Chapter 23

2. QUARREL Rain joined the escort mission for the second-generation Exelias. They were dispatched by train to a mining town called Baran, which was located on the northern end of O’ltmenia. It would be a single ride along a 120-mile line that extended from the center of the country, and the estimated travel time was six hours. Rain had been forced onto the train at six in the morning without any prior knowledge of his fellow cadets’ involvement. “There are two spots that are especially dangerous.” The cadets stood in the cargo compartment. The six dispatched students all listened closely to a person with a large, hulking frame…Orca A. Dandalos. “The first point is a place we’ll reach in an hour, the Levant Plains. It’s our territory, but it’s a pretty rural region, so it’ll be hard to detect any soldiers that are lying in wait, making it the perfect spot for an ambush. The second is the Lemina Mountain Range. It’s a dangerous area for a very simple reason… It’s connected to western territory.” Those were the two potential spots the West could attack. They’d loaded five dummy units camouflaged as second-generation Exelias even though they had no way of knowing if the West was coming to raid the train. But they needed to be prepared for all possible scenarios, since their priority was to protect the cargo. In terms of personnel, they had twenty-four standard soldiers and six cadets, for a total of thirty men. But considering that all of them were mages, there were more than enough to guard one train. “All right, so about our postings… Rain and Athly are on watch, so you all can just kick back and relax,” Orca informed them in an official capacity. Since it was a single six-hour ride, they didn’t have to take shifts. As such, they’d decided to make two cadets handle their share of watch duty. They’d used coin tosses to pick from among them, and Rain lost after choosing heads four times in a row. Athly, however, volunteered despite coming out in first place. “Here, Rain. Your wireless transceiver.” “Thanks.” “Let’s try to get these six hours over with.” He took the transceiver from Athly. It was a small, portable, high-fidelity model for military use. After that, the two of them headed for their post. “Whoa, it’s cold!” Athly yelped. “Well, this is a snowy region…” They walked out of the car. Beyond the door, they saw scaffolding meant for the scouts. It offered a good view of the area around them, but the temperature was well below freezing. Sitting outside the train felt taxing, yet they had to do it for six hours straight. “You sure about this?” Rain asked as he eyed the transceiver Athly handed him. “I think this’ll be a pretty annoying job.” “Hmm, well, I wouldn’t have volunteered if you weren’t stuck out here.” “But you haven’t recovered from that head injury…,” Rain stated out of concern. “It’s been four days. I’m fine, really.” Athly casually brushed off his worry. An hour passed. They didn’t talk too much, since they’d tried to focus on their duty. But then… “You know, we…,” Athly whispered. “What?” “We haven’t really hung out much lately.” They were outside a moving train, so the noise felt pretty intense. However, since they sat shoulder to shoulder, Rain heard her clearly. Huh…? “What do you mean? We hang out every day back at Alestra Academy,” he replied. “I mean, yeah, but we used to go to town by car or sneak into the labs to steal gunpowder, remember?” “We played some pretty dangerous games back then…” “Things sure have changed, huh?” Athly whispered to herself, full of nostalgia. “And it’s not just us, either. Everything around us is all different now. Including our environment.” “Well, yeah…,” Rain answered in agreement as he sneaked a glance in her direction. Athly, on the other hand, didn’t turn to look at him as she spoke. She’d fixed her gaze outside of the train, sticking to her role as a scout. What’s gotten into her…? Something about her words felt out of place. She usually spoke clearly and refused to beat around the bush. She hated the use of subtext with a passion. And yet, she was being extremely vague about this. Her gaze was constantly downcast, and every now and then, she started speaking as if she suddenly recalled something. She’d say something incoherent, then stop. She’d been acting like that since they’d left the station. What’s wrong with her…? Maybe it’s just one of those days? Rain didn’t speak much, either, so another hour passed in relative silence. The train ran into zero trouble over the two-hour journey, so they headed into the Levant Plains according to schedule. As he’d been informed ahead of time, there wasn’t a single house or paved road in sight. The only man-made structures in the area were the train tracks. Still, according to their intel, it was one of two likely ambush points. There were no obstacles in the area, making it a prime position for armored vehicles and tanks. Rain left Athly to her strange mood and focused on keeping watch. The snow that had fallen since early dawn had stacked up to two inches on the ground. The whole area had been dyed white. It made Exelias especially noticeable, which was helpful, but visibility was still low due to the poor weather. Rain squinted to better focus on his job. However, that made needless thoughts circulate through his mind. “You should take some time off to cool your head.” Air’s words from the other day echoed within him. “You’re not looking at the bigger picture, Rain.” But even after he’d taken time to mull over what she’d told him… Shit… …he didn’t regret what he’d said. Impatience spurred him forward, leaving no room for anything else. The words she said simply rolled around in his mind. Worse yet, his thoughts kept running in circles, which had distracted him. If any enemy troops had approached them, they would have been in trouble. “Attention, cadets.” Rain jerked upright. Those words crackled through his transceiver. It was a message from the commanding officer in charge of the escort mission. “We’re almost out of the Levant Plains. Has anything changed on your end?” “N-no, nothing.” Rain spoke into his transceiver as he looked around hurriedly. “We’ve spotted nothing out of the ordinary.” “Good. Well, once we’re past these plains, we should be in the clear for a good while. Rest up for the latter half of the trip.” The transmission cut off after he delivered that remark. They’d gotten an order to rest, which would never have happened in a real emergency. It seemed the commanding officer didn’t think the train would be targeted by the West, either. There was no telling when the second-generation Exelias would be ready for practical use. Plus, the probability of someone stealing them during such a short journey was low. Rain felt justified in his thoughts that the whole affair was a waste of time, a fact that annoyed him all the more. He had no time to waste when he had far bigger, more important battlefields to use the Devil’s Bullet on. “We’ll contact you again in another twenty minutes, as per schedule.” “Roger.” Rain looked up at the sky and ended the transmission, still stewing in his irritation. However, since he wasn’t focused on the task, when he moved to put the transceiver back into his pocket, its reception antenna… “Ngh…” …grazed against Rain’s cheek. The thin metal rod prodded him hard enough to hurt. “Ouch…,” he groaned, then pressed his hand against the pain in his cheek, only to find blood. Ugh… It bled quite a bit. Apparently, the cold air had made his skin brittle, so the antenna had ripped through his cheek, leaving a single, clear line across it. …Well, shit. He had no luck at all. The wound itself was no big deal, but it was also completely unnecessary and thus especially frustrating. Why now…? His agitation flared up. It was just one bad thing after another. However, Rain realized he had to focus on stemming the bleeding. I need something to wipe this off… Rain reached into his breast pocket to pull out a handkerchief, then brought it under his face. But… Huh? …at that exact moment, a slightly warm sensation graced Rain’s cheek. And it wasn’t the warmth of his own blood, either. Something warm, moist, and vividly alive, the polar opposite of the antenna from earlier, touched him. The contact that pressed against him was gentle. And when Rain turned his face to the left in surprise, he found Athly’s face right next to his. “H-huh, what…?” “Oh, hey…”