บท 74: It Won't Happen… I Promise
Koutetsujou gradually picked up speed along the elevated tracks, heading toward the West Passage. The steam engineers were busy calibrating the 48-Type Defense Cannon.
Dawn had broken, and the sky in the distance was painted with brilliant colors as the night gave way to daylight.
However, Koutetsujou didn't have a trained artillery gunner onboard.
…
"I'll do it," Kurumi said, hopping down from her upper bunk.
"Huh??? Even something like the 48-Type Defense Cannon is within your skillset, Tokisaki-san?" The group was taken aback.
"Well, back in the day~~~ I almost became a cannon master, you know," Kurumi replied with a somewhat cryptic tone.
…
The massive fusion entity had nearly finished devouring the corpses at the bottom of the shaft. Seeing the "Iron Fortress" (Koutetsujou) trying to flee, it began to climb straight up the cliff wall.
Its movements defied all logic—each step shook the tracks as it advanced.
"Boiler… connection complete."
"OK."
"Adjust!"
At a series of commands, Kurumi yanked down the lever, rotating the 48-Type Defense Cannon's barrel to aim at the approaching Black Fog.
Anything firearm-related, once held in her hands, felt like she had mastered it completely.
A cannon was simply a slightly larger caliber firearm… that's all.
…
If Mumei wanted to personally finish off the Black Fog, Kurumi had no intention of stopping her.
Kurumi pressed her right eye to the scope, lining up the barrel with the fast-approaching Black Fog.
Just as Mumei had said, the chest cavity of the Black Fog glowed with an eerie, hollow blue light, revealing its weak point, much like the other Kabane.
Mumei stood by the gun platform, her coat fluttering in the early morning breeze.
"Onee-sama, I'm counting on you!" Mumei called out.
"Mm."
…
The Black Fog's tendrils lashed out at Koutetsujou, shaking the entire steam-powered fortress. Dozens of Kabane scattered from the tendrils, landing on the rooftops of the train cars. Their arms outstretched, they sprinted toward the crew.
The samurai gathered in front of the cannon, forming a defensive line to protect it.
Meanwhile, on the narrow pathways along the sides of the train, Ikoma and Kurusu exchanged glances, raising their weapons as they charged toward the incoming Kabane.
The long swords, reinforced with Kabane heart membrane, gleamed in the dim light, as if they were about to burst into flames. They sliced effortlessly through the Kabane's bodies.
…
Koutetsujou sped across the elevated tracks of Yashiro Station, its boilers roaring with life. Yūna, the driver, had even taken off her jacket, sweating as she pulled the levers with all her might.
The control rods turned, the machinery roared.
Hooooot!
Thick white steam spewed from the vents on either side of the train's engine, black smoke billowed from the chimney, and Koutetsujou suddenly picked up speed.
The Black Fog, realizing its prey was trying to escape, stomped down on the tracks, crushing them underfoot as it leaped frog-like toward the fleeing train.
Mumei stood up slowly, carefully removing the silken ribbon from her slender neck and wrapping it around her wrist.
"Let me put an end to you."
Her heart beat fiercely, and her blood, upon passing through her heart, felt as though it was boiling. Mumei stood there, her eyes burning with a radiant golden light.
The molten-like veins on her body glowed far brighter and hotter than any Kabane, surpassing even the power of the Nue.
Mumei stood like a ruler, embracing the world.
At the midsection of the train, Kurusu noticed Ikoma suddenly crouching down, clutching his chest and doubling over in pain. "Hey! Kabane-girl! What's happening to you?"
Ikoma felt as though his heart was being squeezed, an overwhelming pressure emanating from behind him like that of a superior being.
It wasn't just Ikoma, who was a Kabaneri—the approaching Kabane also froze in their tracks.
Both men trembled as they turned to look behind them, seeing, bathed in the morning light, a figure far more dazzling than any furnace.
"Mumei??"
…
"48-Type… standing by!" Suzuki-sensei gave Kurumi a thumbs-up.
Kurumi's finger pulled the trigger, and the entire 48-Type Defense Cannon seemed to pulse with faint blue light.
"Fire!"
The cannon roared, launching a shell that screamed through the air and slammed directly into the glowing blue heart of the enormous monster.
In an instant, the blast tore open a massive section of the Black Fog's body, revealing its core beneath the layers of Kabane.
"Now's your chance!"
