With this railway connecting the Kingdom of Aryaka and the Dwarven Great Caves, it would become much easier to reach the eastern part of the continent. However, that extended to the Demon Lord’s army as well. If they managed to take over the Dwarven Great Caves, it would become easy for them to transport troops to the border with Aryaka. The convenience of new technology came with its own concerns.
Sounding its steam whistle, the Trailblazer began to leave the dark station with a dull chugging.
“Does this train run on steam?” I asked Chief Jörd, who sat in the box seats nearby.
“Steam?”
“You’re not boiling water with fire magic stones and turning it into steam to turn the turbines with?”
“What? Why would we do something so pointlessly complicated? The engine operates on wind magic stones, taking power from them directly and transferring it to the wheels.”
It turned out they had engines that could directly extract gyration, which was simpler than complicated steam engines.
As the Trailblazer chugged along the rails, I once again considered the scale of this whole project. Before Prince Jonas had gotten involved with Jaromíra, he was highly competent. It was truly regrettable he had fallen from power over something so silly.
After everything that happened, he had apparently submitted a petition to finally marry Jaromíra. He seemed to be taking his farm work seriously, and even requested to study for the position of an agricultural adviser. And if a former prince became an agricultural adviser, those nobles who made fun of farmers and never listened to them would surely change their attitude. Prince Richie was happy about Jonas’s plans, saying it was “just like him to come up with such good ideas.” Two years can change a person in many ways, I thought. The king was pleased too and, in his reply to Jonas, granted him both permission to marry and permission to study. After just a year of studying Contemporary Magic Agriculture he would become an agricultural adviser. And he would finally marry Jaromíra, no doubt.
As far as I knew, Erhard was living earnestly in reclaimed lands too. When I went to see him together with Phalaris the other day, it surprised me how good at sumo he had become. He was talented, after all. Another eight years of farm work, and he would return to Aryagard to take part in Grand Sumo. I wondered whether Maurilio’s stable would suit him most. That was so long as General Maurilio welcomed him, of course.
It really felt like Aryaka had entered a new age through sumo. I wanted it to become an even brighter and more peaceful place. And the prince and I would be the ones bringing about such a new era.
As the Trailblazer kept chugging along the tracks, the windows were suddenly filled with light. We had left the tunnels and entered a red canyon devoid of trees. The train ran on the tracks laid through the middle of the canyon and passed over a railway bridge. I could see the horizon thanks to the clear weather.
“Wow, it’s beautiful!” I exclaimed.
“I know, right? This is the power of dwarven engineering!” said the chief.
“Bark, bark!”
“Oh, it’s clear to you too, pup? Good boy.”
I couldn’t have agreed more with the chief. It felt like the dawn of a new age. They might even be able to make an airship with this technology. One that used helium, that is. If they made one with hydrogen, it would go up in flames.
“Chief, you must see this!”
“What’s the matter?”
“Some strange object is approaching from behind us!”
“What?!”
Chief Jörd got up and made his way to the rear cars.
“What do you think it could be, Floortje?”
“Let’s go find out.”
“Good idea.”
“Bark, bark!”
We got up too and followed the chief. Our escorts, Werner and Mamiana, came with us.
We entered the second-class car. The box seats here were a little tighter, and all the seats had cloth covers. The interior was still very nice, though. Dwarves appeared gruff, but were meticulous in their craft.
On to the third-class car. Being appropriately third class, this car didn’t have seats that faced each other—there was only a row of wooden benches. They smelled of wood and varnish, as they were new.
Opening the door at the end, we came out onto a part of the train designed like a terrace, allowing for a good view into the distance. Chief Jörd was standing with a dwarf who appeared to be an engineer, both of them looking up at the sky and talking to each other.
“What is that?”
“Eight large transportation gryphons are carrying something big...? Huh?! Is that a Magic Train?”
There were eight large gryphons in the sky, trying to place something big on the tracks.
“Grrr, bark bark!!!”
Landing with a bang...was another Magic Train. A passenger car was placed at the front, while the engine landed in the back.
“Th-That’s impossible! Where did they get one of those?! E-Even the Northern Great Caves don’t make Magic Trains!”
The strange Magic Train behind us sounded its steam whistle and began chugging along in pursuit. Its passenger car had a terrace-like design in front, just like ours, and on said terrace stood a handsome man with horns growing out of his forehead.
“Mwah ha ha!!! How do you like my special demonic assault-class Magic Train, the Thunder?!” the demon loudly proclaimed, his beauty as striking as it was malignant.
“Th-This cannot be!!! Are you telling me you knew the right gauge?!”
