Chapter. 18. Railed (17)
****
“Naelda. I guess this incident…”
“I know~ I know. I guess it’s because we haven’t been able to rest comfortably even for a moment since the subjugation war, so everyone seems to have become despondent. Including me. “I think there was a little misunderstanding.”
what? A minor misunderstanding? You made a boy in his teens who wasn’t even a teenager yet turn one-eyed?
Naelda was about to say something more before chowing down on the finished rice,
but it
screeched!
His personal shooter slipped out of Voltaeus’ hand.
“…Voltaeus?”
“I am a good man, at least for as long as I can remember my life…”
Uh…
Volteus, who was thought to be severely shaken, was in a very strange state.
Voltaeus, who had dropped an arcane shooter the size of a church pew, was holding his head with both hands, and the ‘fragments’ on his shoulder were repeating unstable growth and disappearance as he muttered.
Even at a glance, it is not normal.
“baby. “We will apologize to the extent that you may have gone too far, so will you be patient for now?”
“Uh…”
“The Shard Knight is very unstable. It’s like a frozen lake. “It’s hard, but when it starts to break, it spreads uncontrollably.”
Naelda sat on the floor of the tail compartment and hugged Volteus, who had completely collapsed.
Maybe when you look in the mirror. Wouldn’t my expression now be similar to that of Volteus when blood was flowing from my eyes?
“You’re not just nine years old, are you?”
“ancient? Umm, because I’m a bastard, that’s…”
“That’s enough. Don’t answer. “There are more than one or two unanswered questions in the world.”
Naelda immediately dismissed my answer.
The figure embracing the agitated Voltaeus was somewhat similar to the elf of the past, different from the Naelda of the past.
“I’m sorry for having so many doubts. Those who live in sin usually jump up and get up when the guard bell rings.”
“No, I…”
“Tsk. “Since you risked your life to break through our doubts, we should do the same, right?”
Naelda carefully laid the unconscious Volteus down and took out a sturdy-looking box from her waist.
Click –
A round box, heavily oiled and with worn ends. It was once a luxurious box, but it looks as if someone had removed all the decorations and jewels from the outside and made it look shabby on purpose.
“This is…”
“Be careful. Although a separate suppressing magic circuit was engraved into it, it was originally an item that permeated even if you got close to it. A fragment of the rod. A piece of evil spirit. Or what soul magicians call the secret gem. “Like you said, we stole it.”
Stacked in the soft lining of the box was a fingernail-sized gemstone that radiated a dull yet enticing light.
A small gem that exudes cloudy purple smoke, like the sickly sweetness of a mute’s blood.
“Why… did you steal it? To write? To sell?”
“Are you crazy? Using a monster that eats people’s minds and turns them into monster leaders? “If I sell this, another crazy person who wants to use that stuff will become another Lord and create dungeons and kill people, right?”
Then why? Why is an item that should have been tightly sealed in the hands of one of the two families that played a leading role in the subjugation war, Brastol or Straug, in such a shabby box?
“Um… Professor Brastol. Don’t misunderstand, just listen?”
Naelda came to my ear and whispered softly as if she was telling a secret.
“Blastol. it’s crazy.”
“Everyone, from the head of the family to the people of the member families and the people who live in their cities. ”
“….yes?”
“Hehehehe. You won’t believe it, will you? That’s because you have been a member of Fortress Fardau as ‘Professor Brastol’. As long as they are inside, Brastol and its livestock are just people who are infinitely peaceful and comfortable with each other.”
“But… do you know how they change if they encounter a group that their ‘master’ calls an external threat?”
“Have you never seen those who have studied human taming for over a hundred years, and how perfectly the humans who have been tamed by them for generations can become rulers and ruled, and to what extent they can obey?”
[Those things up there are nothing more than livestock.]
These were definitely words I had heard from the mouth of the head of the Delphiad Brastol family.
But you’re crazy.
Are they all crazy about the daily life of a city that is unfamiliar but has its own charm?
All the workers and women in the city, all those people who fanned themselves with oily faces?
‘Why does Katrea take such care of me?’
.
.
.
.
.
‘That’s because you’re a master?’
….to Katrea?
“I can’t believe it….”
“Straug, the fortress city of the Straug family.”
“If you go up beyond Straug, you will reach the fortress city of Orton Hill. The Orton Hill family that rules there.”
To me who couldn’t believe it, Naelda spoke in a cheerful, singing voice.
