Ch 36 - Lady Isabella

The atmosphere of the room suddenly became quite tense after the mysterious woman appeared.

She possessed beautiful golden silky hair that slid through the cavities of her white fedora hat. Her eyes were blue and cold like the icy glare she gave off. Also, she was wearing a coat similar to the rail guard uniform, with the exception that it was white in color. The thing that most stood out was her red glossy lips giving her feminine charms.

I also caught a glimpse of her wearing tights under her frocks as she was descending down on the ground. It wasn’t intentional but I could suggest she must be packing some great body under those baggy white coats.

The old fart William who wasn’t long, bossing us around had quickly turned into a submissive dog.

Even the disciplinary guy who didn’t bend down to William’s threats respectfully bowed his head before this woman.

I just tried to lay low and just merge with the background, hoping they would never notice me.

I was quite glad that this lady who looked quite important was called by the disciplinary guy using another call orb. So she would be sure to not let that lightning maniac guy go unpunished. But for some reason, I felt some uncertainty as well.

“Hmph, minor accident you say?” asked the blonde lady.

She then looked around the corridor.

The beautiful elegant looking corridor was in shambles. The lightning maniac had completely devastated this corridor to mere rubbles. The beautiful chandelier that lit the passage, the elegant carvings on the walls, the beautiful art paintings, and the marble statues were all turned into a pile of ash and dust. But I must say the lightning maniac’s attack didn’t even dent the dorm rooms and kept the room intact. I should give a 5-star rating to the dorm room security of the passengers.

“Minor…?” she hummed to herself.

That’s when she suddenly cupped her nose,

“What is this rancid smell?”

That’s when she finally saw the traumatized candidates still sitting on their own excrements.

They still had those lifeless eyes as if they had given up hope. Some of them were unconscious after seeing the severed hands of lord James.

It was quite upsetting seeing them like that but they were still quite very young to go through such things.

“What is going on…” the lady finally saw James.

He was just a moment away from dying anytime soon.

The first aid applied by the disciplinary guy allowed him to survive a little longer.

The pair of severed arms were also bandaged by the disciplinary guy who kept it beside James.

The blonde woman eyes squinted her eyes with a puzzled expression.

That’s when the woman finally saw a lightning maniac who was tied in chains resting on the ground. For the first time, this guy looked a bit worried.

Finally, the blonde glared at William as if she understood everything,

“Minor accident, you say?”

William quickly cupped his hands,

“I beg your pardon, madam Isabella. I tried to downplay this incident just so as not to alarm you. I assumed that we managers would suffice to solve this matter on our own. As the chieftess who overlooks the grand ceremony train, I didn’t want to disturb you when you have more matters to attend to. I just thought that I might resolve this matter myself so as not to disturb you from your work. I would later hand you a detailed report of what happened here with a thorough investigation so that you could learn the truth. It was never my intention… blah, blah, blah”

The old fart William mouthed off an overwhelmingly detailed form of excuses that was covered as an apology. I lost interest when I heard the first two sentences.

All nobles who don’t want to get blamed always end up giving an elaborate speech tagged with eloquent words that has nothing to do with the actual context of the speech. They just try to make their lies and excuses believable using bizarre words that no one would understand, but still make others feel they are saying something important despite its all stupid stuff anyway.

Why can’t they just resort to the easy words like-

‘Okay, I fucked up! I am sorry!’

Even the nobles back in the demon realm were as sophisticated as these nobles in the mortal realm.

Even the lady in white, Isabella was rolling her eyes as she listened to the crap William was spewing. She was also tired of William’s nonsense for once. This just shows not all nobles can stomach this crap either.

The old fart was still talking crap out his ass,

“Blah, blah, … Hence why, I, William Maverick tried to take upon myself so that I could see this matter can be met with closure. The house of Maverick can never overlook injustice in front of their eyes. Seeing that you had a busy schedule-”

“Mr. William!” shouted madam Isabella suddenly, “I am not here to hear your excuses. Instead of barging me with excuses, you could have escorted the injured candidate to a nearby medical unit to get him healed.”

“Well I was about to just do that, but then this disciplinary officer here chained a fellow rail guard with mana restraining chains.” William suddenly started glaring at the disciplinary guy, “If he had just listened to reason, we could have already patched up the poor lad.”

The disciplinary guy stepped forward,

“Madam, I just-”

William started shouting,

“Oh! How dare you try to cut in while I am still speaking. He has little to no sense of manner or discipline. How could one recruit such a man to the disciplinary committee? We must not let this event slide by and try to straighten the”

This old fart is one conniving little shit!

Even I was getting ticked off with the amount of nonsense he was spouting.

“Enough!” shouted Madame Isabella.

Even the scepter with a golden jewel in her hand started glowing.

“You still didn’t help the poor candidate on the ground. Despite speaking of justice, you still didn’t even bother to move a muscle to help that kid and save his life? Is it because you don’t want to sully your hand touching a lowly commoner aboard my train, is that it?” she asked glaringly.

