By Zephyria [ Have a happy trip! ]
Looking up at the phrase under the old signpost, which didn’t match the desolate atmosphere of the station, Leonardo narrowed his eyes.
It was difficult to find anyone in this place except for the two station employees in charge of ticket issuance and pass verification inside the station. The signs of the nearby stores were all turned off, and notices were sparsely posted saying that the rainy season would be coming soon and the stores would be vacant for several months.
It looked like a closed station that had been cut off for a long time. In such a place, a trip was such a contradictory word that it seemed reasonable for him to be caught at the checkpoint.
It was such a quiet place that even a small word echoed in the indoor hall that he passed through before going outside. Thanks to that, unlike the inside of the crowded train, he could immediately tell whether he was being followed or not.
‘Right, it’s hard to notice if they hide in the crowd and follow.’
Leonardo let out a silent sigh and roughly swept back his hair.
‘…Still, no matter what. Am I doing well these days? I’ve become so lax.’
It was because of the self-reproach for not recognizing the follower on the train. He was amused by his own appearance, which had clearly felt a presence but hadn’t been wary at all.
He should have been suspicious when he went out to smoke, but it seemed like his senses had become those of a chick because he was with a chick. Earlier, Signe had pretended to be a supervisor when she entered the supply store, and the incident that had been dismissed as a one-time happening had added to his complacency.
‘Which organization are they from? Military surveillance network? It’s not the Council. …No, it could be the Council. They might have narrowed the investigation network related to the explosion.’
However, according to the news in the newspaper he bought on the train, the Council had already completed the final briefing on the incident and concluded that it was an accident. The external announcement and the reality may be different, but from seeing the crown of the deputy director’s head bowing in apology in the photos several times, it didn’t seem like they would spread false articles even while enduring criticism and threats.
Therefore, it was not contextually correct that the follower was from the Council, and the act of the legion commander’s knight informing him of the existence of the follower was itself absurd. As subordinates of the legion commander, they had to be seen as sharing the same position as the Council. If they had approached him with some intention, they would not have deliberately leaked fragmentary information to give him an excuse to run away.
Leonardo, with his hands in his pockets, looked at the clock inside the station and organized his thoughts. Then, he suddenly turned his gaze to Signe, who was standing far away with a station employee.
She and the station employee seemed to know each other, exchanging military supplies and having a conversation. The way they patted each other’s shoulders and backs suggested they were quite close. It was already a sparsely populated area, and she often came with her family, so they might have become close in various ways.
“…It wouldn’t be her, would it?”
Leonardo carefully watched her face as she smiled pleasantly.
He repeatedly doubted whether the information the knights gave him about the ‘stalker’ was to test him, or whether Signe, who had been constantly by his side, was really a surveillance officer from the military. However, he concluded that both assumptions were false.
To assume Signe was a surveillance officer, the personal stories and interests she had shared were quite detailed, which could have sounded awkward if they were not true. If it was all a fabricated story, it would mean she had even bribed the station employee in front of him, and it didn’t seem like she would go to such lengths just to pretend to be a guide. Moreover, judging from her physique and the traces of life left in her gestures, she seemed more like a lively woman of her age who simply enjoyed eating, rather than a highly trained stalker.
‘Then… could it be someone else?’
Leonardo touched his lips and quickly came up with another possibility. In fact, the existence of a stalker was an inseparable element in his life since he left the military.
Everywhere he went, someone was eager to recruit, oppress, or possess him. So, it wasn’t surprising that there was someone following him. The problem was that he couldn’t figure out where today’s stalker had started following him.
There were bound to be gaps in his actions when he was active. Recently, he had been wandering around looking for a substitute for Etaid, and he had stirred up the snowy mountains to catch a Dragon as a gift for His Excellency. Moreover, since departing from Riverside, he had only worried about attracting attention, and he hadn’t paid attention to the people moving in the same direction.
In other words, if someone had been determined to follow him, it was possible anywhere. Fortunately, the tail that had been following him had fallen off with the train as he headed to the destination in the memo.
“Theo! I’ve left the luggage. Let’s go now.”
Just in time, Signe, who had left her military supplies, came out of the station office with a light step. Leonardo nodded slightly and greeted her as she approached.
