Chapter 36: Relaxing travels

It has been a couple of hours since the ambush, and things seemed to have calmed down as everyone took this chance to clean up the bodies and count the dead. There were many casualties, but fortunately, not as many as depicted in the anime. Owen was sure that the ambush originally wiped out more than half of the train's people, but this time it was isolated to 1 or 2 train cars, with only a few stray soldiers being killed. This outcome was thanks to Owen and his group, who acted quickly and managed to wipe out the majority of the Kabane that were on the train, even chasing away the Wastori which would have caused the most casualties.

Now, it's noon and the sun shines high in the sky. To say that the last few hours were eventful would be an understatement. Owen broke the news of Shino being turned into a Kabaneri, something he expected to receive a bit of backlash for. However, Mumei and Ikoma seemed pretty happy with Owen, all things considered. Ikoma even openly fantasized about saving everyone using his method.

In addition to Owen breaking the news to the group, two more significant events unfolded. Ikoma modified Owen's spear, essentially turning its top into a piercing gun, a modification that Owen greatly appreciated as it allowed him to finish off Kabane more effectively.

The final occurrence was the simple fact that Owen found he had gained a reward after killing the Wastori, in the form of a token. If he interpreted it correctly, the token would upgrade almost any item he possessed, something he was very much tempted to immediately use on his spear. However, he withheld, as he had a better idea in mind—an idea he would have to pursue later.(Idea's are welcome but I think I got a really good one for that token)

"Hey Daisuke! Can you please shut those two up?" Suddenly, Owen found himself snapped out of his thoughts by Mumei, who sat on the ground right next to him. He turned his head towards her as she silently pointed to two scruffy-looking men who, if he remembered correctly, were in an intense argument just a moment ago. If the knife in one of the men's hands was any indication, it was escalating very quickly. However, all Owen did was shrug as he spoke, ignoring the gazes of everyone around him as he answered Mumei.

"Nah, don't feel like it," he said, causing Mumei's face to scrunch almost imperceptibly, something Owen would not have noticed if not for his [Tracking] skill enhancing his senses. Sadly for Mumei, this did nothing to change Owen's mind. She was forced to get up herself to deal with the two men who were quite rightfully pissed for being treated like children. However, that changed nothing as Mumei wasted no time beating the two men senseless, which earned her several applause from the people in the same car as them.

It was at this moment that Owen noticed Ikoma walking in. After taking stock of his surroundings, Ikoma seemed ready to interfere but was stopped by Owen, who put a hand in his way, signaling for Ikoma. As Owen explained the situation, Ikoma nodded in understanding. He then walked past Owen towards Mumei, and they began chatting. At some point, Ayame came rushing in, followed by her personal servant and two random guards.

"Ah, I see you've already taken care of it, Mumei-san," Ayame said as she came to stand in front of Mumei, who turned to face her.

"I heard there was a commotion and quickly came to solve it, but it seems you already took care of it. Thanks again, Mumei-san! You are like the Kotetsujyo's bodyguard." Ayame's voice was soft, filled with kindness and genuine appreciation for Mumei, something that seemed to roll off of Mumei, whose voice sounded slightly questioning.

"Bodyguard?" Mumei voice was questioning but ayame was happy to answer.

"Yes, a bodyguard. Someone who protects everyone, a person people can rely on," Ayame's voice sounded, garnering a few nods and sounds of agreement from the people in the train car, including Owen, as he found the girl to be quite reliable in the most dire of circumstances.

This caused Mumei to visibly blush as she denied the important title, calling it a stupid title. Before anyone else could speak to ease Mumei's embarrassment, the train suddenly began to stop, almost flinging people to the floor. Ayame's guard, posted at the door of the train car, spoke out, telling us we had arrived at Yashiro station, much to the joy of everyone who seemed ready to escape this death trap. However, the next words of the soldier crushed that joy the next second.

"It seems the station has been overrun."

 _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

Wanted to add in a short after-action chapter before the MC goes into that death trap of a station.

Apologies for the word count fluctuations. I'm not going to fix it, as that's what kills people's will to write. It's a really shitty feeling to have make up if you fall short of a word count as thats some shit I dont want to be doing outside of school