William suddenly choked the air,

“I-uh, uh… it’s not like that- I- would never… I-uh”

Some fucking manager he is.

Not to mention James belonged to the golden ticket holders who were said to belong to the high-class society. This class is promoted to people who have successfully given birth to a mage in their family. They get special rights and privileges in the kingdom, unlike the common folks.

But in the end, nobles still treat these folks nothing but the same.

But to my surprise the woman in white quickly walked to James and then she checked his nerves. Despite her cold demeanor dealing with William, this time she had a concerning look in her eyes.

“Poor lad has lost a lot of blood. How could you guys just stand there and bicker while watching this kid die?” she asked angrily.

Wow, for once there is a caring soul besides the disciplinary guy aboard this train.

William joined in,

“I was about to carry the kid myself; You don’t have to lower yourself-”

“I am talking to you, Bellos. You could have carried him away to a healer mage,” said Isabella as she glared at the disciplinary guy.

“Madam, I apologize.” replied the disciplinary guy, Bellos as he lowered his head.

“Well, I need a good reason for what happened here. But first I’ve to send this one to the infirmary ward quickly.” saying so she quickly stood up straight.

She then tapped her scepter on the ground and the golden jewel once again started glowing.

In the next second, the floor suddenly came alive and started falling apart like Jenga puzzles, just like before. Later a hole appeared below James and his severed arms which then dragged him into the hole disappearing into the void.

The hole later disappeared and the floor quickly reverted back to its original state as nothing ever even happened here.

The lady remained there in silence with her eyes closed for a minute before opening her eyes.

“Well, I sent him to the infirmary ward and also relayed a message to the healer chief. Hopefully, they could patch him up and try to fix his arms.” she then suddenly let out a glare, “Now who’s up for a good explanation, what happened here.”

Bellos was the first one to speak,

“I was on my patrol duty like always, when I sensed the usage of mana. When I rushed to the scene, I saw rail guard Rayzer using offensive spells to kill these candidates. That’s when I quickly rushed to stop him, which resulted in me using the restraining chains.”

William just scoffed,

“Hah! You are just exaggerating. Young Rayzer tried to scare these kids, and he really didn’t mean to kill those candidates. I am pretty sure these kids were up to nothing good, why else would they gather at this secluded floor?” he then turned to the lady, “My lady, this rude disciplinary officer actually the one who assaulted rail guard Rayzer. How could we even confirm what he says is the truth? I ordered him to free this young rail guard from the chains but he didn’t even obey. This just shows how disorderly and rowdy the disciplinary committee is. You don’t have to put yourself through this, I will gather the other managers to investigate this matter thoroughly.”

At this point, even I am amazed how much this guy could lie.

Not even once did offer to help us or James over there. He is only fixated to help his nephew and shoulder all the blame to Bellos who actually risked his life to save us.

Lady Isabella was not buying old fart William’s crap anyway,

“Listen, William, I just got word through the healer surgeon who told me that a young brat’s arm was severed with mana. They found traces of the electricity element being used to chop his arms, which I believe is quite a rare element aboard this train. You mentioned that young rail guard Rayzer meant to just give them a scare, so chopping the arm of a fellow young candidate and then threatening to kill the rest of the candidates doesn’t count as just a little scare.”

William was still adamant,

“I will thoroughly investigate and get to the bottom of this matter, to see what happened here. Just leave this matter to me and I will-”

“Enough! I will seek the answers myself,” saying so the woman then stretched her hand into the air.

“My lady?” mumbled dumb-founded William.

In the next second the room started glowing with a light blue tint.

The jewel in the scepter also started glowing in its response. In the next second, there was a blue light glow to the entire corridor. Also, magic runes started appearing on the walls which later covered the entire corridor.

Even old fart William seemed to notice something and started sweating like a pig.

After the runes covered the entire corridor, lady Isabella waved her hand in the air, weaving magic runes in the air. She created a structure of circular text which later then started reacting and started absorbing the other runes present in the corridor. The entire runes which mysteriously appeared in the corridor got pulled and absorbed in the runes written by Madam Isabella.

After just a minute, her rune text managed to absorb all the other runes and started glowing.

The next second she grabbed her own rune and just embraced it. The rune just disappeared with her body or more like absorbed.

In the next second Isabella just stood in the embracing position standing still.

She stayed still like that for a few seconds before opening her eyes.

This time her brows were knitted and her expression was one of fury.

She glared at uncle William and then glared at Rayzer.

Uncle William just bowed his head,

“I am truly sorry, my lady. I shouldn’t have lied to you. I shall take all the blame, please forgive me.”

From the lady’s expression and the mystic arts she performed before, I think she understood everything that happened here. No wonder she looked enraged.

“You think a mere apology is enough. I could overlook the fact that you brought your nephew the job of the rail guard through your connections with the committee. But I never thought you will also try to cover up his crimes. I am really disappointed.” she said with a condescending look.

William this time just hung his head low without saying a word.

Finally, he was out of excuses, thankfully.

