Chapter 70
“If you ride a train, accidents happen—that’s just ‘common sense.’”
“...”
A heavy silence hung over the carriage.
Department Head Raymond, who had just summoned a spirit and was about to cast a defensive spell, stared at Lunaris with her mouth hanging open.
Common sense?
She had no idea what Lunaris was talking about.
Raymond's mind began tangling itself into knots.
If you think about it logically, predicting this train terror attack is nearly impossible.
For the attackers, the risk is huge while the payoff is hardly worth it.
From the terrorists' point of view, it was an attack with no motive and no results.
To be honest, the magic train was such lousy value for money that even Raymond, who also held the position of elder at the Mage Tower, thought so.
Is there really any reason to attack this thing...? Wouldn't just leaving it alone be the greater long-term loss?
Was it just to show their presence?
To spread fear?
Or to send some sort of message?
If their only goal was to inflict casualties, wouldn't it be far more efficient to seize some poorly defended frontier village instead?
‘Or... are they targeting the mages riding this train?’
If that was the case, it made a little more sense.
The train was, by design, a narrow closed space that was vulnerable to terrorism.
And if it carried only ordinary mages, that would be one thing.
But it also meant hunting two Archmage-level mages.
Seen that way, its strategic value was more than enough.
If they had thought Lunaris was merely a quasi-Archmage who had just reached the level of a top-tier mage, they would have figured they had to deal with her quickly before she grew any stronger.
It wasn't entirely incomprehensible that they had rushed to carry out the attack.
The problem, if there was one, was that Lunaris's talent was far beyond what they had imagined.
‘Come to think of it, how did they know Student Lunaris and I were on this train?’
It seemed like information had leaked from somewhere.
Could they have gotten hold of a message sent to the Mage Tower?
Or could there really be... a spy inside the academy?
Frowning, Department Head Raymond thought back over the past few days.
-Starting next semester, we'll have two Archmages at our Eltarion Academy!
-Huh? You say the title hasn't even been granted yet? That's why I'm going to the Mage Tower tomorrow! Ohohoho!!
“...”
Ah. Now that she thought about it, there were far too many places she could be blamed.
She suddenly started regretting how she'd gone around bragging to everyone she met inside the academy.
She had even blabbed the departure date so kindly and openly.
‘If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve kept my mouth shut.’
Department Head Raymond kept patting her own lips with her palm in frustration.
That aside, there was something else that was truly strange.
It was one thing that she had leaked the information and thereby allowed the terrorists to plan.
‘...How in the world did Student Lunaris figure this out?’
There were just too many things that didn't add up if you chalked it up to mere intuition.
Looking at it, Lunaris seemed to know exactly that there would be a bomb attack here, at this time, in this place today.
As if she had seen the future.
“...Could it be?!”
At the sudden thought, cold sweat ran down the department head's back.
She looked at Lunaris once again.
Lunaris was casually waving her fingers around, her expression composed.
-CRACK! CRUNCH!
There was nothing quite as grotesque as a wyvern being crushed like a wad of paper, one by one, with a single gesture.
Seen this way, even the magic she used was optimized to minimize damage from explosive attacks.
Before the explosion could even happen, she compressed space itself, trapping the energy in the gaps between spaces.
‘Did she really read the future...?’
Now that she thought about it, there were more than a few strange points.
Her especially strong aversion to the magic train was one of them.
And when a wyvern burst through the window with a huge explosion, she hadn't panicked at all—she had calmly asked why it was only now arriving.
Up until now, Department Head Raymond had thought Lunaris's signature magic originated in 'space'.
Telekinesis, too, and the power to warp space.
Because the ability to construct one's own world was, in essence, a power to interfere with space.
But looking at it now...
She began to think that maybe she was well-versed not only in space, but in 'time' as well.
Come to think of it, the world is made up of the combination of space and time.
A shiver ran through Raymond once her thoughts reached that point.
Perhaps Lunaris was a mage with even greater potential than Department Head Raymond had imagined.
