Ch.425The NPC Going to Haiti (4)

A few days before Ira’s friend’s party in Naty.

“Aiti? If we go there, can we rebuild Mr. Gor?”

“Yes! The Chairman of Aiti said he could make him stronger and sturdier!”

What kind of connections does Ira have?

The Dean is her master. One of her sisters is an Imperial Princess. From what I’ve heard, the Mayor of the collapsed Aigram and the Elven Elder who came to save Naty are also acquaintances of Ira.

After the Behemoth subjugation, seeing Ira smiling brightly while having tea with Grace and me after so long, I felt slightly intimidated by my friend’s greatness once again. But more than that, I’m happy that she’s sharing everything with us now.

“So, when are you planning to leave?”

“Um… a little over two weeks from now. Once the Behemoth materials are properly dismantled, we’ll load them onto the train and go together.”

“Heeh~ So that’s called a train? I want to ride it too~”

“Hehe! Let’s ride it together when we travel later!”

Both Grace and I flinched slightly at Ira’s mention of “later,” as if she was talking about some distant future rather than now, but she didn’t notice our reaction.

We continued chatting normally without her noticing, laughing and talking about recent events and imagining how Naty and the Academy would change. When the sun began to set, Ira hopped down from her slightly tall chair and went home holding hands with her beastkin sister guardians who were waiting a short distance away. Originally, the golem Mr. Gor should have been by her side, making the current scene feel a bit awkward.

“…She said two weeks from now. What are you going to do, Latina?”

“I guess we should get permission from her brother and go with her? Ira didn’t seem to notice at all that we want to go with her.”

I want to restore that scenery. I want to rebuild the collapsed city, the destroyed Academy buildings, everything back to how it was before. But more than that, seeing our friend casually summarizing Mr. Gor’s story in front of us and focusing on other topics as if nothing was wrong was like a dagger to our hearts. That’s why, even if our power is limited, we want to help restore her daily life, the days we spent together. And so…

“Well, I’ll ask depending on the situation. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll follow her even by force.”

“Uh, what? By force? How?”

“…Hehehe. Ta-da! What do you think this is~?”

“W-what is this…?”

Being a coward who couldn’t even ask her brother to take us along, I couldn’t refuse the invisibility potion and magic-blocking tools that Grace offered me. And…

-Not just Ira and me, but Grace too. We all feel responsible for Mr. Gor’s destruction, though we hide it. If we’re going to bear this burden, we’ll do it together.

We made that decision because we had come to know each other too well.

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“KYAAAAAAAH?!! B-Big Brother!! I’m going to die?! S-save me, Iraaaa!!!”

“W—?! W— L—?!”

And now, tied to her brother’s arm on top of an iron carriage in the middle of an incredibly strong sandstorm, fighting a giant monster, I was regretting that day’s decision just a tiny bit. Really, just a tiny bit.

*

[Sand Dragon: Level 860]

[HP: 2,882,919]

“—?!?!”

The sky was yellow, sand was getting into my mouth, young girls were screaming unintelligibly beside me, and to top it all off, a giant dirt worm that kept charging despite being hit repeatedly. Isn’t this exactly what they call a disaster? Thinking this, I jumped again to strike the worm’s face before leaping back to the center of the train.

Hey girls, screaming won’t help. You can’t hear me either, right?

[They’re both begging to be saved and to be let inside.]

“Well, that’s difficult. We’d all die without them.”

Although Gor could interpret for us regardless of the sandstorm or train wind pressure, it was ultimately one-way communication. Only I could hear him, so it was meaningless.

The reason I’ve tied them to my arms is to prevent them from falling off, but are they that scared?

[They’re fighting a giant monster while tied up on top of an iron carriage traveling at nearly 80 mph through a sandstorm. That’s a bit much for 14 and 15-year-olds, don’t you think?]

Hearing that, I had to agree with Gor’s accurate assessment. But there was no reason for the girls to hear our conversation, so they were still crying and screaming while waving their staffs. Haha! I’m proud of you for doing everything I ask even while complaining! That’s what makes you Ira’s friends!

[Master. We’ll exit the sandstorm area in 3 minutes. Also, Ira’s magic power is reaching its limit. We need to find a way to slow down the train and overturn it gradually.]

