Ivan Petrovich was at the small, quiet rural station that served as nothing more than a border checkpoint between Krasilov and Droan Kingdoms. Few people ever disembarked here—just villagers or logistics distributors.
Which made the three men lurking in the station highly suspicious.
'Amateurs,' Ivan thought.
First, a man in the corner of the waiting room, glancing at his watch while pretending to read a newspaper. He'd already let three trains pass by.
Finally, a man selling dried vegetables in the corner of the waiting room.
It was almost laughable. The man hadn't sold vegetables to anyone, and who would buy vegetables at a rural station with hardly any foot traffic?
Most tellingly, Ivan—having grown up as a tenant farmer—could tell those vegetables weren't properly dried for preservation; they were just withered from neglect.
Ivan gripped his pistol under the newspaper. The clock showed 9:00. Princess Asidis's train would arrive soon.
Well, might as well confirm his suspicions.
He slowly stood up, folded his newspaper, and walked toward the trash can. In the process, he pressed his gun barrel against the napping man's nape.
"!!"
"Quiet."
The man froze in shock as he tried to reach for something inside his jacket but stopped at the cold touch of the gun barrel.
Good. One pistol in the left pocket. His quick reaction suggests training.
"Hey! What are you doing there!"
"Stop!"
The other two men in the waiting room shouted simultaneously as they jumped to their feet.
How ridiculous. Ivan's gun was hidden behind the newspaper, so from the outside, it would have looked like he merely placed his hand on the back of the man's neck.
So these three were working together.
But he needed to make one final check. Though he'd said he didn't need backup, Elizabeta might have sent agents anyway.
"Where does your loyalty lie?"
"W-what?"
If this man were Elizabeta's agent loyal to the Krasilov royal family, he wouldn't question this phrase.
This was one of the first questions asked by both the Annihilation Squad and national intelligence agents.
It was like frontline soldiers saying, "Halt! I'll shoot if you move!" It was the first—and perhaps final—question that had to be answered, even with a lie.
So this guy was just a mercenary working for money.
BANG!
A bullet flew from the gun barrel, severing the man's cervical spine. The man in Ivan's grip collapsed without even having time to react.
"Oh no!!"
"Shoot! Shoot that bastard!!"
The vegetable seller and the newspaper reader hurriedly stood up and drew pistols from their jackets.
This meant several things:
One, they were working together.
One, they were amateurs.
One, they weren't affiliated with the Krasilov monarchy.
And finally, they had never faced someone who could truly be classified as strong.
BANG! BANG!
Bullets fired reflexively grazed above Ivan's shoulder and past his head.
Their aim was decent—mercenaries, then.
But they didn't know about "Line-of-Fire Detection"—cheap mercenaries, indeed.
As they readied themselves to fire again, Ivan was already swinging an axe toward the vegetable seller while simultaneously aiming his gun at the newspaper reader.
SLASH! BANG!
"ARGHHHH!!"
One man collapsed with a terrible scream as both his wrists were severed in a single strike, while the other man couldn't even scream as a bullet lodged precisely between his eyebrows.
Ivan approached the vegetable seller, wiping the blood from his axe blade on the fallen man's coat.
"Is it just you three?"
"Kuh-huk... kuk... where did such a monster..."
"Monster...?"
Ivan tilted his head, wondering if he'd misheard.
Monster? For just this much?
That seemed ridiculous coming from men who were planning to confront the berserker Einarr.
If Einarr himself had come, there wouldn't even have been a fight. That madman would have sliced through the entire waiting room in one go.
"This... this wasn't mentioned... at all...!"
The bleeding was severe. When the ulnar and radial arteries in the wrists are cut, death is guaranteed within five minutes without proper hemostasis. And both his hands were severed, making it worse.
The vegetable seller was already pale-faced and trembling.
Ivan sighed and searched the man's pockets. With no hands, he had to do it himself.
A piece of tissue, a few Eastern coins in an old pouch, no ID as expected, and a small panel with strange buttons. The magical energy it emitted was barely perceptible. Probably a signaling device.
