Following the railway straight ahead, not far away a massive fortress had already been set ablaze.
The drawbridge over the moat had collapsed, and the city gate had been smashed apart by a runaway Hayajiro.
Large swathes of wooden houses were crushed by the derailed train, flames spreading rapidly through the wreckage.
From the broken gaps in the train's carriages, hundreds of Kabane crawled out, their bloodthirsty eyes sweeping across the stunned crowd nearby.
The moment they smelled fresh flesh and blood, the Kabane opened their gaping, rotten maws and lunged toward the nearest people like demons released from a cage.
Screams, shouts, and desperate cries rose one after another. How could unarmed civilians possibly fight against Kabane? Once caught, their fate was already sealed.
As the number of infected grew, the Kabane population began increasing at a geometric rate.
With the gate destroyed and even more Kabane drawn by the commotion from outside the walls, the fall of this fortress—Aragane Station—had already become inevitable.
The alarm bells atop the watchtowers rang wildly, while the thunderous crack of steam rifles echoed through the air.
But as time passed, the gunfire gradually became sparse.
It was painfully clear that Aragane Station's defenders could not hold back the Kabane's ferocious assault.
Within the ruins of the collapsed buildings smashed by the train, most people had already been crushed into pulp.
But there were still a few lucky ones who had somehow survived.
A woman and a child were pinned beneath the wreckage of a collapsed house. Fortunately, a fallen beam had formed a narrow pocket of space, leaving both of them unharmed.
The bad news was that they were completely trapped and unable to move.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"
Tears streamed down the young mother's face as she covered the mouth of the three-year-old baby in her arms, desperately trying to muffle the child's crying so it wouldn't attract the Kabane nearby.
But afraid the baby might suffocate, the mother eventually softened her grip.
And just like that, the child's cries reached the Kabane lurking nearby.
The Kabane's bloodthirsty gaze instantly locked onto the mother and child beneath the rubble. With an excited howl, it sprinted toward them.
Hearing the noise, the woman looked up—
Only to see the Kabane's hideous face rapidly enlarging before her eyes, its foul, rotting stench rushing straight toward her.
"Someone… please save us…"
The woman's face turned deathly pale. She hugged her child tightly to her chest, trembling as she closed her eyes and waited for death to arrive.
She knew very well that no one would come to save them at a time like this.
Those rifle-carrying samurai were hardly noble enough to risk their lives to save a worthless woman and an undeveloped child like them.
Bang!
A crisp gunshot suddenly rang out from nearby.
The heavy thud of something collapsing followed.
Yet the pain she had imagined never came.
"Was… was that a samurai from nearby?"
The woman instinctively opened her eyes.
The first thing she saw was the Kabane lying in a pool of blood, and her pupils shrank in shock.
Tap… tap… tap…
Footsteps sounded ahead.
Terrified, the woman turned toward the sound.
But the moment she saw who it was, she froze completely, her pupils trembling violently.
Illuminated by the flickering firelight, a girl who seemed utterly out of place in this world walked slowly forward with graceful steps.
Her waist-length pink hair flowed down her back like a waterfall. Her delicate features were so flawless that she resembled a goddess descended into the mortal world—pure and immaculate.
Above her head floated a halo that shimmered like a star, glowing softly pink.
Holy white wings stretched from her back, and she wore a pristine white ceremonial dress like a princess from a fairy tale.
In front of this girl, even the widely acknowledged first beauty of the Yomogawa family would appear dull by comparison.
The light of a grain of rice—how could it ever compete with the brilliance of the moon?
"Please…"
The woman tremblingly stretched out her right hand toward the unbelievable girl in front of her.
Hope reignited within the eyes that had already resigned themselves to despair.
Those fleeing for their lives would never come back to rescue them.
And the armed samurai would only prioritize protecting the powerful.
As disposable civilians in such an oppressive world, the only thing people like them could do was place their hopes in the vague and distant existence of gods.
"Purify the six senses."
It was a phrase often shouted to bolster courage.
The meaning behind those four words was that the six roots—eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind—had cut off their desires, reaching a state free of worry and suffering.
But how could ordinary people like them ever achieve such a state?
When driven into a corner, those unwilling to die would pray to those vague and distant gods.
And now—
It seemed that a god had answered her prayer.
"Please…"
The woman stared at the approaching girl, pleading desperately.
She wanted to keep living with her child.
But if only one of them could survive—
She would choose her child.
"Please save us…!"
After speaking, the woman shut her eyes tightly, afraid that everything she saw was merely a hallucination before death.
Misono Mika stopped walking.
Looking at the crying woman buried beneath the rubble and the baby in her arms, a gentle smile appeared on her face.
"Sure."
Those two simple words instantly shattered the gloom in the woman's heart.
She opened her eyes, hugging her child tightly as tears of joy flowed down her face.
"Thank you… thank you so much…!"
Mika paid little attention to the woman's gratitude.
To her, it was merely a casual act.
She stroked her smooth chin, glanced at the debris pinning the pair down, then placed her right hand on a supporting beam and slowly began to lift.
Crack… crack… crack…
The wooden boards groaned loudly as a gap large enough for an adult to crawl through appeared.
Once freed, the woman quickly crawled out through the opening while clutching her baby.
Seeing this, Mika casually tossed the overloaded pillar aside.
Thump.
The ground gave off a heavy, dull sound.
"Tell me—what's the name of this fortress?" Mika lightly dusted off her hands and asked the woman, who still hadn't recovered from the shock of being saved.
"Yes, Divine Lady! This place is Aragane Station. All the Hayajiro are built and produced here. It's managed by the head of the Yomogawa family."
The woman hurriedly replied, not daring to slack off even a little.
"Stop! Don't just put a hat on my head like that. There might be someone above my head…"
She waved her hands quickly.
"Anyway, don't call me Divine Lady. My name is Misono Mika!"
So she's the messenger of the gods…
The woman suddenly understood and immediately corrected herself.
"Yes, Lady Mika!"
"Mhm, mhm. That sounds much better."
Mika glanced at her with a look that clearly said 'you're teachable.'
That aside—
Since this place was Aragane Station, then it was basically confirmed.
This was the city where the male and female protagonists first met.
The starting point of the story.
Good. That meant she didn't have to figure out how to hijack a Hayajiro to go looking for Mumei and the others.
Time to start causing trouble.
"Now take me to the Iron Fortress. Just lead the way ahead—I'll be responsible for your safety," Mika said.
"Yes, Lady Mika!"
The woman didn't dare refuse and immediately agreed.