Chapter 128: Chapter 128

Chapter 128 - Unresolved Issues (1)

After Serene put her coat on me and stepped forward, my memory…… was honestly rather vague. The reason was simple. I had briefly lost consciousness.

Well, it was barely enough to call it losing consciousness. It was more like I had dozed off due to the accumulated fatigue from continuous battles and the warmth of the healing magic Serene cast on me.

And after a short while, amidst a murky consciousness, I gradually regained my senses. And what appeared in my darkened vision was…….

[ System: Checkpoint has been updated! ]

It was such a notification. It must mean that the current situation had been resolved in some way.

With a groan, I tried to control my body, including my eyelids. It was the feeling of waking up from a deep sleep.

The first thing that entered my sight when I opened my eyes was…….

The girl with black bobbed hair and golden eyes, looking at me with a familiar dazed expression.

Yes, it was about Yuna.

“……Yes, well. I woke up.”

I couldn't think of anything to say in response to Yuna's single word ‘woke up,’ so I replied calmly.

Yuna stared at me with that blank expression for a moment, then…….

After that brief silence, she suddenly shouted and rushed at me with a tearful face.

Even I couldn't help but be flustered by her intense reaction. Although Yuna was usually a type with strong emotions, this kind of reaction was unfamiliar.

It was because Yuna was holding me, leaning against the wall, and shouting like that.

‘It was certainly a severe injury.’

The situation being what it was, I hadn't accurately assessed my injury, but a considerable part of my side must have been torn away.

Before losing consciousness, I remembered feeling pain and a chill from my right side.

Hmm…… well, such an intense reaction probably wasn't surprising.

For Yuna, who had rarely seen her friends get hurt, this reaction would be even more natural.

Anyway, that was that.

‘How should I respond……’

Anyway, since there was no precedent for such a situation, I couldn't help but feel awkward.

As I was being held, my arms were left with nowhere to go.

“Really…… why, really, always……!”

……Hmm, Yuna's characteristic symptom of losing her language ability when her emotions were heightened had appeared.

From experience, it was obvious that it would continue for at least 5 to 10 minutes, so I looked around, still being held, searching for someone to help.

As if my prayer had reached the heavens, fortunately, someone was passing by the room I was leaning against, and that person was Elwin.

Elwin happened to be looking this way, so I desperately rolled my eyes, trying to ask for help, but…….

Elwin made an expression of relief, then shook his head.

No, don't be relieved on your own, help me.

This was a greater crisis than when I was fighting Vargas earlier……!

Cruelly, Elwin passed by me after seeing me, but a few minutes later, fortunately, a helping hand reached me.

“Alright, that’s enough~”

Regina, the Princess, who had been taken hostage, proved that the situation was resolved by happening upon the scene while passing through the corridor and intervening.

And only upon hearing that voice did Yuna seem to snap out of it, her face flushing bright red as she pulled away from me.

“……Are you finally coming to your senses?”

Only then could I have a rational conversation with Yuna.

“No, that, ugh, oh…… This, that. I was just worried, so……”

Yuna herself seemed to realize the embarrassment of her actions, losing her language ability again.

“Well, I understand. It means you were worried that much.”

“Hehehe, how fresh and cute~”

Regina and I each added a comment to Yuna's reaction. I nodded calmly as I spoke, and Regina spoke in a lively, teasing tone.

I wondered about Regina's adult-like reaction to seeing youth.

‘You're the same age as us.’

But perhaps our indifferent reactions made her even more embarrassed, as Yuna's bright red face showed no signs of calming down…….

Then she shouted and ran out of the cabin.

I murmured that with a small sigh, but that action wasn't necessarily negative.

A purely innocent and untainted girl. Perhaps I was even relieved that the image of Yuna I had seen in remained unchanged.

Anyway, I let out a comfortable sigh and turned my head towards Regina…… but.

“What is that? That pleased look. Or perhaps you preferred being held?”

Regina said that with a smile, in a teasing tone.

