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THE CONDUCTOR'S REGULAR REPORT

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*****

The duties of Cubas, the conductor of the Interworld Train, are wide-ranging. From operations and maintenance to scheduling, passenger service, cleaning, and restocking supplies, he handles nearly everything except for security.

「――Everyone, return to your posts.」

Standing on the deck of the lead car, Cubas was surrounded by countless slimes crawling all over, from top to bottom, corners to edges. Once ordered, the slimes would respond with bizarre movements before vanishing into every nook and cranny of the Interworld Train, like a receding tide.

As a slime-type entity, Cubas possessed the racial trait of being able to command specific native slimes. While he could only issue simple commands, that was more than enough to handle the work of the Interworld Train, and the slimes secretly kept the train's journey running.

Once the slimes had scattered to their respective areas, Cubas made his way to the driving cab.

In the dark, chamber-like cab, the main panel made of white crystal and blue metal gave off a faint glow. Cubas touched the main panel, pulled up a few virtual blue panels, and entered his usual scheduled report.

『――With that, the repatriation of the ghosts is complete, and we are returning to the normal schedule. That concludes the scheduled report.』

Normally, that would be it, but today there was one emergency report from headquarters.

『――Berta Andele has escaped. Given the circumstances, contact with the "Demon King Slayer," Rob, is expected. Note that Investigator Rigot has already been notified of this matter.』

A single bubble bubbled up from within Cubas’s body.

The "World-Crossing Witch," Berta Andele, was an anti-Alliance criminal.

She would seduce men and strip them of their assets.

To put it simply, that was all she did, but her methods varied. She would worm her way into the favor of noble families, conglomerates, corporate executives, or heirs to get their money, or she would recruit capable meta-humans in non-member worlds to earn a finder’s fee, sometimes seducing the meta-humans themselves.

Given the events so far, it was clear that Berta intended to seduce Rob and earn a finder’s fee by introducing him to someone somewhere. There was a high possibility she would show herself before Rob.

The title of "Demon King Slayer" was worth going to such lengths for.

Especially to the underdeveloped or small-scale worlds that made up the majority of those not affiliated with the Alliance.

While there was certainly the aspect of preparing for a Demon King, hiring a "Demon King Slayer" served as an act of intimidation more than anything else.

War rarely happened between advanced worlds. Since they hadn't even finished developing everything in their own worlds, there was no point in going to war to take things. However, that wasn't the case for small or underdeveloped worlds.

In many of the worlds the Alliance contacted after they performed indiscriminate summoning, they were merely forced to sign treaties banning further indiscriminate summoning; they were not granted advanced technology. Food aid was the most they got.

On the surface, this was to prevent the obstruction of that world’s unique development, but it was also to prevent advanced worlds from invading and exploiting underdeveloped ones.

However, those in underdeveloped worlds who managed to make contact with the Alliance were displeased by this. Many countries that performed indiscriminate summoning were worlds of magic-based civilizations, and many were ruled by royalty and nobility based on anthropocentrism.

Therefore, they craved greater profits and power.

To such worlds, the name and power of a "Demon King Slayer" were massive, and they wanted it at any cost.

But to the Alliance, such movements could not be overlooked.

Protecting and keeping "extraordinary power" under management. That was the most significant meaning expected of the Interworld Alliance's all-world organization, and for that reason, they were protecting and recruiting the "Demon King Slayer" while secretly trying to capture the "World-Crossing Witch."

Cubas muttered in his cool, calm voice.

「Even if he reaches the terminal safely...」

Would he become a dog of the Alliance, live by killing his own self, or...

In this world, where it is said that "a hero without a collar is synonymous with a terrorist," a hero is almost never given the wings of freedom.

***

Having finished saying goodbye to Harlequin, Rob had gotten dead drunk in the lounge on the night the Interworld Train departed and was dragged back by Arcelia, who had come to fetch him, and tossed onto his bunk in the cabin as usual.

