Chapter 27
The Moving Train, The Hasty Man
* * *
“The next is….”
I checked my watch while enjoying my second breakfast.
Even if I ate as leisurely as possible, the ti I could buy with this was about 30 to 45 minutes.
Besides, staying here too long was dangerous in its own way.
It would be rude to summon a noble who was having breakfast, but it wasn’t rude for to go find them myself.
There was always the chance that the company commander might suddenly show up in the dining hall. If that happened, I wouldn’t be able to slip away.
It would look too suspicious. I just needed to linger here long enough to seem like I was having a relaxed al, then prepare to move elsewhere.
After finishing most of my al, I cut the palm of my hand with the steak knife.
“Hey, where do I go to get first aid?”
Right after, I pressed a handkerchief against the wound that was now bleeding and called out to a nearby Security Corps officer.
When the officer saw the blood soaking into the fabric, he flinched and imdiately answered.
“I will guide you at once.”
“Lead the way.”
If I claid I got injured in the dining hall and had to go get treatnt, I would be able to buy even more ti.
Since the steak knife wasn’t a scalpel, the wound it left was jagged and ssy.
On top of that, I had just used it to eat, so of course food particles had gotten into the cut.
Properly cleaning and treating this to avoid infection or scarring would take quite a while.
“Treat it properly.”
When I arrived at the infirmary and confird that the person treating wasn’t a noble, I silently let out a sigh of relief and gave that order.
The dic inspecting my wound tilted his head slightly.
“Um, how did you get this injury?”
“I cut myself on a steak knife.”
Hearing my answer, the dic’s expression turned even more puzzled.
A wound like this, from a steak knife? Sure, steak knives were sharp.
But this deep a cut?
Unless I’d rested my hand on the plate and mistaken it for the steak itself, it didn’t seem possible.
“Even so, for a wound this big to occur….”
“Are you here to treat or interrogate ?”
I spoke with an expression of irritation, and the dic finally shut his mouth.
“I’m sorry. I will begin treatnt at once.”
The wound was deep enough to require stitches, and since it was made by a food-stained knife, it had to be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.
“You must finish before the National Tax Service transport train arrives.”
It wasn’t a question it was an order. At my words, the dic quickly checked the clock.
“I will do my best.”
“I don’t care. I said finish before then. Can’t you understand plain speech? I truly wonder how soone like you ever qualified as a dic.”
Hearing Kairus’s cursed, unpleasant words, the dic silently ca up with all sorts of insults in his mind as he began the treatnt.
It was true that ti was tight. If he didn’t hurry, he might fail to carry out Kairus’s orders.
While the dic treated the wound, I kept working my mind busily.
Judging by the dic’s earlier answer, it seed like finishing treatnt before the train arrived would be cutting it close.
That was perfect. Even a company commander was nothing before His Majesty the Emperor of the Valorn Empire. Carrying out the Emperor’s orders naturally took precedence.
Jero had probably already reported to the company commander yesterday about why I ca to Saint Deville Station.
They couldn’t stop .
Once the treatnt was over and I stepped out, even if I ran into the company commander, it wouldn’t matter. I could exchange a brief greeting and hurry on my way.
The commander of the Security Corps couldn’t possibly suspect or detain just for moving quickly.
As my wound was being cleaned and stitched, I thought for a mont about Jero.
Kill or be killed.
Even if I were given the chance to choose again and again, I would make the sa decision every single ti.
If the other party surrendered, I always let them go once.
So before they could try to surrender, I liked to use the little trick of killing them swiftly.
“All necessary treatnt is complete.”
I checked the sutured wound. They had applied the disinfectant commonly called the red dicine, dried it, sared on petroleum jelly to finish, and wrapped it in a bandage.
“The stitches should be removed after two weeks. Please have an orthopedic doctor check them before taking them out.”
“All right.”
I stood up, took a few bills from my wallet, and handed them over.
It wasn’t common for nobles to tip subordinates.
But when receiving treatnt like this, failing to offer any gratuity would beco an embarrassing story that spread everywhere.
“Thank you.”
The dic, apparently accustod to such occasions, didn’t look surprised or impressed. He simply thanked and accepted the money.
He had actually hoped I would forget to give it.
Deep down, the dic would have preferred this rude noble to skip the tip.
If he’d gone around telling everyone I forgot, he could have sared that arrogant noble’s reputation in filth.
“There isn’t much ti left.”
I checked the ti again, then quickly stood up and left the room.
“Hey, you there.”
The mont I stepped out, I called to a passing Security Corps officer. When he ca over, I imdiately gave him an order.
“I heard the company commander was looking for . But I have absolutely no way to make ti to see him. You will go and inform the commander of this at once.”
Hearing my instruction, the officer answered that he understood and left.
Normally, in this sort of situation, the proper courtesy would be to send a letter of apology explaining the circumstances.
But having a commoner deliver such a ssage? That was absolutely unheard of.
The company commander would surely start suspecting my true identity.
That was fine. No, this was exactly the mont when the company commander should start doubting who I really was.
The train didn’t just stop briefly and depart right away.
The transport train carrying the national tax was going to undergo inspection before setting off again.
I organized my thoughts and reached for the sword hanging at my waist. From now on, I had to board the train without being noticed by anyone.
If I were discovered, a report that I had been seen at the station would be sent straight to the company commander.
