/
No one noticed the stealthy approach, which led to the pointless death of the robber gang’s boss.
The ten robbers who guarded the boss, seemingly bound by loyalty, grieved and raged at his death, baring their teeth at Willes.
Despite the unfavorable situation, they persisted.
Willes, having gently moved the panicked female hostage behind him, held up his 20-centimeter dagger and prepared for battle.
BAM一!!!
“……!!!”
At the moment when everyone’s attention was focused on Willes, Oliver infused a considerable amount of mana into the Tonfa and threw it.
Surprisingly, even though he compressed the mana with some skill, the Tonfa demonstrated the power to penetrate three and two people each.
Like a cannonball… The five robbers hit by the Tonfa became mangled lumps of flesh, and the remaining enemy forces were cut in half.
“You bastard!”
One of the brave robbers, instead of being scared, rushed towards Oliver, seeking revenge for his fallen comrades.
Oliver tried to counterattack by pulling the robber with the mana thread attached to the Tonfa, but another robber armed with a long sword cut the mana thread.
Although the thread was as strong as a metal chain, it seemed that the robber was a skilled mana user.
As a result, Oliver, empty-handed, aimed his compressed mana at the approaching robber by pointing his index and middle fingers like a gun barrel and fired.
Bang-!
As the compressed mana was fired, a gunshot-like sound echoed, the robber’s head flew off, and the remaining enemies bared their teeth at Oliver.
However, it was a poor decision.
Showing their backs to Willes, who had attacked Landa’s prison, was unwise.
Willes took advantage of the robbers’ vulnerability, dispatching them with his dagger.
The remaining robbers fell too fast to even scream.
The passengers, who had fled out from the train, watched Oliver and Willes with shocked expressions, their frantic footsteps coming to a halt.
It seemed unbelievable.
As the robber gang was wiped out in an instant, the tense atmosphere of fear and confusion dissipated, and a cold breeze mixed with a sense of emptiness blew anew.
As everyone stood dumbfounded, unsure of how to respond to the situation, Oliver walked up to Willes and thanked him.
“Thank you for your help, sir.”
The reason for the greeting was simple. He was genuinely grateful and happy to see him again.
It seemed that Willes had to conceal his identity as he hid among the passengers wearing a leather mask, so Oliver didn’t pretend to know him and just offered a polite greeting.
Willes stared at Oliver and then looked at the woman who had been taken hostage. She was trembling in the arms of her family.
Then he asked Oliver,
“…What were you thinking, trying to attack with a hostage around?”
Oliver couldn’t answer and just looked at Willes. He was angry, very much so.
“I asked you, what were you thinking when you tried to throw the Tonfa?”
Oliver looked at Willes’ emotional state and the hand holding the dagger.
He was angry but didn’t seem to want to attack Oliver. However, it was merely due to restraint by necessity; if he could, he would want to harm Oliver.
‘Is he on some mission?’
“Hey, I’m asking for the third time. What were you thinking when you tried to throw that Tonfa with a hostage around?”
“Ah… I’m sorry. I was momentarily distracted. I intended to hit the person holding the hostage.”
“And what if the hostage was hit?”
“Um… then, I guess it would be regrettable and unfortunate, right?”
At that moment, Willes’ emotions, which were being controlled by patience, wavered, and his clear murderous intent towards Oliver shone.
The control of his reason was about to break.
As Oliver was about to retreat defensively, someone intervened with fear.
“Ex-excuse me, sir…?”
At the frightened voice, Oliver and Willes quickly turned their heads towards the source of the sound, where they saw a middle-aged man standing nearby.
He appeared to be a rather unremarkable individual, with the kind of average appearance that one could easily come across anywhere.
‘Where have I seen him before? Ah.’
He was the man who was almost attacked by the double-edged ax robber earlier, and Oliver unknowingly helped him.
“Oh, you were sitting in the same carriage.”
“Yes! …Yes! Earlier… Thank you for helping us. You are our family’s savior.”
He pointed to his family in the distance. There was a middle-aged woman, two boys, and a girl.
Oliver looked at him again.
He was still frightened, wiping the cold sweat off his face and thanking Oliver.
Although he was uncomfortable with Oliver’s gaze, his emotional state was interesting, so Oliver couldn’t help but stare at him.
He was scared and uncomfortable with Oliver, but he also felt grateful.
Two emotions with different natures tried to devour each other, and the middle-aged man, standing before him, forced down his fear and approached Oliver to express his gratitude.
He wanted to get away from Oliver as soon as possible, though.
“…..May I ask your name, if you don’t mind?”
With one hand on his chest and a slight bow, Oliver asked the middle-aged man.
His posture, learned from the workers of Angels House, was quite natural. To a first-time viewer, he seemed noble.
“Ah… Cliff. My name is Cliff Lira.”
“Thank you for answering, Mr. Cliff. And thank you for your kind greeting.”
For a moment, Oliver seemed gentle despite the bloodstains on his sleeves and cuffs.
Cliff somewhat relaxed his tension and offered his final thanks before returning to his family.
Oliver watched him for a moment and then turned his head back to Willes.
He wanted to clear up the misunderstanding between them, but Willes was already leaving, trying to suppress his negative emotions toward Oliver.
Without knowing why, Oliver grabbed him. Was it because he was curious about why Willes was angry earlier? These days, Oliver doesn’t seem to understand his own feelings. Or maybe he had just started paying attention to such things now…
“Excuse me, sir…”
“Why are you grabbing me?”
Willes asked, stopping.
“I think we need to finish our conversation?”
