The Druid Who Devoured the Great Nature

“It was a kind of vault keeper.”

It took less than a day to extract information from the man I had brought. At first glance, he didn’t seem like the type to keep secrets or be loyal. People usually don’t share important stories with such people. But Claire’s face was quite bright, as if she had found out some pretty good information.

“A vault keeper?”

“Yes, he says he manages the slush fund of one of Centream’s executives.”

That was an unexpected windfall.

“It would have been very useful information in normal times… but it’s not a situation where you can use it effectively just because you found it out now.”

No one would be calm if their privately accumulated wealth was being robbed. But the timing was what it was.

Even if we raided Centream’s slush fund, it wouldn’t be of much help to us or become a card to pressure the other party.

“That’s true. Even if he was a vault keeper, he wasn’t managing a particularly important slush fund. Considering his status as a Centream executive, it was just pocket money? Since he was like that, it would have been difficult to entrust him with a large sum of money. If it were me, I wouldn’t have even hired him as a vault keeper.”

Claire readily agreed. It was a statement that contradicted her triumphant attitude, as if she had found out important information.

“But there was a reason why they hired someone like that as a vault keeper.”

The following words explained the contradiction.

“He was a relative of that executive.”

A relative. It certainly had more value than just touching the slush fund.

“Perhaps that’s why he knew quite a lot for a low-level vault keeper who only managed pocket money.”

“Is there a possibility that it’s false?”

“Experts, including black mages, have personally rummaged through his head. He’s not the type to have the guts to spread false information in this situation. Later, he apparently started talking on his own.”

He was a person who was hired as a vault keeper despite being far below the required ability and character. If you were to doubt how he knew Centream’s secrets, that would be the problem from the start.

If the authenticity had been verified, there was no room for doubt.

“Centream’s internal affairs and the secrets of the executives were useful, but the biggest harvest is this.”

When Chloe gestured, her secretary, Milina, displayed data on the screen installed on the wall.

“It’s Joe McQueen’s unofficial schedule.”

“Joe McQueen?”

“He’s the number two man after Demian Graham among the current Centream executives.”

“If we can just capture him, it would be a proper declaration of war.”

The beginning of a battle is a battle of momentum. If we secured the number two man, we could start the war with an advantageous position.

“But that’s only officially. He’s not actually treated as the number two man.”

“Is he like a figurehead?”

“It’s more like the relationship between me and Director Berman.”

“A defeated rival.”

“It might be more beneficial than capturing Centream’s actual number two man.”

An executive who had been pushed out of the company’s political battle.

“If we can just persuade him well, there’s a high possibility that he’ll side with us.”

“That’s right.”

An internal enemy is scarier than an external enemy. Especially since there was a story that he could cooperate with us.

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we had to take, even if we couldn’t eat it.

“Then we should set our next target as that person, Joe McQueen.”

It was about time Centream realized that it was not an indiscriminate terror that took advantage of the city’s chaos, but an attack aimed at their external partners.

It’s good to cut off the small branches first, but obsessing over it is putting the cart before the horse. It was just a check that would not be a significant blow to Centream.

It was a good time to cut our losses and execute a new plan.

“Four days from now, at noon, the train that Joe McQueen is on will pass through the tunnel in District 14.”

Claire said as if she had been waiting, as if she had already drawn up a rough outline.

“Let’s plan to capture Joe McQueen then.”

***

The train sped down the tracks, spewing hazy steam. With the closure of District 20, which had been the center of continental logistics, the train had become a declining means of transportation.

However, just as the officially closed District 20 was still being used as a smuggling route, the operation of the train had not been completely cut off in this city. A city with an area comparable to a country.

For long-distance travel between distant districts, the train was more suitable than a vehicle. That was why the decline of the train as a means of transportation could be packaged as something special and rare.

The train was not allowed to be boarded by just anyone, like the upper-class exclusive service, Future Pass. It was operated secretly, and many things such as the train’s departure and arrival times, destination, and passenger information were treated as confidential.

It meant that it was a perfect means of transportation for a Centream executive to hide his movements. In that sense, it was fortunate that we had kidnapped the vault keeper and extracted information.

Joe McQueen would not even be able to imagine that his movements had been exposed. If we aimed for that carelessness, it was a plan that was bound to succeed.

“He’s coming. Get ready.”

“Yes.”

Sage clenched her staff with a determined expression. She was to enter the train with me and play the role of jamming, blocking magical communication.

Since mechanical communication would be restricted after the train entered the tunnel, this meant that the passage for news to be transmitted from inside the train to the outside would disappear.

It was an easy thing to say, but it was a difficult task. But I believed that Sage could do it.

Since she was the talent of the next Mage Tower master that the wanderer Colin had praised. Of course, if the goal was to assassinate Joe McQueen, there would have been no need to go through such a troublesome process.

But since the goal was to capture Joe McQueen, it had to be done this way. I could only hope that the hard work would pay off.

“Now.”

Sage and I jumped down at the same time. A feeling of floating enveloped my whole body.

