Free 1931 The Grand Punk Railroad: Local by Ryohgo Narita

it’s fine, I’m completely fine. What about you two? Are you all right?”
    The boy nodded, smiling just the way he had earlier.
    The girl hid behind the boy, gazing timidly at Jacuzzi’s tattoo and Nice’s rough eye patch.
    “Ah-ha-ha. If you’re okay, everything’s fine. Is that girl your little sister?
Hhrk
…”
    His throat still hurt a little, but Jacuzzi forced a smile. Possibly because he’d noticed this, the boy apologized one more time—“I’m sorry”—and then answered Jacuzzi’s question.
    “Uh-uh, she isn’t. She’s my friend. I just met her; we’re in the same room!”
    The girl also nodded at his words, silently. Her eyes were still fixed on Jacuzzi’s tattoo. Apparently, to an ordinary kid, Jacuzzi looked a bit scary.
    Just then, a woman appeared behind the children.
    “Excuse me. I’m afraid my daughter’s been rude to you. I do beg your pardon.”
    She was probably around thirty years old. The clothes the lady wore were expensive without seeming pretentious. Her well-bred speech didn’t hold a shred of diffidence or contempt. It only soaked quietly into Jacuzzi and the others’ hearts.
    Calling her daughter’s name, the lady scolded her mildly:
    “Mary, you mustn’t look at others’ faces as if they frighten you.”
    “Th-that’s telling it like it is…”
    Because the words had been spoken in a voice like that, Jacuzzi couldn’t get mad or cry; all he could do was smile wryly.
    “Oh! I beg your pardon; how could I…”
    “Oh, no, I, uh, I’m the one who should apologize!”
    “Why?”
    Failing to hear Jon’s reasonable verbal jab, Jacuzzi once again plunged straight into crybaby mode.
    “Miria, they’re both apologizing. What happens in a case like this?”
    “A referee call!”
    “I see. So the result of the match depends on us!”
    “It’s a huge responsibility!”
    Isaac and Miria were also saying irresponsible things.
    Fed up with watching this, Nice changed the subject, intending to throw them a rope:
    “Are you traveling as a family?”
    Showing no fear of Nice’s eye patch, the lady answered; her expression was mild.
    “Yes, my daughter and I are on our way to meet my husband. We’re sharing a room with this boy, and we thought we’d go have dinner together, but all the seats seem to be taken.”
    At that point, a question suddenly struck Nice, and she asked it:
    “Is the little boy by himself?”
    “Yes, he’s—oh, good gracious. I haven’t asked his name yet.”
    Hearing this, the boy gave his name, a bit bashfully.
    “My name is Czeslaw Meyer—”
    Speaking that hard-to-pronounce name, the boy paused for a moment, then continued:
    “—Please call me Czes. I’m on my way to New York to see my family.”
    Next, the lady and the girl paid their respects as well.
    “I’m Natalie Beriam, and this is my daughter… Go on, Mary.”
    Prompted by her mother, the girl timidly stepped forward.
    “I’m Mary Beriam.”
    She kept glancing at Jacuzzi’s and Nice’s faces from time to time; they really did seem to bother her. She didn’t seem very interested in the Western gunman right beside them.
    After that, as the circumstances seemed to call for it, Jacuzzi, Isaac, and the rest also introduced themselves, and the perimeter of the banquet widened to include a bit more of the car.
    “Czes, you bumped into Jacuzzi’s back a little earlier, too, didn’t you?”
    Patting Czes’s head, Nice smiled cheerfully with her one eye.
    “Mister, I’m really sorry.”
    “No, really, it’s fine. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
    As he spoke with Czes, Jacuzzi gained quite a lot of mental leeway… Although it was pitiful that he couldn’t manage that sort of leeway with anyone who wasn’t a child.
    At that point, abruptly, Isaac and Miria spoke loudly:
    “That’s right. If you’d done something bad, the Rail Tracer would have eaten you already!”
    “Chomp! Just like that!”
    “—That’s how my old man used to threaten me, anyway.”
    “It