A train crashed.
The cause was simple.
– A fuel-related defect in the mana stones.
Originally, mana stones were of uneven quality.
When mana stones with excessively coarse mana were used as fuel, it caused problems with the magitech equipment.
Therefore, this was more of an issue with the refinement process of the fuel rather than the mana stone itself, and it was due to the operators of the train ignoring minor warning signs.
However.
The reason the entire continent was in an uproar over the “Mana Stone Train Crash Incident” was threefold.
Firstly, most people regarded mana stones as a perfect power source.
After all, mana stones were essentially fuel powered by mana. To the layperson, anything fueled by mana stones appeared sophisticated, mystical, and perfect, not unlike the mysterious powers wielded by magicians. So, everything powered by mana stones had an image of being luxurious, mystical, and flawless.
That image was shattered.
Secondly, the train was the dream of all commoners.
「The Northern Mountain Crossing Train」
A train navigating a perilous path through rugged cliffs. Riding with family or parents, enjoying the perfect scenery of the Northern Mountains along with the stability offered by state-of-the-art magitech trains, was the dream of every successful commoner.
To ride in one of the compartments allotted to commoners, some saved most of their income from labor. Others plunged into stocks and gambling.
Their dreams had crashed.
And lastly, thirdly.
— Aren’t there any mages here! Emergency, emergency!
— The mana engine isn’t working! Mana, mana…! Help…! Aaargh! Falling!
— Kwaaah!
On that train, there happened to be a conscientious pro-journalist, and while the camera broke, the magical film remained intact.
The film capturing the moment the train plummeted from the cliff, and the vivid voice of the conductor.
[Mana, mana…!]
That desperate cry was enough to make headlines in every newspaper.
◆
— Eeek!
With a chilling friction sound, the train began to slip backward.
Ian recalled the headline of that newspaper in his mind.
‘But if it were the original story where the heroines receive requests and go, I wouldn’t have taken the train.’
That was the reason he couldn’t predict what was happening now.
But he soon realized.
‘Ah.’
The departure was relatively quick.
Because he immediately caught the attention of the princess.
Or.
“What, what’s going on here!”
There might be something related to the journalist grabbing his camera and making a fuss.
Anyway….
“F*cking butterfly effect.”
Ian stopped thinking about the cause.
Naturally, thinking about solutions should take precedence.
Or perhaps hoping that this eerie feeling was just a misconception.
Of course, as if to dismiss such futile hope, the door to the compartment connected to the engineer’s room swung open with a creak.
“Um, are there any mages among the passengers! Emergency, emergency!”
The engineer, with a pale face, desperately shouted.
Ian somehow felt he knew what the engineer would say next.
“The mana engine isn’t working!”
As he turned his head, Schwab was already acting like a professional journalist, holding up his camera and capturing the engineer’s face perfectly.
Yes. This part should be well captured since it’s the headline.
“Mana, mana…! Help…!”
Ian, the reporter, and Schwab were the only ones present.
Ian, who confirmed Schwab was changing the film, asked.
“What happens if we continue like this?”
“We’re performing the emergency stopping protocol as much as possible, but, we, we don’t have much time left. If the brake system fails, the train will accelerate along the tracks. Ah, we were almost there, but of course!”
The path visible outside the window seemed infinitely distant.
“And then?”
“Since the precise control magitech engine isn’t working, i-it’s a derailment no matter what!”
“Escape?”
“One side is blocked by mountains and the door can’t be opened, and the other side is as you can see….”
Everyone glanced sideways.
A cliff whose end could not be seen, obscured by cloud-like fog.
Ian didn’t bother to look down.
— Falling!
— Kwaaah!
The future was obvious if things continued like this.
“Do you have any idea what the problem might be?”
“It’s probably related to the fuel….”
“How much longer until we reach safety?”
“1000 feet, just 1000 feet more and we’ll be safe.”
About 300 meters.
If they could just drag the train that much, the problem would be solved.
But how?
“We need to minimize the weight.”
Danya muttered.
Ian nodded.
“I’ll discard the rear compartments.”
“All passengers, including commoners? Hmph!”
Ian found himself looking at the engineer as if he were a bug.
Ian let out a small sigh and then commanded Karen.
“Karen! Move all the civilians to this compartment.”
“Yes.”
“And Danya! Let’s go to the fuel room together. Lina, stay put for now.”
“Got it!”
◆
Mana stones are loaded on the upper part of each carriage.
This means that to inspect the mana stones, one must go outside the train and climb up using the ladder on the exterior.
— Clang, clang.
“It seems the door is malfunctioning, Nyah.”
In the state of mana supply being cut off, the door didn’t function properly either.
Ian cautiously applied pressure to the latch.
Thud. The door fell off and dropped down the cliff.
— Thud, thud, thud.
The distance to the ground couldn’t be heard, not even the sound of impact.
— Whoooosh!
Instead, there was a chilling gust of wind blowing on their faces.
Ian hung onto the ladder outside the train.
“…Phew.”
Ian, glancing back, found himself involuntarily taking a deep breath.
The end of the cliff was too far away.
If someone fell from here, it would be difficult to find their body parts.
“Ian, over here!”
Danya, who had jumped up ahead, waved her hand.
She’s agile, that one.
“As expected, the condition of the mana stones isn’t good.”
When Ian concentrated on mana detection, he felt the rough and poor-quality mana remaining in the mana stones.
Typically, the mana stone ratio of such fuel-type mana stones was 9 to 10%.