After thinking deeply, there was nothing he could be sure of at the moment. Leonardo, after taking a deep breath, decided to focus on the situation at hand.
The two walked out of the station, which was brightly lit. The surroundings were much brighter than when they got off the train. In the meantime, the shape of the sun, which should have been in the sky, was hard to find.
Between Westforce and Central. A peaceful natural area with lakes, fields, and mountains. Bermuda Station, which he had only heard about, was a completely different world that could be mistaken for a quiet and beautiful place if he didn’t know it was called that. Even the piles of wood from old buildings that were no longer in use were covered with daisies and cosmos, as if they were part of the scenery.
It was like a land of rest and tranquility that had come after human civilization had passed. Perhaps that’s why it was filled with a unique sense of loneliness and nostalgia that came from a place that had endured alone for a long time.
The small signs he had occasionally seen while riding the train had markings like ‘Station No. 41, Waypoint 41′. He suddenly remembered the note Alec had left and asked Signe what ’41’ meant. She explained that it was a number taken from a stable that existed before the railroad was laid.
“Now there are means of transportation like trains and trams, but in the past, if you couldn’t use magic, you had no choice but to ride a horse. So, hundreds of years ago, there were stables all over the Midwest and Northwest where horses and riders could rest instead of train stations. This place was a gateway connecting Westforce and Central, and it was the 41st stable.”
Leonardo nodded as he listened to the explanation.
“So that’s why it’s 41st Street…”
He looked at the memo with the address of his destination again. No wonder he couldn’t find any clues even after visiting all the 41st Streets. It was clear that it wasn’t a simple address.
The hint Alec Siles left was a story that only those who had lived in Westforce for a very long time or elderly people would know. It might be an interesting topic for a guy like an archaeologist, but for him, who was far from history, it was as much of a mystery as the secrets of the peninsula.
“Then is the word ‘Romang’ related to this place too?”
He asked Signe, who was crossing the stone bridge over the stream ahead of him. She stopped in the middle of the fairly wide stream and looked back precariously.
“Hmm… I don’t know? In the first place, they don’t use the expression Romang around here, do they? They use it over there in the east. Like Belenor or Agrigento Territory.”
“…That’s true.”
Leonardo nodded in agreement and waved his hand as if telling her to hurry up. Signe’s legs were shaking, and it looked like she might fall into the water if she made a mistake. Of course, he was there, so that wouldn’t happen, but the path created by nature was full of moss and quite slippery.
Fortunately, Signe, who had been making people anxious, safely crossed the stream and climbed onto the hill covered with green grass. Leonardo also followed her up to the highlands. Then, the foggy area he had vaguely heard about on the train came into view.
“It’s over there.”
The ancient castle in the middle of nowhere. It was probably somewhere in that fog. Signe pointed to the whitish foothills and added.
“Compasses don’t work well on the way there. No matter how straight you go, the distance doesn’t get any shorter.”
Leonardo raised one eyebrow and asked back.
“Then how do you get there?”
“There’s a sign that only my sister and I know, and if you follow that, you can get there in about three hours, even if you go around a bit.”
“Three hours?”
It would be a short distance if he flew or used Teleport. He didn’t have the luxury of spending more time after spending several hours getting to the station. Despite Leonardo’s reluctant reaction, Signe continued to speak without concern.
“They say the sun used to shine well there too. But I heard that the innkeeper touched the treasure and it was suddenly covered in fog. Believe it or not.”
“Is that really a treasure? It sounds more like it’s cursed.”
“I don’t know.”
“…But, are you going too? It could be dangerous. I’ll go alone.”
Whether it was a soldier’s mission or something, Signe didn’t seem to have any intention of sending him alone from the beginning. Leonardo was embarrassed, but he had no choice but to accompany her for now. If he ran into Alec Siles in front of the ancient castle, he could just knock her out for a moment.
“Haa… Okay, let’s go for now.”
The two continued to cross the field. They walked diligently, using the lake not far away as a landmark.
As they entered the open view, he suddenly realized that the clouds embroidered above his head were not moving as if they were taxidermied. Leonardo occasionally looked back at the strange scenery and the sky.
Just like he had felt at the fortress of the 118th Peak, an unpleasant sense of déjà vu lingered around him. It couldn’t be, but it felt like he had been here once before.