“Mwah ha ha! I helped myself to the details of the project for a bullet train running between the Dwarven Great Caves and Aryaka, and built one of my own! How do you like it, Chief Jörd?! The technological prowess of the demonic realm is second to none on this continent!”
The Thunder picked up speed, quickly approaching the Trailblazer.
“And Lady Floortje, the Aryakan yokozuna! Allow me to introduce myself! I am! The yokozuna of Dark Sumo! The Demon Lord!!!” He bowed to me with an insufferably smug look on his face.
“Is that so...” was the best reply I could come up with, dumbfounded as I was.
With a clank, the two trains were linked together.
“Aggh!!! You bastards even stole the specifications for the coupler!!!”
“Heh heh, you haven’t seen anything yet! Deploy the dohyō!!!”
With the sound of grating metal, the passenger car of the Thunder split down the middle, spreading itself out to each side. Within was a pitch-black dohyō with a black referee. Other than the Demon Lord, the passenger car had Arima, Kukuri, Uta, and a minotaur I hadn’t seen before. The Demon Lord clapped his hands.
“Now, Lady Floortje, let us do sumo! If we win, we take you captive. If you win, we detach this Thunder of ours and let you escape. It’s the first tournament on a train in history!!!”
“With pleasure, Demon Lord!”
Intriguing. Most intriguing. I was highly fond of such overblown wackiness.
“Okay, five-on-five—let’s do this!”
A moment of silence.
“Sir... Don’t...” protested Arima, shaking his head.
But we don’t have five rikishi...
“It’s fine—what does it matter? We have our five. Why don’t they have theirs? That’s a them problem!”
Of course, someone who named himself the Demon Lord would so matter-of-factly add conditions we had never agreed upon. Now what? We only had me and the prince. I would feel bad for Adela if I made her participate.
“I-I’ll take part, you bastards!” shouted Mamiana, taking a step forward.
Gotcha!—said the Demon Lord’s meaningful smile.
“Ha ha ha! Looks like you have a chance now! All you have to do is win every bout!”
“Wait, Mamiana—there’s no way you can go against them in the ring!”
“Sure I can, Werner! If I don’t offer to help now, then can I even be called a dwarf?!”
I liked her spirit, but she didn’t know much about proper sumo. And we still needed two more.
“Do you think you could go, Adela?”
“Of course not! Who do you think I am, milady?”
“W-Well, it’s just...I thought you could apply some of that remarkable military knowledge of yours. And you’ve been watching bouts from up close all this time.”
“My remarkable military knowledge is saying I can’t beat anyone if I go in the ring. Even this new minotaur looks really strong!”
He certainly did. Though he was surely below Uta on the table of rankings.
“M-Maybe you stand a slim chance against Uta.”
“Never did, never will. I couldn’t possibly bring down a wrestler who takes root in the ground.”
Perhaps. The prince barely beat her last time, having to rely on the Maglev Triple Attack Force Out. What do we do...?
“Also, milady... Now that we’re out of the elven forest, you might be unable to use Air Sumo Form anymore...”
“Oh...”
She had a point. Add that to our list of troubles.
“Don’t worry! You still have our protection.”
Numerous green lights appeared out of the prince’s and my bodies and surrounded us.
“Wh-Who are you?”
“We are spirits of the wind. We couldn’t help you in the caves, but we can here!”
“Let’s do sumo together!” said another spirit.
“Sumooo sumooo!” said a third.
“I love sumo; it’s fun!” said a fourth.
The green lights appeared to be spirits—and honestly, their aid would come very much in handy. We needed a way to deal with Uta’s poisonous pollen and Kukuri’s threads. Maybe if we had Mamiana use the Air Sumo Form and fielded her against Uta... Hmm... Was it doable? Frankly, having to win every bout put us in a tight spot. If only we had one more...
“Bark, bark!!!” barked the pup in my bosom.
“What? You can’t participate, Barkus, you have four legs.”
“He would definitely need arms...” added Adela.
Barkus began twisting in my embrace. He quickly grew in size.
“RUFF, RUFF!”
Suddenly, I realized I was clinging to a muscular wolf-headed man.
“Ahhhh!!! Go back, go back!!!”
Together with Adela, we gave the half-naked wolf-man a good drubbing. Give me my sweet little Barkus back!!!
“Floortje, Adela, return to your senses. B-Barkus, you want to participate?” asked the prince.
“RUFF, RUFFF!”
Nooo! Even his voice is deep now—this isn’t our Barkus at all!!!
“Floortje, spare him the harite. He seems to be in pain.”
“But this isn’t my Barkus!!!”