“That’s it!” Suddenly Rayzer shouted, “I quit! I can’t deal with this annoying crap as being the rail guard anyways. Keep your time chamber training to yourself! Just let me off these chains, my arms are going numb. Just because you were promoted as the chieftain to oversee the ceremony train doesn’t give you the right to boss us around. At first, I could tolerate this, but how long should a young noble like me should lower ourselves to serve these lowly peasants.”

Wow, this lightning maniac has no fucking chill.

He wasn’t even scared of lady Isabella, shouting his arse off like that.

Although uncle William was a terrible person, at least he was still making efforts to save his nephew’s skin. Now he just had to mess up all the hard work he did. Well good for us, anyway. The more these two piss the lady here, the better.

Hearing that, Lady Isabella gave a cold stare.

Uncle William just got cold sweat as he looked at Rayzer with horrified eyes.

“Do I have to stake our pride as the young Maverick lord to just utilize the time chamber to get more training? Of course not, this is beneath me,” added Rayzer.

“It seems the house of Maverick would like to relinquish their right to use the time chamber of the Ceremony train,” said Isabella giving a cold stare.

“My lady!” cut in William, “This young lad might have hit his head a bit hard. Please don’t mind his ramblings, he doesn’t know what he is talking-”

William still didn’t falter,

“Uncle! You don’t have to lower yourself for me in front of this whore. Just because she was promoted to be the chieftain of this train, doesn’t give her the right to boss us nobility around. Her husband was nothing but a coward who ran away from the battlefield with his tail between his legs, tch. And she still pretends to be-”

Lady Isabella was fuming with fury as she lifted the glowing scepter in her hand.

“You-”

But before she could do anything, Uncle William stepped forward and covered himself with a suit of mana. In the next instant, his entire body turned into gold. His hair, his eyes, and even the clothes over his body had turned into gold.

Was this old fart William’s ability?

He stood in front of furious lady Isabella.

Wow, another epic showdown between a boss lady and old fart William.

Fuck, I should go look for a cover, otherwise, I might end up as collateral damage.

There was a stare-off between Lady Isabella and Manager William.

“You really think you can challenge me, Mr. William’s?” she asked as her sound resonated in the entire corridor.

It felt like the entire corridor itself was speaking and her voice had merged with the train itself.

The whole corridor felt like it was wiggling like it was alive.

William lowered his head,

“Forgive me.”

Saying so, William cupped his golden fist and threw it with all his might.

But to our surprise, this fist was aimed at Rayzer who was lying on the ground tied in chains.

The next second there was a loud blast and splinters of rubble went flying all around. The punch was powerful enough that it even managed to destroy the lower floors, maybe all the way to the ground. The entire carriage shook as if there was a fucking earthquake.

The candidates who were passed out on the floor were just rolling on the ground over their piss and shit. Those that were conscious just left themselves up to fate. They were traumatized to the point they don’t even care.

Thankfully Lady Isabella was kind enough to cast a barrier to save us candidates from stray rubbles that flew all around.

The dust finally settled all there was left as William had turned back himself to normal looking at his bloody fist. He looked a bit sad for a second before straightening up. He quickly lowered his head and got on his knees.

Even Isabella who was furious a moment ago was surprised by this sudden change of personality.

“I, as the representative of household Maverick, sincerely apologize on behalf of my idiotic nephew. He has been pampered to the brink of growing up to be a spoiled child. I shall see to it that Rayzer, my nephew will be duly punished for his crimes and improvised manners once we reach home.” said William with a serene expression.

Lady Isabella grabbed her forehead,

“Ah! This is exhausting. Alright, you proved your point. We’ll discuss this matter back in my office. You didn’t have to hit him down the floors and damage the train’s interior like that.”

William again lowered his head,

“I am sorry. Please let the Maverick Household pay the bills for all the damages.”

Lady Isabella stared at William for a few seconds,

“Alright head to the conference, right now. Also, recall all the managers aboard the train, we are having a long lecture on the basics of how to deal with kids. First, fetch your nephew from below.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

William just jumped down the hole and disappeared.

“Ah! I am having a big headache! I need to get a cup of coffee or two before I meet with managers. Darn it.” said Lady Isabella to herself.

I guess, finally dealt with all the drama.

William's punch that caused the earthquake would surely have woken my parents by now. They might be even panicking at this very moment. I need to get going this instant.

I tried to tiptoe my way away and make my escape.

Lady Isabella was kind but seeing how shitty my luck is these days, it’s better to just flee from this sight.

Suddenly Bellos appeared beside lady Isabella,

“Lady Isabella, what about these candidates?”

I paused.

Lady Isabella was watching me with hawkeyes,

“Ah! I almost forgot about these troublemakers. They are the reason the trouble started in the first place, they don’t have any place on my train anymore.”

Wait, what! Wasn’t she the kind and loving person that loves common folks?

She suddenly tapped her scepter and suddenly the floor beneath my feet started changing. The next second a big hole appeared and I was swallowed in.

What the heck, wasn’t I the victim here.

“And for the love of God, not another black void,” I shouted to myself as I descended into the pitch-black void.