Serial Murders in Stozanya City

The next day, the Hero party headed to the national railway station to depart for Stožanija City.

Allow me to briefly introduce the Hamel Empire’s trains.

The Hamel Empire has railways connecting important cities, centered around the capital, Bilan City.

Trains powered by Mana Engines run on these railways.

These trains move their wheels using a wizard’s mana or Mana Stones as fuel.

Mana Stones are precious raw materials managed by the state, making these trains extremely expensive.

Therefore, commoners cannot afford to use them, and only wealthy nobles or companies transporting massive amounts of goods utilize them.

The Hero party had special permission from King Madhan, allowing them to ride the trains for free at any time.

The Hero party sat in the waiting area of Bilan City Station, watching the train before its departure.

The train consisted of an engine car at the front, four passenger cars, and thirty freight cars at the back, where workers were diligently loading goods and raw materials.

I watched the train, comparing it to the Kyle Holy Kingdom’s subway.

‘Transportation can vary depending on the environment and culture.’

Thanks to the Giant Ent Kingdom’s underground development technology and abundant underground resources, the Kyle Holy Kingdom developed underground-running Hwagang Stone steam trains.

And the Kyle Holy Kingdom proactively lowered fares for inter-racial harmony, making it accessible to everyone.

The Hamel Empire couldn’t mine underground resources to the extent of the Giant Ent Kingdom, so they didn’t obtain enough Hwagang Stone to research Hwagang Stone steam engines.

However, thanks to highly developed magical engineering and abundant wizard resources, they developed Mana Trains that move using mana like electricity.

The downside was that wizards and Mana Stones were very precious, making the price high and inaccessible to commoners.

Also, due to the division between nobles and commoners, the nobles opposed using the same transportation as commoners, leading to the failure of popularizing the train.

When it was time for the train to depart, the engineer came to the waiting area and politely greeted us and about 30 nobles around us.

“Greetings. I am Jerome, the engineer who will be serving you. In the engine room of this train, several high-ranking wizards and magical engineers are on standby to prepare for emergencies. Our train will soon depart for Stožanija City, so please board the train. I hope you have a pleasant journey.”

As we entered one of the passenger cars, female and male crew members in butler uniforms bowed to us at 90 degrees.

“Welcome to the Imperial Train!”

The cabin had luxurious sofas and tables, fine teacups and plates in the cupboards, and even a Mana refrigerator.

The eight members of the Hero party dragged four two-seater sofas around the table and plopped down.

Nisa, Park Gyeong-cheol, Serena, Gilluk, Andre, Asha, and Aibos ended up sitting on one sofa each.

Nisa was excited to ride the train.

“Wow! It’s my first time riding a human train! I didn’t even know something like this existed~”

Serena smiled.

“Hoho~ Nisa-unni. You’re so cute when you’re like that~”

Park Gyeong-cheol stroked Serena’s back and said.

“I think you’re cuter.”

Serena lightly tapped Park Gyeong-cheol’s shoulder.

Chaltssak~

“Hey! Don’t do that outside~ It’s embarrassing~”

Park Gyeong-cheol just smiled contentedly.

Gilluk said.

“Hehehe~ How passionate. So passionate. Still, I miss the Dwarf train.”

I asked out of curiosity.

“What’s the Dwarf train like?”

“When it comes to machines, it’s the Dwarves, isn’t it? You have no idea how fast and fun the Dwarf mine train is.”

“What does the Dwarf mine train look like?”

“Literally, the entire kingdom is connected by railroads, and you can ride a mine train that fits up to four people and move quickly. It’s an open car with no roof, just a frame and a floor. You stand and ride, and the intense shaking is thrilling. It goes kwagagagang.”

“Sounds fun.”

Engineer Jerome’s voice came from the train’s ceiling.

“The Imperial Train will now depart.”

The train slowly started moving and soon ran along the rails at a high speed.

Deolkeong deolkeong deolkeong

Nisa looked out the window and cheered.

“Kyaa! The world is moving backwards so fast!”

I thought Nisa was cute, so I stroked her head.

While the train was moving, Park Gyeong-cheol and Serena, Kyle and Nisa continued their lovey-dovey behavior, making the others feel awkward.

Gilluk stroked his beard and said.

“Hmm hmm. I miss my wife and son back in the Dwarf Kingdom.”

Asha held her cross and quietly muttered.

“Goddess Elia is always by my side, so I am not lonely.”

