A Dark Fantasy Spy

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The train carriage is as silent as a grave.

There was no excitement from travelers or the hustle and bustle of homecoming passengers.

Without a single glance at the unexpected guest who burst through the door, the people inside the carriage turned their backs, showing a thorough indifference.

Breaking the suffocating silence, I casually took a seat, as if I had just boarded from the previous station, claiming my spot.

“Teacher.”

Finally, after settling down in such an audacious manner, their gaze landed on me.

“Is that your seat, Teacher?”

“Yes.”

The foreigner across from me spoke just as I flashed the ticket I had bought at the last stop.

The foreigner, alternating glances between my ticket and me, seemed to be contemplating what to say. But unable to come up with any suitable reason to kick me out, he merely stared at me before finally diverting his gaze.

Warm sunlight trickled through the window.

The train, crossing the red desert, gradually advanced north.

Forty suspicious foreigners were crossing the border.

—

Episode 20 – Who Held a Knife and Threatened Me

The train ‘Al-Raed’ that penetrates the Mauritania Continent boasts unmatched speed, living up to its name.

This high-speed train, transporting over a thousand passengers and their baggage with explosive power, earned its fame thanks to the magic stone that birthed the tireless iron horse.

Just as the magic stones from the Kien Empire endure the frost of frozen earth, the magic stones produced in the Mauritania Continent generally absorbed the scorching heat of the red desert.

Facing the blazing sun for thousands of years, that energy became the secret that led to high prices for the Mauritania Continent’s magic stones in today’s international marketplace, serving as an endless source of funding for military organizations.

“…”

Even as the train thundered along the tracks, the surroundings remained eerily calm.

No conversations or communications exchanged.

The forty foreigners occupying the carriage were silent, as if conversing was entirely unnecessary.

However, humans don’t express their sentiments solely through words.

For instance, the men sitting diagonally behind me glaring through the reflection in the window—or the gesture of the left man scratching the calloused knuckles of his middle finger.

I easily caught on to their unease and nervousness expressed through gestures and the wariness radiating from their glances, as well as the discomfort reflected in their breathing.

“…Hmm.”

Men in their 20s to 30s with robust builds, peculiar tattoos etched into their skin, and unsettlingly tense bodies.

Along with the hardened callouses on their middle and index fingers.

“Looks like you’re miners, huh? Those callouses give it away.”

“Yes.”

I chuckled lightly and relaxed back in my seat.

After all, their hands were far from the hands of laborers. Rather, such hands were something I often saw around here.

For instance, among my colleagues who had been in the Special Forces since childhood before moving to intelligence.

In other words, there were no miners at all in this carriage.

Only a gang of forty thieves without an Alibaba.

*

Rebels, the combatants, boarded the train.

Whether they were rebels, revolutionaries, or just street thugs was not my concern.

Wherever they came from, these guys were clearly those who lived off of bullets.

And I knew well what was about to unfold.

“Damn it. What kind of sudden disaster is this… on leave?”

For now, I couldn’t move far. As soon as I stood up, some of them followed me, as if they’d been waiting for that moment.

Therefore, rather than trying to shake off my tail, I decided to enter the bathroom in the connecting carriage, pretending to have an upset stomach.

Currently, about forty combatants suspected of being rebels were on board the train, and a clash with armed police was anticipated.

After urgently sending that info, I tried to contact Camila without waiting for a response.

-‘It hasn’t been thirty minutes. We’re still safe, right?’

“Camila, we’re screwed. We might have to jump off the train.”

-‘…Oh.’

Just for a moment, a flood of expletives I frequently heard from my British friends burst forth like the Nile River.

Once she snapped out of her daze, Camila hurriedly began searching for an escape route.

-‘Hmm… the safest way to escape is to get off the train, but the problem is we still have to go at least 560 miles to the next station.’

“What are we supposed to do with yards and pounds in this situation? Convert it to metric right away.”

-‘It’s about 900 kilometers to go!’

“Why didn’t you say that sooner?!”

900 kilometers was the kind of distance that could get you a round trip from Seoul to Busan.

