Night, Tingen City Train Station
The vast platform lay empty, lit only by tall gas lamps that burned against the darkness. Their glow attracted swarms of insects, fluttering endlessly in circles.
Galad and Seeka followed Dunn onto the platform. They peered down the tracks light revealed only the rails, sleepers, and gravel beneath, while further ahead, everything was swallowed by blackness, as though the tracks extended into another world.
"Strange... why is it so empty? No passengers?"
The thought flashed through Galad's mind. As a transmigrator, he quickly reasoned it out.
There were no electric headlights in this world yet, only steam locomotives. And steam trains almost never operated at night.
Which meant this train had been specially arranged.
Of course. A High-Ranking Cleric isn't ordinary. With only nine in the entire Church, it's natural they'd have privileges others couldn't dream of.
Dunn had already told them who was coming: Creste Cesima, titled The Sword of the Goddess.
Though officially a Sequence 5, he wielded a Holy Artifact. That recognition elevated his strength, allowing him to fight on par with a newly promoted Sequence 4.
A Sequence 4, huh? Galad's thoughts wavered. Just how terrifying would a Sequence 4 of the Secret Prayer Pathway be...?
He immediately shook his head, snapping himself out of it. No. Don't even think about it. I'm just a humble Sequence 9 I'd like to keep my sanity, thank you very much.
The train's whistle pierced the night without warning.
In the silence of a heartbeat ago, the sudden roar of steel wheels struck like thunder. It was as though the locomotive had leapt across distance itself, appearing before them in an instant.
"They're here."
Dunn's voice grounded them.
With a heavy rumble, the steam train pulled into the station. White vapor gushed from beneath the carriage and the iron chimney, lit orange by the lamps. For a moment, it resembled some vast beast exhaling into the night.
The brakes hissed. The train halted. Behind the locomotive only a single carriage.
Through the drifting steam, a figure emerged.
The first thing Galad noticed were the man's hands.
On this summer night, he wore bright red gloves.
In one hand, he carried a silver-white metal briefcase, long and narrow like a violin case.
But it was no ordinary box.
Even with just a glance, Galad felt an oppressive calm radiating from it. That presence pressed on his spirit, as if a shadow veiled its true nature.
If I dared to open Spirit Vision... I might pierce the mist...
Swish..
The briefcase shifted slightly. Its owner adjusted his grip.
Galad's chest tightened. He tore his gaze away, forcing himself not to look again.
The man's eyes flicked over him once light, cold, unfathomable then moved on.
He looked to be in his thirties. Golden-brown hair plastered neatly to his scalp. Dark green eyes, calm and deep. His high collar concealed his mouth and jaw, leaving his face half-buried in shadow.
"Welcome to Tingen, Your Excellency Cesima."
Dunn bowed deeply.
"Good evening, Captain Dunn." Cesima's voice was low and steady. "There is no Red Moon tonight... but the Goddess's stars still adorn the sky."
The two men exchanged faint smiles.
"Your Excellency," Dunn asked, "why take a train when you could have traveled by faster means?"
"If I were alone, I would have," Cesima replied mildly. "But this time, I've brought a guest."
Even as his words fell, another figure stepped from the steam.
A woman, robed in black. Blue eye-shadow traced her brows, silver chains and crystals gleamed at her chest and wrists. Enchanting, poised, her presence lingered like perfume.
"Ms. Daly," Seeka whispered beside him, clearly familiar.
Dunn's brows knit. "Why are you here?"
"Why not?" Daly's smile was charming as she greeted Seeka. But the moment Dunn spoke, her smile vanished. Her gaze turned sharp, her tone cold.
"Mr. Dunn Smith... Old Neil has been my teammate for many years. He's in trouble and you didn't even tell me?"
"What?!" Seeka's voice rose. "Old Neil... is in trouble?"
She turned, eyes searching Dunn's face.
For the first time that night, helplessness flickered across Dunn's features.
By the time Seeka finally learned the truth, they were already inside a carriage, wheels rattling toward Old Neil's residence.
"Captain..." Seeka tried to keep her composure, though her voice trembled. "Old Neil may be stingy, and he jokes too much, but he's cautious. Restrained. Kind. Couldn't there be some mistake?"
Dunn was silent for a moment, then spoke heavily.
"I've already tested him with a Sealed Artifact. There are... traces of corruption. Signs of an evil god's touch."
The words fell like a hammer.
Seeka's lips parted, but no words came.
She turned instinctively to Galad, eyes begging him to speak to deny it, to say it was false.
Across from her, Daly pressed her lips together. For the first time, sorrow weighed her expression.
"Seeka... You know Dunn. He never slanders without reason. Whatever's happening to Old Neil... it has already exceeded the ordinary. All we can do now... is pray. Pray he hasn't sunk too deep. Pray he can still leave with a soul clean enough to reach the Goddess's kingdom."
Galad learned much in that silence. Daly had once been a Nighthawk in Tingen herself. Her talent propelled her forward quickly; she was already Sequence 7, and had since been transferred to Enmat Harbor. Yet she often returned to assist with cases.
Across from him, Cesima sat motionless, gaze turned to the passing night beyond the window. He hadn't spoken a word since boarding, as if this matter were beneath his concern.
"But... does that mean we can only stand by... and let Old Neil be purified?"
Seeka's voice cracked with unwillingness.
The carriage sank into silence. Neither Dunn nor Daly answered.
Who among them truly wished to draw their weapons on a comrade?
"Perhaps..."
Galad finally broke the suffocating quiet.
"Perhaps Old Neil can still be saved."
Everyone froze.
Their gazes snapped to him.
Even Cesima, who had ignored everything until now, turned his head. His eyes, calm and fathomless, settled on Galad as if they could strip away every mask and pierce straight into his soul.