Kabane

Kabane

Rumble—

Amid the roar of the steam engine came a dense barrage of impacts, along with faint screams from up ahead.

"Even a Hayajiro this heavy is shaking from the impacts. Looks like they really are troublesome."

Knowing the plot was one thing, but after truly encountering an attack, Xu Yue gained an even deeper understanding of the Kabane's destructive power.

Their physical capabilities might only be comparable to Ninja Academy students, but with their immense numbers and complete lack of fear of death, the force they could unleash was still considerable.

Against targets with no intelligence, attacking from a distance with firearms was naturally the simplest and safest option.

"Ah? What a hassle."

Idly playing with a kendama like a yo-yo, Mumei seemed not to have fully woken up yet, her face full of mild displeasure.

She looked as though she was preparing to head toward the carriages ahead.

"Mumei-sama, we're only passing through an abandoned station and haven't stopped. The guards will handle it."

Sion, who had recovered somewhat, reached out to block Mumei's path, staring warily at Xu Yue, whose gentle smile made him seem utterly harmless.

"Who exactly are you, sir, and what is your purpose?"

"Hm? Isn't that a little strange? You two suspicious, dangerous individuals hiding in the horse carriage shouldn't be asking other people questions like that, should you?"

The welcoming expression on Xu Yue's face did not change in the slightest, and his tone remained exceptionally warm.

It gave Sion a momentary illusion, making it impossible for him to connect the man before him with the person who had nearly killed him just now.

Bang—

Sion viciously slammed his cane against the floor, his voice stern.

"Don't change the subject!"

Mumei was already awake, and he had found his confidence again. Young Master's objective could not be disrupted in the slightest.

"I merely saw you board the train and became interested in this cute little girl."

Seemingly ignoring the threat entirely, Xu Yue smiled as he looked at Mumei, who was playing with her kendama and looked like the girl next door.

That answer left Sion stiff for a moment.

Pervert, criminal, pedophile, lolicon... all sorts of terms involuntarily flashed through his mind.

Mumei-sama and he had kept an extremely low profile throughout the journey. There was no way their mission target could have been exposed. Could it really be as the man said—he was simply interested in Mumei-sama?

Clang—clang—

Just then, a series of pounding sounds came from the roof of the carriage, as though something above was trying to pry open the roof and force its way inside.

That caught Xu Yue slightly off guard. There had been no such scene in the plot. Sure enough, he could not make deductions entirely based on the plot's progression.

Clang—

Deep dents appeared in the steel roof under the violent blows, as if whatever was outside could break in at any moment.

Hoarse roars drifted over faintly. The shrill scrape of metal, coupled with the impacts that formed dent after dent, created a suffocating and terrifying atmosphere.

Even Sion, with his extensive combat experience, could not help swallowing. In such an enclosed space, if the Kabane broke in, he was not confident he could escape unscathed.

"Mumei-sama."

Sion quietly asked Mumei beside him for her opinion.

"One, two, three. Only three of them. I'll deal with them once we're outside the Hayajiro's range."

As Mumei spoke, she swung her kendama, the ball and handle striking each other with crisp clacks.

At the same time, she curiously watched Xu Yue, who showed no sign of nervousness.

"A strange person."

Rumble, rumble—

The train burst out of the abandoned station. As the air pressure changed, the roar shifted from a low rumble to something clearer and louder.

Through the observation slits on either side of the carriage, they could see that the landscape outside had become open plains.

Without suitable places to leap from, even Kabane could not pounce onto the Hayajiro in such an environment.

Other than those still clinging to the outside of the train, they no longer had to worry about new ones jumping aboard to ambush them.

"Time to get to work."

Wearing wooden clogs and a kimono—clothes utterly unsuitable for exercise—Mumei swayed to her feet and walked over to the side door of the carriage.

She stretched out her small hands and pulled at the valve, which was completely disproportionate to her size. It looked as though her whole body was hanging from it, creating a rather comical sight.

Yet this tiny girl managed to wrench open the heavy steel valve all by herself.

Click—

The side door was lifted partway, and then she flipped up onto the roof of the carriage.

However, when Mumei reached the roof, she discovered that the strange perverted gentleman had arrived there ahead of her!

"Eh~, that's strange. Weren't you still down below at first?"

Seeing Xu Yue appear so unexpectedly, Mumei's face was full of confusion.

But before she could react, the three Kabane, having caught the scent of living humans, were already pouncing toward them with roars!

They had the exact same build as humans, but the blood vessels all over their bodies bulged and burst forth, while a glowing sphere like a furnace sat where their hearts should have been.

The strength and speed they displayed far surpassed that of ordinary people.

With their beast-like ferocity, bloodthirsty eyes, and savage appearance, ordinary people would not even have the courage to fight them!

The timid probably would not even be able to move once they were targeted.

"Mr. Pervert, be careful and make sure you don't get bitten, okay? Otherwise, I'll kill you."

Clink~

Bang~

Boom~

Just as Mumei reached for the ribbon at her neck and reminded Xu Yue to be careful—

The next moment, the three Kabane that had leaped at them were all sent flying backward at once, hurled off the train. At high speed, they smashed into the ground, rolled and bounced for a while, then stopped moving.

They shattered countless rocks along the way before being flung far behind the train.

Only three visible rings of air remained in the sky.

Mumei's beautiful eyes widened as she stopped what she was doing.

The fierce wind generated by the speeding Hayajiro made Xu Yue's clothes and hair rustle. He stood quietly atop the train, utterly out of place amid the scene before him.

"As expected, they're a bit troublesome."

Having dealt with three Kabane in an instant, Xu Yue recalled the brief exchange just now and gained a rough understanding of the Kabane's vitality.

The three Kunai he had thrown at once had each been thrown with different amounts of force: seventy percent, fifty percent, and thirty percent.

Yet aside from the Kunai thrown with seventy percent force, which had successfully pierced the membrane around its heart, the other two had merely lodged in the membrane and failed to inflict fatal wounds.

Only after Xu Yue closed in and pressed down on both Kunai at the same time to finish them off did he complete the kills.

However, the finishing motion had occurred almost at the same instant as the Kunai were thrown, so it looked as if he had sent all three Kabane flying in an instant.

It took a Kunai thrown with seventy percent force to kill a Kabane from range. That truly was an exceptionally formidable defense.

If he kept using that level of force, Xu Yue could not guarantee how long he could last. If he were surrounded, things would likely turn dire.

Kabane killed: 3/10. Gain an additional 10 points for each Kabane killed.

"Wow, that was amazing. You saved me quite a bit of effort."

Stopping her attempt to untie the ribbon, Mumei stared wide-eyed at Xu Yue, her gaze filled with curiosity. Then she hopped over in front of him, leaned in with her little face, and sniffed him with her delicate nose.

But after sniffing him, her expression became even stranger.

As a Kabaneri, existing between Kabane and humans and possessing the advantages of both—

Even she needed to remove her restraints to deal with three Kabane. Yet he had killed all three in an instant, and he did not even carry the scent of a Kabaneri.

An ordinary human?

But judging from the strength he had shown just now, he was no weaker than her...

I'm on a business trip, editing this on my phone. Please support my integrity for traveling on the weekend~