Chapter 49
A long sigh of relief escaped Ha-seon's lips, which had been stiff with tension.
It seemed she could finally breathe easy because the children’s attention had shifted to Donggeulli.
"Ha-seon. They’re siblings who’ll be staying on our train for a while. I think they’ll stay in Car 2, but I’ll explain more when I get back. For now, I have someone to meet."
"Huh? Oh, yes! Please go ahead!"
I took the drones with me and stepped back outside the train.
When I returned to that dark alley from before, the masked man really was standing where I’d told him to, trembling as he waited for me.
"Now that I’ve dropped the kids off, let’s hear what you wanted."
I glared at the man as I planted my spear on the ground with a sharp thud.
At my icy reaction, the man swallowed hard, slowly raised a hand, took off his hat, and pulled his mask down beneath his chin.
He was a middle-aged man with an ordinary, somewhat gloomy face.
"Let me introduce myself properly, once again."
The man nervously scanned the surroundings several times, then stepped closer and spoke to me in a mosquito-thin voice.
"I’m an agent with the Administrative Bureau. But my true affiliation is closer to the Awakened Alliance."
"The Awakened Alliance?"
It was an unexpected introduction.
Should I think of him as some kind of spy?
It was a complicated self-introduction from our very first meeting.
I looked him over from head to toe.
"What do you think of the Administrative Bureau, by any chance?"
"...Honestly, I don’t think very highly of it."
They had even attached a tracking device to Ha-seon before, and I’d also seen what was posted in the gallery.
At my answer, the man nodded with a bitter smile, as if he agreed.
"We feel the same. The big shots in the Administrative Bureau care more about their own positions than about the people, even in a situation like this."
The man took a moment to catch his breath, then suddenly said something unexpected.
"So the Awakened Alliance plans to gather more politicians within the next few days."
"Huh?"
My eyes widened.
How did it end up like that?
"Even when we led the fight against the monsters, the general survivors’ support never came to us. It always went to the Administrative Bureau... and the politicians."
He gave a bitter laugh.
"People are afraid of Awakened who wield force. They actually feel more psychologically secure with politicians managing the safe zones—people they chose by voting with their own hands in the past, and who at least know the system and administration, whether they like them or not."
He wasn’t wrong.
Just looking at the people in the gallery or inside the safe zone, they were already adapting to the work assignments and system the Administrative Bureau handed out.
Apparently, the Awakened had especially noticed that difference in perception during the process of establishing this Administrative Bureau.
Both public sentiment and the actual restoration of Yeouido were moving faster than they’d expected.
"Still, public sentiment leaning that way turned out to be a good thing for us."
The man’s eyes flashed sharply for a moment.
"We could see them gradually splitting into factions. They even set up the Administrative Bureau, but the actual minister’s post is vacant. We’ll use this timing to get them fighting among themselves."
They seemed to have made quite a few plans.
I suddenly became curious.
Why he was telling me all this.
When I asked with a suspicious look, the man scanned the surroundings once more and lowered his voice even further.
"It’s transport. We need you to secretly move some very important cargo and people to Yeouido."
According to him, many of the politicians currently controlling Yeouido’s safe zone and acting like power brokers were actually politicians who, before the apocalypse, couldn’t even hold their heads up properly.
Politicians nobody had even known by name.
"They just happened to survive in Yeouido by luck, and used people’s anxiety to put on authority armbands."
"Really...?"
I didn’t know much about politics, so this was news to me.
"Since things have come to this, we’re thinking of bringing in proper, real politicians to Yeouido and muddying the waters."
His plan, as he explained it, was this.
By chance, through the gallery, they had contacted a group of survivors from another safe zone and learned that there were big-name businesspeople and politicians there leading the group—people who’d had serious clout before the collapse.
"After talking with them in advance through the gallery messenger, they seemed a little rigid and stuffy, but still far more responsible and proper than the people in Yeouido right now."
I thought with my arms crossed.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure how important it was how much power they’d had before the apocalypse, but the man thought differently.
"Public sentiment will swing sharply."
They might have beaten Awakened versus politician comparisons, but if politicians went up against politicians—
Hearing that, it did seem plausible.
"...Where do I need to go?"
"Your destination is the Suwon safe zone."
Then he held out a piece of paper.
"Please load the food and supplies we’ve smuggled out onto the train and take them to Suwon. Deliver those supplies to the Suwon safe zone, and bring the politicians and a few other people there back to Yeouido."
It was a trip to deliver supplies to Suwon, then come back with people aboard.
Of course, there was compensation too.
"We’ll give you the intermediate mana stones and Credits we’ve collected so far. We can promise 70 intermediate mana stones and around 1,000 Credits."
It was a fairly generous reward.
'70 intermediate mana stones...'
Luckily, it was exactly the reward I needed right now.
And I was curious, too.
