Shopping (1)

I returned to the train, breathed in the warm air, and took a short breather.

Then I stared blankly out the window.

I hated the cold, but sitting in the heated cockpit and enjoying the snow-covered city had a certain charm to it.

"Phew... Nice."

I even found myself wondering whether, once I finished modifying the tracks, I could put monster hunting on hold for a while and leisurely travel around by train.

Since there wouldn't be any people at the tourist destinations, wouldn't it be quite pleasant?

Of course, if I really were the only person left, I wouldn't be able to buy anything to eat.

I opened the Survivor Gallery and checked on the latest situation in Yeouido.

'...Yeouido seems to have stabilized faster than I expected.'

From what I could see on the Survivor Gallery, Yeouido seemed to have adapted quickly to the changes in the world.

For starters, it seemed that several people within the management department had formed contracts with Constellations.

As the largest safe zone, perhaps it attracted considerable attention from the Constellations. Many people had received offers to become incarnations, and they seemed to have contracted with Constellations whose names sounded safe enough at a glance.

The surprising part was that the people who had become incarnations included the man who made the strong liquor I had obtained before.

"What kind of Constellation could it be...?"

I would have to ask him discreetly when I met him later.

I got to my feet and headed toward the passenger car.

"Look over there."

"The snow stopped?"

"It was because of the blizzard. I didn't realize the gymnasium was this close to the station..."

After the gorilla died and the blizzard cleared, the people in the passenger car also crowded around the windows and stared blankly at the scenery outside.

Seeing their expressions, I asked cautiously.

"Is anyone thinking of staying here?"

"Ah, no! Absolutely not!"

"Just looking at that snow-covered ground makes me feel like throwing up..."

Everyone strongly shook their heads with pale faces, as though they had rehearsed it together.

I suggested the beastkin town, and the people nodded, saying that anywhere would be better than this place.

We decided on the beastkin town as our destination.

***

After leaving the frozen city, the train stopped in front of the familiar beastkin town.

The passenger car door opened, and the people began stepping outside one by one.

And Nabi, who had always eaten, slept, and lounged around inside the train, hopped outside for the first time.

"...Mew."

Nabi seemed to like the unfamiliar environment. With the flexible, swift movements peculiar to cats, it climbed up and down the walls and began poking around everywhere with eyes full of curiosity.

The people who had come to greet me watched Nabi in admiration, following it with their eyes.

"It has cat ears..."

"There really are beastkin..."

"You've seen elves and dwarves too, so why are you surprised?"

Just then, someone came walking from deeper inside the town with a loud clanking of metal.

"Conductor, long time no see."

It was the dwarf, carrying a hammer.

But the dwarf looked strangely different today.

His formerly shaggy beard gleamed, and the muscles in his thick arms gripping the hammer looked even more taut than before.

"...You seem different somehow."

"There's a reason for that. But more importantly... who are these people, and what is that beastkin?"

The dwarf glanced at Nabi as he spoke.

I explained the general situation and introduced the people I had rescued from the gymnasium, the male incarnation, and Nabi, who was scurrying around.

"Those two are both incarnations who have contracted with Constellations."

The dwarf laughed heartily as he listened to me and stroked his abundant beard.

"Ha-ha! With no fewer than three incarnations in this narrow place, we won't have anything to worry about even if a dullahan comes again like before!"

"Three?"

I stared blankly around me for a moment at the dwarf's hearty laughter.

The man and Nabi were the two incarnations I had brought, so if he said there were three, that meant—

"Was there someone among the survivors here who became an incarnation?"

When I asked, trailing off at the end, the dwarf gave me a crooked smile.

Then he rested the hammer on his shoulder and tapped his broad chest with a thick thumb.

"Right here."

"Huh?"

"I became an incarnation two days ago!"

At the sight of the dwarf proudly pointing to himself, I could only stand there with my mouth hanging open.

So he had become an incarnation.

The strangely glossy beard and thicker forearms finally made sense.

The dwarf proudly laughed as he tapped his chest, then put away his playfulness and stared at me with a serious expression.

"So that means our town can hold out just fine for a while without you having to run around everywhere. So now, try making proper use of that train."

"What do you mean, make proper use of the train?"

When I tilted my head, the dwarf scratched his beard and clicked his tongue.

"Look at the routes you've traveled so far. You've always gone to rescue survivors gathered in one place, or stayed near Yeouido and the beastkin town just in case, haven't you?"

"...Ah."

That was certainly true.

Even though I had a means of transportation called a train, I hadn't traveled over a very wide radius.

Instead, I had focused on helping the two places—Yeouido and the beastkin town—and transporting people.