And more than that,
‘Lunaris Student's laziness...’
She thought it might stem from the ennui inevitably felt by someone who had unconsciously realized the future.
If you already knew what would happen, was there any reason to struggle so desperately to defy fate?
‘For that child, is this world... like a novel whose ending is already decided?’
Of course, Department Head Raymond's approach had a huge flaw.
But from the perspective of someone who knew the whole truth, it was also a remark that came closer than anyone else's to Lunaris's true nature.
“H-heh, urgh... E-Elder Raymond. What on earth is that...?”
Then Benjamin, who was slumped on the floor, muttered in a trembling voice.
“She crushed a wyvern whole... What kind of magic is that?!”
His face had gone white with fear.
Ironically, the object of that fear was not the wyvern, but Lunaris.
“...”
Raymond swallowed hard in silence.
To be honest, she had been just as shocked.
“Actually, I was shocked too the first time I saw that girl's magic.”
Raymond answered calmly and seriously, unlike usual.
“As far as talent goes, she's long since surpassed me.”
By this point, there was no point in boasting.
“Could that be... is she moving the air with telekinesis?”
“I thought so at first too, but it isn't simple telekinesis.”
Department Head Raymond slowly shook her head and said.
“I'll explain in more detail during the Archmage assessment, but the origin of Student Lunaris's magic lies in the alteration of the world.”
Beyond merely changing the world.
At the words that she had reached a level where she could define the laws of nature as she pleased, Benjamin unconsciously drew in a sharp breath.
Meanwhile, Lunaris was finishing up the situation.
Just a few months ago, when she had faced a pack of wyverns in the forest, she had nearly gone into shock from mana depletion.
But now she had neatly taken care of them with just a few gestures.
She had even handled the exploding mana stones, so that said it all.
One semester at Eltarion Academy.
Lunaris had made remarkable strides without even realizing it herself.
“Hmm...”
Lunaris had sent all the wyverns flying out the window.
She brushed the dust off her spotless clothes and swept her gaze across the first-class carriage.
A heavy, deadly silence settled over the carriage.
Even so, the magic train kept rattling along the tracks as if nothing had happened, chug-chug-choo-choo.
“If it was attacked, wouldn't it be normal for the train to stop...?”
Lunaris muttered to herself.
“Does it make sense that no one has come even though the VIP first-class passengers were attacked...?”
It made no sense for them not to know something had happened.
“Looks like the conductor and the crew are in a situation where they can't come.”
Either they were being threatened, or they were already dead.
Or they were in on it.
“Well, that’s not my problem...”
Lunaris's deep-blue eyes began to sweep over the passengers in the first-class car one by one.
Like a predator choosing its prey.
Or like an inspector sorting out defective goods from among items on a display shelf.
Even the arrogant mages and the greedy merchants.
The moment they made eye contact with Lunaris, they hurriedly turned their heads away.
The sight of her crushing a monster with one finger was still fresh in their minds.
Soon, Lunaris's gaze stopped on a man seated in a corner.
He was clutching his luggage bag and trembling.
He had an ordinary, timid look that you could find anywhere.
He was a middle-aged man who really did not belong in first class.
“...Uh? Uwaaah?!”
The moment Lunaris reached out her hand, the man's body floated up into the air.
“A-Are you crazy? Let go of me! S-Someone save me!!”
The man suspended in midair shouted at the top of his lungs as if he were the one wronged.
His cries were so miserable that the surrounding passengers, who had been silent, began whispering one by one.
“Shouldn't we stop your student?”
Benjamin whispered to Department Head Raymond, looking flustered.
“Let's wait and see. If it's Student Lunaris and no one else, there must be a reason.”
The department head shook her head, saying she was the type to do nothing rather than go out of her way to make trouble.
Come to think of it, there were only a handful of people who understood Lunaris that well.
“Mister.”
“L-Let go of me and talk! Do you even know who I am?!”
