By Zephyria Leonardo, who had avoided the seat, wandered around the train and finally found a suitable space when he reached the tail car. Opening the door at the end of the last passage revealed an open view of the outside and a deck with railings. Along with the setting sun, thin railroad tracks disappeared between the steam and wind.
Perhaps because the air was gradually getting colder, there was fortunately no one outside. He took out a cigar that he didn’t usually smoke from the Artifact, lit the tan end, and pulled the mask down to his neck.
When he put the opposite end in his mouth, the plump cigar became thin as he inhaled and then slightly swelled again. He took off his hat and ruffled his bangs, restoring the volume of his hair that had been flattened. Leaning forward, he rested his arms on the railing and exhaled a long stream of smoke.
‘Of all places, to run into them here. I still need to be careful.’
Listening to the group, who were presumed to be knights of His Excellency, it seemed that the main castle, that is, the Duke’s family, was currently in a state of considerable tension. The cause was, without a doubt, himself. Of course, he had expected a commotion to break out, but it was quite strange that they had been waiting in armed readiness until now.
He had also left a letter to avoid misunderstandings, and he was worried that they might not have found it.
‘No, His Grace said it wasn’t a big deal. He must have read it.’
He hoped that his actions would not only make His Grace happy, but also not feel threatened. He was already tired from being caught up in the explosion. He didn’t want to trouble him any more than that.
The reason he left the gift inside the castle, even though he knew it would cause confusion, was to safely deliver the expensive contents. He was also worried that if he left it in a place where outsiders could see it, rumors would spread that the Duke’s family was distributing demon beasts.
In fact, it could have been resolved by contacting them in advance, but there was another reason for using such a troublesome method. It was also for a similar reason that he had repeatedly confirmed that the Magic Tool he had given him had been ringing for the past few months, but had never received it even once.
“Hoo….”
Leonardo’s mind was filled with thoughts as complicated as the smoke he exhaled. It was because he had watched all the scandals surrounding Duke Agrizendro in the past without missing a single one.
He had prepared in advance to prevent that person from being involved in the explosion, but as a result, he was not able to completely avoid the gossip. The trial overlapped with the case, which worked particularly unfavorably for him. In other words, unless he could control all the situations, his existence and future actions might make him difficult again. He might lose his judgment due to that fact and ruin the work that was intertwined with so many wishes.
That kiss was the only loophole he had left, even though he had never left any physical evidence. It was a childish impulse that could have endangered not only himself and the other person, but also his colleagues and partners, swept away by a moment of emotion. So, at least until the explosion was forgotten by the world, it was better to avoid contact. Whether it was His Grace the Duke, his knights, or everything that his eyes and hands reached.
However, he wanted to see the delivery of the gift itself as a separate matter. After all, it was His Grace’s birthday, so he couldn’t just let it pass coldly.
He couldn’t face him in the end because he was afraid of wavering, but he hoped that that person wouldn’t feel resentful of him. No, maybe it would be okay if he felt a little resentful. Anyway, that would mean he wanted to see him.
‘By the way… what are they investigating about the Imperial Army?’
It is a well-known fact that the Council and the Imperial Army have a bad relationship. In such a situation, secretly using subordinates to conduct a background investigation was no ordinary matter. If he had run into his knights while walking alone, he might have followed them and helped gather information, as he had done for him, but unfortunately, the compass that was leading him, a fledgling, had little time left.
It was too tight in many ways to take a detour for a while. In addition, the questions piled up in front of him were intertwined with smoke that did not know where to flow, and the volume was gradually increasing.
At that time, covered in thoughts, the door to the rear passage that had been closed creaked open. The footsteps transmitted through the floor were familiar. Signe’s voice, muttering sullenly, lingered in his ears.
“How far did you go….”
She hesitated as she poked her head out and trailed off.
“Oh, Theo?”
Leonardo straightened up from where he had been leaning. He let out a languid stream of smoke from the end of his lips and turned around.
The moment Signe faced the handsome man standing in the smoky mist, her eyes widened. Leonardo, who was holding the railing and hiding the cigar behind his back, frowned and asked her.
“Why did you follow me?”
It was an answer that convinced her that it was him. Nevertheless, Signe just blinked her eyelids blankly in that state.
As twilight fell, the atmosphere became even more intense. She scanned the man’s figure, which was covered in gold, and blurted out in a dazed tone.
“Is that… you?”
Signe closed the door and carefully stepped onto the deck. Leonardo waved his hand in the opposite direction as if telling her to go back.
“Go in. This is toxic.”
“No, is it really you? Why did you hide your face when you don’t have any scars?”