I wanted to see what reaction the rabbits playing king in a tigerless den would have when they saw real famous politicians.
"Yes, I’ll do it."
It was a quest I couldn’t refuse, if only for the sake of the upgrade, and right now it was also the only move that could bring about meaningful change in Yeouido.
"This is embarrassing, but would it be possible to get the mana stone reward in advance?"
It was a little embarrassing, but I needed it right away.
The later I upgraded, the more I’d lose out.
In response to my request, the man promised to hand over the box containing the mana stones when the cargo was moved.
After hearing where we would receive the transport goods later, I parted ways with the man.
"Student! Wait just a second!"
Just as I was about to leave after parting with the man, the siblings’ mother came running toward the train from a distance, gasping for breath.
She was holding something in her hand.
"Mother?"
"Here, take this."
What she pressed into my hand was none other than Credits.
It looked like the Credits she’d received for sorting food at the convenience store.
"No, this..."
"From what I hear, Awakened can use these Credits to draw skills and get stronger, right? You’re protecting our kids, so I have to contribute somehow."
My chest felt tight for a moment.
"Ma’am. Please don’t do this. Why not just get on the train with the kids now..."
But she gently, yet firmly, shook her head.
"It’s okay. I’ll wait here. If I stay here, I can earn Credits too, and I can also keep you updated on Yeouido."
She also said that since she usually left the kids at home when she went to work, it would actually be less likely for anyone to notice the children were gone if she went out to work as usual.
"...If you change your mind or if anything comes up, contact me through the gallery. I’ll come right back."
"That’s reassuring. Thank you."
The mother said goodbye to the two siblings, who were waving from beyond the window.
After that, the little passengers ran off toward the bombardment golem sitting in the corner of the cab.
Clatter, clank!
The golem seemed to get along with the kids surprisingly well.
It crouched down, lifted the two kids onto its back, and adjusted its height so they were eye-level with the marimo in the tank.
Is watching that really that fun?
...Though looking at the tank does calm me down.
"Well then, let’s get going..."
The train left Yeouido and stopped on a quiet track a little ways from Singil Station, our meeting place.
"This is..."
We were supposed to receive the cargo here.
At the agreed location, members of the Awakened Alliance were already waiting, having piled up mountains of food and everyday supply boxes.
They were supplies to be sent to the Suwon safe zone.
Everyone was briefly taken aback by the train’s appearance, but once I opened the door and leaned out, they seemed to relax a little.
"We’ll load the goods. Please open the cargo car."
"We’ll handle it, so step back. Guys, I’m counting on you."
Whirr—!
The instant I gave the order, the drones and golem waiting on the train flew out and started lifting the heavy boxes with ease.
The golem dutifully stacked three boxes at a time and carried them to Car 3.
There were so many boxes that we split them between the passenger cars, Cars 2 and 3.
"Only this box is open... ah."
One of the boxes was for me.
The mana stones we’d agreed on in advance were inside.
The Awakened who had blankly watched the drones moving the luggage burst out in incredulous laughter.
"Hah, seriously... They carry cargo better than we do."
"Those boxes are way bigger than their own bodies..."
"That four-legged thing... I’m sure I’ve seen it in a game..."
"Ah~ that game?"
After loading everything, I parted ways with the Awakened and set the train in motion toward the Suwon safe zone.
"It’ll take some time to get to Suwon... Maybe I should do some upgrades in the meantime."
I opened the cab panel and decided to use the intermediate mana stones I’d taken as advance payment earlier.
The first thing I chose was the spike upgrade that the bombardment golem had strongly insisted on.
I also planned to use the passenger-car expansion upgrade to widen Car 3, so I could transport the politicians and people from the approaching Suwon safe zone.
[Consumes 50 intermediate mana stones and one month’s worth of fuel to upgrade the front spikes into a front crusher.]
[Consumes three months’ worth of fuel to expand Car 3’s space.]
Kreeeek—!
With that message, the train began changing shape in real time with a harsh metallic screech.
The children in the cab widened their eyes and looked out the window.
The golem came all the way up to the cab and looked down at the panel with apparent satisfaction.
Then it lightly tapped my arm with its foot, as if praising me.
"Yeah, thanks..."
The spikes that had been attached before disappeared, and in their place, huge circular gears stacked layer upon layer to form a crusher.
It looked vicious, like it would grind anything and everything to dust.
Then Car 3’s compartment rearranged itself with cracking sounds and became much wider from side to side.
The seating was adjusted accordingly, and middle seats were added.
"The performance definitely improved, though..."
I checked the train’s exterior through the feed from the outside camera on the monitor and let out a dry laugh.
A massive rail gun on the roof, a crusher covering half the train’s front.
The train had taken on an even more vicious appearance than before.
"Won’t everyone get scared and run away before they even get on the train?"
At Ha-seon’s words, I gave a wry smile.