887

Once on the train, Alan handed over his luggage to the conductor and carefully took his wife and children to the first-class box that a friend had booked for them.

There weren't many people in the carriage, it was very quiet, it seemed that each passenger had their own thing to do, and there weren't many people to talk to. Alan walked through the two carriages and found that there were less than fifty passengers in this car.

It seems that although the economy has rebounded slightly and social contradictions have eased, people are still reluctant to leave their long-term places of residence until they are completely stabilized...... Alan breathed a sigh of relief, now he didn't have to worry about the noise in the car waking his little son up.

The wife had already sat down, and the position was very spacious, and after Will fell asleep, he looked like the cute little angel in the house on weekdays.

After sitting down, Alan bought a newspaper from the newsboy outside the window as usual, and began to read it leisurely.

Woo!

Soon, the whistle sounded, the steam train clattered and raced, and the scenery outside the window sped by scene after scene.

Alan and Velma whispered about the seaside city and the delicious flavors of grilled fish, looking forward to the next few days of leisurely holiday life in Diece Bay.

……

Leonard rested in the cabin for a few hours, then stepped out of the room once more, stepped onto the deck, and casually watched the riverbank from the side of the boat.

"It's colder here than Rune."

Leonard put his hands to his lips and exhaled to himself, seeing the white vapor blown away by the wind.

He changed his clothes as he could, and instead of wearing his own formal suit, he exchanged the gold pounds in his hand for some Intis currency in the city to buy new clothes and belongings.

He changed into a shirt and coat that was more common in Intis, but rather fancy to the Runeans. The bits and pieces of gold accessories on his coat and the clanging sound of walking are a very novel experience for Leonard, who often needs to move quietly.

The emblem and the red gloves that the senior deacon of the Night Church owned were neatly folded by him along with other bits and pieces and placed in the small suitcase he had just bought. In Leonard's view, these two things are the most valuable things in it.

Now, he looked like a young man on a journey, and his green eyes always made ripples ripple in the hearts of a lady or gentleman when they inadvertently met them.

In order to move more comfortably and quickly, he chose to board a steam-powered passenger liner heading north along the Serenzo River. The Cerenzo River intersects the Trier and Lane rivers, and he may consider staying in Trier for a while to meet his companions at the Tarot Guild before continuing north.

Now he has nothing to do, as if he is spending a long-lost vacation in a foreign country.

It was cold on the river, there were almost no passengers on the deck to blow the air, and breakfast in the dining room was almost a few minutes away, Leonard straightened his collar and looked at the relatively brand new houses on both sides of the riverbank, and the buildings in the distance that seemed to have undergone some great impact and showed many signs of collapse, but he was not interested in the scenery of Intis, and his favorite thing about the whole boat was the soft bed in his first class.

You don't have to sleep, but it's very comfortable to lie down on.

"Klein is now in Fursac ......"

With no one around, Leonard whispered to himself, "What is he doing in Vrsack?" ”

Parles didn't speak, and after a few seconds, Leonard said again, "By the way, old man, is the place we are going to be a secret puppet town?" It's like the 'Night Country' you said, the kind that doesn't have a single living person in it? ”

"I asked Klein at the tarot meeting when I could give him the cards, and he said I'd go to Fursack to find him too."

"What the hell is a small town, old man, do you know?"

Parles snorted: "Don't ask me everything, you can't think about these things yourself?" Take 10,000 steps back, that's your former colleague, not mine, you can't ask directly if you have something to say...... Him? ”

"I did forget to ask him about the means of contact - but this, I can pray to Mr. 'Fool'." Leonard muttered, and was about to say something more, when he saw the doors of the other cabins open one after another, and some passengers walked out and began to make their way to the dining room.

Time for breakfast? Leonard heard the bell ringing, and as a foreigner, he had great expectations for such a high-class domestic ship. He stopped arguing with Parles for a moment, and followed the passengers quickly in the direction of the restaurant.

Leonard didn't ask, and Pales was too happy not to speak.

He just couldn't figure out these things about the "fool", and Paris was very glad that he didn't tell Leonard the information that "the secret puppet city is the ritual of the 'soothsayer' sequence one", otherwise the two of them would definitely be at a loss now.

Pales was really stunned by the all-too-obvious promotion ceremony of the "Secret Attendant", which completely overturned his own confident speculation that "the 'Secret Attendant' who has been hidden all this time on the Source Fort now." Obviously, if the other party is already a mystical attendant, it would be idle to re-prepare the ritual in this situation, and he should focus on accommodating the uniqueness and gathering the other Sequence One as soon as possible.

The "Secret Puppet Town" obviously belongs to the "Fools", and it belongs to this camp no matter what, but why did that former colleague of Leonard prepare the ritual of Sequence One while the "Fools" existed?