Now was the ti to unleash the full output of the stained glass at my belt without reservation.
“When the train arrives, stop it and search the inside!”
While I waited for the train’s arrival, crouched on a steel beam near the platform, a middle-aged man’s shout rang in my ear.
Damn it, this was too fast.
I instantly sensed that sothing had gone wrong.
“Everyone rember this: the person you’re looking for had the dic suture a wound on his hand!”
I let out a small exclamation.
“So there was still soone sharp in the Empire Security Corps. I guess this wretched country isn’t completely finished yet.”
Even though I’d just been caught off guard by that competent bastard, I wasn’t in any mood to admire him.
What now? The train was almost at the station, already decelerating.
It wasn’t that there were no options left.
By this point, all preparations should have been complete anyway.
Before arriving at Saint Deville, I had already heard every detail of the plan from Spring Parsley.
“This ans I ended up with a pointless wound on my hand for nothing.”
I couldn’t hide my sense of frustration as I stared at the approaching train. But this wasn’t the ti to regret a re cut on my palm.
Pulling my hood low over my eyes, I spat onto the platform and threw myself toward the incoming train.
“It stands out at a glance.”
The silver train car, gleaming and without a single window, imdiately caught my eye.
Rather than trying to hide it, they’d chosen reliable protection instead. To be honest, there wasn’t really any need to conceal it.
At each stop, it was guarded by the Security Corps, and while moving, it was under the protection of the knights and the Imperial Army.
“Just getting here without being discovered was the real challenge in the first place!”
But I’d done it. It was only in the final mont that things had gone a bit sideways.
Plumting like a teor, I swung my sword at the coupling connecting the train cars.
With a sharp sound, the joint was severed. Now, the cars attached to the locomotive were only the ones carrying the national tax.
“All right. Next.”
Kairus confird the coupling had been sliced apart, then pushed off with his feet and sprang back into the air.
Inside the locomotive, the engineer at the controls and the workers shoveling coal flinched in surprise when a dull thud suddenly echoed from the ceiling.
Before their montary startlent could fade, a shrill tallic screech split the air.
“Waaah?!”
Without knowing who scread first, the engineer and the workers all cried out together as they saw a sharp blade cutting into the ceiling of the cab.
“Hello, friends. Whew, it’s damn hot in here.”
I greeted them casually, fanning myself with one hand while pointing my sword at them.
“Don’t slow down. Keep going. Unless you all feel like dying right here.”
Even in this mont, when their lives could be cut short at any instant, the engineer showed a sense of duty.
“B-but if we don’t perform maintenance and replenish coal and water, we won’t be able to run for long!”
That was a serious issue.
“How long can you run?”
“About five hours at most…”
Five hours. I raised a thumb with a snap.
“Plenty.”
In any case, there was no plan to keep the train moving for a full five hours.
“So, if you don’t want to lose your heads, keep this thing going. I’m not joking.”
With that, I stood by the entrance of the cab, “encouraging” the engineer and workers in my own aggressive way.
This was the engine car. The next two cars connected directly behind it were tenders loaded with coal and water.
Everything was turning into a complete ss. In the end, I hadn’t even gotten to use the drugs Tanya had provided.
Since the train hadn’t stopped at the designated station and was still rolling, the soldiers on board would sense sothing was wrong and start to act.
From now on, I would have to hold this entrance alone for the two hours until I reached the rendezvous point.
The only saving grace was that the door was narrow. Because I had already severed the coupling, I wouldn’t have to deal with the troops waiting behind the cars loaded with the national tax.
Aside from that, there wasn’t a single advantage left for .
I dipped a bucket into the water set aside for the n feeding the furnace and gulped down a ladleful, then wiped my mouth.
“All right, enough. Damn it. To hell with it.”
There’s a saying that when idiots start thinking, it’s because their bodies are at their limit.
I decided that if it ca to this, I would stand here alone, a single battle gear in my hands, and face down every bastard who tried to co through this cab.
“From now on, I’ll be guarding this door.”
Having resolved myself, I spoke to the engineer and the workers. At the sound of my low voice, the n flinched where they stood.
“If this train stops or slows down, I’ll pluck out your eyes one by one and stuff burning coal into the empty sockets.”
With that, I kicked the cab door open.
With a loud crash, the door swung wide, revealing the ard soldiers already charging toward .
“Hello, friends.”
I swung my sword once through the air. A sharp sound rang out as the blade sliced the wind.
“I get it, you know. You’re probably pissed off. You were conscripted by force, and now you’re about to die on a moving train.”
I raised my fist and smashed it into the train’s wall.
With a thunderous noise, the steel panel shattered.
A gaping hole yawned where the wall had been, and a roaring gust of wind surged into the cab.
It was far too spectacular a result to believe it ca from a single punch.
“If you get hurt or die here, the Empire won’t give your families a single coin in compensation. If you just walk away now, you might actually live.”
Over the howling wind, I addressed the soldiers.
…
They were silent.
The morale of conscripted soldiers was never high to begin with.
Patriotism and loyalty were not things you could simply instill by education or coercion.
“Waaah! Glory to His Majesty the Emperor and the proud Verona Empire!”
And yet, there was one soldier who clutched his weapon and charged straight at .
If that soldier had any cri, it was simply that he was brave and loyal.
He was not soone who deserved a wretched, slow, agonizing death.
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