2. QUARREL

Rain joined the escort mission for the second-generation Exelias. They were dispatched by train to a mining town called Baran, which was located on the northern end of O’ltmenia. It would be a single ride along a 120-mile line that extended from the center of the country, and the estimated travel time was six hours. Rain had been forced onto the train at six in the morning without any prior knowledge of his fellow cadets’ involvement.

“There are two spots that are especially dangerous.”

The cadets stood in the cargo compartment. The six dispatched students all listened closely to a person with a large, hulking frame…Orca A. Dandalos.

“The first point is a place we’ll reach in an hour, the Levant Plains. It’s our territory, but it’s a pretty rural region, so it’ll be hard to detect any soldiers that are lying in wait, making it the perfect spot for an ambush. The second is the Lemina Mountain Range. It’s a dangerous area for a very simple reason… It’s connected to western territory.”

Those were the two potential spots the West could attack. They’d loaded five dummy units camouflaged as second-generation Exelias even though they had no way of knowing if the West was coming to raid the train. But they needed to be prepared for all possible scenarios, since their priority was to protect the cargo.

In terms of personnel, they had twenty-four standard soldiers and six cadets, for a total of thirty men. But considering that all of them were mages, there were more than enough to guard one train.

“All right, so about our postings… Rain and Athly are on watch, so you all can just kick back and relax,” Orca informed them in an official capacity.

Since it was a single six-hour ride, they didn’t have to take shifts. As such, they’d decided to make two cadets handle their share of watch duty. They’d used coin tosses to pick from among them, and Rain lost after choosing heads four times in a row. Athly, however, volunteered despite coming out in first place.

“Here, Rain. Your wireless transceiver.”

“Thanks.”

“Let’s try to get these six hours over with.”

He took the transceiver from Athly. It was a small, portable, high-fidelity model for military use. After that, the two of them headed for their post.

“Whoa, it’s cold!” Athly yelped.

“Well, this is a snowy region…”

They walked out of the car. Beyond the door, they saw scaffolding meant for the scouts. It offered a good view of the area around them, but the temperature was well below freezing. Sitting outside the train felt taxing, yet they had to do it for six hours straight.

“You sure about this?” Rain asked as he eyed the transceiver Athly handed him. “I think this’ll be a pretty annoying job.”

“Hmm, well, I wouldn’t have volunteered if you weren’t stuck out here.”

“But you haven’t recovered from that head injury…,” Rain stated out of concern.

“It’s been four days. I’m fine, really.” Athly casually brushed off his worry.

An hour passed. They didn’t talk too much, since they’d tried to focus on their duty. But then…

“You know, we…,” Athly whispered.

“What?”

“We haven’t really hung out much lately.”

They were outside a moving train, so the noise felt pretty intense. However, since they sat shoulder to shoulder, Rain heard her clearly.

Huh…?

“What do you mean? We hang out every day back at Alestra Academy,” he replied.

“I mean, yeah, but we used to go to town by car or sneak into the labs to steal gunpowder, remember?”

“We played some pretty dangerous games back then…”

“Things sure have changed, huh?” Athly whispered to herself, full of nostalgia. “And it’s not just us, either. Everything around us is all different now. Including our environment.”

“Well, yeah…,” Rain answered in agreement as he sneaked a glance in her direction. Athly, on the other hand, didn’t turn to look at him as she spoke. She’d fixed her gaze outside of the train, sticking to her role as a scout.

What’s gotten into her…?

Something about her words felt out of place. She usually spoke clearly and refused to beat around the bush. She hated the use of subtext with a passion. And yet, she was being extremely vague about this. Her gaze was constantly downcast, and every now and then, she started speaking as if she suddenly recalled something. She’d say something incoherent, then stop. She’d been acting like that since they’d left the station.

What’s wrong with her…? Maybe it’s just one of those days?

Rain didn’t speak much, either, so another hour passed in relative silence. The train ran into zero trouble over the two-hour journey, so they headed into the Levant Plains according to schedule.

As he’d been informed ahead of time, there wasn’t a single house or paved road in sight. The only man-made structures in the area were the train tracks. Still, according to their intel, it was one of two likely ambush points. There were no obstacles in the area, making it a prime position for armored vehicles and tanks.

Rain left Athly to her strange mood and focused on keeping watch. The snow that had fallen since early dawn had stacked up to two inches on the ground. The whole area had been dyed white. It made Exelias especially noticeable, which was helpful, but visibility was still low due to the poor weather.

