I Became The Villain’s Master - Chapter 3.4

***

Clank-clank-

The train shook along the tracks.

I thought Ann would take me out right away when we entered the compartment, but because of unfamiliar voices, I had to keep holding my breath and stay in the bag.

“Hello. Are you going to Seasoning Station?”

A curious question was heard.

It was the voice of a teenage boy whose voice had just started to break.

“Ah, I’m Butter, a postman working at the Seasoning Post Office. Every morning I take the train to Raphasli Station to deliver letters. And I always return home at this time.”

“I see…”

From the hand patting the bag above my head a few times, I could feel Ann’s awkward feelings.

“These people here are from the South. They say they’re getting off at the next station. They speak with a Southern accent, and it’s really cool. People from Seasoning are often criticized for speaking too fast and not sounding nice, but the rough and heavy southern accent is great.”

Having finished introducing the others, the postman Butter began chatting in earnest.

The two taciturn people only briefly stated their names and then kept quiet, while Ann awkwardly responded a few times.

‘I wish they’d get off soon…’

The dark, narrow bag was uncomfortable.

Somehow, it was getting harder to breathe, but I couldn’t show it.

Animals were prohibited on the train, and there was a law that desert foxes shouldn’t leave the desert.

Long ago, the small size and cute appearance of desert foxes became very popular among nobles, and everyone started keeping desert foxes as pets.

Most of the baby desert foxes that were recklessly captured died during transport.

The mother and father foxes were killed by fox hunters who came to catch their babies.

That’s why laws were created to protect desert foxes.

Of course, I’m a shapeshifter, so it doesn’t matter if I leave…

But revealing that I’m a shapeshifter was also a big problem.

Soon, rumors that the youngest lady of the Hauser family had disappeared would spread throughout the empire.

“By the way, is this little one your nephew? He doesn’t look like your son.”

“He’s an adopted child.”

“The little one is quite handsome. Ah! I have a cookie in my bag. Can I give it to him?”

“No, thank you. We’ll have to decline.”

“Oh…”

Butter’s voice stopped for a moment at Ann’s firm answer.

I curled up as much as possible, feeling my breath becoming more and more constricted.

It wasn’t completely sealed, and there were holes to breathe through, so it seemed like a psychological factor.

‘Let’s try to sleep. It’ll be okay if I sleep.’

I closed my eyes, muttering inside as if casting a spell.

Crash! Screech!

‘Gasp!’

My eyes flew open at the ear-splitting noise.

The overly vivid auditory hallucination made my body tremble and my head felt like it was about to split.

The moment when the train derailed and overturned overlapped in my mind.

I was gripped by a terrible feeling as if hot, damp blood covered my entire body.

***

“Goodbye! Take care, gentlemen!”

Butter’s lively voice snapped me back to reality.

The train seemed to have stopped.

I could hear the sound of people getting off and on.

Shortly after, the train started again with a loud noise.

‘Just a little more. Let’s endure just a little longer.’

But the distance to our destination, Seasoning Station, was too far to be called “a little.”

As the train continued to puff steam and rattle, cold sweat started to form again.

I felt like I might faint at any moment from the headache, motion sickness, and shortness of breath.

Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch.

Without realizing it, I began scratching at the bag’s opening.

I clawed at the thick cloth bag fiercely, as if to tear it with my delicate claws.

“Aah! The bag! The bag is moving!”

When it wouldn’t open no matter how much I scratched, I writhed and struggled violently.

As I shook my body frantically, the bag tipped over and I fell out.

“Mel!”

Rory’s hands caught my falling body.

Beyond my blurred vision, I could see a surprised face.

I stumbled, pressing Rory’s fingers firmly.

‘I want to get off. I want to get off right now.’

Crash-!

The sensation of my head hitting the ceiling, then slamming into the floor, and my body burning and crumbling with an explosion, struck me vividly.

My lungs constricted involuntarily, making me gasp for air.

“Eek! A fox! A desert fox! Mmph…!”

Ann covered Butter’s shouting mouth.

Rory pulled his hands to his chest, holding me as if to hide me.

“Mmph! Mmph!”

“Be quiet! It’s not what you think!”

Ann lowered her voice and whispered urgently.

Jingle!

The sound of a money pouch being shaken was heard.

Ann handed silver coins to Butter and removed her hand from him.

Butter still had his eyes wide open, but he kept his mouth shut.

“Mel. Mel.”

The surprised and confused child called my name repeatedly, but it was drowned out by the enormous roar.

I saw a blood-stained book in front of my tightly closed eyes.

It felt as if my legs were completely crushed, and tears welled up.

This is an auditory hallucination.

It’s a hallucination.

It’s just fake.

I kept muttering to myself.

“It’s okay. It’s okay now. We’re on a train, aren’t we? Not in the underground waterway.”

Screech!

Between the noise of metal scraping and sparking, a kind voice filled with concern whispered down on my head.

I wanted to shout that it was because of the train, but only a hoarse fox cry came out.

Please, please, let’s get off.

I struggled to open my eyes, looked up at him, and desperately shook my head.

“Am I wrong? Are you perhaps more scared of the train?”

Nod, nod.

I barely moved my head and leaned on him completely.

Rory stood up abruptly, holding me.

“We’re getting off here!”

“What? But we need to go to Seasoning Station…!”

Chug-chug-chug-chug-

As if we were entering the next station, the sound of steam puffing out was subsiding.

The child’s hands moved busily, hiding me inside his clothes.

“We need to get off!”

“Rory!”

As soon as the train stopped, Rory jumped off.

He ran away from the station without looking back.

Ann hurriedly got off after him.

“Young lady. We’ve gotten off.”

Small hands kept stroking my back and head.

“Shh. It’s okay. It’s okay now. Let’s not ride trains anymore.”

The train’s whistle gradually faded away.

As I listened to Rory’s voice, I felt the deafening auditory hallucinations and the scenery from that day slowly dissipating.

The terrible pain that had gripped my entire body also disappeared as if it were a lie, and my ragged breathing began to calm.

As my sense of reality gradually returned, the emotion that surfaced was bewilderment.

‘Post-traumatic stress disorder’, or something like that?

It was my first experience having a panic attack.

Ann, who had been restless, let out a sigh of relief when I stabilized.

Even after we hurriedly got into a carriage, Rory continued to stroke my back without resting, as if his arm wasn’t tired at all.

“Don’t worry. Ann is here, and I’m here too.”

The whispers that occasionally fell on my ears made me feel protected.

That’s how we arrived at an unfamiliar town whose name we didn’t even know.

Only after we managed to get a room at an inn that was still lit late at night could we finally get some sweet rest.