“That’s my business….”
“I thought you were covering it up because of a skin disease!”
Signe, who suddenly shouted, grabbed the railing next to Leonardo and brought her face close. Leonardo, who was momentarily flustered, grabbed the pillar that rose upward and pulled his body back.
“…What?”
“Don’t you know that it’s a crime to walk around with a face like yours covered up?”
As if she was upset that she had only now confirmed his face, which was so handsome that she was speechless, she stomped one foot on the deck. She stared intently at his face, as if she was going to dissect it, even though she couldn’t touch it. It was a compliment or a scolding that made the listener embarrassed.
“Where did they go?”
The knight who had moved to the next car to check on the two of them wandered around inside the train for a while. He was carrying a paper bag full of food to avoid looking suspicious. However, even after going back quite a few cars, he couldn’t see them.
There were only standing passengers in the middle passage connecting the car bodies, and there was no trace of smoking. In the first place, smoking in the inter-car passage has been publicly prohibited these days since the explosion. In that case, the only place to smoke would be the observation deck in the tail car.
The knight continued to open and close the doors, heading to the end of the train along the hallway. He also checked the seats from time to time, but it didn’t seem like they had moved their seats since they had asked him to watch their military gear.
By the time he reached almost the last car, the passenger seats that had been packed tightly earlier had disappeared without a trace. Instead, tools for cleaning the inside of the train, coal, and other miscellaneous items were scattered along with the steam. It was a very chaotic environment.
Of course, there were a few passengers who had taken their seats in such a space. It was unclear whether they had officially purchased tickets and boarded….
‘Could they have come all the way here? Maybe they went to the bathroom and I missed them.’
No matter how he thought about it, it didn’t seem like they would come to such a poor place just to smoke once. Not all trains have a smoking deck in the first place.
It seemed like it would be better to go back before the food got colder. Just as he was about to turn around with regret, he saw a sign that said ‘No Entry for Unauthorized Personnel’ in front of the door across the street.
Normally, people shouldn’t be interested, but it’s a place that can’t be left out in the investigation process.
After hesitating, he strode over, thinking that he would check there one last time. Unlike his steps, the hand that grabbed the doorknob was very careful.
Creak―
But as he opened it about halfway, he felt a strong force pushing the door from the opposite side. The knight reflexively pushed one foot into the gap in the door.
‘…!’
The door that was about to close caught on his foot with a thud, and a heavy pain rushed through his metatarsal bones. But he didn’t show it. In the meantime, there were three people in the inter-car passage that was visible beyond the door.
They were not the two he had been looking for, but unfamiliar faces. Their eyes were quite sharp. Two of them were leaning against the wall of the passage, looking at him who had opened the door, and the other was blocking him from entering with his body and strength while holding the doorknob.
‘…What is it?’
It was not a space that an individual could occupy, and their behavior was very overbearing from the first meeting. In the meantime, there was another door beyond the passage that was blocked with transparent glass at the top. That place must be the deck that connects to the outside.
But if they were blocking him, they should explain the reason, but the other person just stared at him as if conveying some kind of unspoken pressure.
The knight, with a puzzled expression, scanned the other person’s appearance up and down and asked.
“Ah, excuse me. Are you the manager?”
“……”
There was no answer. They were not dressed as engineers or crew members. If they were related, they wouldn’t have left the passengers outside the door in the first place.
The knight, who instinctively sensed a strange atmosphere, covered his lower face with the paper bag he was holding and continued to ask nonchalantly.
“Are you waiting in line?”
He gestured at the last door leading to the deck and pretended to exhale smoke. The man he faced turned his head halfway, then looked forward again and replied briefly.
“Yes.”
That was all. The knight grabbed the doorknob and held on with a relaxed look for a few seconds, then shrugged his shoulders as if he was disappointed.
“I’ll have to come back later. Good work.”
He replied simply and released the force he had been pushing with his shoulder. Then, as if he was being turned away, the rough iron door bounced off the knight’s body and closed tightly.
Thud―
Though the noise of steam and iron wheels made it impossible to eavesdrop on the inside, the bustling atmosphere within was conveyed clearly beyond the door. Before the blocked iron gate, the knight stared straight ahead with narrowed eyes. He had wondered what his senior meant when he said, ‘There seem to be complicated circumstances on that side as well,’ and now he thought this must be it.
For a while, the knight stood as if rooted to the spot, gauging the strength of the opponent he had considered an equal.
“…Huh.”
With a small sigh, he tilted his head slightly. Then, deliberately making noise with his footsteps, he turned back the way he had come.