Rain squinted to better focus on his job. However, that made needless thoughts circulate through his mind.

“You should take some time off to cool your head.”

Air’s words from the other day echoed within him.

“You’re not looking at the bigger picture, Rain.”

But even after he’d taken time to mull over what she’d told him…

Shit…

…he didn’t regret what he’d said. Impatience spurred him forward, leaving no room for anything else. The words she said simply rolled around in his mind. Worse yet, his thoughts kept running in circles, which had distracted him. If any enemy troops had approached them, they would have been in trouble.

“Attention, cadets.”

Rain jerked upright. Those words crackled through his transceiver. It was a message from the commanding officer in charge of the escort mission.

“We’re almost out of the Levant Plains. Has anything changed on your end?”

“N-no, nothing.” Rain spoke into his transceiver as he looked around hurriedly. “We’ve spotted nothing out of the ordinary.”

“Good. Well, once we’re past these plains, we should be in the clear for a good while. Rest up for the latter half of the trip.”

The transmission cut off after he delivered that remark. They’d gotten an order to rest, which would never have happened in a real emergency. It seemed the commanding officer didn’t think the train would be targeted by the West, either.

There was no telling when the second-generation Exelias would be ready for practical use. Plus, the probability of someone stealing them during such a short journey was low. Rain felt justified in his thoughts that the whole affair was a waste of time, a fact that annoyed him all the more. He had no time to waste when he had far bigger, more important battlefields to use the Devil’s Bullet on.

“We’ll contact you again in another twenty minutes, as per schedule.”

“Roger.”

Rain looked up at the sky and ended the transmission, still stewing in his irritation. However, since he wasn’t focused on the task, when he moved to put the transceiver back into his pocket, its reception antenna…

“Ngh…”

…grazed against Rain’s cheek. The thin metal rod prodded him hard enough to hurt.

“Ouch…,” he groaned, then pressed his hand against the pain in his cheek, only to find blood.

Ugh…

It bled quite a bit. Apparently, the cold air had made his skin brittle, so the antenna had ripped through his cheek, leaving a single, clear line across it.

…Well, shit.

He had no luck at all. The wound itself was no big deal, but it was also completely unnecessary and thus especially frustrating.

Why now…?

His agitation flared up. It was just one bad thing after another. However, Rain realized he had to focus on stemming the bleeding.

I need something to wipe this off… Rain reached into his breast pocket to pull out a handkerchief, then brought it under his face. But…

Huh?

…at that exact moment, a slightly warm sensation graced Rain’s cheek. And it wasn’t the warmth of his own blood, either. Something warm, moist, and vividly alive, the polar opposite of the antenna from earlier, touched him.

The contact that pressed against him was gentle. And when Rain turned his face to the left in surprise, he found Athly’s face right next to his.

“H-huh, what…?”

“Oh, hey…”

Rain appeared flustered, but the same couldn’t be said for Athly. She gazed straight at him with a red fluid on her lips—the blood that had dripped from Rain’s cheek.

“Rain…,” Athly mumbled his name as her lips drew close enough for him to feel her breath. They had already sat close enough to each other for their faces to touch, so pressing her lips to his cheek was easy.

“Um, uhhh…”

Rain failed to grasp why she would do such a thing, while she simply remained silent. However, he understood that she was trying to convey something. Her face, which rested right before his eyes, appeared full of doubt and impatience.

What’s that supposed to mean…?

Rain directed a probing gaze in her direction. What did she wish to tell him? Whatever it was, it wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision. She clearly wanted to tell him something important.

Why this, all of a sudden…? No…

It wasn’t all that sudden. She looked nervous but not flustered. She’d obviously prepared herself. Athly had intended to speak her mind from the moment she’d volunteered to join him on watch.

Come to think of it, during his last battle with a Ghost, Athly’s hometown burned to ash and she lost her parents. She’d been out of it ever since. Rain thought her reaction was natural, since she’d just lost her home and family. However, the way Athly acted on the train didn’t quite gel with that analysis.

What is she…? What was Athly trying to say? What was she hiding?

Rain’s heartbeat pounded noisily in his ears. And after a few moments of mutual silence, she finally spoke.

“Um, about last month…”

“Last month?”

Last month was when her parents died and the unusual flurry of events surrounding the Ghosts took place.

I knew it…

Athly wanted to tell him something about it

“Did something happen back then?” Rain asked, prompting her to continue.

