Chapter 134 - An Unfinished Story (1)

This is a trivial epilogue.

What happened next can be roughly guessed without me adding various embellishments.

In the instant after witnessing the rings of light, the spear strike that extended from Serene's hand annihilated the horde of undead that had been trapped in Car 5. That thing, which had been a hideous sight of various corpses tangled together.

Kwaaaaaang-!!

Along with the explosive sound and blast that erupted with a time lag after the spear strike hit.

In that situation, the train continued to run as a minimum amount of magic had been left in its engine, and as a result, we weren't caught up in it.

“……What a spectacle.”

I muttered to myself.

The scene of the mass of bizarrely entangled corpses being incinerated without a trace by an emerald-colored explosion was enough to give me such a sense of elation.

‘Serene is……’

I was momentarily captivated by the scene, but I soon turned my gaze back to Serene. I was wondering about her condition.

Since it was a strike that poured out all the magic she possessed, it wouldn't have been strange if she collapsed from magic exhaustion.

However, my worries seemed to have been unfounded.

“……”

Serene was still standing firmly in the spot where she had thrown the spear, watching the scene of the explosion disappear beyond the horizon with her eyes.

Thud.

I slowly walked over to her side, and I could barely feel any sense of fatigue on her face.

“It’s beautiful.”

Perhaps that shouldn't have been the first thing I said. 'Good work,' 'That was amazing,' 'I was impressed,' and so on… there would have been many other good things to say.

However, the first words that came out of my mouth were words of admiration for the beauty of the scene.

‘It’s similar to Arien’s case.’

Was it just my imagination that the feeling from that time, when Arien decided her own fate and overcame adversity with her own power, overlapped with this moment?

However, to my remark, Serene gave a somewhat unexpected answer.

“……It’s all thanks to you.”

Thanks to me, she said.

Serene said so, even though I had done nothing.

Even though all I did was push her from behind.

“……”

I couldn't answer her and lowered my head. In the first place, I probably didn't even have the right to answer.

***

Rattle, rattle-

Not long after, the train came to a stop.

It was a natural outcome. We had absorbed all the magic, leaving only the minimum power to create distance from Car 5.

Of course, Regina had a plan for what to do after the destruction of Car 5 as well.

The plan was to identify our current location and dispatch someone to the nearest knight order garrison to request rescue.

“Shouldn’t we check if Car 5 was properly destroyed?”

I went to see Regina and asked, but… Regina, sitting in her seat, put a finger to her chin and replied.

“Hmm… I certainly thought it would be more certain that way. But don't you get that feeling?”

“That feeling…?”

“The feeling that you can tell the result without opening the lid.”

Hmm.

Regina was right. Separate from the thought that we needed to check for sure, I had a strange sense of certainty for some reason.

A certainty that the 『Despair Without Cost』 in Car 5 had been completely destroyed.

And it seemed Regina felt the same way.

“……That being said, I agree. We were planning to send a reconnaissance team from the beginning.”

Of course, Regina, the embodiment of caution who would tap a stone bridge before crossing, would not neglect post-event confirmation.

“In that case, may I go……”

“Hmm?”

When I volunteered to go in response to Regina's words, she shook her head.

“Are you trying to make me into a shameless monarch who orders someone who was unconscious just a few hours ago to go on reconnaissance?”

“……That was not my intention.”

“I know~”

She said, with that sly smile and malicious joke.

Well, from my perspective, it could also be seen as concern.

“I can roughly guess what stimulated the young master, but I don’t think there’s any need to be hasty, you know?”

What followed from Regina's mouth was that, and it might have been true to some extent.

After Serene accomplished something of that magnitude, was it okay for me to just sit back and reap the benefits? It wasn't that I didn't have such thoughts.

“You were magnificent enough. Along with the young master of the Cardenas family, you two broke through to Car 1, defeated the enemy leader, and saved me.”

“You praise me too much.”

“No, you were truly just as I expected.”

“……”

As she expected.

Was my evaluation that high in Regina's eyes? Or was there another meaning?

Such questions arose, but I didn't voice them.

Regina probably wanted it that way.

“Go and get some rest, Sir Knight?”

As the conversation was about to end, Regina smiled with playful eyes and said that to me.