However, most of the remaining stones had a ratio of less than half that, and there were many other impurities as well.
“Hmm.”
After using Extraction to filter the impurities, Ian carefully placed the mana stones at the entrance.
They fit well.
“Wow!”
But this wouldn’t be enough.
Even if he managed to fit one fist-sized mana stone at a time, it wouldn’t be feasible to fit several simultaneously and adjust the ratios.
‘I’m not a machine, I’m a human.’
At that moment.
— Clang!
The train shook violently.
“…Ian.”
Along with an inexplicable sense of foreboding.
— Clunk.
The train began to accelerate as it descended.
“— Aaargh! The brakes!”
The screams from the lower compartment were from the conductor.
The train began to accelerate downwards along with gravity.
◆
‘I’m going to die like this.’
The journalist, Schwab, tightly shut his eyes.
He was even wrapping himself up with his clothes in preparation to leave behind at least a magic film…
— Vroooom!
He hurriedly followed Lina and Karen out of the compartment.
As they climbed up the ladder onto the train, they were met with an unbelievable sight.
“W-what, what is…?”
A massive wall was blocking the movement of the train.
Astonished, Schwab blinked and lifted his camera.
Both Lina and Karen were also surprised for the same reason as Schwab.
“Uh? Did you do that, Ian?”
“What…?”
Ian casually asked Karen.
“What happened to the compartment carriages?”
“…We’ve moved all civilians.”
“You’re surprisingly good at handling people.”
“No. I knocked everyone out.”
“…?”
Their conversation was cut short.
— Creak.
Cracks began to appear in the wall.
“It’s going to collapse soon. Karen, when it does, please separate the last carriage.”
As Ian predicted, the wall collapsed.
Karen swiftly swung her dagger.
Thud. The carriage at the very end of the train began to move backward.
As the train derailed, the carriage tumbled down the cliff.
Again, there was no sound of impact as it hit the ground.
Kwooong!
The wall summoned by Ian once again blocked the rear of the train.
“One carriage removed lightened the load, but we can’t keep blocking like this.”
“Mana isn’t infinite.”
“We need to find a way to pull the train forward somehow.”
Ian’s group pondered on finding a solution.
Schwab, swallowing nervously, continued to turn his camera.
Surely there would be limitations to blocking a train weighing tens of tons. It would be even harder to push it uphill.
Even though he wasn’t an expert in this field, it was common sense.
Using just the mana of a few mages wouldn’t be enough to move this massive train forward. It was a situation where they couldn’t even push it by force along the tracks. The space itself was precarious, with only a narrow track laid out.
It seemed impossible, but…
‘…For some reason, I feel like he’ll pull it off.’
Schwab felt a strange sense of anticipation as he looked at Ian.
And as if on cue, Ian spoke up.
“Interactions.”
‘…Interactions?’
Schwab furrowed his brow at the unfamiliar term but didn’t stop turning his camera.
“Danya. Remember the seed experiment from before? When you created the seed and broke Yurran’s barrier.”
“Y-Yes!”
“I’m going to try making that seed as big as possible. And it has to be sturdy. Stick it to the back of the train.”
“I’ll do my best!”
Ian then turned to Karen.
“Karen.”
“Yes.”
“When Danya makes the seed, pour water into it. If possible, in the form of steam.”
“Understood.”
Next was Lina.
“Lina.”
“Yeah!”
“Heat up the seed slowly.”
A giant seed attached to the back of the train.
The sound of boiling bubbled from within.
‘…What is he planning?’
Schwab wondered briefly.
Ian thinly coated the seed with metal.
Thick on the side facing the train and thin on the opposite side.
— Rrrrrrrrkk!
The unidentified seed began to make a sinister noise.
“I-Is that thing going to explode?”
Danya muttered.
“Yeah. Hold on tight!”
Ian shouted, grabbing Schwab by the collar.
Kwaaaaaaaaaang—!
The train shot forward in an instant.
“T-Thank you…”
“Just like that, one more time!”
Kwaaaaaaaaaang—!
Tremendous acceleration.
Schwab, half out of his mind, instinctively snapped pictures.
Someone shouted.
“Ah, curve ahead!”
As expected, a sharp left turn came into view.
It was certain they would derail if they continued like this.
Ian urgently gave an order.
“Karen, push all everyone to the left!”
“Yes!”
At the same time, Ian summoned a wall to the left of the train.
The train teetered dangerously to the left.
— Tzzzzzzzzt!
They managed to make the turn, albeit barely.
And soon, they arrived at the peak of the summit.
Schwab screamed with relief, forgetting all dignity.
“I-I survived…!”
The scenery from the peak was frighteningly beautiful.
◆
“Phew.”
Ian sighed softly.
Ian let out a small sigh. The explosion utilizing the interaction of grass, earth, water, and fire went off better than expected, despite being a bit of a gamble.
“Wahh!”
“I thought we were done for…”
“Hmm.”
Each of them celebrated and felt relieved in their own way.
Their mutual comforting seemed to form somewhat of a team.
Most of it was praise for Ian, after all.
At that moment, Lina smiled brightly and raised her hand.
“But I have a question.”
All eyes turned to her.
“What about the downhill?”
A sunny question.
— Click.
As the train reached the end of the short plateau at the summit, it tilted forward towards the descent.
“That’s a good point, Lina.”
That day, Imperial Gazette journalist Schwab eventually fainted.