“…Yeah.”

She’d gone to the trouble of creating a chance for them to speak alone, so she knew nothing would move forward unless she spoke her mind. A few more moments of prolonged silence passed before she raised her voice again.

“I…,” Athly muttered, her shivering lips still smeared with blood. “I know about you.”

“Know about me? What do you mean?” Rain asked, looking extremely confused.

“About you and that girl,” Athly replied before falling silent. She said that as if she found the topic difficult to discuss, but that girl wasn’t nearly enough information.

Rain waited for her to continue and clarify who she meant. However, just as Athly prepared to say the fateful words that would change everything…

“Rain, you there?”

“Ah…!”

…someone banged hard on the door he was leaning against. The voice of their class prefect, Orca, boomed around them. They planned for no shift rotations, so he was probably here for Rain himself. Rain wanted to tell him to come back later, since his talk with Athly felt far more important. However, Orca spoke before Rain.

“Sorry, Rain. I need some help.”

Unfortunately, the interruption deferred his conversation with Athly far into the future.

Rain peeked through the room’s window and let out a fairly simple response.

“Ugh… Yikes.”

A chill air filled the room. Rain found himself reflexively recoiling and taking a step back. Orca had led Rain to the seventh car’s cargo compartment, which contained more ordinary cargo. All ordinary cargo on the train was split between different compartments in a twelve-car formation, while a lone forty-by-sixty-five-foot space was allotted to the cadets.

Why is it so tense in there…?

The air felt like lead. Charged lead, at that. Rain wondered if someone had scattered poison into the area, even though he knew that hadn’t happened. Another peek into the window told him all he needed to know. His classmates sat squatted down, hugging their knees, and at the back of the room…

“……”

…Rain spotted a girl who looked extremely annoyed. She wasn’t making any kind of noise, nor was she thrashing about angrily, either. Instead, she simply sat there with the single most bitter expression imaginable, sulking silently. Her finger twirled her silver locks as she quietly polluted the room with negative energy.

It was, of course, Air. The Ghost girl had killed the mood.

“Rain.”

“What?”

“You’re the one who pissed her off, right? Go fix this,” Orca ordered. However, Rain didn’t have the first idea how.

Why me…? Rain felt perplexed. Air looked upset, but she normally played the part of a cheerful, adorable girl at Alestra Academy. It was all fake, of course, but her acting had bought her devoted fans among the student body.

What is that idiot thinking…?

That only made it all the more pronounced when her mood suddenly soured. The sheer discrepancy kept anyone from reaching out to her.

Rain and Air shared a secret no one else knew, but they didn’t hide the fact that they were close enough to chat regularly. They talked to each other if there was ever any need during school hours and went to their respective classrooms to call each other if any urgent business came up. They figured that acting too distant might actually rouse the others’ suspicions and eventually make it harder to act freely, so they decided against it.

Unfortunately, because they often spent time together, everyone assumed only Rain could talk her out of a bad mood. Air put on that cheerful charade to smooth out her relationships with other students. But while her acting was masterful enough, it also created a sort of barrier around her that made her hard to approach.

Air had many friends, but she didn’t really let anyone into her heart. That was why no one dared to talk to her when she showed uncharacteristic anger. Instead, they called on Rain to calm her down. No one knew the truth behind their relationship, but everyone at least thought that Rain and Air were real friends, which explained why they blamed Rain for her mood.

“I’ve got nothing to do with this.” Rain shook his head and denied any involvement.

“Well, if you’re not the reason, why’s she so upset?”

“Just leave her be. No need to poke at her.”

Rain didn’t understand why Air was so upset. He really didn’t. Sure, they’d argued the other day and never cleared the air, but that couldn’t have affected her.

Air would never…

In his mind, Air never got mad. She never lost control of her emotions like normal people. She was different from the rest, a Ghost who’d died a century ago. Someone like her couldn’t have been upset by a spat with a common cadet.

In Rain’s mind, Air was too special, too unique for that. And so…

“Hmm. You sure you’re not to blame?”

“I am.”

…he failed to truly understand her.

“Well, okay.” Orca seemed convinced by Rain, but as he nodded, he turned to face the door. “Then lemme rephrase the briefing for you.”

“Huh?”

“Go cheer her up. If things get any worse in there, someone’s gonna die.”

“What? I just said no,” Rain argued. However, Orca refused to listen.

“In you go!”

“Ah…!”

