Chapter 114

“Urgh…!”

The wounded bandit staggered back, clutching his injury.

Josephine lowered her sword.

The battle was already decided, and she believed his life was now in her hands.

“I intended to kill you with a single blow, but you managed to bring your sword up in that instant. You’re my enemy, but I’ll give you credit for that.”

“Well, well. A monster was riding this train all along. Fine, I admit defeat.”

“Will you throw down your sword and surrender?”

“No.”

“Then death is your only option.”

“That’s not it, either.”

“..…?”

Josephine tilted her head in confusion, and the bandit replied with a chuckle in his voice:

“It’s about time now. I’ll be getting off at this stop, so let’s meet again sometime.”

“What a ridiculous joke…”

The man stepped backward, opening the door to the next car.

Josephine furrowed her brow.

“You think I’ll let you get away?”

Despite the fierce battle, Josephine hadn’t even broken a sweat.

Especially now that her opponent was wounded and staggering.

Josephine charged in to finish him off.

At that moment, the man shouted:

“Your turn, Jerry!”

Of the six private rooms in the first-class car, five were open.

The only one still closed was the room between Josephine and the bandit.

Josephine flinched and halted.

Don’t tell me there’s another one hiding?

But nothing emerged from the closed compartment, and only after wasting precious seconds did Josephine realize she had been tricked.

She turned her furious gaze forward, but the man had already slipped into the next car.

“Heh. Did you really think I’d use the same trick twice?”

“Tch.”

Clack.

The door shut.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Josephine chose not to pursue.

There could be another ambush waiting in the next car… and the wound near her eye also played a part in her decision.

A bitter sense of defeat trickled down her face, along with the warm blood.

“Josephine!”

The first person to rush over once the battle was over was Estelle.

She gently touched Josephine’s cheek, her voice filled with worry.

“Are you okay? Oh no… you’re bleeding!”

“I’m fine. It looks bad because the blood’s running down my face, but it’s really just a shallow cut.”

“That’s not shallow at all! You’re bleeding so much…”

On the verge of tears, Estelle pulled out a handkerchief and carefully began to wipe the blood from Josephine’s face.

Her hands were trembling.

She seemed even more tense than the one who had just fought.

Well, it made sense—how often would a princess of an entire kingdom witness such a bloody battle up close?

“This is enough. Thank you, Your Highness.”

“The bleeding hasn’t stopped yet. Shouldn’t we stop it properly?”

“Without a proper bandage, anything we tie will just fall off. Worse, it could block my vision mid-fight. As long as the blood stays out of my eyes, that’s good enough for now.”

“You’re planning to keep going?”

“Of course. The train rescue mission is only just beginning.”

Estelle spoke nervously.

“When I left my compartment, I steeled myself… but now I realize that wasn’t nearly enough. Did I ask too much of you? If you were seriously hurt because of my selfishness, I could never forgive myself.”

“Don’t call the noble desire to save your people selfish.”

Josephine’s gaze was firm, filled with resolute determination.

“And I really am fine. Just a shallow cut from something no worse than a razor. And that only happened because of a ridiculous sneak attack. The enemy’s skills were beyond what I expected, yes, but not enough to bring me to my knees.”

In truth, Josephine hadn’t let a single attack land during the main exchange of blows.

“From now on, I’ll be extra cautious of ambushes. So please, allow me to press forward.”

“If that’s your decision… then all right. I trust you.”

Just as the princess nodded in agreement—

Clap, clap, clap.

The sound of applause rang out.

It came from the diplomats, expressing their admiration for Josephine’s remarkable skill and courage.

Among them, Aiden who admired the princess even sent a gaze full of envy along with his applause, making Josephine wave her hand with a hint of embarrassment.

“Thank you, but we still have a long way to go. First, let’s distribute the weapons the enemies dropped.”

There was one sword stuck in the door, left behind by the first bandit they encountered, and another used by the one who ambushed them in the private room and lost his life.

Two swords had come into their possession, but since the enemy had taken Josephine’s own blade, the net gain was just a single one-handed sword.

As promised, Aiden took that sword in hand.

“I will prove my honor without fail.”

His eyes sparkled with determination, but Josephine silently hoped that his turn to fight would never come.

His role was to protect Estelle while Josephine was engaged in battle.

Afterward, Josephine searched the body of the bandit collapsed in the private room and found a dagger likely his backup weapon which she handed to Estelle.

Estelle’s eyes widened in surprise and she shook her head.

“I don’t know how to use a blade at all.”

“Even so, please keep it with you. Just hiding it on your person is enough. If something truly unforeseen happens and I can’t fulfill my duty… that might be what saves Your Highness’s life.”

Gulp.

Estelle swallowed dryly.

