Chapter 99

Chapter Player.2 To Think You’d Fight Mine Undefeated Self to a Draw! Gods’ Games We Play 1 “This is a special express train bound for the Flower-Viewing City of Aerlrith. We will be departing shortly.” The silver train sat gleaming in the central station of the Sacrament City of Ruin—and the whole platform was filled with the sound of Miranda’s shouting. “Come on, Pearl, you’ve got to hurry! If we miss this train, it’s all over!” “Run, Pearl!” “Ruuun!” “You’ve got to run!” “Pick up the pace, Chesty!” “This isn’t my faaauuult!” Pearl breathlessly staggered along, a huge travel bag strapped to her back. Everyone other than Pearl—the chief secretary, Fay, Leshea, Nel, and Uroboros—was already relaxing in their cabin on the train. “This all started because you got the departure time wrong by an hour, Chief Secretary… Wait, why are you all sitting and relaxing?! Shouldn’t you be cheering me on as I run for my life?!” Pearl complained. Pearl finally made it to the platform, flinging herself through the ticket gate with all her strength and toward where Fay and the others waited. “Thanks for your patience, everyone! The star is late, but she’s here! At last, I, Pearl, shall—” At exactly that moment, as Pearl lunged toward the train doors… “This special express is now leaving.” Ka-shunk. …the door snapped shut right before her eyes. “““G’bye, Pearl!””” the others called out. “Come on! This is not ‘Goodbye’!” Teleport. Pearl vanished from her forlorn place outside the departing train, and an instant later, she was standing in front of Fay where he lounged in the cabin. “Huff… Puff… I can’t…move another inch…” “Phew! Glad you made it in time!” the chief secretary said with a laugh. She was holding a half-drunk beer, having wasted no time in kicking off her vacation. “It’s going to be a long ride to Heckt-Scheherezade. This train won’t even take us all the way there, just to our transfer. It would have been no fun for anyone if you’d missed it.” “Then I wish you would have told me the right time to show up for this all-important train!” “You know, I’ve never traveled so far away,” said Nel, who had a map of the continent open. The line representing the Continental Railroad stretched far beyond their current location in Ruin. Heckt-Scheherezade, the Myth City, lay so far away that they would have to transfer to another line. “We’ll be passing through a mountain range so high that oxygen density is low, then there’s wilderness beyond that… Is it just me, or does part of this route pass through Rex territory?” “Oh, you’ve got a good eye, Nel,” said the chief secretary, who had already finished her first beer. She must have chugged it in virtually one gulp, but so far, she hadn’t so much as turned red. “While riding this train, I’ve seen a few wild Rexes myself. I don’t mean loners, either—whole herds of them. Boy, could they move. I sort of felt like I was riding through a Rex zoo!” “Isn’t that dangerous?!” “Oh, Pearl, calm down. Here, have some potato chips.” Pearl was white as a sheet, but Miranda seemed entirely at ease. “I said it was like a zoo, didn’t I? The Continental Railroad line is perfectly equipped to keep the monsters at bay. It’s a unique tourist opportunity, observing Rexes from the safety of a train!” Then she glanced at Fay. “We’re just on a trip, remember. Honestly, I think the moment we reach Heckt-Scheherezade, we’ll probably cause quite a stir. I mean, not me, but you, Fay. With your incredible string of victories in the gods’ games, I don’t think there’s a soul in the Arcane Court that doesn’t know about you.” “……You think so, Chief Secretary?” “You could stand to be a little more aware of the scale of your own achievements. As I think I’ve mentioned before…” Miranda leaned against the window frame and sighed, “…that record of wins is impressive enough on its own, but what really got everyone’s attention was that you were crucial to clearing Anubis’s maze. Even headquarters appreciated that. I expect they’ll welcome you with open arms.” It was all about impressions. If the Ruin branch office showed up and said “We’re going to investigate you!”, headquarters wouldn’t take it well. But if they just happened to drop in as tourists? The people of Heckt-Scheherezade would welcome them, and that might make headquarters lower their guard. “I actually expect them to be the ones to suggest you take a tour of headquarters. I’m sure they’d love to steal you from us.” All Fay and the others had to do was accept the invitation. They’d be able to walk into the Arcane Court building with heads held high—and let Uroboros find the four gods. “Which brings us to you, Lady Uroboros.” “Hmm?” The silver-haired girl in the UNDEFEATED T-shirt looked up as if thinking, You called? Her mouth was full of melon bread. “Human,” she said, her eyes sparkling. Her cheeks were stuffed full like a squirrel’s. “I presume you have business weighty enough to excuse invoking my name when I am in the middle of savoring this melon bread, the greatest of all snack breads.” Miranda, fixed beneath the god’s glare, somehow managed to just chuckle. “Of course. If there’s one thing you can’t do without on a train trip, it’s plenty of alcohol!” “But mineself does not drink alcohol,” Uroboros objected. “Yes, yes. But this smoked cheese is irresistible even without a drink to go with it. Please, do try some.” Uroboros took the cheese, looked it over several times, hummed thoughtfully, then tossed it into her mouth… “!” With a crash, she jumped up out of her seat. “S-such depth of flavor! Such smokiness! It is nothing like the cheese on pizza!”