Chapter 11

Hakade heaved a sigh of relief. The battle had ended. He sat on the floor of the main station, his train occupying one of the tracks. Upon initial inspection, it suffered no damage from the battle, but a more thorough inspection might be needed

He sat alone, having finished his task of initial inspections. Mia worked on repairing Scorpion, while Ana and Laurel did supply runs. One of the independent groups to the east had a dedicated maintenance facility. While Mia could do some repairs herself, certain parts required equipment that they didn't own; as such, they would have someone else repair it. Hakade already contacted the owner, who gave him a slot. Once they finished their business here, they would depart.

As Hakade sat there, he noticed Ana and Mia approaching. They brought four large boxes, which they dragged along behind them on a trolley. He stood up.

“Is she awake?” Laurel asked.

Hakade shook his head. To prevent her from doing something wild again, Hakade locked all the doors to the passenger car. From the outside, they could see Ann sleeping in the front row.

“... Just what did we get ourselves into?”

Laurel had told him what happened on the train. A part of him regretted letting that occur, but at the same time, Ann did end up helping them. The hellish fight for the station ended much earlier than expected, and as a result, they saw no casualties.

“Is she going to be alright?”

Ana had checked her pulse, and it seemed normal.

“I sensed an indescribable intensity of magic when the train rammed the enemies,” Ana murmured. “It… would take a while to recover from that.”

Ana worked a lot during the battle, reapplying her shield on Scorpion constantly throughout the entire fight. After Scorpion pulled out of battle, she went to sleep and only woke up fifteen hours later.

Ann had been sleeping ever since, and had yet to show any signs of waking up.

“But… did she sleep at all before this?” Hakade asked. The girls exchange glances.

“... I don't believe so.”

It could just be a coincidence that Hakade hadn't seen her asleep. Ana and Mia also hadn't seen Ann asleep before this.

Out of curiosity, Hakade checked the camera installed in the train car. He had carried passengers before, but this was the first time he decided to use it.

“Hey, Conductor,” Laurel called.

Hakade looked up.

“Are we continuing to Takogashi?”

Hakade could feel the weight behind Laurel's question and sighed.

“Should we cancel?”

Had Laurel said yes, then things would be much simpler. Ann wasn't a normal person. He would rather bring her back to Ariko and drop her and her gold off there, hoping to do so before she woke up. Since the quest didn’t go through the guild, canceling would have no consequences.

But Laurel remained silent.

“What do you think, Ana?”

“... I don't know,” Ana murmured. “I feel a connection to her. You did too, didn't you?”

“Yes, yes I did.”

Someone suspicious and frightening, yet they couldn't leave her alone.

“I think we should continue.” Mia appeared from behind Laurel. She must have finished her work. They tried getting as much work completed here as possible, since spending time in the maintenance facility costs more.

Hakade lifted her hand. “Does anyone want to veto?”

He just needed one vote. One vote to cancel, one vote to stop. Yet no one raised their hand.

“That's pretty unanimous.”

“I was hoping one of you would veto it.” Laurel sighed, a small smile on her lips. “Well, whatever. The faster we get there, the better.”

They then rearranged their supplies. The daily necessities go into the crew car, while ammunition and everything else go to the cargo car at the rear.

Kangaku itself didn't have any shops where they could purchase supplies. The supplies came from a resupplying guild train, which arrived to deliver supplies and rewards. They themselves received quite an extensive reward for their assistance. The group did clear many units at once when Ann rammed the station.

“So, anything else we need to do here?”

“Nope, pretty sure we're done.”

“Alright.”

They boarded the train. Hakade examined the route with Laurel. The maintenance had been delayed, thanks to the battle, and new damage had appeared. All required fixing. That said, the maintenance crew managed to reestablish a route. It would take longer than usual, and they needed to be aware of traffic, but they could pass. They even received priority to use that route, as thanks for their contributions. Other than that, all green to their destination, Matawara.

“Let’s go.”

Hakade honked the horn, and the train departed the station.

•••

An independent group owned and operated Matawara, a large city at the center of the country. Getting there required a detour to the north of their original route. Unlike the other walled cities, Matwara flew the Emorian flag, an organization that rebuilt this city from the ground up after the war.

During the first few years after the war, the city had a tense relationship with the country. One side didn’t like losing a part of its territory, the other didn’t like the country barging in after they already rebuilt it. That animosity had long faded, though. Nowadays, people use it as a large transit hub connecting the north and south of the country.

As they approached, they could see the city standing proud, visible even from a distance. Hakade proceeded carefully. The clock on his dashboard showed three in the afternoon. This area saw a lot of traffic during that time. Matawara even had its own traffic control system.

Hakade pulled up to a line dedicated to incoming trains. They had a train waiting in front of them, while on another line, trains departing from the city passed by. Trains require a distance to stop. They didn’t normally pay attention to such things. As most areas had trains well spaced apart. Some regions saw traffic as few as a single train each day. But in places as crowded as this city, they need that space in case an emergency happens. That way, the train could stop and not slam into the train in front of it.

After waiting for half an hour, it was Hakade's turn. He headed into the city, keeping the train around the fifty kilometers per hour speed limit. Due to its importance as a transit hub, the station was massive. It had over sixty tracks separated into three levels. Such a size wouldn’t be needed before the war, but with how important trains had become, such sizes no longer give him surprise. The train headed to the station's eastern wing, then followed a route into one of the station's maintenance depots.

Hakade decided to inspect the entire train while he was here, so he towed everything into the depot, including the passenger cars, generator, Scorpion, crane, and cargo cars. A group of workers waited at the platform, ready to greet him.

“What do we do about Ann?” Laurel asked.

Hakade had completely forgotten about her. He reached for the intercom and contacted Mia.

“Mia, can you check on Ann? Is she still sleeping?”

“Roger.”

She left the call for a while, then returned. “Yep, she’s still asleep.”

All of the train cars would go through maintenance, including the passenger car, which meant they couldn’t stay here. Now that he thought about it, he realized they had been underprepared. They hadn’t booked an inn.

The repairs would take a while, so it would be an overnight stay. Hakade wanted to keep the girls away from Ann, but with their sudden visit, hotel prices were bound to be high.

They didn’t have a guarantee that they could find empty rooms in the first place. The battle at Kangaku had caused severe travel disruptions. As of now, only one track could be used, and the damage forced trains passing by to go slowly.

As a result, a traffic jam on the rails had appeared. Some rail runners preferred to rest and do maintenance to their trains here in Matawara, instead of waiting for hours on the tracks. Looking for accommodation may prove difficult.

“... I’ll share a room with her,” Laurel said.

“Are you sure?”

“It’s not like we can leave her all alone.”

“But still…”

She had just gone through a terrifying experience. Hakade didn't want to subject her to a similar thing all over again.

“... I feel like I can understand her better if I can talk with her.”

“... Just… tell me if you need help, alright?”

Laurel nodded. “I will.”