Mumei, wielding her steam rifle equipped with a bayonet, dashed toward the Black Fog. After a brief running start, she leapt into the air, charging toward the exposed core of the monster bathed in the light of dawn.
Golden-red particles swirled around her as she swung her steam rifle, diving into the heart of the creature.
There, amidst the writhing mass of Kabane, was a girl wrapped in blue-gray scales, completely fused with the Kabane. She howled at Mumei in fury.
She wore a combat uniform similar to Mumei's, with countless black-gray tendrils extending from her, binding the Kabane together.
She was a Nue—a female Kabaneri injected with black blood plasma, capable of linking nearby Kabane and human corpses to form fusion groups like the Black Fog.
…
A blue, black-gray Nue.
A golden-red, furnace-like queen.
Their eyes locked, as if separated by two different worlds.
"May you, in your next life… receive the fruits of reincarnation," Mumei said softly, raising her steam rifle wrapped in golden-red light. A powerful gust of wind followed as she plunged the bayonet into the Nue's chest.
GRAAAAAAAH!!!
The Nue screamed before losing all its vitality.
With the Nue's death, the entire Black Fog shattered, breaking apart.
…
Mumei's expression was tinged with sadness.
Her former comrades had all turned into Kabane, and now, yet another Kabaneri had died before her eyes.
Letting go of her steam rifle, Mumei flipped backward. Golden-red particles enveloped her as she rode the wind, landing gracefully on the rear of Koutetsujou.
As she slowly stood up, both Ikoma and Kurusu inhaled sharply, unsure if what they were seeing was still Mumei.
Her heart burned more brilliantly than the dawn, and her glowing molten veins seemed to flow like lava. Golden-red particles streamed from the veins, forming what looked like butterfly wings behind her.
Mumei's eyes, now molten gold, gleamed like flowing liquid metal.
"Answer me! Are you a Kabaneri or a Kabane?" Kurusu, gripping his sword tightly, pointed it at Mumei, his voice full of tension.
It wasn't his fault—Mumei's current appearance was utterly terrifying.
"Move aside!" Kurusu didn't even have time to react before someone shoved him to the side. But as soon as he heard that soft, enchanting voice, his body froze, all thoughts of resistance gone.
"Welcome back."
Kurumi embraced Mumei and gently tied the ribbon back around her neck.
…
Koutetsujou, bathed in the light of hope, left Yashiro Station behind as it sped forward into the dawn.
---
It was the night of the sixth day of Fumizuki (July) when they left Yashiro Station.
The brilliant Milky Way stretched across the sky, cutting through the deep blue gemstone of the heavens.
In the empty space at the front of Koutetsujou, Kurumi and Mumei sat side by side, their young, slender legs gently swinging back and forth. Their fingers interlocked as they gazed at the countless sparkling stars above.
Since leaving Yashiro Station, Mumei's mood had been strange, as if she were suppressing something.
From Kurumi, she felt a genuine warmth, something she hadn't experienced for a long, long time—since the day she underwent the Kabaneri transformation on the operating table. It felt like a dream, a warmth she thought she'd lost forever.
"Even if I tell you this, Kurumi-nee..." Mumei gently pulled open her collar, revealing the glowing Kabane heart beneath. "I've been thinking…"
"Maybe tomorrow, I'll turn into a Kabane."
Mumei hugged her bare legs, burying her face. "Maybe it'll be tonight..."
"Even when I'm asleep… I keep wondering, will the me who wakes up tomorrow still be me?"
…
Kurumi was taken aback for a moment, her gaze as gentle as spring water. "It won't happen… I promise."
"Won't it?" Mumei tightened her grip on the cool, soft hand in hers.
"Kurumi-nee, did you know? Holding your hand feels like I'm holding ice. It's only when I touch those burning hot steam pipes that I feel any warmth."
"Ever since I killed that Nue… I've felt like I'm beyond saving. Just like those Kabane." She pointed to the distant, scattered crimson lights.
"I even feel like I could command them."
"That day, when Kurusu asked if I was a Kabaneri or a Kabane… I realized I couldn't answer."
"Has my 'heart' already disappeared?" Mumei clutched her chest, then suddenly shifted her expression, pretending to be fierce with her teeth bared.
"Grrr—"
"If I turn into a Kabane, I'll definitely bite you first, Kurumi-nee. You smell way too nice."
She made a silly face, trying to lighten the mood.
