawing nearer. The strange thing was, though it was definitely getting closer, it showed no sign of attacking.
Maybe they were lucky and it hadn’t noticed the train yet? But a massive hunk of noisy metal moving across the tracks—no beast with keen senses could fail to notice that. It was suspicious. Mirea tilted her head, uneasy.
For now, once Raked and Paulo give the orders on how to respond…
Before her thought could finish, dozens of bizarrely glowing red eyes closed in before her.
The instant her gaze met those eyes, Mirea froze.
She didn’t even have time to wonder how. The beast that had been far away a moment ago—somehow—was suddenly right in front of her.
