# On the Train to the South
On the train heading south, the Hero Party was quietly gazing out the window.
"We're out of alcohol?!"
"You idiots!! That's why I said we should 'tax' the important stuff first!!"
"Shut up!! Who knew we'd have this many people?!"
They were quietly gazing out the window.
"What did you say...? You bastard—!! Come out!! I'll send you to meet your ancestors!!"
"I accept your challenge!!"
They had no choice but to quietly gaze out the window.
Why would anyone want to exit a moving train, why would alcohol be considered essential supplies, why couldn't these people stay still for even a moment?
Such questions were meaningless. This was Droan, after all. Looking around, some warriors who couldn't board the train were running alongside it on foot....
"Apocalypse..."
Yuri muttered while making the sign of the cross. Only Asidis Einarsdottir, who was sadly familiar with all these situations and had to expose them to her foreign friends, buried her face between her knees and sobbed.
An army doesn't necessarily develop discipline. Among the rules these people recognized, there was nothing like "maintaining marching order."
This atmosphere would only become more chaotic as their numbers grew. The current situation arose because they had gathered warriors from more than "one clan."
"Hehe... So unless Einarr ordered it directly, it's impossible."
"Be quiet."
Isabelle de Etoile snapped sharply at Ulfric's sneer.
She and her companions had raided three clans in total. She clearly remembered that the initial order was to "directly meet the jarls of the southern territories, and if a jarl is present, duel them and subjugate them," but the moment the train stopped, warriors would leap out and begin looting, making any plan irrelevant.
After an intense "taxation-war" that left entire villages burning, Asidis would approach the confused jarl and convey their purpose as politely as possible.
"This is Einarr the Great's summons! Join the assembly immediately!"
"...Now...?"
The bewildered jarl would look around, observing the burning village and fallen warriors. After destroying the gates, charging in, smashing everything, and plundering, now they talk about assembly?
But naturally, all jarls are wise. If raiding fellow countrymen = assembly, couldn't they recover their "losses"?
Therefore, all three jarls Asidis had encountered asked the same question at this point.
"Where do we rank?"
"You're the third."
"Then you plan to 'visit' eight more territories?"
"...What?"
"Good... very good."
Regardless of Asidis's confusion, the jarls who had been completely stripped of their assets gathered their warriors with roars of anger and desire. They boarded the train again and headed toward the next village.
After repeating this situation, here they were now. Asidis was on the verge of drowning in shame.
But Isabelle, looking out the window with cold eyes, was thinking about what Ivan had said when he finalized the plan and dispatched her as the Hero Party's leader.
When roles were being assigned for operations in both northern and southern Droan.
Ivan looked down at the group with sunken eyes and said:
"Burn Droan to the ground."
"...?"
Yu-jin momentarily suspected Ivan might be corrupted by Immaterium. More than half of those who spoke like this couldn't be free from the corruption of Chaos.
But this wasn't a gloomy universe where only war existed. Ivan's eyes remained calmly settled.
"What nonsense is that all of a sudden, Uncle!!"
Asidis, horrified at the suggestion to set her homeland on fire, jumped in, but Ivan subdued her without even looking at her and made her sit down.
"There's only one reason Ulfric joined without resistance. To compensate for losses from looting through more looting."
"I... suppose so?"
"And Ulfric is just an ordinary Droan jarl."
So, in other words.
"If we do the same in every territory, all lords will show the same reaction."
"Multi-level—?!"
"It's network marketing, Yu-jin."
A jarl who has been looted will submit to the pretext of "unlimited looting permission." In the current situation where overseas expeditions are impossible, it's hard to ignore defenseless, peaceful countrymen.
It's not that Ingvar or Ulfric have particularly cruel personalities. Literally, all Droan jarls would act the same way. After all, to the jarls, Droan was never a single nation.
For these people divided into dozens of clans fighting for hundreds of years, the sentiment of a unified nation is foreign. Given the opportunity, they would clearly consider it "raiding other clans" rather than "raiding fellow countrymen."
The jarls of Droan cannot be controlled anyway. You can't teach discipline to Droan warriors or expect unity from them. Even with trained agents accompanying them, it would be impossible, let alone with this inexperienced Hero Party.
In other words, the more our forces grow, the harder it becomes to control the group. At a time when a large-scale army is needed, forming one actually increases the risk of collapse—a deformed society.
Without authority and power at Einarr's level, Droan can never be unified.
So the conclusion is simple.
Rather than trying to forcibly unite them, seduce them with profit and accelerate the chaos. In other words, with the resolve to burn all of Droan—.
"Loot all territories and distribute the rewards unequally."