“What conversation did we have?”
“What conversation… we were talking about, huh!!!?”
Willes ignored Oliver and tried to go back the way he came when he saw about fifty people approaching in the distance, accompanied by the heavy sound of a car.
The unusual sound caused some of the passengers who had fled outside the train to run back inside.
As Willes adjusted his dagger and took a combat stance, Oliver raised his hand to stop him.
“They’re not enemies, so you don’t have to do that.”
“Not enemies?”
“Yes.”
His words were soon proven true as the approaching fifty people revealed themselves.
They were soldiers of the kingdom, stationed near the train station.
‘…Ah, maybe those people are more dangerous to Mr. Willes?’
Oliver realized belatedly.
“My goodness… their heads are cracked like eggs.”
“Hey, shut up. It’s like you just ate an egg dish today.”
Kingdom soldiers who had responded to the distress signal were now pulling corpses out of the train.
Each corpse was in a horrible state.
True to the soldier’s words, their heads were cracked like eggs with their contents spilling out. Some had holes in their chests, while others had their stomachs torn open.
Oliver, seeing the condition of the robbers he had killed, checked his makeshift weapon.
“Hmm… Now that I look at it, the ends are too sharp. It’s excessive.”
Oliver felt a similar feeling to when he first swung a knife.
He hadn’t paid attention to the situation because it was urgent, but the lethality of the tonfa was more than necessary. Especially when compared to the quarterstaff.
He hadn’t noticed the problem when Corpse doll-Duncan used it, but it became apparent when he used it himself.
‘Would it be better if it was blunt?’
“Confirmed, sir.”
Evan, the lieutenant who led the fifty soldiers, returned Oliver’s employee ID and identity guarantee after checking them.
With his sharp eyes, he didn’t pretend to look at the employee ID and identity guarantee that Oliver handed over, but really examined them.
“Will I be punished since the robbers have died?” asked Oliver, suddenly recalling that this place was not Landa and that he himself was not Solver Dave Wright but the Tower employee Zenon Bright.
“Don’t worry. Those dead bastards were filthy Northmen robbers. Instead of being punished, you should receive an award for this.”
Contrary to the contempt and disgust for the Northmen that was dripping from his words, he spoke quite kindly to Oliver.
Oliver had not experienced such treatment before, and soon learned the reason.
“According to the identity guarantee, your employer is Kevin Dunbara. Is that Kevin Dunbara from the Elemental School of the Tower?”
“Yes… Do you happen to know the professor?”
“Of course. I’ve fought alongside him on the battlefield a couple of times and received his help. It’s nice to meet you.”
His emotions were sincere as he had fondness and admiration for Kevin.
“I’m glad to meet someone who knows the professor.”
“How is the lieutenant colonel doing?”
Lieutenant colonel. It must have been Kevin’s military rank during his service.
“I don’t know if he’s doing well, but he’s living strong.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
From the emotions of Lieutenant Evan, full of admiration, one could catch a glimpse of how Kevin had lived and the fragments of his life.
“Lieutenant, I’ve confirmed this person’s identity. It seems he is indeed a train passenger. However, it might be better to take him with us for a more detailed investigation.”
The kingdom soldiers who had accompanied Lieutenant Evan surrounded Willes, who was wearing a leather mask.
Although Willes had killed fewer people than Oliver, listening to the soldiers’ conversation, it seemed that being of Northmen origin was the problem.
“Lieutenant Evan.”
“Yes, sir.”
“He’s a solver I hired to assist me with my Tower mission. Is there any chance that he can be excluded from accompanying you?”
At his words, the lieutenant raised his hand to stop the soldiers who were dragging Willes away.
“A solver?”
“Yes, I can’t go into detail, but I heard this area was a bit dangerous, so I hired him for security purposes.”
“…But it seems like you’re quite strong yourself, sir.”
“I was just lucky.”
“The Tash Gang is the most troublesome gang recently. Just last week, there was a 30 million bounty on the leader’s head… A solver, you say?”
“Yes.”
“Release him.”
The lieutenant granted Oliver’s request. One of his subordinates spoke with apprehension, but Evan didn’t waver.
“Are you willing to take responsibility if the Tower complains?”
That settled the matter. After releasing Willes, Lieutenant Evan gave Oliver some advice, such as going to the inn he mentioned and changing his bloodstained clothes as soon as he arrived at his destination.
“Your current appearance may be for the sake of protecting the citizens, but it can be shocking to those who don’t know the circumstances.”
“Ah, indeed… Thank you for the advice.”
Oliver replied and boarded the train with Willes. Lieutenant Evan asked one last question.
“Oh, by the way… What should we do with the reward for that guy?”
Evan pointed at the corpse of the Tash Gang leader, who had been killed by a piercing blow.
“It won’t take much time, but if you want the money immediately, you’ll have to come with us and fill out a few documents.”
“Hmm… What happens if I just leave?”
“It will take some time, but we’ll arrange for you to receive the bounty through the Tower.”
“Can I ask you to do that, then?”
“Of course.”
“Thank you. You’re very kind.”
“The gratitude is mine. Thanks to you, the damage has been minimized. Thank you.”
With that, Oliver and Lieutenant Evan parted ways. It had been a short encounter, and they might never meet again, but it was a rather enjoyable meeting.
“Hey.”
Around the time the afterglow was fading, Willes, who had been standing next to Oliver, spoke to him.
“Yes?”
“…Thank you for your help.”
“I’m grateful too. Thank you for saving the hostage instead of me. We met by chance, but would you like to join me?”