“You're so loud. Shut up already. My ears are ringing.”
Lunaris lazily said while digging at her ear with her pinky finger.
“And stop acting. I'm interrogating you because I already know everything.”
“Wh-what do you mean...”
“I can feel the same mana wave coming from your body as from the self-destruct mana stones embedded in the wyverns.”
“...What?”
The man's expression hardened in an instant.
At the same time, Raymond and the others also inhaled sharply before they realized it.
She had been analyzing mana waves in that chaos?
Lunaris flicked her finger.
Soon, a red mana stone dropped from inside the man's clothes.
It was the same mana stone that had been embedded in the wyvern's skin.
“N-No! I don't know anything! Why is this on me... Gaaah!”
The moment he started making excuses, the man's right arm twisted at a grotesque angle.
“Sigh-”
Lunaris sat down with a thud, red mana stone in hand, and crossed her legs.
“I don't know whether you're an accomplice or a victim, but you must've at least come into contact with the 'real' one, right?”
“...!”
“So spill it. Appearance, what they said, whatever. Anything you think might be related.”
Her voice was flat and dry.
That made her sound even more menacing.
“If you keep talking nonsense, I'll tear your arm right off.”
“U, ugh...”
A moan of pain and fear escaped from the man's mouth.
Looking at how emotionless she seemed, one had to wonder if she was really human.
“I-I really have nothing to do with this! I was just told I'd get a big payout if I delivered that mana stone to the Mage Tower...!”
“Who?”
“I-I don't know! They gave me plenty of upfront payment and a first-class magic train ticket, that's all! If I'd known it was this kind of job, I wouldn't have taken it either!”
So in the end, he was just a courier.
Lunaris clicked her tongue in annoyance.
“What did they look like? Tell me roughly.”
“I couldn't see the face... it was covered by a black hood... but the beard... gahh!”
Then the man suddenly rolled his eyes back.
Foam began bubbling from his mouth.
“Kkhh-! Grrrk...”
The man thrashed in midair, went into convulsions, and soon went limp.
Soon, black smoke rose from his mouth and nose, and his skin charred pitch-black.
“Aaaagh!”
“W-what is that!”
Lunaris sighed as she tapped the red mana stone in her hand.
“Looks like this got tangled up with some troublesome people.”
Then she flicked the mana stone out the window.
The popping boom grew farther and farther away.
Lunaris dusted off her hands and sat back down in her seat.
Then she started eating from her lunch box again.
“Then I'll leave the rest to you, Department Head. Nom-”
Looking at her biting into a sausage as if nothing had happened, Department Head Raymond asked in bewilderment.
“The rest? What do you mean?”
“Well, there’s a lot of stuff, you know. Writing the report on this incident, cleaning up the aftermath too.”
“That would of course be me...”
“More importantly, this attack itself still isn't over.”
“...Pardon?”
“Just looking at the fact that the train is still moving, doesn't something seem off?”
“...!”
As they say, bad premonitions are never wrong.
The moment the train entered a sharp curve around the mountainside,
-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!!
The steep cliff above the tracks collapsed in its entirety.
“A-a landslide...!”
The timing was absurdly perfect.
As if they knew this train would pass through here at exactly this time.
“T-these crazy bastards...”
“Then, Department Head, I'll leave the aftermath to you. I used too much mana earlier...”
“What are you saying? Student, I can tell perfectly well that you're totally fine?!”
“I mean... I did use a lot of power.”
“Anyway, good luck.”
Saying that, she gave a tiny encouraging fist pump and then leaned back comfortably against the seat, making Raymond want to flick her forehead.
She was boiling inside, but had nothing to say.
Up until now, Lunaris had basically done everything by herself.
The department head's dignity was in shambles.
“Ah, seriously...!”
Along with Department Head Raymond's irritated voice, an earth spirit appeared.
“I don't care who they are, I won't let them get away with this!”
The moment all sorts of formulas and magic circles filled the narrow train car, the ground outside the window began to tremble.