Gradually overturn? Why not gradually stop? Why overturn at all?

[The wheels on the left side were severely damaged during the initial collision. Ira is currently keeping that part floating, but if we stop like this, the train will roll over.]

Having Gor for situation assessment is helpful, but the fact that there’s not a single good situation feels a bit terrifying. But how do we gradually overturn it? Even I can’t stop this massive train with my bare body.

While I was thinking about this, Gor alerted me to the monster’s approach, and I once again pointed to direct Grace’s magic. I’ve lost count of how many times we’ve repeated this. With the Behemoth, I couldn’t see its HP and it was a final field boss I couldn’t defeat alone, but this one I could handle by myself if we could just get off this train. It’s infuriating.

After repeating the same actions for about 3 minutes, the visibility finally started to improve, and I looked around.

Ah, there’s really nothing but desert and rocky mountains. How do we stop?! We need to defeat this creature and stop the train before Ira’s magic runs out. Why is today suddenly turning into Die Hard?!

While I was getting frustrated and trying to think of a solution…

[It’s not chasing us anymore.]

“Huh?”

As we completely exited the sandstorm, the monster’s shadow disappeared, just as Gor had said. What? Does the Sand Dragon have some gimmick where it only fights in sandstorms? No, there was nothing like that in the game. There wasn’t even a sandstorm map. No, that’s not important right now.

“—brother!! —feel like I’m going to—!!”

“—dangerous!! —?!! —!!”

Thanks to leaving the sandstorm, the previously unintelligible screams of the girls became understandable. But what did she just say? Did she say she feels like throwing up?! I’m going to lose my mind!! After instructing Gor to keep monitoring our surroundings, I quickly took the two girls to the train window, and when I knocked, Team Leader Wigel opened it immediately. Hey! Who feels like throwing up?!

“Urp… I’m sorry. Grace, Big Brother. I can’t… uwuuk!!”

“KYAAAH?!! Untie me!! Please?! No!! Latina! Don’t throw up in my hair?!?!”

I had definitely positioned them back-to-back, but after repeatedly jumping and running, Latina had shifted slightly to the side and finally couldn’t hold it in anymore, vomiting on my arm and Grace’s hair. Ah, damn it. I liked this outfit.

I untied the rope binding the two and handed them over to Captain Wigel before heading back to Ira. Anyway, that’s not the urgent matter right now.

“Ira!! How much longer can you…?!”

“Uuugh…!! Brotherrr!! I can’t!! My magic power is…!!!”

With blood vessels now visible on her forehead, Ira cried out in a scream-like voice, prompting Miho and Chikuyo to start shouting about jumping outside in desperation, while Lei began to take care of the pregnant Mrs. Owell. Damn it, at this rate, the other escorts and staff will be completely wiped out!! There must be a way…!!

[Miho and Chikuyo’s weapons can create waves. Take them outside like before and have them reduce the train’s speed. That will slow it down somewhat. Once the speed decreases, we can separate the front car from the rest of the train carriages for a safer overturn than otherwise.]

“Miho!! Chikuyo!!”

“Kong?!”

“Huh?!! W-what?! Jack!! Jack, Ira! Ira! We need to take care of…!!”

“Lei!! Take care of Ira too!! And Chairman…!!”

The only plan I could come up with was to jump to the front car and try to stop it with my body, but unfortunately, I’m not Spider-Man and don’t have the defense capability to stop a moving train. However, the method Gor suggested seemed possible, so I immediately gave instructions to everyone.

“I-is it possible?!”

“We have to try!! If we don’t, we’ll all die!! Ira!! Cut off your magic exactly 30 seconds after I go outside! Can you do it?!”

“I can! Do iiiit!!”

Believing this was our only option with Ira nearing her limit, I tucked Miho and Chikuyo under my arms and climbed back onto the train to explain the plan. Despite my jumbled explanation, the two beastkin immediately understood my words through the train’s wind pressure.

“Ryōken Blade!! [Dragon Rising]!!”

“Beast Transformation!! Preemptive Strike!! [Tidal Wave]!!”

– KWAAAAAAA———!!!

A massive water spray engulfed us and the train.