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Mithra had always been a girl with curious and imaginative thoughts, and she happened to possess some innate talent that allowed her to learn "little tricks" during her spare moments amidst the pressure of her demanding coursework.
Listening, psychology, sleight of hand, lockpicking, disguise—she had already achieved considerable proficiency in all these areas.
“Considering our ranks, the Ascender responsible is likely also low-tier and probably lacks the ability to remotely detonate explosives.”
Mithra continued her reasoning: “A spell capable of directly destroying a train weighing hundreds of tons would require extremely harsh conditions for a lower-ring Ascender to cast without ritual assistance, placing a tremendous burden on the caster.”
“Our focus should be on those well-dressed individuals. Wild Ascenders of this era wouldn’t have such capabilities.”
She paused briefly:
“Well-dressed but pale-faced individuals. Something like that.”
With just a few words, she had significantly narrowed down the pool of suspects.
Viya: “….”
“Not bad.” Viya rarely gave compliments, but this time she did, rising to her feet as she leaned against the backrest.
“But I have a better idea.”
Viya clapped her hands, calmly approached the train attendant, picked up a piece of fruit skewered on a fork from the tray in the attendant’s hand, and gently brought it to her lips.
After chewing slowly, she politely thanked the attendant and wiped her mouth with a nearby handkerchief.
Then—
She raised the dessert knife still dripping with fruit juice and lightly tapped it against the silver platter.
“This is a robbery! Raise your hands!”
At the same moment, a piercing shriek erupted like a sudden gale, striking at the souls of all the passengers.
The man who had been soothing his baby froze, his expression blank. The noblewoman reading a book sat motionless, her fingers suspended mid-air. The carriage fell into an eerie silence.
THUD—
The attendant’s body suddenly collapsed, hitting the floor with a dull thud.
Her face still bore a professional smile, but a clean, precise wound at her neck was seeping blood.
It appeared she had died without any pain.
Panic instantly spread through the carriage. Adults quickly covered their infants’ mouths and cowered in their seats.
Calling for help might work, but no one dared to be the first to try.
“Hands where we can see them!”
Mithra watched Viya’s actions with a dry throat, but instead of sitting idly by, she decided to cooperate.
She hadn’t expected the other person’s approach to be so—
Simple and brutal.
In this illusory space, the characters were merely projections of history and couldn’t truly be regarded as real people.
However, aside from their "core," their behavior felt disturbingly realistic, making it hard to overlook the moral implications. At least Mithra wouldn’t have thought of such an extreme method right away.
Though the mission required maximizing survival… using a bit of the score to quickly control the situation wasn’t a bad trade-off. Mithra acknowledged the practicality of Viya killing the attendant.
The only downside was that her earlier key-stealing act now seemed rather clownish.
“Uncertain if the teammate will betray me, better send her away first.” A faint whisper echoed.
Betray? What does that mean?
Viya didn’t understand what she might do later that could make her teammate betray her.
She watched as “herself” walked over to Mithra, handing her the blood-stained dessert knife, speaking in a tone only they could hear:
“You go check the right carriage first. Splitting up will be more efficient.”
Mithra hummed in agreement:
“There shouldn’t be any Ascenders besides the culprit on the train; otherwise, the difficulty would be too high.”
“But still, be careful.”
With the blood-stained knife and a few more spells, subduing the passengers in the other carriage wouldn’t be difficult.
---
When the carriage door closed behind her, Viya crossed her arms and looked at the passengers. She was unarmed, yet none of the passengers dared to make a move.
From their perspective, an Ascender capable of casting spells was likely affiliated with a major organization. This might not even be a simple robbery but a premeditated terrorist attack, with complex implications lurking beneath the surface.
These passengers, accustomed to traveling far and wide, naturally didn’t want to get involved in this mess. Handing over their money quietly to save their lives was the best course of action.
Of course, if law enforcement could apprehend these despicable bandits, that would be even better.
Time ticked by, but the “bandit” made no further moves, simply watching the passengers in silence.
An invisible pressure enveloped the surroundings.
“This is all the money I have. Please let us go. I have a seven-year-old daughter—she can’t afford to lose her father…”
Finally, someone couldn’t take it anymore.
Trembling, he handed a small bag to Viya.
“…” Viya didn’t take it. Instead, she walked to the end of the carriage and used the key Mithra had given her to lock the door.
With a gentle smile, she reassured him:
“Relax, close your eyes. The pain will only last a moment.”
The man’s expression froze.
The fragile calm maintained by the other passengers shattered with an audible snap.
---
“Hmm hmm hmm—” Mithra hummed a cheerful tune, pulling out a bag from somewhere and instructing the passengers to toss their money into it.
Since they were putting on a show, they might as well make it convincing.
Of course, “fun” played a small part, but only a very small part, Mithra swore.
As she watched people drop their money into the bag, she felt no real attachment to it—after all, these items couldn’t be taken back to reality, and she wasn’t short on money anyway.
What she was really doing was observing their expressions while they handed over their money to assess the likelihood of them being the culprit.
Though the idea of a robber searching for a murderer endangering people’s safety was absurd, it was indeed the truth.
She continued humming, walking past one person after another.
---
On the other side—
The man in the soft cap sat in his seat, head bowed, magic flowing around him.
The magic was minuscule, nearly imperceptible, like a small stream gradually gathering into a river, waiting for the moment it would burst its banks.
The cries of agony never ceased, and cold sweat dripped from his forehead.
He had assumed this was just a routine robbery, and he could pretend to be an ordinary person, continuing to charge his laureate. But then the robber inexplicably decided to kill everyone.
This drastic change left the man flustered.
Under normal circumstances, as a Third Ring Ascender, dealing with the Ascender robber shouldn’t have been an issue.
But bypassing the train’s inspections and evading the beacon’s magical surveillance had already exhausted him. Charging the spell was something he could barely manage, and now even moving a finger felt impossibly difficult.
Fortunately, his position in the corner meant the “grim reaper” would reach him last.
Faster… just a little faster… The man focused all his energy on charging his laureate. He feared that the group might come to settle accounts with him, rendering all his efforts futile.
At this moment—
“What are you doing?”
A delicate white hand rested on the chair, and a familiar face peeked over.
Viya stared intently at the man.
The man’s heart skipped a beat.
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