Preparations~

So after our adventurous trip outside, we tried to head back to the first-class cabin once our quest was completed. Cade warned us to not wander outside too much since we would catch too much attention from the organization, given we were the main targets of their operation.

However, this meant we once again needed to traverse the whole train, considering the more luxurious rooms were all the way in the back. Why? The answer was simple, this exact train had a built-in balcony on the rear of the train, and to minimize the traffic, they only allowed the first class passengers to enjoy the views there. This would come to our advantage once we could feel a wave of magic coming from all the teleportation scrolls being used all at once, and that would be our cue to jump. We would have only a five-minute window to run as quickly as possible to avoid the shock of the blast.

"Will that subordinate of yours rat you out?" I whispered to Noel's ear.

"Unfortunately yes, he is known for having a big mouth, so usually no one trusts him with their secrets." I decided to tease him.

"If so we could hold hands and give them a show to watch." The elf wasn't too fond of the idea. So I shrugged but found my thoughts going in the most bizarre directions. Perhaps because I knew all I could do at this point was wait, my mind became distracted with other stuff.

"What will I do?" I found myself already worrying about the unforeseeable future, since I was Camilla, I had no clue how her father the duke would react, once he found out his daughter was alive. Frankly speaking, he didn't even deserve such a title. I could always downgrade him to a mere sperm donor in my mind. Some people just weren't fit to be parents. Distracted I didn't even notice when a small kid ran into me, because of my bad stats he nearly knocked me down to the ground, thankfully Noel had my back. The kid glanced up at me, with its innocent eyes filled with wonder. Suddenly I felt bad for not being able to outstretch my hand and save more people from the terrorist attack.

We were soon approached by the kid's mother, that looked devastated.

"Please forgive my kid's offense." She acted like it was a big deal, but it only gave me a window of opportunity to actually save her, so I started to act like Karen.

"You should keep an eye on your kid, rather than letting it run around this wildly." Noel was surprised by my outburst, perhaps his skepticism made him believe this was for real.

"Follow me, how dare you have your kid knock into me?" Of course, my outburst gathered some eyes, but I didn't care. It was better to destroy Camilla's reputation and save a few more lives this way.

Once we reached the cabin I packed some money and wrote a letter. And then with a confident voice filled with authority, I let out.

"My friend lives in the next station, so you will run this errand for me as a punishment. I packed you some coins for an inn for you to stay in. So once morning arrives you will open the letter and find the place, do you understand my instructions?" I asked as she nodded her head while proceeding to shake in fear.

"Then what are you waiting for? Go pack your stuff and take your whole family with you!" She hurried along as I looked smugly in the elf's direction once we closed the door behind her.

"You should have seen your face, you believed I was genuine."

"Wait, wait you did it all to get her off the train?" He questioned as I nodded my head in agreement.

"I told you, I wouldn't mind, in case you were smart about it." He seemed amazed.

"Hmmm my respect for you rose ever so slightly, not many nobles would ruin their reputation in others' eyes just to save a life." Probably not in the public, but within their territory perhaps. Then I watched how a system notification window, popped up before my eyes.

"Friendship level with Noel rose 1 point" This was also an option, or feature I could see? Interesting. Did it mean there was already friendship established with the two other characters, I had the pleasure to meet?

We sat down, and now when we had nothing else to look forward to the atmosphere felt quite awkward. So I took the opportunity to check the friendship stats so to speak. And I quickly found out the reason why Noel was really stiff around me, I guess his first impression played a huge role in how he felt around me. Since we started on a bad turn, his friendship points were in the negatives. I just hoped this wouldn't become an issue during the exhausting journey thru the desert.

And then the system decided to screw me over.

"Would you rather kiss Noel or seek out a weapon for your future journey?"There was no need to ponder about this, it was time to find something I could use to defend myself because the first choice would just sour my relationship with this fella further.

"You know what, I heard how the desert is a dangerous place, I think I should at least get a weapon to defend myself with if needed." Noel rose his brow like he was questioning my sanity.

"I'm not even sure you will able to hold any weapons, to begin with." I could feel my face scrunch in displeasure at his statement. No one said that I need to run around with a literal sword, spear, or another heavy weaponry. Wasn't it quite usual for women to keep daggers or long nails hidden in their hair to strike unexpected opponents?

"If you don't want to help, then just keep quiet." If he didn't want to provide me with any assistance the least he could do was not discourage the person that was trying their best.

"Ok, ok... let me think this thru... yes it would be beneficial to the lady to get some monster extermination experience however, daggers are out of the question, since considering your knight's temperament he probably won't let you face any danger. So how do you feel about holding a ranged weapon?" Wait was he considering what I did?

"Getting a mage staff is probably not a possibility since you don't have a high affinity with magic." But that wasn't true last time I checked, the only problem I had, was having no mana points.

"Despite we could take hold of a rifle... they are equipped with cheap to-make magic scrolls, which are only one-time use, and all you need to do is just infuse them with a few drops of mana." Yes, that was a problem, but I was certain with time I would be able to use it, thanks to the system.

"And we can add a dagger on top of that." Concealed one for sure, that can be attached to my leg under a skirt. I bet I would feel like a badass having it around.

"I see I guess a lady needs to prepare for the worst of what the desert dwellers have to offer." His tone didn't sound too good, was that part of the kingdom actually filled with shitbags? Another friendship point was added, was this guy impressed by my preparation-making skills?

"Let me assist you then, I have the right guy we could walk over and steal it from, knowing him he probably concealed the weapon and is walking around with it." However this time I decided to put the rings to some use, I mean there were so many times you could wander around the train before people would start getting suspicious of your behavior. So I changed my hair to black and eyes to brow, which was a pretty standard color, easy to blend in with. I granted the other one to the elf so no one would be able to recognize him on the spot.

And after changing our outfits we departed for another terrific adventure.

"Any clue where he could be?" I questioned. But we did eventually find him standing beside one of the doors in between the wagons.

"Please close your eyes for the moment." I heard Noel whisper into my ear as he walked closer to the target. Rather than following his request, to seem distracted to not alert our enemy I decided to look like I was adjusting my shoelaces that just happen to come loose. Suddenly I heard some muffled screams, followed by a gust of wind, astonished I looked up, only to see the guy being thrown out of the train, a dagger piercing him midair.

"I guess I will require to find a new weapon," Noel muttered not being happy in the slightest.

"What was that?" I asked as he handed me the rifle he just acquired.

"I never liked him in the first place, good riddance." Suddenly I was scared, the book never mentioned anything about his skills, but it was certain he wasn't just a certain low-grade magician with enormous charisma and intelligence perhaps his real talent lay in killing people. Or possibly it was a skill he was forced to require to survive.

"Suddenly my respect for you has also risen." He didn't foresee that line from me it seemed.

"I mean it feels like you had a whole lot to deal with... considering you couldn't just bypass with your charisma skills and intelligence alone. Respect bro." I tried to fist-bump him, but he didn't understand the assignment.

"Just clench your fist and make our fists touch." He did, which was surprising, maybe he was more open-minded than I thought.