“Employee ID, take it out.” Kyle Leonard commanded the operator, pressing the revolver against his head.

“….”

“It can’t be. I don’t think you’re with the Laurent Railway.” The operator’s face immediately turned pale upon the investigator’s remark, pulps of sweat forming in his forehead.

“If you don’t want to get a bullet in your arms and legs like your colleagues, step aside and talk.” Kyle Leonard threatened. He pulled a handcuff out of his uniform and swiftly fastened it around the man’s arms. 

When the operator refused to cooperate, shaking his head, Kyle Leonard hit the back of his neck with the revolver. In an instant, the man lost consciousness. Then, Kyle Leonard pushed his body to the corner and began to examine the controls in the driver cab — automatic train stop, speedometer, handle, electricity supply, boiler control valve, brake valve. 

His peering eyes stopped at one place: the odometer, which indicated the train’s route. The odometer blinked red light, signaling that the train was in motion. However, the route on the map and the direction indicated by the train’s odometer were different. The route was north, but the train was running east. 

That can’t be true.

According to the map, the route from Lunazel to Central Edman was a plain area that stretches on a straight path; its route had no wide turns. Hence, the odometer should not be pointing east. 

Should the train continue to run east, it would arrive at a completely different location, not Central Edman. Feeling a sense of foreboding, Kyle Leonard hastily pulled the brake valve. But… 

“…It’s not working.”

He tried to pull the valves one by one, but all were jammed. Suddenly, the operator shuffled, starting to wake up. Kyle Leonard’s eyes shifted towards the man’s neck and cuffed arms. Wrist.

Without hesitation, he pointed the revolver at him and fired. 

Bang! 

“….!” An abrupt scream resounded in the driver cab. The man gripped his bloody wrist, writhing in extreme pain.

“If you just faint, you won’t see blood. Anyway, I happened to aim just right. Where is this train headed?” Kyle Leonard clicked his tongue in subtle satisfaction.

“Ugh…”

“Even though the engine broke down, it’s still running well. It means someone’s playing on the tracks. Are you a wizard?”

Contrary to what most would think, the Laurent railway, that stretches out like a spider’s web throughout the city, is not driven by magic. The tracks automatically switch directions through the pull of a lever powered by electricity.

The operator shook his head frantically. “I- I can’t say…”

“They’ve planted it on your wrist, not your head, the self-destructing chip of Yulem. Now that it’s just broken, there’s no reason you can’t tell me now. I don’t have any reason to withhold my hand either. In case it slips.”

The man looked down on his trembling wrist. It was true. The bullet penetrated the exact spot where the chip had been planted, just next to the artery. A shattered chip in the size of a fingernail was sticking out of his skin.

“Although your wrist is reduced to pulp, you don’t have the risk of dying from excessive bleeding. Let’s talk now, shall we? Who’s behind it? Who in Yulem ordered to kill Eleonora Asil?” Kyle Leonard asked calmly, his fingers playing with the revolver.

“I can’t… say… I can’t!”  

“You’re not going to tell me even when you’re at the end of the line? There’s no easy way out anymore.” 

Kyle Leonard wasn’t in the mood for an investigation. He was a man who could be cruel enough and had worked for fifteen years in such an environment. What’s more, he possessed enough nerve and power to carry out any impractical and unrealistic plan into action.

Then, he saw the rails beginning to switch. He slipped his revolver through a crack in the window and measured a specific angle while he positioned the gun. The man, who realized what he was attempting to do, yelled in both disbelief and astonishment.

“Crazy! If you blow up the railroad, this train will be overturned!”

“Then the two hundred people on this train will all be good friends in the afterlife. What can I do if you won’t talk? I have no other choice.” Kyle Leonard responded dryly, finely adjusting the angle of the gun. The directional guidance screen that floated on top of the pistol began to turn with a mechanical sound — the target was right in the middle of the railroad.

“Stop! Stop, you crazy bastard!”

“Why don’t you just say it!” 

As Kyle Leonard pressed his finger onto the trigger, the struggling operator screamed. 

“Magic Division! Laurent Magic Division!”

The Ministry of Magic?