Emilia and Ford bought tickets for the magic train and boarded the earliest morning departure.
As she sat down, she reflected on her past life’s memories.
The level of civilization in this world seemed comparable to the late 19th to early 20th century—somewhere between the Meiji and Taisho eras of Japan.
The major cities of each country were connected by railways and ships, and urban areas even had plumbing systems.
…Although everything was powered by magic.
As she thought about it, she searched for their designated seats.
Perhaps because it was a weekday morning, the train was emptier than she had expected.
(Hmm… maybe we could’ve taken the non-reserved seats.)
That said, this was her first time riding a train in this world.
In her past life, she had only ever taken trains during peak seasons, so she had developed a habit of always booking a reserved seat.
(Oh well, it’s fine.)
As soon as they settled into their seats, Ford’s face lit up with excitement, and he spoke in a delighted whisper.
“This is my first time riding a train…!”
“Ah, that’s right… You rarely ever left the estate, after all.”
“Yeah! So this thing is gonna go ‘clank clank’ and start moving, right? That’s amazing…!”
Now that she thought about it, Emilia hadn’t traveled much since Ford was born.
Or rather, her ex-husband never allowed her or Ford to go on trips.
Even though he had no problem traveling with his mistresses…
Before Emilia could get lost in bitter thoughts, she shook them away.
Ford had been so well-behaved on the journey so far.
It was almost as if he could see straight through to the depths of her heart.
If she let her mind wander to unnecessary thoughts, it would only dampen the mood of their trip.
Just then, the train’s whistle sounded.
Ford leaned eagerly toward the window, his eyes full of wonder.
Smiling at his excitement, Emilia watched as the train slowly began to move.
At first, it started at a crawl, then gradually picked up speed.
She was finally leaving the city where she had spent four and a half years, where she had married, given birth, and raised her child.
Beyond the brick-built cityscape, the vast open fields stretched as far as the eye could see.
Now that she was in this situation, the blue sky seemed more vivid than ever before.
“Wow… it’s really fast!”
“It is. Are you feeling okay? No motion sickness?”
“Hmm… Nope! I feel great! This is amazing… hmm!”
Ford loved reading, and when he was engrossed in a book, he would only give absentminded responses.
Right now, he was reacting the same way—something very rare for him outside of books.
“Ford, do you like trains?”
“Yeah, I love them! I want to build one someday!”
“Hehe, I bet you could, Ford.”
“Really?! But… where do they make trains?”
“In the country we’re headed to—the Kingdom of Iselnare.”
“Wow! Really?! That means there must be tons of trains there!”
The Kingdom of Iselnare was known for its Runic Magic,
a technique that inscribed magical power into various materials, granting them supernatural abilities.
This magic train they were currently riding was also a product of Runic Magic.
In contrast, their homeland, the Kingdom of Wallis, was a country that specialized in Spirit Magic.
Spirit Magic relied on harmonizing with the natural flow of magical energy to influence spirits and magical creatures.
It never involved engraving magic into objects.
(If magic is inscribed into objects, does it require a lot of magical power…?)
From what Emilia recalled, the amount of magic power didn’t matter much in Runic Magic.
Rather, dexterity and concentration were the most crucial factors—
she had read that in a book before.
(If that’s the case, Ford might be well-suited for it…)
Among the nobles of Wallis, Ford’s magic power was considered low.
Emilia firmly believed that Spirit Magic was more about training than raw power.
However, most nobles valued magical power in absolute terms.
Because of that, in Wallis, Ford was…
“Emergency braking in progress!”
“Huh?!”
Just as Ford turned his head toward the train’s announcement, a violent jolt surged through the carriage.
Without thinking, Emilia pulled Ford into her arms.
“Whoa!”
“Ford…! Are you okay?”
“…Yeah. That scared me, though…”
Ford exhaled in relief as he clung to Emilia’s chest.
She, too, was caught off guard by the sudden stop.
“Could it be an accident…?”
This magic train ran on a straight track, and there weren’t many crossings.
Encountering something like this was just bad luck.
A moment later, the train’s announcement resumed.
“We apologize for the inconvenience. A spirit has appeared on the tracks.
Until the local knight order relocates the spirit, this train will remain stopped.”
Ford let out a disappointed sigh.
“Ah… so we’re stuck here?”
“Looks like it. We’ll have to wait a while.”
Spirits were pure magical entities.
Since the knight order was already handling it, there was no choice but to wait.
However, Ford fidgeted in his seat and gazed up at his mother.
“But Mom, can’t you do something about it?”
“…Well, I suppose I could…”
When was the last time she had spoken to a spirit?
She wasn’t confident, but if they were going to be stranded here anyway,
it was worth a try.
The front of the train wasn’t far from their designated seat.
They weren’t in a rush, but just sitting idly and waiting seemed like a waste.
“Should we go take a look?”
“Yeah! I love watching you use Spirit Magic, Mom!”
Hearing that her son loved something she was good at made Emilia happy.
Looking around, she noticed that many other passengers were also heading toward the front of the train, likely out of curiosity.
So, Emilia decided to take Ford along and check it out as well.
She had no idea that this moment would change their fate forever.