He grabbed Rain by the arm, opened the door, and shoved him into the room. It was all so sudden that Rain found himself stumbling toward the source of the oppressive aura before he could try to resist.

“……”

“……”

Air actively ignored his entry. Everyone else in the room looked at Rain with expectant glances. Finally, someone who can fix this! However, Air didn’t focus her attention on him or even ask the obvious question What do you want? or anything along those lines. And that made it clear she had a bone to pick with him.

“So it is his fault.”

“It’s all because of him.”

“What did he do?”

“Did he cheat on her with Athly?”

“Wait, didn’t he cheat on Athly with her?”

Rain heard people whispering whatever absurd rumors came to their mind, but he didn’t bother trying to set them straight.

Guess I’ve got no choice… Rain bitterly accepted his task.

“Air, we need to talk. Can you come with me for a sec?” he asked in an attempt to move somewhere more private.

“What do you want?”

That was the first thing she said when they arrived in the adjacent compartment. Her sullenness was now joined by her usual curtness.

…Right, so what am I supposed to say? Rain still didn’t know how to approach her. Guess I should apologize first…? Wait, no! It was a simple solution, but why should he do that when he’d done nothing wrong?

Even if apologizing will fix everything… In his mind, she didn’t deserve one. He still felt he was wasting his time on this escort mission. That hadn’t changed. Which meant he couldn’t come up with anything to say to Air.

“……”

“……”

Silence.

“……”

“……”

The seconds ticked away. Rain had to come up with something to say, since he’d called her away, but he had nothing particular in mind.

What do I say…?

Eventually, Air broke the silence.

“…Aren’t you supposed to be on watch?” she asked. Air had probably realized exactly what he’d been thinking.

“…Athly’s taking care of it, so we should be fine.”

“Okay.”

“We’re running along a snowy cliff right now, so I doubt the enemy will attack here.”

“True. We’re most likely safe.”

“Yeah.”

The conversation quickly died.

“……”

“……”

More silence followed, and an awkward atmosphere settled between them. Ever since she’d entered the compartment, Air had her arms folded and chin cocked upward in her version of a sulking gesture. Rain had gone to the trouble of calling her over, so she probably assumed he wanted to apologize. But he said nothing, so they both simply fidgeted awkwardly as more and more time passed.

Rain considered trying again but quickly decided against it.

Why should I?

The stubborn belief that he’d done nothing wrong kept his mouth shut. Air, on the other hand, made no attempt to hide her pure, unfiltered anger. Talking was pointless. It honestly felt worse there than in the other room, since they were all alone.

“Can I open the window?” Rain asked.

“What’s the window got to do with it?”

“I need some fresh air.”

“Oh, sure,” Air replied absentmindedly.

Rain opened the compartment’s window as if to physically clear the atmosphere.

Ngh…

He looked outside as he wondered what to do next. The train was running along a rail built against a snowy cliff face, with a steep rock formation on their right and the cliff on their left. The cliff was over 160 feet tall and had a forest beneath it. If anyone fell off the train, they wouldn’t escape unscathed.

When he pulled the rusted window open, a snowy breeze blew into the room. They were traveling at forty miles per hour in bad weather, so it was pretty chilly. Still, Rain didn’t close it right away because the moment he looked up…

Huh…?

…he spotted something. It had appeared over the snowy cliff.

Seriously?

He’d only seen it for the briefest of moments, but he thought he saw it hide in a gap in the snow.

What the hell is that…?

He hadn’t imagined it, either. Rain definitely saw a black shadow.

…Are we in danger?

Some foreign object hid amid the snow. However, the cliff was far too steep for a human to stand on it, let alone a machine. The snow had only piled up as high as his knees, too, so no one could’ve concealed themself at a moment’s notice.

Maybe I’m seeing things ’cause Air’s stressing me out right now… However, right when he seriously began considering that option, his vision went dark. The pure white snow disappeared, as if someone had turned off the light.

“Huh…?”

However, that wasn’t what confused Rain.

Silver armor appeared before his very eyes—but that was impossible.

What the hell…?!

An artificial, inanimate mass with four legs appeared above the train.

No way!

An Exelia had suddenly popped out of thin air and plummeted downward, leaving them no time to react.

“Ah…!”

The next moment, an intense shock wave ran through the compartment. And the loud blast of wind soon followed.

The Exelia that appeared out of nowhere had landed atop the train.

What the hell is an Exelia doing here?!

