Chapter 184
"Then can I confess to Simon today?"
At Ellen's shocking remark, Lete's shoulders flinched.
Catching that reaction precisely, Ellen curled her lips meaningfully.
"A-Alright. But why are you telling me this...?!"
"Actually, I'm just kidding~"
Lete's kick flew straight from her seated position. Ellen, stomped in the face, let out a strangled "Ack!" and flopped backward.
"...I'm seriously going to kill you."
Lete pulled her legs in and growled, her face flushing red.
Despite getting kicked in the face, Ellen burst into giggles like she was having the time of her life.
"I know, I know. A random confession in a situation where the fate of the continent is on the line? You can't shake Simon's mental state with something like that. I have at least that much common sense!"
Ever since being expelled from Efnelle, it was the first time in a long while that Ellen had worn a school uniform (even if it was a knockoff) and chatted with another girl her age.
Back then, such conversations were a part of her daily life, but now, they were just one of her greatest longings.
Ellen still missed those ordinary days.
"Then how about a question like this?"
"I don't know! Don't do it!"
"Be honest, Necromancers aside, as a man, Simon's pretty attractive, isn't he?"
Lete, now sitting with her knees up and together, sighed.
"Yeah, well. He is kind of cool."
"Whoa! I knew deep down that's how you felt! Is that your real opinion? Your true feelings?"
Without learning her lesson, Ellen got another kick from Lete and tumbled backward again.
Lete replied dryly.
"I'm a woman, and I've got two working eyes. I know that bastard's got a pretty face and a nice personality."
"If you think that, then why...?"
"Because he's a necromancer."
Lete muttered bitterly.
"I got badly burned when I was younger. The word 'necromancer' just fills me with dread. I feel absolutely no attraction or affection, just a visceral revulsion."
Ellen blinked.
"But Simon risked his life to save all of us, total strangers!"
"Ah! But in the end, he's still a necromancer! He's got a Core embedded in his heart, and he raises corpses with that power, he's a monster, and that's his true nature!"
Lete had gotten worked up without even realizing it, deeply absorbed in her own rant. Seeing her like that made Ellen quietly happy. This was exactly what she wanted.
"Then how about thinking about it this way?"
As Ellen raised her index finger sharply, Lete quickly interrupted her.
"Ah! Quit it with those annoying hypotheticals already...!"
"What if Simon wasn't a necromancer, but something entirely different?"
That question made Lete close her mouth.
"Think about it! Seriously, what kind of necromancer uses holiness? Simon completely breaks the mold, he's an irregular being! Chosen by the Goddess, he can wield holiness, and yet he's still called a necromancer just because he has a Core. Can you really lump all that together like that? His holiness is just too pure and warm for that."
"..."
Lete's expression turned deeply thoughtful as she traced her lips with her fingers. But Ellen wasn't looking for serious contemplation or a debate, she just wanted to toss around silly banter, saying whatever came to mind.
Just as Ellen was about to speak again—
"What's the serious conversation about?"
Simon returned, smiling brightly.
Ellen gave a small, regretful wave, but Lete jumped in shock and reacted a bit too strongly.
"Ah, you scared me! If you're going to show up, make some noise first!"
"Hmm?"
"Why do you creep up silently and startle people? Are you a pervert?"
"You couldn't even hear the door to the passenger car open. Sounds like that's on you."
Simon replied playfully and placed a large fruit in front of them.
Ellen's eyes sparkled.
"Wow! What's this?"
"Got it from the kitchen."
"Ooh, as expected of Simon! Always thoughtful!"
As the three of them chatted and snacked on fruit—
Lete, quietly munching on the slice Simon had given her, suddenly twitched her brow.
"They're here."
Springing to her feet, she drew the other two's attention.
"What is?"
"A detection magic circle around the train just picked up members of the Blood Heaven Cult. Including zombies, at least a hundred of them."
Ellen's mouth fell open, and Simon quickly stood up.
"Let's head to the engine room."
"Right."
Ellen went off to alert the others, while Simon and Lete entered the engine room.
Metin stood from his seat and said,
"Just in time. We're down to about half the fuel—"
"Tell everyone to get out. We need to start the train immediately."
"What's going on?"
"The Blood Heaven Cult is coming to seize the train."
At that, Metin ran out immediately. Lete took a seat and placed her hand on the magic circle.
"Whew."
With a soft breath, she focused and channeled holiness.
Wuuuuuung!
The holy magic circle began to activate. A massive world of interwoven formulas and calculations spun into motion.
Clunk! Clunk!
Not long after she touched the circle, the train really did begin to move. Simon let out a gasp of awe.
"It can go backward!"
"It's slow since it's in reverse, but once it gains speed, it'll be fine."
Lete rose from her seat.
"Now, let's go stop the heretics."
The two of them exited the engine room and returned to the passenger car.
