Chapter 365: Train

――――The 66th day of training.

「Yawn~~….」

Haruna woke up exactly at the same time as usual. There’s no alarm in this world, but she has gotten used to it after two months. Especially, Haruna’s adaptability is outstanding. No matter how tired she is and no matter how late she goes to bed, her consciousness will wake her up on its own. It’s also worth noting that with the support of the Pleasant Sleep Skill, most of the tiredness won’t be carried over to the next day. But even so, there are still some who are lazy. This is probably the proof that Haruna leads a well-regulated life. Her biological clock, which keeps accurate time in seconds, was in great shape today.

「Huh?」

「Suya~….」

「Kuu~, Danna~….」

When Haruna looked around, Chinatsu and Touko were sleeping in their pajamas. Chinatsu is in her futon, which who knows when she laid it out, and Touko is sleeping while hugging an empty juice bottle like a drunkard. Seeing the sweets scattered around, it seems that they fell asleep during the last night’s review meeting.

「Hm? You’re awake, huh?」

However, there was someone who woke up earlier than Haruna. Hund Lind, the Great Demon King who rules the sea, is trying to put a blanket on Touko who’s sleeping with a bad posture.

「Good morning, Hund-kun!」

「Yeah, morning. I’ve completely gotten used to being called by that name, huh. As the Great Eight Demons, I wonder if it’s okay to be happy about it….」

「It’s okay, of course! It’s important to make close friends no matter how different your position or status is! Listen, Hund-kun. Yesterday’s enemy is today’s friend, and then becomes a powerful enemy――」

「――Ah, it’s okay, you’ve said that last night.」

It seems that Haruna was trying to say something good, but in the end, she just wants to fight strong enemies.

「Still, you sure woke up early, Hund-kun. You even woke up earlier than me.」

「About that, I was having a hard time sleeping last night. I think I was unconsciously on alert because Touko was relentlessly trying to break my bones. Good grief, what a bother.」

「Well, Touko-chan is kind after all.」

「Haruna, did you properly listen to what I said?」

Hund may not be convinced, but Haruna is completely listening to him. About the case with Touko, Hund’s newly acquired Skill, 『Hard Bone』, was the origin. This Skill is a niche ability to increase the hardness of one’s bones, which people wouldn’t normally pick up. However, since Hund can manipulate his own body and bones at will, it’s a Skill that will surely lead to an increase in his strength if he can utilize it well. In preparation for the battle against Lilyvia, Hund worked hard to raise this Skill, but he was unable to use it effectively in the battle.

『The training method was lenient! Enduring blows from the outside is useless! Let’s break it like a Chitose Ame!』

『Hey, don’t be hasty! To begin with, what the hell is a Chitose Ame!?』

(TLn: it’s a candy, you can google it if you want to know)

――And the rest is as you can imagine. Using the bone as a weapon or a shield is not enough, so Touko was racking her brain. Setting aside the method, Haruna was impressed by the attitude of Touko, who tried to strengthen Hund with all her might.

「She’s kind, you know~. If it was Nell-san, she wouldn’t give up and just break your bones without asking questions.」

「…… I’m worried about Chinatsu’s future.」

「Uhh… hardship clearing sword….」

Hund felt pity for Chinatsu from the bottom of his heart, perhaps because he regards her as the same kind. However, Chinatsu is sleeping refreshingly because she had just released the accumulated stress yesterday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

「Alright, we’re leaving Al Nova.」

「T-That’s sudden….」

As soon as Haru and the others got up, I and Nell told everyone to pack their luggage. As Chinatsu said, it’s a sudden thing, but the maintenance of the transportation to the next destination has been completed. We can’t just sit around forever, right?

「Shishō, were you okay last night?」

Haru, who has finished her preparations quickly, suddenly asked me that question. I guess she was worried and asked if it was okay to be with Nell and Lily after that. After all, I was being dragged by the two of them after cleaning.

「They continued their quarrel while drinking, but fortunately, it didn’t turn into a fistfight. They got drunk and collapsed earlier than expected, so there was no trouble that Haru was worried about.」

To play it safe, I was keeping myself sober, so there was no blunder. I was a little worried whether the collapsed Lily would use her sleeping fist, but it was an unnecessary worry.

「Still, you’ve got a lot of time to worry about your master, huh? It seems that you were having a review meeting in your room. Well, I’m sure it went on peacefully, right?」

「Yes! It was very peaceful!」

「………」

「Hey, why is Hund-kun looking at me with an indescribable look on his face? Was it really peaceful?」

「Ehehe~」

「Don’t try to hide it with that carefree smile.」

When Hund-kun showed a gesture that it was okay, everyone was ready. Now, we’re heading to the basement of Al Nova while being guided by Zex. …… Come to think of it, we’ve been going underground ever since we got here, right?

「By the way, Danna, the next place is quite far, right? How are we going to get there?」

「We aren’t going by airship again, right? We’re heading underground after all.」

「Ah, about that――」

「――FUHAHA! Deris-dono, don’t say a word about it! After all, what you’re about to board is a secret work that I developed secretly! I’m going to show you and let you ride it because you equally fought with Lilyvia-dono! So, please don’t tell anyone about it!」

「…… There you have it. Well, you’ll know when you see it.」

「「「「? 」」」」

The four people tilted their heads while going down. When we reached a position near the bottom, it appeared in front of us.

「Whoa, seriously!?」

「Wow!」

「T-This is… a railway!? Moreover, it’s a subway!?」

Yeah, it’s a subway. The form is Zex-like and quite original, but it has the shape of a train that runs on the rail.

「It’s long, huh. It looks like a steel snake or dragon…. By the way, do you girls know it is?」

「W-Well, yes. It was mainstream transportation that everyone knows in our world. To think that it also exists in this world….」

「It’s only in limited areas of the Zen continent, though. This time, I will send everyone to the vicinity of the Dragon God’s Island in the northern part of the Zen continent. This path leads to the mining site installed there.」

「Fufu, I’ve heard the rumor about it from Alezel, but I didn’t think I’d actually get to ride it. Zex, please go at the fastest speed!」

「No, safety first.」

「Eh~」

Well, even if the limiter is removed, Nell is still faster if she runs at full speed. By all means, please drive safely.

――――Psshhh.

The doors of the train opened with a mechanical sound, and there are several seats lined up inside. Yeah, well, I’m sure the reference materials are from the otherworlders, and I think this part is faithfully reproduced. When I randomly chose my seat and sat down, Nell and Lily immediately sat down on both sides of my seat. Eh, are they still fighting?

「Well then, everyone, have a good day!」

「Huh? Are you not coming with us, Zex-san?」

「FUHAHAHA! I want to go with you, but this body is only for this city! Don’t worry, I’ve placed other bodies everywhere! If I have the chance, I will see you again!」

「I-I see. That’s convenient, huh…. Anyway, thank you for your help.」

「Take care~!」

With Zex waving his hand in the background, the train departs surprisingly quietly. It’s a shame that the only thing you can see through the window is the underground wall, but the speed is quite good.

「…… Could it be that I have to go along with them until the end?」

I felt like Hund-kun said something, but I decided that it was just my imagination.