It simply wasn’t possible. A tank that needed to move across level ground couldn’t have hopped onto a moving train. And yet, the silver Exelia had appeared in the air and used gravity to tear through the train’s roof.

Debris flew in every direction, and a cloud of snow and mineral dust blocked Rain’s vision.

“Whoops,” said a voice that belonged to neither Rain nor Air.

And even with the noise of a train hurtling forward at forty miles per hour, the sound of that girl’s whisper reached Rain’s ears all too clearly.

“I thought I picked an unoccupied car, but I guessed wrong.”

She was wearing all black.

“A pity, I’ll admit.”

She sat atop a western AT3. However, she wasn’t simply an enemy soldier who’d swooped in for a surprise attack. Something felt terribly off about her.

What…? What is she?

The word black didn’t do her clothes justice. They were darker than tar, a shade that didn’t reflect light at all. It felt entirely different from the faint black of O’ltmenian soldiers like Rain.

The woman’s waist-length hair only added to her strange appearance here. Her unusual outfit and accessories only added to her distinct, jet-black impression.

However, what truly stood out most was the sword she held in her left hand.

…A sword? What the hell? Why?

Uniquely curved swords were indeed used as service weapons by the West, but Rain had never seen anyone carry them around in battlefields where Bullet Magic reigned supreme. They were mostly reserved for formal wear during festivities and official rites.

Swords had no practical use in the face of Bullet Magic. And yet, that girl of darkness carried one like it was her main weapon.

She’s… Rain intuitively knew that this was the shadow he saw on the snowy mountain. Thus, her identity didn’t matter. If he didn’t take her out right away, she would doom the occupants of the train. His Qualia blared at him like an alarm bell. She was extremely dangerous.

Ah…! A chill ran down Rain’s spine. His body shivered in fear. But he simply pushed those emotions aside and sprang into action. An enemy soldier had launched a surprise attack against them, so he had no other option. Capturing her alive or sparing her was too risky. He had to end her life here and now.

I have to shoot her! Rain whipped out his handgun and fixed it on the eerie girl of ebony standing against the white background.

“Wait!” A voice shouted at Rain to stop. “Rain, don’t! Get away from her!”

It came from Air, and she sounded panicked. She must have realized just how much power the ebony girl had.

Shut up… Unfortunately, Rain decided to ignore her advice. The other day, she’d told him not to fight—to reject his entire reason for living. Hearing her say it again spurred on his immature, rebellious spirit.

Rain trained his sights on the ebony girl and shot a silver bullet to erase her existence.

Just disappear. I’ll erase you, here and now! He ignored Air’s warning and attacked, oblivious to just how outmatched he was.

Ah…!

A freezing chill struck Rain. Something… Something felt awfully, inexplicably wrong. Mages had Qualia, a sixth sense that allowed them to foresee the immediate future in order to detect danger. Thanks to that ability, they often avoided threats with a single step. And yet, Rain had just reflexively stepped forward.

It was an entirely unconscious action. Even Rain didn’t understand why he’d done it.

“…You just reacted,” a voice said from right behind him.

“What…?”

“You’re no ordinary mage.”

Whoever was speaking was close enough to touch him. The pilot of the Exelia in front of him had suddenly appeared behind him with her sword…

“I tried to stab your heart, but I missed.”

…a weapon that should never have seen any use in battle…

“Gaaah, aaah…”

…was buried directly into Rain’s left breast, stabbing through his lung and ribs.

“Aaah, gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

The moment Rain realized what had happened, pain rushed through his body. She’d missed his heart, but she’d still pierced his lung and abdomen. The pain he felt in that moment was worse than all the injuries he’d ever suffered combined.

Wh-what the…?!

What had just happened?

I can’t tell… What did she do?!

His thoughts disappeared into a sea of red. Confusion overwhelmed him. Nothing made sense. Not the moment he’d been stabbed, not the logic of how it could have happened, not the method with which the girl had suddenly appeared behind him. All of it felt utterly incomprehensible.

“It’s a shame I have to kill you here. But in war, young, talented soldiers always disappear like bubbles in the ocean, so…if you must resent something, resent this terrible era we live in. Save your rage for this conflict…”

With that said, the girl tightened her grip on the sword’s handle. A single twist was enough to drive the blade into Rain’s heart. However, right when she prepared to deliver the killing blow…

“Ah…!”

…an explosion rocked the train, and a torrent of flames burst from the floor beneath them.