In the view spread out below my feet, the scene of a matte black train entering a tunnel was reflected. It was a fairly long train with several cars connected, but it was so fast that it seemed as if even the rearmost car would be sucked into the tunnel in an instant.

Still, we were able to land exactly on the end of the train. Because I had gathered the wind just before landing through the divinity of the World Tree and cushioned it, I was not injured or lost my balance and was not thrown off the train.

In the dark surroundings, the train car I entered after opening the door was bright enough to see everything inside. Similarly, the passengers inside the train also noticed our sudden entry.

“Who…?”

“Was there anyone among us who went outside?”

Those who stood up awkwardly and exchanged glances, as if they hadn’t grasped the situation yet. It was unlikely that an unrelated outsider would be on a train carrying a Centream executive.

The rearmost, which was relatively less important. It seemed that they were the escorts who had followed Joe McQueen.

They didn’t show much caution even after seeing us. There was no need to kill all of them.

When I gestured, Sage stepped forward.

“Ugh, I’m suddenly so sleepy…”

“Ugh.”

The escorts blinked their eyes and then lost strength and fell. They had all fallen asleep.

They were sleeping so deeply, with their mouths wide open and even snoring, that they wouldn’t have known if someone had carried them away. I clicked my tongue inwardly.

I had thought she would just restrain them with a chain pressure. Despite the fact that magic that interfered with a person’s mind was known to be difficult, it was a clean job.

“What about the jamming?”

“I’ve put a barrier around the entire train.”

“Good, stay like that and wait here.”

I wasn’t doubting Sage’s capabilities, but just maintaining the barrier consumed a lot of concentration. Most of all, the problem was that magic was basically so powerful that it was said to be specialized for mass destruction.

It was inappropriate to use it in a narrow train, and if the tunnel collapsed, it would be a disaster. I left Sage behind and moved to the front of the train.

Perhaps because it was for long-distance travel, the front of the train had a structure with cabins. When I opened the door of the cabin and checked, the inside was empty.

‘As expected, they didn’t bring enough people to fill the train.’

No matter how careful you are, the more people you bring, the more likely information is to leak. Since it was for an unofficial schedule, it seemed that they had focused on hiding their movements with a small number of people rather than being fully prepared for security.

I checked the empty cabins with my eyes and walked forward again. Just before moving to the next car.

“Die!”

The door of the last cabin opened, and a man pointed a gun at me and pulled the trigger.

“Hehehe! You were careless… keok!”

I grabbed the neck of the man holding the rifle and lifted him up. The man grabbed my wrist and struggled to pull it off, but it was useless.

On the contrary, the bark that had grown on my skin due to lignification only scratched his hand.

“If you’re going to hide and ambush, you should have hidden your presence properly.”

He must have thought that the sound of the train was loud enough to hide his panting from tension, but he was wrong. I hadn’t acted first because I had thought that Quadruple wouldn’t show such immaturity.

I had secretly guessed that it was an escort who had woken up from sleep in the cabin.

“You’re not Quadruple.”

As expected, I couldn’t find the Quadruple crest on the man’s attire. Had he hired a private mercenary company?

Even so, the quality seemed to be not very good. Then, I suddenly noticed a mechanical sound coming from below the man’s left knee.

“A prosthesis.”

…I thought I knew the man’s identity. And why he was so immature.

“Uaaah!”

I threw the man out the window. The heavy sound of a lump of meat falling to the ground echoed in the tunnel.

I left the man’s life or death behind and fell into thought.

‘Are they veterans?’

If they were people with prostheses who were with Centream, it was hard to think of anyone else.

‘Are the veterans in charge of Joe McQueen’s security instead of Quadruple?’

Given the circumstances, it seemed to be the case, but I had a question.

‘Is there a reason not to use Quadruple for the security of the executives in this situation?’

And they were veterans who had not yet regained their sense of real combat. It was too careless for a security team formed by a Centream executive and the number two man.

‘Well, thanks to that, my job seems to have gotten easier.’

After all, if I had to choose a difficult opponent between the veterans and Quadruple, it was the latter. That’s why the fact that the security personnel on the train were composed of veterans was good news for me.

‘In that case, I don’t have to be so careful.’

I already knew from experience what the average level of the veterans was. They were opponents where I didn’t have to worry about variables.

I strode forward.

“It’s an enemy!”

“Shoot!”

From the next car, I could see the enemies right away. I don’t know when my intrusion was discovered, but they had made full preparations to hold out, such as setting up a barricade with tables and chairs.

Apart from their sense of real combat, their response was certainly veteran-like. But that was it.

The bundle of World Tree stems, which had responded to my will, wriggled and coiled its body. It was similar to how a beast crouches and condenses its strength before pouncing.

In fact, it was not so different. The World Tree’s stem gathered enough to fill the narrow cabin, and then.

It surged like a wave and swept away all the obstacles that blocked the path.

***

“So you were here.”

The cabin closest to the driver’s cabin. As befitting a train for the upper class, the VIP cabin occupied the entire car.

There were only two people on board. The face of one of them caught my eye first.

“Joe McQueen, right?”

(End of Chapter)