It was clearly Regina making a joke as usual, but why did I feel a strange chill from her smile?

‘Well, it must just be cold because my body isn't in good condition.’

“……No, more importantly, how's the situation?”

“Slippery as an eel.”

Hmm. Somehow, from that tone, I felt that the chill in her earlier smile might not have been my imagination, but anyway, Regina answered my question.

The content was roughly as expected. All intruders inside the train had been subdued, and the artifacts, 『One-way Teleportation Portal』 and 『Phase Coordinates』, which were presumed to be their infiltration route, had been destroyed.

At those words, I slowly checked the time. Less than 30 minutes had passed since I checked the time just before entering the previous battle.

Furthermore, I heard that they didn't kill the enemies, but subdued many of them enough for interrogation…… Hmm.

It was obvious who did it without even looking. Serene must have done it.

Apparently, enemy reinforcements kept coming, but they were all subdued non-lethally.

It was surprisingly astonishing, but in fact, it wasn't utterly surprising either.

Because I thought Serene would naturally do so.

‘If it weren't for the checkpoint designation, I would have thought of bringing Serene along first.’

If Serene had just been brought to the locomotive side before the train separated, the situation would have been over.

But well, what's done is done. The checkpoint has already been designated, and there are still things to do, aren't there?

I finished my thoughts and slowly spoke.

“As Elwin must have told you, the situation isn't over yet.”

Yes. It was still remaining. The problem of dealing with 『Death Without Cost』…… no, 『Despair Without Cost』, which would be running wild in Car 5's artifact storage.

After that, I got up and left the cabin. I needed to discuss the handling of 『Despair Without Cost』 with several key figures, and to do that, I first had to gather people. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ NoveI★Fire.net

“You've just been injured, wouldn't it be better if you just rested? I'll take care of gathering people.”

Regina tried to dissuade me with those words, and there was truth to what she said, but…… well. My current physical condition wasn't actually that bad.

Thanks to the healing magic Serene had cast, I was perfectly fine to walk around, even if fighting was out of the question.

“It's fine. It's better to have another pair of hands to gather people quickly.”

Therefore, I refused Regina's words, and that's why I was currently moving around, looking for a few individuals.

As I walked through the train, I could easily spot intruders—that is, rebel forces—who were subdued and groaning here and there.

Even though their numbers were considerable, seeing them all cleanly subdued without fatal injuries made me feel admiration, even though I knew Serene's skill.

But there were also scenes that caught my eye as I walked through the train. And that was the behavior of an unnamed man…… a passenger who had been released from hostage status.

“These pieces of trash…… how dare they……!”

According to Regina, she had instructed them to refrain from moving around until the situation calmed down, but there was this fellow who crawled out and vented his frustration on the unconscious rebels.

Well. I could understand the anger itself.

It wasn't right, but the rebel intruders on the opposing side had also shown hostility, almost akin to killing intent, just for the reason of being nobles.

-These…… Imperial…… bastards…….

While the rebel side had the justification of being oppressed, if one considered it that way, the noble side also had the justification of having their lives threatened. It was the same.

‘It's a vicious cycle.’

Hostility begets hostility, and reason begets reason.

Because everyone has a reason, no one stops.

But. That was that, and this was this.

‘It might be understandable, but it can never be called right.’

The reason for an action does not guarantee its justification.

Therefore, I stood in front of that unnamed passenger, the noble.

“That's enough. It doesn't look good.”

It was something I could have just ignored…… but well.

There was no particular reason. Would "I just wanted to" be a sufficient reason?

And what was the reaction of the person who heard my words?

It would not be difficult to infer his reaction.

An despised illegitimate child, and one whose derogatory nickname was widely spread in Imperial high society, blocking his path.

After he recognized me, just as the promised clichéd development and lines were about to follow.

“Hmm, I also think it would be best if you stopped.”

The voice that came from behind me was like that.

A voice that naturally reassured people and seemed to lead them.

When I turned around at that familiar voice…… there, as expected, was the girl with golden hair and emerald eyes. Serene was there.