It couldn't be Zarathu anyway, and that guy might still be secretly calculating the time of resurrection right now. And there's no way Antigonus would want to visit the Puppet Town again - this is obviously not a rebuilding of the Night Country. So now there is actually only one answer, that is-the "Fool" is indeed Klein Moretti, and this is the promotion ceremony for the other party to become the first of the sequences - but judging from Leonard's description of the other party's power and personality, and his every "decryption", the identity of the "Fool" is clearly ......

Parles stopped thinking.

His spiritual instincts didn't warn him, but he still felt that it would not lead him to continue thinking about it, so he stopped thinking about it and stole the smell of a piece of grilled fish that Leonard had just tasted.

It's quite fragrant, but there's a little too much sugar...... Parles thought to himself, and instructed Leonard to try something else.

……

"What's wrong with you, Audrey?"

Irena once again invited Audrey to have afternoon tea in her restaurant, and when she saw the other party's somewhat unsightly face, she couldn't help but ask: "You seem to have something on your mind but you don't share it with me, is Miss Rune always so subtle?" ”

As she spoke, she poured Audrey a cup of hot tea and pushed an envelope with the emblem of the Church of the Creator on it:

"This is for you."

"There will be a big man in your psychic who wants to see you, and I hope you can visit him when you have time, just go to the garden behind the cathedral. You happened to be taking a nap at the time, and He said you should know who He is, and I took it for you. ”

Audrey had already guessed who it was, she was silent for a moment, took a sip from her teacup, and asked casually:

"Did this gentleman just leave?"

"It turned out to be a gentleman."

Irena laughed, with a languid gesture: "I don't remember what he looked like or how old he was, and I don't remember if he was a man or a woman. So I know this must be the top of the Psychological Alchemy Society, and you have an ability called 'Psychological Invisibility'. ”

"He came twenty minutes ago, and since He doesn't want me to know who He is, I won't ask you."

Twenty minutes ago...... Hermes's sudden visit made Audrey once again aware of the delicate relationship between the two gods, which made her feel a little complicated. She suspected that the other party had already found out about her trip to the "Tarot Society", no, Audrey felt that Hermes should have discovered that he had a connection with the god "Fool", which should be one of the reasons why he found him. It seems that the other party has now clearly expressed his curiosity about the "Tarot Society" and the "Fool", and wants to find out the news.

It's useless to keep secrets and lie to an audience stronger than herself, and Audrey intends to tell the truth directly, and say as much good things as she can to Mr. "Fool" - it is all her own heartfelt feelings, anyway.

"I ...... Come back in the evening. Audrey said.

She accepted the letter and left it unopened. After speaking, Audrey looked at Irena opposite, she only saw frankness and sincerity from this lady who was not much older than herself, she knew that the other party also saw the world very thoroughly, and saw the promises of the gods and heaven clearly, but because she was clear and knew her abilities, Irena never showed distress.

"I told you before that I have an elder."

Audrey took a sip of tea and said with a wry smile:

"Hmm...... I told him about my troubles and what I was thinking about lately, and he tactfully supported my idea, but also said that since I had decided to join the Church of God with all my heart, I would not have to associate with him again. ”

Irena had just picked up a piece of brownie, and was stunned for a moment when she heard this, and then said thoughtfully:

"That elder of yours is a believer in the God of Thunder?"

"No, I don't know his beliefs." Audrey blurred the question, and thought bitterly, "I'm sad, but not unduly sad or angry because of it." Although he did not want me to convert, he supported my choice and did not express any other resentment or hostility towards my actions, which further deepened my respect for him and the regret in my heart. ”

"I'm sorry too." Irena said, "It sounds like he's a gentleman and a reasonable man, but he's really not a believer in Thunder. ”

"Not all of the followers of the God of Thunder are rude." Audrey said euphemistically.

Irena smiled, "Don't talk about that, after all, I haven't been to Rune a few times." After speaking, she took out a folder from her side and handed it to Audrey: "This is the assignment and dispatch plan given to you by the church, which includes hospitals, schools, and official charities, including Trier's and other cities, as a demigod, you have the freedom to choose, after all, you are an archbishop." Although it is good in Trier, many other cities are still being rebuilt, and it is also a good opportunity to build up your network. ”

Audrey understood what Irena meant, she took the folder, looked at the thick pile of more than ten pages inside, and thought that these jobs could be chosen even by the diocese itself, and once again felt the importance of power.

"I'll get back to you as soon as I can." She felt a little better.

……

A few hours later, Alan looked out the window with some apprehension.

Because of the heavy clouds piled up above his head and in the sky in the distance, a storm was inevitable.

This means that the steam train will stop at a station in advance, wait until the storm is over, or even the next morning, and continue the journey instead of arriving at the scheduled place.

"Are we in Desey County?" He called the conductor to ask hopelessly, and sure enough, he received a negative answer.

However, there is no way for him to stop it, he can't change the weather like the "God of Thunder".

The only thing he could do was pray, to God.