Until a moment ago, we could have arrived at the next stop in just an hour and forty minutes, but now we were looking at a whole 24-hour delay on the train.

We’re done for.

“We’re all in deep trouble now.”

I pondered when the police officers would storm into the carriage.

While it was hard to predict the exact timing, the cops would certainly show up in the carriage full of suspicious gunmen within at least ten minutes.

I leaned my head against the wall and sighed.

“Seriously, at this rate, I might have to jump off the tracks like James Bond…”

-‘Why not ask the police or military for help? If you request backup from the train staff or police officers, they can call for reinforcements.’

Camila’s suggestion was quite rational. However, the problem was that it would take time for the backup to arrive.

In the meantime, we’d be trapped on the train with those gunmen.

Camila was no stranger to this reality.

-‘Rather, I should—’

She insisted on taking down the suspected rebels herself.

“Absolutely not. I can’t allow that.”

I firmly opposed this.

“In the Jamria Federation, the government authorized the arrest of criminals, but right now, we’re just civilians with no authority. If a magician gets involved in a serious incident, the outcome could be disastrous.”

-‘So what do you suggest we do?’

“For now, you need to get away. Use your teleportation or whatever to escape to a safe place and think it over.”

-‘What about the others? The staff? You’re saying leave them all behind!’

“That’s not fleeing; I’m saying we should get backup first. If magic accidentally targets a civilian while fighting on the train, you’ll become a murderer from that day forward.”

-‘Frederick…’

“I’ll slip away and follow if the situation allows.”

-‘…Will that really be okay?’

“Don’t worry about it.”

As I always did, I reassured her, claiming everything would be fine.

–[Boom!]

Suddenly, a loud noise cut off our conversation.

-‘…What was that sound?’

Ignoring Camila’s worried voice, I cautiously peeked outside.

“…”

The moment the door opened, the separated two spaces suddenly merged, pouring out a cacophony of noise.

Someone’s agitated voice and commanding shouts erupted. The ruckus was coming from the direction of the carriage.

I couldn’t see the situation in the carriage, but I could spot three foreigners through the slight gap.

They were the same ones who had been tailing me.

They were all staring toward the carriage.

And the moment the one standing at the front turned his head…

–[Bang!]

The door was kicked in, slapping against my nose.

*

Camila snatched at the tangled earpiece.

The tangled cords coiled around her fingers. The earphones that had slipped out of her ears were now rolling around under the seat.

Nevertheless, Camila seemed utterly unconcerned about picking up the fallen communicator. Pulling free the cord twisted between her fingers, she leapt from her seat.

“Customer, it’s dangerous to leave your seat—”

–[Whoosh!]

The stewardess’s expression melted within an instant. The warm aura was swept away by a harsh gale, and the tranquil ambiance turned into chaos.

“Ugh…”

As the train rocked, Camila, standing atop the swaying roof, struggled to maintain her balance.

She shot a glance in the direction the train was heading, pushed aside her disheveled hair, and turned her head back.

Carriages lined up in a long chain.

As she focused her mind against the wind, her cerulean blue eyes suddenly blazed wide.

“…Found you!”

Enhanced senses through magic captured vivid details of what was happening inside the far-removed carriage.

A person was thrown violently, and a knife rolled beneath the seats.

A vivid red muzzle, dancing amidst the splintering glass and flooring as the back met with the ground.

Even while gunfire erupted, passengers in other carriages remained oblivious. Camila stared intently at the chaos unfolding in the fighting carriage, finally gasping in realization.

It’s magic.

“Is that a barrier? Or an illusion?”

Countless hypotheses raced through her mind in a fraction of a second. Flames flared up from her hands.

Whatever it was, I’d break it first and think later.

Camila prepared her magic and closed in, her sharpened senses meticulously sorting targets to hit and avoid, unleashing a perfect flame without a hint of error even on the swaying carriage.

Despite the raging wind, she distinctly sensed the footsteps from behind.

“…”

Completing her flames, Camila turned her upper body sharply, using her legs as leverage.

“…Stop right there, criminal scum!”

On a train carriage roaring through the tempest, a man wielding a staff was striding down the aisle.