Opening

Returned to Rebec. It had gotten quite late.

Outside Ilya's Spring, just beyond the town, with Rirya watching, I placed the orb into the magic circle where the other materials had been gathered.

After the familiar sight, the train was complete.

A single car, small enough to fit about twenty people—about the size of a minibus.

"Done."

"Yeah, it's done."

"Is this supposed to run on that thing?"

"That's right."

Rirya and I looked at "that thing" together.

While I was out gathering materials with Rirya, I’d had the three remaining slaves build the rails.

Three-meter-long rails stretched endlessly.

"Alright, let's go."

Lifted the train and set it onto the tracks.

The train, unlocked only after the rails were finished.

For some reason, the wheels fit the rails perfectly—as if it had always been meant to be a set.

"Getting on."

"Yes, sir."

We climbed in together with Rirya.

I headed for the pilot’s seat. It was incredibly simple—just one lever.

At the base of the lever, there were markings. Judging by the shapes, it looked like stop, low speed, medium, high speed.

I shifted the lever from stop to low speed.

Clunk. The train began to move, slowly.

It glided forward in silence. The scenery outside the window slid backward.

I let go of the lever.

“Wahhh!”

Rirya’s eyes lit up.

She opened the window. A gentle breeze blew in.

“This is amazing—it’s moving all by itself!”

“That’s how it works.”

“Onii-chan, look at that!”

“Huh?”

She pointed outside the car.

A glowing orb trailed light behind it.

Two per car—four in total.

Four streaks of light, and the train moved forward through them.

“Beautiful.”

“Yeah.”

I nodded along with Rirya’s sparkling eyes, flicked the lever, and tested the train’s speed.

No gauges. Just gut feeling.

Low felt like pedaling a bicycle at a pretty hard pace—around twenty kilometers an hour.

Medium was like sprinting down a steep hill, adding in extra pedaling—definitely over thirty.

High was a steady, relentless build-up, maybe forty.

At low, we matched pace with those two-legged horses, but at medium and above, this thing was the fastest thing I’d seen in this world.

“Hold on, Rirya.”

“Huh? Yes, sir!”

I saw her grab the nearby railing, then pulled the lever back.

The train stopped. Smoothly. Almost too smoothly.

Accelerate. Push it to high, build up speed—then slam to a halt.

Stopped. Right there. From top speed, in an instant.

“Inertia’s gone, huh?”

“Kinsei, sir?”

"Stopped suddenly just now, but Rirya didn’t need to hold on, right?"

"Yes, sir."

She gives a look that says, what’s your point?

To someone who’s never ridden anything faster than a donkey in this world, the way inertia works during sudden stops probably doesn’t register.

But I know.

Even braking from forty kilometers an hour, no one tumbles forward.

It’s a DORECA-and-magic-powered train, after all. That kind of thing makes sense.

Makes sense… but damn, it’s impressive.

Thinking that, I start the train again.

Under the night sky, just Rirya and me on the train.

"By the way…"

"What is it, sir?"

"The other three aren’t anywhere in sight."

The tracks just kept going.

I figured we’d hit a break in the rails and run into them somewhere along the way, but that didn’t happen.

Tracks keep going. Train keeps moving. No sign of the other three.

"Because you ordered it, sir."

"Huh?"

Look at Rirya.

She’s got one hand on her hip, standing there like she’s clearing her throat.

“Ordered the three of them to lay tracks all the way to Akito’s town, master. So the rails must be stretched all the way there by now.”

“Open… already completed, you mean?”

“Yes, indeed.”

“Huh. I see.”

“So the three elder sisters are waiting for you in Akito’s town.”

“Is that right.”

Could be.

A picture of it forms in my head, somehow.

The three of them, sweating and straining, laying rails with all their might.

If the tracks really are already connected all the way to Akito’s town…

“Guess I should give them a reward or something.”

“Just assigning the next task is enough, mistress.”

Rirya says it like a true Eternal Slave.

Sounds like a good student, but it’s the genuine truth.

That’s just how they are.

Fine, that’s fine. But that doesn’t mean I can do nothing.

Eternal Slaves are a race who feel joy simply from serving their master as slaves.

Likewise, I’m a human who’d gladly celebrate and cherish a slave who gives it their all.

I’ll absolutely do something—something special. I mean it.

Soon, lights appeared in the distance.

The glow of a town formed by gathered people.

The rails continued on.

Lower speed to “low.”

Move slowly.

“—!“

“Whoa.”

I startled. Rirya’s eyes lit up.

The train’s final stop. The entrance to Akito’s town.

A large crowd waited there.

A banner hung across the way.

Those with instruments began playing music.

Cheers rose—“Long live King Akito!”—a thunderous chorus.

A rapturous welcome.

A ceremony.

The word flickered through my mind.

Put it into “stop.” Bring the train to a halt.

I step off the train. From among the cheering townsfolk, Madway emerges—cheerful, expectant, like a greeting carved in sunlight.

Madway holds a garland around her neck—obviously meant for me.

I blink. A second later, I spot the three slaves standing a little apart.

Instantly, it clicks. This is their doing.

Madway glances at the crowd.

Not a bad feeling. Quite the opposite.

Especially the instruments.

I didn’t make these. Some are crooked, uneven. Clearly, everyone made their own.

My vision for the town is coming true.

Basic infrastructure in place. People shaping their own better world, hand by hand.

Feels good.

"Your Majesty."

Madway steps forward, draping the garland around my neck.

I accept it. My mood lifts even more.

It’s fine, but being caught off guard—well, that’s a bit of a blow to my master’s dignity.

I’ll make it up to you with full force later.

That’s what I vowed in my heart.