“……I appreciate your consideration.”

Having spent quite a long time with Regina, I knew that this was her own way of showing consideration.

Sir Knight.

That's a nice word to hear, I thought.

And while such a conversation was taking place.

Knock, knock.

A knock echoed in the princess's office. For a knock on the princess's door, it was a rather thoughtless and loud sound.

“Come in.”

After the princess replied, it was natural for the owner of the knock to enter the room, and I couldn't help but be surprised to see who it was.

A characteristic ponytail, a nonchalant impression.

Those were the physical characteristics of Croban Trase, one of the seven protagonists of Arche.

Croban faced the princess, but I couldn't sense any particular sign of him showing great courtesy.

In the first place, he probably didn't know such etiquette himself, and he himself was aware of that fact.

Nod.

The fact that he handled the greeting simply with a silent bow was typical of him.

“I came because I have something urgent to tell you… but were you in the middle of a conversation?”

Croban looked at me once and then spoke to the princess.

“……Should I excuse myself?”

Feeling that an important conversation was about to take place, I asked the princess, but…….

“No- Young Master, please listen in as well. To what he has to say.”

“If you say so.”

At the princess's words, I remained in my seat, and we focused on the ‘story’ Croban was about to tell.

“What I am about to tell you is the full account of the attack on the Railroad Mysterium.”

Croban said that the mastermind behind this attack was the Hardline Faction of the rebels, an attack instigated by those among them who had crossed the line.

Well, I had expected it to some extent.

Those who openly showed such animosity towards the Empire, and those who would attack the Railroad Mysterium, which was filled with high nobles, were just about that kind of people.

“However, my superior has asked me to convey that this incident does not represent the consensus of the rebel army.”

His superior.

‘If it’s his superior, is it the current leader of the rebels, Enrique?’

Originally, in the scenario, he should have been killed by Gabriel by this point… but since Gabriel had been eliminated, he must have been the one who gave the order.

“Hmm……”

Tap, tap, tap.

Even after those words ended, Regina seemed lost in thought, continuously tapping the desk with her index finger.

In fact, when you think about it, it's a funny situation.

A messenger from the rebel army is standing before the princess, making excuses that it wasn't their intention.

Normally, the right thing to do would be to arrest him on the spot, find out the rebel army's base, and wipe them all out.

However.

“I understand your intention.”

Regina was not that foolish.

She naturally knew that if things went that way, it would only strengthen the opinion of hardline suppression from Claudio's side, which led the Conservative Faction.

Enrique probably foresaw this and sent Croban.

After Croban, who had delivered such a short message, left, I asked Regina.

“How do you plan to handle this matter?”

“Well, we’ll have to treat it as the work of simple train robbers. It doesn't seem like any of the passengers have figured out the inside story or the identity of the enemy.”

I silently nodded my head in agreement with that solution.

In these matters, we were on the same page in many ways.

***

After that, nothing particularly eventful happened. After exchanging some idle chatter, I left the princess's room.

And then, what to do? I realized that my schedule was completely free.

I thought about using this time to train a little more, but my body was not in good shape, so I put that thought aside.

No matter how much I valued training, I wasn't out of my mind.

Thud.

Instead of returning to my room, I went outside the now-stopped train. A few trees stood here and there on the vast plain.

It was meant to be a simple walk. Having lived only inside the train for the past few days, I missed the outside air a little.

And it seemed there were a few others who thought the same as me, as quite a few people were out.

‘Should I go in a little deeper?’

Thud.

As someone who doesn't enjoy crowded places, I avoided them and went a little deeper.

And as I approached a tree in a quiet area of the plain, I found her.

“……”

A girl sitting cross-legged in front of the tree with a lantern placed before her, staring blankly at the sky.

Golden hair that shone reflecting the moonlight, emerald eyes that resembled that beautiful explosion.

Serene El Stellia.

“……Rain-ssi.”

The girl, seeming to have sensed my presence, slowly turned to look back at me.

Come to think of it, I still had an unfinished story with the girl.

For instance, the story about my past that Serene occasionally hinted at.

The story of why she showed such deep trust in me.

The story of why I was her idol.

The night was still long, and the lantern's fuel seemed plentiful.

It was time to tell the unfinished story.