"You'll die in three minutes without stopping the bleeding. Where are the others?"
"At... at the tracks..."
"How many?"
"Fifteen... y-you can't do anything alone...! I-I'll help you! S-save me! They're all armed, and our boss is there too. The boss is a real monster!! If you save me, I-I'll distract them!!"
The vegetable seller shouted desperately, trembling. He wanted to live. Of course. Watching your blood pour out in real-time would drive anyone mad.
Ivan nodded. The vegetable seller's expression visibly brightened.
"You were left behind to signal the 'boss' if any variables arose. You're the scout team."
"Th-that's right! I'm very use-useful!"
This guy didn't know about "Line-of-Fire Detection." So his boss was probably at that level too.
"Did you hear who's on the train?"
"G-gold bullion transport train...! They said it's a trade goods train from Droan to Krasilov...!"
"I see."
"Y-you're going to save me, right? I answered all your questions! I didn't lie!!"
"No, there was a lie mixed in."
"No! Really, no!!!"
Ivan looked down at the man coldly.
"The part about being useful."
"What...?"
These guys were just thieves working for pocket change. There was no information to be gained from torturing them.
If anyone, it would be the boss. At least he might reveal some connections.
CRACK!
As Ivan stood up, he swung his axe and split the man's head. With a sickening sound, the man's body went limp.
He clicked the receiver and gauged the direction of the magical energy line.
Not far.
Ivan wiped the axe blade on the man's coat hem and strapped it to his waist.
The time was nine-oh-three. If the train ran on schedule, it would arrive at this station at 10:00.
Within fifty minutes, a train terror attack would occur.
So...
"Plenty of time."
Ivan smiled faintly as he cleaned up the bodies. Five minutes was enough to erase the bloodstains and traces of combat.
After all, one of the most important aspects of Annihilation Squad training was removing evidence.
Ivan had good reason to be relaxed.
According to academy formula, train terrorist attacks can never harm the "protagonist and main characters."
When the train is attacked, the protagonist escapes safely with someone's help and arrives at the academy as scheduled.
Ivan never intended to prevent the train attack in the first place.
'This is a tutorial.'
Ivan was running through the forest, occasionally pressing the button on the receiver to check the signal direction when the magical energy line grew faint.
'A tutorial is a stage that helps players adapt to the game.'
So they hired these sloppy thieves to attack the "children of the Hero Party." It's designed to get players accustomed to combat from the lower levels.
At first, Ivan wondered which member of the Hero Party would be the "protagonist."
He soon deduced the answer.
Everyone.
Everyone is a protagonist. All members of these Hero Party children are protagonists.
When playing a game and creating a character for the first time, you're always given "archetype" characters—those with unique storylines in the world setting. And crucially, "characters with different traits or professions."
-Isabelle de Etoile, daughter of the Hero. Dual class: Mage and Warrior.
-Oskar de Satieon, son of the Knight. Knight.
-Elfihera Grikenkos, daughter of the Mage. Mage.
-Asidis Einarsdottir, daughter of the Berserker. Presumably dual class: Bard and Berserker.
-Lucia, disciple of the Thief. Thief or Assassin.
When a player of this game chooses one of these characters, they would have to resolve the "train terror" as their tutorial.
So Ivan turned his thinking in a different direction.
'If all characters' tutorials share the common element of a train terror attack, I can identify the terrorist group in advance.'
One or two times might go unnoticed, but doing the same thing six times will definitely leave a trail.
Ivan pressed the receiver button again as he sprinted through the undergrowth.
This time, he felt magical energy lines emanating from very nearby.
'I'll leave the tutorial to the protagonist and eliminate the variables.'
He wouldn't prevent the train attack. The attack itself was a "constant" anyway. Preventing it might cause things to unfold differently.
Instead, he would identify the group behind the train attack.
And then, find and eliminate traces of that group at the academy later.
Avoiding direct confrontation while conducting intelligence activities from the rear and eliminating threat factors—that was the Annihilation Squad's way.