"You villain..."
Induce internal strife. Make it so clans that join faster can reap more benefits.
In other words, imply that there will be definite rewards for following our direction.
"Dueling is a matter for later. Allow the warriors to loot and let the entire south fall into chaos."
"Is this really the Hero Party's job...?"
"Hmm."
Who else but heroes could do such a thing?
At Ivan's assertion, Isabelle hesitantly nodded. Ivan patted her shoulder a couple of times and said in a low voice:
"And Isabelle, you'll have to stand in as Asidis's proxy for duels now, in my place."
"I was prepared for that. But is it okay? What if I lose?"
"That possibility doesn't exist."
Is there anyone stronger than Isabelle in Droan? Surely there must be. Isabelle only has strong burst damage; her swordsmanship is still too amateurish to be called distinguished.
She's excellent when facing large monsters or demons, but somewhat lacking when fighting properly trained humans.
However, precisely because she's Isabelle, there's a winning strategy available.
"Use 'Sky Slash' as soon as you begin."
"...What...?!!"
Isabelle could only stare at Ivan with terrified eyes.
Her technique, which could damage even the Seven Dragon Generals with a direct hit—literally a finishing move with impact as powerful as artillery barrage—to use it right at the start—.
"Anyway, if it turns into a long battle, your chances are slim. As you know, Droan jarls are never easy opponents. So you need to strike with the intent to kill from the first blow."
"What if they die?"
"We're not in a position to fight while holding back."
"W-wait a minute. Sir. You know, right? I can't move for a while after using that! If I don't finish them in one go—."
"That's why I'm sending Yuri."
Ivan gestured with his chin toward Yuri, who was playing around with Yu-jin in the distance.
"If you pair Yu-jin and Yuri, you can extract yourself in any situation. With that guy around, even if you can't win, the chance of total defeat is significantly reduced. It's practical training without risk."
"That's cowardly!!"
Ivan ignored Isabelle's outrageous accusation. As any sufficiently knowledgeable agent would know, practical training without risk is otherwise known as "appropriate training conditions."
This is killing two birds with one stone. It provides a training opportunity to fight life-or-death battles against reasonably strong opponents in real combat without actual risk, while simultaneously carrying out the operation by leading the southern lords of Droan.
Though physically and emotionally far removed from the academy for quite some time, Ivan was still an "educator." He proudly imparted this golden rule of teaching to Isabelle.
"You're a monster..."
Having convinced Isabelle, Ivan left with a satisfied expression. She grumbled for a long time, watching his retreating figure. How did she ever fall for such a man?
No, that's not it.
It's because he's that kind of man that he seduced the Hero. Heroes are beings who reject evil and raise the banner of good. Those who always set an example for humanity are called heroes.
Therefore, it must be the Hero's mission to guide that man, who seems to have most persistently refined human malice, to the righteous path of "morality." Perhaps it's natural for a Hero to be attracted to such a man.
Isabelle organized her thoughts with a sigh and left. That was three days ago.
And so for three days, these people—who apart from their human skin were essentially no different from demons—looted a total of three villages.
And simultaneously, the "victims"—who apart from their human skin were essentially no different from demons—boldly took shots at the "perpetrator" position.
Right now, value investment incarnates that would shock even Warren Buffett were being mass-produced in southern Droan. It was a hedge bet where winning increased wealth and losing meant departing to meet one's ancestors. Win or lose, there were no losses, and even if they won here, with Einarr's daughter present, there was no need to worry about the future—no risk, high return, truly a dream investment.
Literally the Droan Dream. The sight of small investors (investing their lives) racing alongside the train in the investment frenzy was, as Yu-jin said, like an end-of-century landscape.
And at that point, in the lead car of the train speeding through the wilderness, a Droan warrior was pressing the acceleration gear.
"More! More! Step on it more!! There's no time!!"
Droan warriors don't know how to drive. Their culture lacks toys like trains. Apart from riding horses, Droan's only other means of transportation was boats used to cross the open sea toward demon territory.
Therefore, from the moment a Droan warrior was put in charge of operating the train, the concepts of "stopping" and "slowing down" were abandoned. They know no operation method other than charging ahead.
"Y-you'll derail if you do that!!"
"Don't use such difficult words, Tilles man."
The Droan warrior sternly spread the social aspect of language. The frightened engineer from Tilles could only stare blankly at the tracks while trembling.
Please let us arrive at the train station normally. His desperate prayer had already been answered three times, so may the Lord grant it this time as well.
Of course, even if they stopped normally, it wouldn't provide him with a better environment. As long as their destination was still in Droan, all that remained for him was to accompany this journey to hell until the end.