…
"Oh dear, what nonsense are you spouting, silly girl." Facing Mumei's playful growl, Kurumi reached out, pressing her hands against Mumei's face.
Her thumbs gently pressed the corners of Mumei's mouth upward, the soft pads of her fingers barely dampened.
"Fool, I won't let something like that happen."
Kurumi pulled Mumei's head toward her, resting their foreheads together.
"Hozumi, this is the one thing I promise."
"I'll find a way to turn you back into a human, so you can eat all the rice you want."
…
"Kurumi-nee… why are you so kind to me?" Mumei murmured, gazing at the inorganic golden eye so close to her.
"Because Hozumi is just too adorable."
"Idiot..."
"Idiot…"
…
In the end, Mumei was just a twelve-year-old girl. As the night deepened, the steady rhythm of Koutetsujou's boilers lulled her into a half-sleep, nestled in Kurumi's embrace.
Kurumi held her close, lightly jumping to the side walkway, returning inside the train.
For some reason, though, Kurumi's expression seemed... strangely eerie? As if she hadn't seen her beloved for half a month, and now suddenly encountered them again.
…
On the empty rooftop of the train, Kurumi slowly stood up.
She raised her right hand, and black-and-red shadows slithered, crawling over her slender body.
"Elohim!" Kurumi called out sweetly.
Astral Dress · Third Form!
A black-and-red gothic gown wrapped around her body, the girl's bare, delicate shoulders gleaming like pearls under the starlit sky.
But it wasn't over yet.
"Zafkiel!"
Click.
The sound of clock hands turning.
At Kurumi's command, a gigantic golden clock, towering over twice her height, emerged from the swirling shadows behind her.
She grasped a scavenged steam rifle in one hand and aimed it at the numeral II.
"Bet—Second Bullet."
The black-red shadow surged into the gun's barrel, and Kurumi pulled the trigger, aiming at a spiraling leaf drifting down by the roadside.
It was like pressing the slow-motion button—the leaf glowed with a strange light, descending at an impossibly slow speed.
At the same time, the steam rifle in Kurumi's hand began to bulge and crack from the barrel, unable to withstand the power it channeled, and ultimately broke apart.
Zafkiel still worked, which felt like a relief to Kurumi.
Casually discarding the ruined weapon, Kurumi sank into the shadows.
Tonight... let one of the idle Kurumis cuddle with Mumei.
Besides, it was time to feed the little kitten anyway.
——
As dawn broke on the seventh day of Fumizuki (July), Koutetsujou gradually left the forest behind, passing by vast, abandoned farmlands on either side of the tracks.
There were no safe places left to farm. Rice, once a staple, had almost become nothing more than a memory.
As Koutetsujou drew closer to Shitori Station, the tension among the passengers grew. They prayed that Shitori hadn't been overrun.
Although their supplies were still sufficient, if three consecutive stations had fallen to the Kabane, it would deal a severe blow to morale.
The warm summer sun had already risen, and most people stood on the side walkways of the train, straining to catch a glimpse of the distance.
Standing atop the train's engine were the leaders of Koutetsujou, those responsible for making decisions.
Even Mumei looked expectantly toward the hills ahead. This morning, for some unknown reason, Kurumi-nee had been especially generous, feeding her until she was full—the only price being a kiss on the cheek.
Mumei was in an excellent mood.
"Kurumi-nee... do you think Shitori Station is still safe?"
"It is," Kurumi replied directly.
"Let's hope so," Mumei said, leaning over the railing with anticipation.
Of course Shitori Station hadn't fallen. Kurumi knew that perfectly well. After all, she had a clone right now in Shitori, chasing after someone's cat. How could she not know?
As they crested the last hill, the view ahead opened up.
Beyond the green river lay a mountain city, surrounded by high walls—Shitori Station.
"So… is this one a living station?" Everyone was on edge with anticipation.
…
Hoooooot! Hoooooot!
Koutetsujou's steam whistle let out a loud, far-reaching sound as it released steam, and all aboard anxiously awaited a response from Shitori.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
In response to Koutetsujou's whistle, a long, slightly discordant sound echoed from the walls of Shitori Station.
Though the sound wasn't particularly melodious, it was the sweetest thing the passengers had heard in a long time. In an instant, cheers erupted aboard Koutetsujou.
"Thank goodness…"
"It's a living station..."
"Really, thank goodness."
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