"I'm not saying that was wrong. Thanks to you, many people and I received help. But what I'm saying is that it's a waste."

The dwarf pointed at the train.

"If you have something like that, shouldn't you go to places with few people, places no one ever visits? That way, genuine treasures and useful resources that no one else has taken will still be there."

I nodded at the dwarf's words.

He was right.

Even with the train, I had always kept my location within the survivors' sphere of activity.

After the map appeared, I had followed reports around even more closely.

Although I was aiming to modify the tracks so I could go anywhere, I hadn't even visited every place connected by tracks.

"Anyway, if you're dragging that fearsome hunk of metal around, there won't be anywhere you need to fear. So go far away and visit all sorts of places, as if you're actually traveling."

"Traveling..."

It was just as I absentmindedly rolled that word around in my mind.

"Are we going on a trip?"

Behind me, Jiwoo and Sua, the siblings, had appeared at some point. Their eyes grew round and sparkled like rabbits'.

It seemed the word 'travel' had struck a chord with the children, who had been spending an unusual amount of time inside the train lately.

It was a somewhat extravagant word in a world like this, but—

'Can't I do that?'

"Yeah. Go on a trip. You don't have to take responsibility for every survivor in this ruined world."

The dwarf patted me with a rough hand and continued.

"If a young girl who won't even live fifty years tries to carry the burdens of the whole world, her bones will wear away. People like us and those fellows over in Yeouido are taking care of our own meals just fine, so you should live a little selfishly and do what you want."

'Fifty years at most...'

I swallowed a hollow laugh.

By human standards, fifty years would make someone middle-aged, but in terms of a dwarf's sense of age, it seemed we were all still considered young.

Yet that blunt but warm consolation gently melted the strange sense of responsibility weighing down my shoulders.

'Yeah, let's go a little farther this time.'

I had already been thinking that I wanted to travel leisurely.

An unexplored region with no information or pins on the Gallery map.

It might not be a bad idea to head there.

As the dwarf had said, perhaps I would find something good that had been left untouched by human hands.

Seeing my expression brighten, the dwarf grinned and finally revealed one last bit of his true intentions.

"Oh, and while you're traveling, clear out all those obnoxious monsters and obstacles loitering around the tracks before you leave."

"Why bring that up all of a sudden?"

"I'm making something that can use those tracks to transport supplies too. It would be a waste for me to be the only one using them, wouldn't it?"

The dwarf laughed heartily, then waved and walked back toward the smithy deeper inside the town.

"...Are you planning to make some kind of mine cart?"

I smiled and nodded.

Clearing the tracks wasn't a difficult request.

Sssrrk.

As I opened the train door to get inside, Nabi, who had gone exploring as far as the bank building, came darting into the train with nimble movements.

Although it had taken a liking to the beastkin town and inspected it from one end to the other, it promptly entered the passenger car, curled up, and claimed a spot as though it were its assigned seat.

"...Yeah, you come too."

I let out a small laugh at the sight.

I might need to pack some extra snacks this time.

"All right, we're really leaving."

When I pulled the lever, the train began gliding along the tracks with a smooth mechanical hum.

For the moment, I set our course for Busan.

I chose the farthest place from Seoul as our destination at random.

There was no particular reason or destination in mind. I simply decided to go as far as I could in whatever direction the tracks took me, while leisurely seeing what condition the cities I had never visited were in.

As the dwarf had said, if there were tracks, there was no reason I couldn't go there.

As I slowly drove the train along the tracks, a massive blue-and-yellow building entered my view.

I was so captivated that I pulled the lever and brought the train to a stop.

"It's a furniture store."

Seeing the enormous store standing forlornly in the middle of the ruined world, I suddenly found myself thinking of all the furniture I had once taken for granted.

In fact, by using the train's built-in functions, I could spend a little magic stone and fuel to produce decent furniture, beds, and things like that.

But the furniture produced that way was focused entirely on functionality and durability, so I couldn't expect it to be comfortable or cozy.

By now I was perfectly accustomed to this environment and could sleep and wake up without much fuss, but honestly, sleeping inside the train wasn't all that comfortable.

"That sofa was really nice."

I suddenly remembered visiting the siblings' home in the Yeouido safe zone.

After eating, I had leaned against the sofa in the living room and immediately fallen into a deep sleep, as though I had been knocked unconscious.

As that memory of sleep resurfaced, I suddenly began imagining all the mattresses and bedding piled up inside the furniture store.

"Sleep is important, after all."

With the golem and drones, hauling an entire heavy sofa or mattress out of there would no longer be a problem.

I ordered the drones to clear the way, then decided that this time, we would all go outside together and look around the furniture store.