Andre opened the pendant on his necklace and looked at his fiancée’s picture.

Aibos was annoyed.

“Ugh! Everyone has a lover, so why haven’t I had one in 300 years!”

Aibos had been in the Dragon Alliance for 300 years, but the number of dragons was small, and they were all related, so he couldn’t have a lover.

Andre asked Aibos.

“Didn’t noble ladies swarm you at the party last time, hyung?”

“I’m a dragon! Well, it’s not like I can’t date a human woman, but I prefer dragon women!”

“Because hyung is in Draconian form, he keeps mistaking his aesthetic preferences as human.”

“Damn it! Isn’t there a decent dragon woman anywhere!”

Park Gyeong-cheol asked Aibos.

“Aibos-hyung. Are there no women in the Dragon Alliance?”

“I told you, they’re all grandmothers, aunts, or nieces. The dragons are doomed now.”

“That’s really pitiful.”

Everyone looked at Aibos with pity.

Asha gave Aibos advice with a benevolent expression.

“I don’t have a lover, but I’m never lonely because Goddess Elia is always with me. If Aibos-nim is with Goddess Elia, your loneliness will disappear.”

Aibos made a fuss with a dumbfounded face.

“I can’t do that with Goddess Elia! I don’t need a goddess, I need a woman!”

Asha recited some of the Elia Doctrine.

“Physical love is only momentary. Only spiritual love with Goddess Elia-nim can last a lifetime.”

Aibos just shut his mouth because he couldn’t communicate.

Gilluk comforted Aibos.

“If hyung-nim lowers his standards, there are women everywhere, aren’t there? Well, having a half-human, half-dragon child doesn’t seem so bad.”

Aibos nodded.

“I’ll wait a few more decades, and if there are no other dragon women on this continent, I’ll have to use that as a last resort.”

Since dragons have a different sense of time than humans, perhaps Aibos will be able to marry around the time Park Gyeong-cheol becomes an old man?

After going for a while, Aibos looked out the window and said nonchalantly.

“There’s a woman surrounded by three orcs over there.”

When I focused, there really were three orcs surrounding a human woman in a field several kilometers away, tearing her clothes.

“Aibos. You have amazing eyesight?”

“This much is basic for a dragon.”

The other party members looked far away with their respective abilities and were horrified.

Asha shouted resentfully.

“Ah! Goddess Elia-nim! Please save that poor lamb!”

The train kept running, getting farther and farther away.

Deolkeong deolkeong deolkeong

Park Gyeong-cheol quickly shouted.

“If Aibos-hyung and Asha-nunim enhance me, I’ll cut them with my Space Sword!”

Asha and Aibos each enhanced Park Gyeong-cheol.

“I will give Park Gyeong-cheol-gun a vision and range buff!”

“Hey. I’ll enhance your Space Sword with my trait of kindness, so take it.”

The enhanced buff from Asha’s power of charity and Aibos’s trait of kindness, which enhances the abilities of his companions, combined to give Park Gyeong-cheol’s body tremendous power.

Park Gyeong-cheol filled his eyes with mana and looked at the three orcs, quickly drawing his Mithril Treasure Sword diagonally from its scabbard.

Something semi-transparent and crescent-shaped flew at super-speed, passing straight through the train wall.

Shuwoooong

There was nothing wrong with the train wall.

When I focused, the upper bodies of the three orcs really did split and fall down after several tens of seconds.

The woman, whose clothes were all torn, survived by a hair’s breadth and looked around.

“Sob sob sob. I’m alive…. But who helped me?”

I was shocked inside.

‘Crazy. Isn’t this Hero too OP? It’s completely balance-breaking?’

The entire Hero party stood up from the sofa and cheered for Park Gyeong-cheol.

“Woaaaaa!”

Serena hugged Park Gyeong-cheol tightly.

“Gyeong-cheol-ah! Amazing!”

Andre nodded.

“That’s my friend.”

Aibos said cheerfully.

“Hey~ Gyeong-cheol. You couldn’t have done it without my help. You know that, right?”

Park Gyeong-cheol smiled and calmly sat on the sofa.

I asked Park Gyeong-cheol a question.

“What exactly is the Space Sword?”

“It’s a technique that severs only the desired space by flying my will-filled Space Aura. As you saw earlier, there’s nothing wrong with the train wall, but it accurately cut only the orcs.”

“You can cut anything?”

“Yes. If you sever space, you can cut even the hardest metal or the strongest magic barrier.”