Simon looked out the window. The train was speeding through total darkness. And then—
Keeeeeeee!
As Lete had said, zombies began to swarm.
Thunk! Thunk!
Since the train hadn't picked up much speed yet, the zombies were able to catch up and cling to the body of the train. Shrill screams erupted from passengers as the undead screeched just outside the glass.
Simon immediately opened the hatch in the ceiling and climbed onto the roof.
Clunk, clunk!
With the cold wind slapping his face, he looked down. A sea of black and red writhed below. Simon quickly flipped his robe inside out and pulled on his mask.
Crack!
He kicked away the first zombie to climb up, then pulled the last remaining zombie out of subspace.
"Prince. Time to go back to work."
He brought the zombie close to the ring on his left hand as he said those words. A black lightning bolt struck down immediately, and Prince yawned as he rose once more.
[You summoned me pretty quick. Is it those Blood Heaven Cult bastards again?]
"Yeah."
Zombies were climbing up onto the roof of the train. Prince narrowed his eyes, glaring at them.
Crunch!
The zombies' eyes turned golden, and then they kicked down the zombies following them from below and dropped down themselves.
Leaving the front to Prince, Simon ran along the train roof and leapt over to the next car.
He equipped Bone Armor Handguns on both arms and sprinted across the train roof, firing bullets. Zombies dropped one after another, and those that had already climbed up were handled with direct kicks.
"They're here again?"
Metin, who was also fighting atop the train, came into view. He spoke playfully, but Simon ignored him and moved to the next car.
"Hold them off!"
"Do whatever it takes to push them back!"
The fact that many priests and clerics were among the passengers proved to be a great help.
They bombarded the incoming zombies trying to break into the train, and even the non-magical civilians helped defend by blocking broken windows with debris and working together.
Clatter! Clatter! Clatter!
The train was picking up speed. Simon ran frantically from the front car toward the rear, continuously firing bullets.
"Huff! Huff!"
Gasping for breath, Simon finally reached the last car.
The zombies could no longer keep up with the train's speed. If they could just punch through this, they'd be in the clear.
But then—
"...What the hell is that?"
Simon couldn't believe his eyes.
Zombies were piling onto the tracks, forming a wall of flesh with their bodies. They couldn't keep up with the speed, so they were trying to block the train physically.
'Gotta clear that now!'
Simon brought the ring on his left hand close to his lips and said,
"Prince! Come to the rear car of the train! Right now!"
Thump! Thud! Thud!
No sooner had he finished speaking than thunderous footsteps echoed in the distance, as though something was being trampled. Then, Prince's body fell from the sky and landed beside Simon.
Boom!
The roof of the train dented, and murmurs of shock rose from below.
[I'm here. What is it?]
"You see that zombie wall? Use the power of the crown to take control of one of the zombies in the middle."
[Ah, okay. Gotcha. I see what you're aiming for.]
Prince focused his gaze. One of the zombies in the center of the wall had its eyes turn gold like Prince's. Simon activated the black magic he had prepared.
"Corpse Explosion!"
BOOOOOM!
The zombie exploded with a massive blast, and the wall of flesh crumbled down with a rumble.
Zombies' bodies flew through the air, tumbling in all directions, and the oncoming train slammed directly into the collapsed wall. With a loud crash, the zombies were blasted upward like scattered fireworks.
[Simon! There's another wall behind that one!]
"Keep going like this!"
So this is what they'd been preparing during that suspicious delay in the attack.
Prince would seize control of a zombie in the middle of the wall, Simon would use Corpse Explosion to blow it up, and they repeated the process.
After clearing out five such zombie walls in total, the area finally opened up.
The train had picked up enough speed that not even Blood Zombies, known for their swiftness, could catch up. Inside the train, the priests took care of any zombies clinging on or that had gotten inside.
"We did it! We're alive!"
"Woooooo!"
The passengers who had fought together raised both arms and cheered. Simon collapsed onto the train floor, gasping for breath with a smile.
[Hey.]
Prince, looking a little bashful, held out his palm.
Simon gladly reached out and gave him a high-five, but then Prince turned his hand downward.
"...?"
[Come on, when you start a high-five, obviously you gotta do the clap-clap, then the fist bump, then the slap-tap combo!]
"...?"
Blinking in confusion, Simon said,
"Oh, wait, are you talking about a handshake?"
[Yeah, that!]
In the end, Simon had to go through with the whole strange routine, palm up-down clap, fist bump, elbow tap, and finally turning their backs and tapping behind.
Only then did Prince flash a satisfied grin.
[Yeah! Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!]
Pumped up by this first-time teamwork, Prince exhaled excitedly through his nose.
[From now on, you gotta do that every time you summon me! When I hold out my hand, you do the whole thing, in that exact order! Memorize it!]
"...But where did you even learn something like this?"
[I just made it up myself!]
Prince conveniently left out the part about Richard doing it with him all the time.