Suddenly he flinched and jumped up.
"What is it? Have we arrived?"
"No! No!! Q-quickly, the brakes—!! Damn it, too late!!"
"What is it! Speak!!"
When the Droan warrior who was watching him shouted angrily, the engineer cried out with a pale face.
"There are no tracks!!"
"What does that mean?!!"
"Damn it, you idiot. The tracks are cut!! If we keep going at this speed, we'll tip over—!!"
-Rumble rumble rumble—!!
Before the engineer could finish speaking, the entire vehicle began to shake with a terrible noise. The engineer staggered and fell.
It was already too late. He closed his eyes tightly, feeling the gravity tilt in despair.
At that moment, a thick hand was placed on the back of his neck. When he opened his eyes, he saw the warrior's grinning face.
"Stupid fool. What's the big deal?"
"What do you... w-we're all going to die!!"
"Accidental deaths do not lead warriors to the Lord's Hall. Droan warriors cannot die like that."
The warrior spoke solemnly and maintained his balance in the rolling car. With gleaming eyes, he swung the mace tied to his waist.
Crash!! With the sound of metal being crushed, the iron door was torn off. The engineer screamed and closed his eyes.
"Open your eyes and see, little one. Since you've joined hands with us, you too are a warrior of Droan!!"
"I never volunteered for that!! I, I've lived in Tilles all my life—!!"
"It's not about how you've lived, young warrior. It's how you die that defines a warrior's life!!"
The Droan warrior skillfully stepped over the wildly shaking car body and jumped up. It was almost acrobatic. Just being able to plant his feet on the floor in the shaking vehicle was enough to praise his sense of balance.
Jarl Ulfric landed gracefully on the floor and scanned his surroundings.
-Boom—!!
The train overturned with a loud noise. And then.
-Crash!!
-Screech!!
-Ancestors!!!
Countless warriors burst through the windows like a swarm of bees.
As the engineer stared blankly at the scene, Ulfric laughed loudly and shouted.
"Warriors of Droan—!!!"
Almost all the warriors had various cuts all over their bodies. The warriors, bleeding profusely, tore off their upper garments in unison and let out wild cries.
Among the muscle-bound men excited by pre-battle injuries, Ulfric shouted spiritedly.
"This is the work of cowardly protectionists!! But will we retreat? Will we give up, thinking it's inevitable, that they've already started their defenses and the damage will be severe?!"
Common sense would dictate abandoning the looting of fellow countrymen. But just as in Rome one follows Roman law, in Droan one must follow Droan common sense.
And in Droan's common language dictionary, there is no word for surrender. Investment doesn't stop until you dive into the open sea.
"No!!"
"We have neither trains nor horses!!"
"We have legs!!"
"Right!! We have legs!!"
At the warriors' cries, Ulfric nodded greatly and laughed.
"That's right! We have two legs!! Go, run, warriors of Droan!! Everything you see is yours!!"
"Waaaaaaaaah—!!!"
The warriors began to sprint toward the horizon, screaming. As if command or guidance were unnecessary, Ulfric simply smiled and watched the warriors' charge.
It's only natural. This is Droan, and in Droan, Droanians never lose their way.
We call animals that follow the lead of those at the front herbivores. Piranhas and great white sharks don't need anyone's instructions or leadership. True predators instinctively find their prey.
Isabelle, who had torn through the window and jumped out, belatedly looked at the scene and gave a hollow laugh. She asked Yuri:
"How did you know?"
Yuri and Yu-jin, who had already prepared before the train overturned, carried Asidis and Isabelle respectively to minimize damage. They responded to the sudden situation that even Isabelle hadn't noticed, as if Ivan had possessed them.
"It was about time for a cutscene."
"It's common sense that if a train journey is normal, it gets derailed in the middle."
Yu-jin said with a grin.
"And if I were the lord of the neighboring territory, I would have done this. If I noticed that three territories ahead were being 'opened up,' I would have cut the tracks to buy time."
Once the train reaches the platform, it's already too late. It means the looters arrive safely in the city. So the priority is to block the train's entry in advance, isolating the looters in the middle of the wasteland.
With the time gained, it's rational to build fortifications and request support from other lords.
To stop lawless people who have started looting neighboring territories without restraint, even the most selfish jarl would have to join hands.
The maximum extent of Ivan's directed operation was to unite a total of seven lords in the south. At the point of uniting three of them, encountering resistance at the midpoint was entirely predictable with just a bit of common sense.
Isabelle nodded as she listened to Yu-jin's explanation. He had clearly become Ivan mk.2.