“Then who governs Fortress Fardau?”
“….Brastol family.”
Originally, it would have been the ‘Fardau Fortress City’ of the ‘Fardau’ family. And what the current Brastol family’s Fardau fortress means…
“Occupied territory. No, a colony.”
Suddenly, the image of the underground lab I entered after following the matriarch came to mind.
Clearly, the most valuable colored fragments were not stored in deep vaults, but were neatly organized and displayed right in front of the entrance so that they could be seen at a glance upon entering.
As if there was a need to brag and show someone something that had been collected over a long period of time.
“Delphiad Brastol… was not the head of the family.”
“Correct answer. “I don’t know about people who have no way to hear news from outside the island, but an elf who lives as long as me and wanders around has a lot to listen to, right?”
“I heard that there are a lot of people named Brastol on the mainland across the sea.”
colony. A base for exploitation established in occupied territory.
The real family will be on the mainland, far across the sea.
What we have here is the colony manager.
Delphiat Brastol was a person who extracted and stored fragments from the bodies of dead people and knights.
Perhaps when a higher-ranking member of the family from the fragmented continent came, the result of squeezing humans was displayed to proudly present.
“I snuck out during the subjugation war and overheard while I was taking a break. The identity and purpose of the Brastol family and the position of the Tarigden Islands on the entire fragmented continent.”
“The Tarigden Archipelago is like a large farm for the mainland families.”
“It’s not just the Brastol family. “Although neither Straug nor Orton Hill are as outspoken as Brastol, who founded colonies, they periodically load an allocated amount of colorless fragments onto their ships and deliver them to the great families across the sea.”
[The things up there are nothing more than livestock.]
Up there did not just refer to the Fardau Fortress.
“What they especially focus on collecting is colored fragments that rarely appear. “It’s good in its raw state, but it’s more valuable when it’s used by a suitable Shard Knight.”
“Because the Shard Knight absorbs colorless fragments to grow when using it…”
“That’s right. “The fucking scum of the mainland are grazing the Shard Knights here in the Tarigden Archipelago like they are grazing livestock.”
“And then, when you decide it’s strong enough….”
Sigh-
“It’s time to harvest.”
Naelda pretended to slit the fallen Voltaeus’ neck with her hand.
“Fragment of the Lord Slayer. This is something that farm owners who want to be seen well on the mainland will drool over. “Whether it was a frame-up or an attack, it was clear that it wasn’t long before Voltaeus would be ‘slaughtered.’”
“So I stole it. “To threaten.”
“Threat?”
“Yes, a threat. The other heads of the house also know that we stole the Lord’s fragment. The fact that it was stolen is itself a kind of declaration. “A declaration that I will use this if I find myself in a real corner.”
“You’re using the fragments of the rod…?”
“huh. “If Voltaeus dies, whoever it is will hide in the middle of the killer’s territory and swallow the Lord’s fragments!”
Fragments of Rod. A crystal containing the queen’s power that takes control of everything in the absorbed person and turns them into mute lords who hate humans.
Naelda’s choice to protect the Lord Slayer of the Tarigden Islands, who had been decided to be ‘slaughtered’, was a threat close to suicide terrorism.
“It was quiet for a while. So, I kept an eye on things, ran the train for a while, took out empty train compartments, sold them to other train managers, and borrowed some money from guys I knew. Those who have somewhere else to go with the money they earned, grab a lot of severance pay and escape this damn suicide train. As a result, we are the only ones left until the end. “They really have nowhere else to go but the rail ship.”
“The only hope left is to escape the Tarigden Islands by boat and go to the mainland… The nobles have all the boats that can overcome the rough waves, right? There’s no way those guys would give a ride to the blackmailer elf and his gang who are such a thorn in their eyes.”
Giggle, giggle.
“We held on for a few years… but now it seems our farm owners’ patience has reached its limit. If you are a Lord Slayer, rumors will spread even to the mainland, so why not quickly cut off the head and offer it to the elders of the mainland! You may have heard the yelling. “No matter what happens, if they don’t want to go back from being farm owners to livestock, they will have to capture Voltaeus.”
Naelda smiled and muttered, as if she were both empty and resigned. ‘Soul mage. He’s a soul mage… he’s smart.’ And.
“Voltheus…is kind by nature. I still believe there is hope for us to escape this place alive. So, I keep gathering people and when I find a promising child like you, I take the time to raise it and make it the power of our train.”