“All right. I’ll do that.”

She immediately concealed the dagger in her sleeve.

Josephine nodded in satisfaction upon seeing that, and then said:

“Let’s go. To the next car.”

***

After regrouping, the train rescue team headed into the next car.

The one connected to first class was the standard passenger car.

There was a central aisle, and instead of private compartments, rows of seats lined both sides, each row able to seat three people.

Before entering, Josephine peeked inside through the observation window.

The seats in the compartment were completely empty, and it seemed the passengers had already been moved elsewhere under the bandits’ orders.

Only a single bag lying on the floor and some blankets strewn across the seats hinted that the place had been full of people just moments ago.

Creeeak.

Josephine opened the door and slowly stepped forward.

As she carefully moved through the car, checking each empty seat one by one, she suddenly caught the sound of a faint breath.

She swiftly turned her blade.

“Who’s there!”

Instead of a response, what followed was a quiet sob.

It was a stifled sob. Someone was crying even with their mouth covered.

Josephine spoke in a gentle tone, though she didn’t lower her blade.

“We’re a group gathered to resist the bandits. If you’re a passenger in need of help and protection, please show yourself.”

“I-I… is that really true?”

A trembling voice came from beneath a seat.

Josephine answered solemnly.

“I swear it.”

Moments later, a woman hesitantly crawled out from under the seat.

The woman’s eyes were swollen and red, and streaks of dried tears ran down her cheeks, smudged with black dust from hiding under the seat.

She wiped her face with her sleeve as if trying to hide the fact that she’d just been crying, but it only made her look more disheveled.

“Raise both hands above your head and come out slowly,”

Josephine instructed.

The woman gasped at the sight of Josephine’s drawn blade, but when she saw Estelle protected by the diplomats, she let out a sigh of relief and stepped into the aisle.

Josephine asked,

“Where did the bandits and the other passengers go?”

At that question, the woman suddenly burst into tears.

“Please, lady, you have to help me. They took my fiancé to the next car. Please save him, I’m begging you….please!”

“They went to the next car, you say?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Josephine glanced at the ring on the woman’s finger.

Thinking of the token she wore on her own left hand, proof of her own engagement, she could empathize with the woman’s fear and despair.

“We’ll rescue your fiancé. Come with us. It’ll be safer than staying hidden under a seat.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

The rescued woman was placed in the middle of the group, beside Estelle.

Estelle asked,

“How far do we have left until we reach our destination?”

“We still need to pass through one more standard passenger car and three cargo cars. After that, it’s straight to the engine room.”

“Let’s hang in there.”

Josephine nodded and stepped up to the door leading to the next car.

Once again, she looked through the observation window to scout the interior.

She spotted a few people inside, but none of them appeared to be armed.

They were likely passengers.

However, their behavior seemed odd.

They had their heads buried in their laps, as if being threatened by someone.

“I have a favor to ask.”

Josephine said quietly as she turned to the others.

“Could you gather a few of the blankets lying around?”

“These ones? Here you go.”

“Thank you.”

Josephine rolled the blankets into a bundle and gripped it in one hand, then turned the doorknob.

Clack.

With a creak, the door opened, and Josephine took a few loud steps forward on purpose.

Then, she hurled the bundle of blankets into the corridor ahead.

Whish—Thwack!

The bundle tore in midair.

Blades had slashed out from the blind spots on either side of the entrance.

Immediately came startled shouts.

“Damn it! That’s not a person!”

“They knew we were hiding here!”

Two bandits revealed themselves, and Josephine’s blade flashed.

Unlike the man they had faced in the first-class car, these two couldn’t withstand Josephine’s skill for even a moment.

It took her less than ten seconds to take both of their lives with her silver blade.

A swift, silent victory.

Thud.

Estelle bit her fist as she watched the two bandits collapse to the floor.

The nausea rose in her throat. She had never witnessed killing before today, and the gruesome sight of blood splattering and flesh tearing overwhelmed her.

Even back in the first-class compartment, she had forced herself to look away from the body lying inside.

But now that they had committed to reaching the engine room, there was no avoiding the corpses. They had to step over them.

Just as Estelle tightly shut her eyes and began to move, Josephine stopped her with a gesture.

“Please wait a moment.”

With that, Josephine began unfastening the clasp of the short cape draped over her shoulders.

A moment later, the deep blue wool fabric, embroidered with the emblem of the Royal Guard, covered the red-soaked floor of the corridor.

“So Your Highness won’t have to stain your feet.”

Receiving the escort of her steadfast knight, Estelle flushed with embarrassment.

Behind her, Aiden fidgeted anxiously like a puppy needing to relieve itself. He kept awkwardly touching his own shoulder, but he wasn’t wearing anything like a cape.