The child had already woken up as the car was moving forward, and he was as well-behaved as usual, sitting quietly in his mother's arms, and did not cry as much as he did in the morning. This led both Alan and his wife to believe that the morning anomaly was only because the child didn't want to leave the familiar environment.

Will's eyes were also looking out the window, and the dice grasped by his fingers hidden in swaddling clothes were pointing up at "six o'clock".

Sure enough, it didn't take long for the first drop of rain to appear on the window, and the rain was pulled out by the high-speed train for a long time, and then a thunderbolt flashed in the sky, and the torrential rain suddenly poured down.

"I'm afraid we're going to have to spend one night in another city now." Alan shrugged his shoulders and said with a smile, "There is still a chance to experience other cityscapes in four days, but it is also earned." ”

Some passengers on the train began to complain to the conductor, and others began to write letters or ask if there was a telegraph on board. Their bookings and events were delayed, but for Alan and Velma, the surprise was a bit of a surprise, but it could also be used as a small episode in the middle of the trip.

As it turned out, prayer didn't do much of the time, and when it got darker, the platform ahead was signaled by lights to slow down the train and stop in place.

Woo!

The whistle sounded again, and the train slowed down and finally stopped in a platform that everyone felt a little unfamiliar.

In the next second, near the front of the steam-spewing locomotive, the mechanical door opened, the conductor stood at the entrance, and the torrential rain blocked the road ahead, so he had to shout to the staff on the platform from the air:

"What's going on up front?"

"Heavy rain, I can't see anything!" The site staff member, whose sideburns had turned a little gray, replied in a loud voice.

As soon as he finished speaking, a muffled thunder sounded in the sky, which shook everyone and made everyone tremble.

"Damn it!" The conductor cursed, "Which station is this?" ”

Because it was an irregular stop, he didn't know which station it was at the moment, after all, the train he was responsible for didn't stop at every stop along the way in the past.

"Thorn City, South Walshire! A small station! Now you can arrange it yourself! The staff shouted a few times and ran to the other end of the platform with a glass lantern, "I have to signal the train behind!" ”

The conductor did not have the slightest doubt about the attitude of the staff, because this was a normal scheduling process, otherwise there would be a rear-end collision between the two steam trains.

He could even conclude that the other staff at this station were already sending telegrams to other stations to warn them.

Of course, they must have received the telegram only to know that the area ahead had been covered by heavy rain.

"We're in South Wales."

Alan didn't find any useful information in his head, but there were too many small stations and cities he didn't know, and he was in a good mood: "Velma, I like South Wales beers very much, now I can come and try the local wine, maybe I can bring them some specialties back." ”

Of course, he didn't care too much, because there were many unknown steam train stations in the entire Rune Kingdom, which was a reflection of the comprehensive strength of a country.

The conductor looked at the dark sky, muttered a few words, and then said to the passengers with the latest loudspeaker:

"The storm is approaching and the train will stop at Thorn Station until eight o'clock tomorrow morning."

He expects the storm to continue into tonight.

"You can stay in the carriage, or you can leave on your own, go to the city, look for a hotel, and tomorrow you only need to provide the ticket stub to get back on the train, remember to be on time." The conductor gave two options.

Alan did not hesitate, they had children with them and had to find a hotel to rest. So he picked up his suitcase and helped his wife out of the train.

After the Krees entered Thorn Station, they saw a train stopping across the track they were on. The vehicle must have also been stopped in advance by heavy rainstorm, the lights inside have all been turned off, and it seems that all the passengers have gotten off the train and left, and only a person dressed as a conductor is resting on the bench at the station.

As soon as he arrived in an unfamiliar city, Alan was about to ask the conductor for news, so he stepped forward.

"Good evening, sir." Alan took the initiative to greet the other party, and the conductor turned his head, his facial features were three-dimensional, his shoulders were broad, and he didn't look like a Rune. Alan didn't think much about it, and asked directly, "Excuse me, are you the conductor of that car?" ”

The other man snorted, and then said in a lingua franca with an accent:

"It's my first time here, and if you want to ask me if I have any recommendations for accommodation and restaurants, I can't answer you."

"Oh." Alan had to retract the idea of continuing to inquire, and he asked instead, "We're on vacation to Didey Bay, where is your car going?" ”

"Minorsk Mountains." The conductor looked at the family of three, and said angrily, "Because it is on the border between the two countries, it is very like the Fursak Empire, and it is a small resort city at the foot of the snow-capped mountains." ”

"Sounds good." Although Alan was not interested in the customs of the Fursack Empire, he still politely said, "If I have the opportunity in the future, I would also like to go to such a city, I heard that the bacon and spirits of Fursack are very good......

After he said this, he suddenly heard the sobbing of his own child.

The sobs quickly expanded, and Alan and Velma had to leave the station as fast as they could.

TBC

——————

I just came back from going out for something. (End of chapter)