“You’re really amazing.”

“There are still many points to improve, such as the speed, size, and sharpness of the aura. Hahaha.”

‘Don’t get any stronger!’

Andre added an additional explanation.

“It’s a technique that only Heroes have succeeded in for generations. Most of the Hamel Empire’s royalty are descendants of previous Heroes, but they haven’t been able to implement the Space Sword.”

“Literally, the Hero is humanity’s ultimate weapon.”

Andre playfully tapped Park Gyeong-cheol’s shoulder and said.

“Park Gyeong-cheol~ I’ll catch up to you someday.”

“You can do it too.”

We rode the Imperial Train, sleeping on bunk beds at night, and moved to Stožanija City.

—

Let me briefly explain Stožanija City, where the Hero party is going.

Stožanija City has a total of 1.17 million humans and 130,000 Demon slaves, with 72,000 of the humans being soldiers and 51 being knights.

A wall surrounds this massive city.

The mayor of Stožanija City is Marquis Miriam (female), and her son, Norbert, was in the same class as Park Gyeong-cheol at Hamel High School.

Stožanija City, along with Talka City in the northeast, is a major industrial city in the Hamel Empire, with numerous companies and factories located there.

Raw materials enter here via Mana Trains and are transformed into goods such as clothing, daily necessities, parts, and Mana devices, which are then sent throughout the Hamel Empire.

Due to the collapse of the Gale Kingdom a few years ago, imports became scarce, so the Hamel Empire actively implemented pro-business policies to fill this gap, and the region entered a boom period.

The city center has luxury department stores and famous brand shops, and wealthy asset holders adorn themselves with luxury goods and drive expensive cars.

The cars here are in the form of carriages but have Mana Engines attached, allowing them to move automatically.

The speed is still at the level of a human walking quickly.

The asset holders are entrepreneurs and factory owners who have donated a lot to the empire, so they each have a noble title and account for 0.1% of Stožanija City’s population.

Around the city center is a wealthy district with luxury apartments and lavish houses with yards where the asset holders live, and personal guards hired by the asset holders protect the area.

Around the wealthy district is a middle-class district where company executives, researchers, shop owners, and others live.

The middle class accounts for 30% of Stožanija City’s population.

The city center becomes an outlet for desire at night.

In the city center at night, beautifully dressed prostitutes blow kisses to asset holders,

Asset holders accompanied by guards discharge their desires in luxury hostess bars,

And thugs look around for any weaklings walking alone.

To maintain all of this, workers who work in the asset holders’ factories are needed.

The majority of Stožanija City’s citizens are probably the working class, excluding the asset holders and the middle class.

A little further out from the middle-class district was the working-class district, called the slums, which was gloomy and poor.

Shacks were clustered together, there were several beehive dormitories, and there was no hope on people’s faces.

The factory-owning asset holders told the workers that if they worked hard, they could become wealthy someday.

However, the workers had no money left after using their meager salaries for living expenses, medicine, and so on.

In the noble society of the Hamel Empire, commoners did not have as many human rights as nobles, so there was no concept of ‘workers’ rights.’

The city’s mayor, Marquis Miriam, and the main nobles were only interested in the city’s total output, and the Hamel Empire also weakened or eliminated laws regarding worker treatment in order to increase corporate production rates.

Because of this situation, factories eliminated investments in worker safety and welfare in order to increase net profits and treated workers harshly.

Workers suffered from occupational diseases or died in various places, but dead workers were simply replaced by living workers, and no one came forward for them.

If the middle class joined hands with the workers and rose up, the city might change, but the wealthy already did not know or care about the suffering of the less wealthy.

Economic class was passed down.

The children of asset holders were sent to Hamel High School or good schools at expensive tuition fees,

The children of the middle class played a role in shining the children of asset holders at school,

And the children of workers could not go to school and immediately learned a trade.

Asset holders and the middle class received education on contraception at school and could easily purchase contraceptives.

However, due to the lack of education and access to contraceptives for the working class, birth rates were high, so new workers were constantly being produced.

There were also young people who came to Stožanija City from the countryside with dreams of becoming rich, but they realized that they could not even afford a middle-class house even if they worked their entire lives.

The military force of the city’s soldiers, including the Knights, was too strong and always on the side of the asset holders, so the workers could not even properly strike or protest.

Do humans have to step on others to live like humans?

Stožanija City was a city of dreams and despair, showing the polarization caused by extreme economic development.