“That’s why I believe there is a future for you and I. “If you force yourself to accept the fragments and become a Lord Slayer, and become stronger, you will have a bright future.”
“…You stupid guy. “I forget this and that, and I don’t even know what I forgot…”
Naelda’s hand caressing the cheek of the fallen Volteus. That gentle touch contained more than affection for a colleague.
“Isn’t it miserable?”
“….”
“Baby, if you want to go back to being their livestock, I won’t stop you. Aren’t they completely wrong? If we become a little foolish, we can at least live like human beings rather than those of us who have human farm owners trying to kill us. “It’s a world like this, so it wouldn’t be a bad thing to live that kind of life.”
“If you don’t like that… well. I burned you because it seemed like you had nowhere to go and you didn’t belong in that killer’s lair. “I have no intention of holding on to the train that is the most out-of-the-way train in this kennel.”
“Stay as long as you want and then get off when you want.” “I have no hobby of dying with a beautiful baby in the future.”
“Naelda….”
“Go out now. When there are two adults in a dark, narrow space, they sometimes need time without children. hurry!”
Naelda is still waving her hands in a playful voice. But the last thing they looked back at as they walked out the door of the tail compartment.
It was like a couple just leaning on each other in the dark, unable to see an inch in front of them.
….Suddenly.
“Kid.”
“…Gary.”
“Like you, Voltaeus, you are a sentimental person by nature, so you tend to say a lot of unnecessary things. “As an adult, I advise you to get down.”
A dwarf who was always playful. Now that I know the inside story, I can feel that his playfulness was an expression of some kind of defiance and sadness.
“Gary… why did you stay?”
So I had no choice but to ask.
“me? I have no reeds other than here. What dwarf in the world would accept a ‘dwarf who is afraid of the dark’? Uh-huh-huh!”
“They are a stigmatized race that lives in burrows, but they are afraid of dark places. There is no other species like that. “I was born that way. I tried to change it, but it didn’t work.”
“Is it serious?”
“inexhaustibility. If you’re in a place like the tail compartment, you won’t be able to last even 30 seconds before fainting. So I boarded the train as a stoker. To be in front of the fire. “I was able to live as a useful person here thanks to my nature of waking up in my sleep when the lights go out.”
A dwarf sweeping the dark car body with hands full of burn scars and blisters.
“After there were no more places to live in the world, people became obsessed with things like their own place. In my case, this railship became my place.”
“That’s why I’m telling you to get off quickly, young nobleman. Run away quickly before you get stuck here too. Will I die if I stay here? “Hehehehe!”
The dwarf laughed sheepishly, waved his hand and went to his seat.
There were things that I could only see now that I knew about them.
Gary’s unsteady steps were because he was walking only in places where light came through the window in the dark room. The hurried steps were probably not enough and were meant to quickly return to the flame.
Bout Blackfoot Another dwarf, known as Gary’s friend, was not stooped, but a hunchback. I was just short so I didn’t notice right away.
The engineer, who had been wearing a mechanic’s uniform all the time, was busy moving around and his face was covered with beads of sweat.
People abandoned in a harsh world. Everyone who had somewhere to go on the once bigger and longer train is leaving. This is the only train where people move.
The train, driven by people who were considered lacking in the world, crossed the adversity of the soft land in a more perfect condition than anything else.
What was lacking was lacking, and what was special was special. The sight of people working and finding their seats in various parts of the train had a beauty like the stained glass of a cathedral with irregular pieces joined together.
A train that cannot rest comfortably anywhere, but is most comfortable when running on rough, soft ground.
A train rail ship that risks disaster.
“…I have to get down.”
As I muttered the words without realizing it, train drivers passing by tapped me on the shoulder. It’s as if they support you, as if you did a good job.
I’m sorry, but I didn’t mean it the way they thought.
“I have to take you down.”
April World. A world where an overwhelming number of evil people hunt good people and slaughter each other.
The rail ship was a train that carried the good people who were refined by the blade of alienation and death in such a world.
I wanted to save them. I wanted to allow them to experience not only the cramped stations and rough tracks, but also the wider land and free life outside of this island.
I wanted to get them off the tracks in the eternal treadmill that revolves around the archipelago of human breeding.
out of the train.
Get off the tracks and
into the sea. To a wider land.
I wanted to do that.
sincerely.
****
