Chapter 16

“Here you go.”

“Thanks, Ana.”

During their quick stop at Azaromaki, Ana came to the locomotive to deliver their coffee.

“You're welcome.”

“Get some rest. We'll have a long night ahead of us,” Hakade said.

The unfortunate truth about rail running involved a lot of unexpected risks. He needed his crew to be ready in case an emergency happened.

Hearing that, Ana's face turned into concern.

“Are you sure?”

They rarely traveled through the night. Even if they did, they would arrive at midnight or depart before dawn, not through the entire night itself. Hakade doubted any conductor or train driver from before the war would be allowed to go for this long without sleep. Since a formal train organization that dished out the rules no longer existed, he could do whatever he wanted.

“Why not?” Hakade asked in a joking tone.

“If you're fine with it then…”

“Don't worry, we'll be fine.”

Ana nodded and got off the locomotive. The sky continued to darken. They didn't have much time before nightfall, not that it mattered.

“Just making sure, we're taking the underground line, right?” Laurel asked.

“Right.”

Hakade didn't see a reason for them to go to the surface parts. They could if they needed to, but he would rather they stay underground.

“Route switched, confirmed green.”

“Alright.”

Hakade checked the train's camera, then reached out for the intercom.

“Everybody onboard?”

“Mia’s ready to go!” Mia said, still full of energy despite the late hour.

“I'm ready. Let me check on Ann… Ann is ready.”

“Alright. We're departing.”

Hakade pushed the lever. The locomotive’s engine screamed as it began moving forward. It didn't take them long to reach the first part of the underground section. With a honk, Hakade entered the tunnels. The brand new lights proved its use once again, shining in the dark.

It felt as if the tunnel stretched on forever. Hakade would stare at this sight for the next four hours, with maybe five to ten minutes of starlight in between.

“This will be very boring, won't it?” Laurel murmured.

“Yes, yes it will.”

Unfortunately, certain sections would require them to slow down. They couldn't keep up the speed throughout the entire line. Speeding up and slowing down required active inputs, which meant they must keep their concentration.

This was one of the reasons Hakade didn’t want to take this route. He knew well how boredom could affect his concentration. Coupled with the fact that it was late, he risked falling asleep at the controls. The same applied to Laurel.

“... Is there anything we can talk about?”

Much to his disappointment, Laurel shook her head.

“Guess we’re continuing like this.”

•••

Hakade passed through one of the underground stations within the line. These stations used to serve the military. It looked rather different to regular stations. He never looked into it, nor did he plan on stopping on one of them.

They did provide some much-needed visual change from the monotone tunnel.

“Yawn…” Laurel covered her mouth. They were halfway through the tunnel, having just passed another one of those stations.

“We're almost there,” Hakade said.

The clock showed eleven fifty-eight at midnight. They were about to cross into a new day. It has been smooth sailing so far. They made the correct choice of getting into the underground Leya line. Hakade also yawned. Once he arrived at Takogashi, he and his crew would have a lot of money to enjoy. They still needed to deal with the dragon that followed them, though.

I should upgrade the train’s defenses.

A remote turret sounded like a good addition. With it, they could leave the train alone more often. No one would have to stay behind to watch it. His train could take on more weight. Maybe they could add more cargo cars, for when they take commissions.

While Hakade pondered what else he could do, Laurel shrieked.

“Stop the train!”

Hakade pulled on the emergency brakes. The train slowed to a stop.

“What’s going on?” Hakade asked.

His answer came immediately. The ground began shaking. He held onto the dashboard. The tunnels had been reinforced to deal with earthquakes and conventional bombs, albeit probably not maganium bombs. Hakade had no concern in regards to the tunnels’ strength.

“A warning had been issued, we stopped in time,” Laurel said. “Can we continue?”

Hakade checked through the train’s systems. Nothing seemed off.

“We can.”

But their trip had just gotten much longer. The train set off, this time going at the slow speed of thirty kilometers per hour. He needed to make sure everything was working before gradually pushing faster.

“That was rare,” Hakade murmured.

Ever since that day, earthquakes had been a rarity, which wasn’t the case before. In the last three months, Hakade only remembered two earthquakes that he felt. Even then, they weren’t strong, although there might be more minor earthquakes that he didn’t notice.

“Right.”

“Keep me updated.”

“I will.”

This earthquake might have doubled their remaining trip time. After an emergency brake, Hakade needed to ease the train forward. It would be a while before he could return to his previous cruising speed. He yawned again, the exhaustion catching up to him. He began wondering if he should have gone to Mazaku instead. They should be within the walls by now. But… there was a non-zero chance that a different disruption might occur on the route there.

“... Just out of curiosity, how’s the route toward Mazaku?”

Had the lap around the city not been far, that might be a better option. Hakade wished they built a secondary rail network closer to the city center, so they didn’t have to use that other route.

“All green so far. You’re having regrets?”

“Not really. Just a question out of curiosity. Is there news about the quake?”

With every passing minute, the weight on his eyelids grew. He needed to keep himself entertained somehow.

“...” Laurel fell silent.

Hakade glanced her way. She was frantically scrolling up and down news websites.

“Laurel?”

Laurel didn’t respond. She looked panicked, like she had seen some kind of ghost.

“Laurel? Is everything alright?”

Laurel jerked her head toward him. “What was the thing you’re hiding from us?”

“Wha-”

“Tell me!”

Under so much pressure, Hakade relented.

“The old man told me that the eldest dragon is following us. I didn’t believe it at first-”

“You idiot! You should have told me that!” Laurel shouted, her eyes glaring at him.

“But, it might be wrong-”

“Well, it isn’t! That dragon is currently waiting for us at the end of this line!”