Just when it seemed he had been shuffling around in the bunk for a while, he sat bolt upright.

He climbed down the ladder as if tumbling off and headed for the toilet.

Arcelia, who had been working on her book-shaped terminal even after tossing Rob onto the bunk, just gave the stumbling Rob a glance before burying herself in her work again. She didn't have time to deal with a drunkard's every whim.

About an hour later, Arcelia looked up.

「...The permit application has finally been approved. This should be fine. As for Berta Andele... I can't handle her.」

She couldn't handle her. Arcelia had finally become able to admit that during this journey. The most she could do was try to keep Rob from taking Berta’s bait.

Glancing at the clock, she saw it would be dawn in the train in about three hours.

Arcelia took off her investigator's uniform and slipped into her bunk.

The next morning, Arcelia, who had woken up early, drank a cup of coffee and slowly stood up.

She went to the front of the toilet, where there shouldn't have been anyone, and knocked on the sliding door three times.

She confirmed there was no reply, but the door wouldn't open.

Just as she thought it might be broken, she immediately remembered Rob and peered into the bunks.

He wasn't there. He must have fallen asleep in the toilet.

「Rob, please wake up.」

She hurried back to the toilet and called out, but there was no response. Pressing her ear to the door, she could hear faint snoring coming from inside.

A frown creased Arcelia’s brow. Was it the diuretic effect of the coffee? Or just a habit?

After continuing to knock and call out for a while,

「...I should just borrow the next cabin over, that's all.」

Just as she realized this and turned to leave the cabin, a roar came from Rob.

「――I gotchaaaaa!」

Arcelia didn't know what he was talking about, but she urged Rob to come out of the toilet quickly.

***

When Rob, jolted awake by the rhythmic sound of knocking and Arcelia's voice, found a slimy object wriggling and creeping near the door.

Still bleary-eyed from the lingering drunkenness, Rob pounced on it and grabbed it with all his might with both hands.

「――I gotchaaaaa!」

The slimy object—the slime—was the one surprised, as it had let its guard down, thinking Rob was fast asleep.

Rob left the toilet and opened the door to show it off to Arcelia, only to find Arcelia right in front of him.

「...Please let it go. And put your pants on.」

Arcelia's expression shifted from surprise to exasperation.

「Eh--」

Rob grumbled, pulling his pants up, but he didn't let go of the slime.

「Don't say such strange, selfish things. Besides, this child is a staff member of the Interworld Train. Now, hurry up and get out of the toilet.」

Arcelia took the slime from Rob, who was still muttering complaints, walked into the toilet to swap places with him, and released the slime.

The slime changed shape, as if giving a salute, and vanished somewhere.

It wasn't as if slimes had any concept of being embarrassed. After all, they were specialized slimes that processed excrement.

From then on, Rob started catching slimes.

The title of "Demon King Slayer" was not just for show; he would catch slimes that should have been perfectly hidden from out of nowhere.

And having Arcelia release them had become part of the routine.

That night, Rob, who had come home drunk from the second-floor lounge, was holding a slime in his hand.

He couldn't harm passengers as a staff member, and the slime seemed to have drifted into a mood of resignation.

Arcelia tossed the grumbling Rob onto his bunk, released the slime, and just then, Pashe, the mecha-platypus, and the slime came face-to-face.

Deciding there was no harm in it, Arcelia opened her book-shaped terminal on the table as usual and started working.

About thirty minutes later, Arcelia noticed a strange sound and looked around.

On the sofa, Pashe was clicking its bill—*kapa kapa*—in response to a slime that was stretching and shrinking, *puyo puyo*, on the sofa.

Neither of them should have had anything one could call intelligence, but both the slime and Pashe seemed to be keeping their volume down, out of consideration for Arcelia.

Arcelia smiled faintly.

She didn't know what the slime and Pashe were doing, but she felt more at ease watching them than watching Rob, who was splayed out and stretched across the toilet entrance like a slug.

*****

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