By Zephyria The inside of the waiting room was well-lit, but strangely enough, the temperature was about 3 degrees lower than outside. As the name Riverside suggested, water trickled down an artificial waterway reminiscent of a stream on one side. That seemed to be contributing to lowering the indoor temperature.
The soldier added that people often rested at the train station to avoid the hot weather. It was said to be a train station that guarded the center of the town, but the crowd was considerable, so the noisy atmosphere was understandable as it also served as a resting place. Leonardo nodded as he scanned the inside of the station.
The two of them immediately moved to the ticket window, which was located next to the checkpoint.
When traveling from a small town like Riverside to another town, a pass and identification are not required. However, the destination, the Station of Beginning and End, was located on the edge of Westforce, so the process was a bit more complicated.
After receiving a pass and ticket in advance, they had to go through an identification check when passing through the Gate before going to the boarding gate, just like before. Soldiers who usually wore uniforms had their affiliation as their ID, so the procedure was relatively simple. However, it was different for outsiders who covered their faces. Due to the increased anxiety in places with a large floating population due to the explosion a few months ago, those without official identification were subjected to several times more thorough inspection.
Because of this, Leonardo, who had been held at the checkpoint for quite some time, was able to enter the platform area after about 15 minutes.
The soldier, who had been waiting for him, handed him a water bottle she had been drinking from and asked him with a tired face.
“Why did it take so long? Did they find a bomb in your luggage?”
It was a joke, but Gold Eyes turned eerie for a moment. He snorted and shook his head to decline, answering.
“What are you talking about? It’s because of this.”
When he took his hand out of his pocket, a faint light emanated from his wrist with the gold bracelet on it. It was an item he had received from the shop owner in exchange for selling his heart at a low price.
It looked like an old relic at first glance, so they had persistently asked about the identity and origin of the gold bracelet at the checkpoint. Usually, they would have just let it go, but the ID presented at the screening desk was an old-fashioned ID, so there was a possibility of forgery, which seemed to be the reason for it.
Leonardo, who had decided that it would be better to hide his identity and whereabouts at least while he was in Westforce, presented the immigration officer with a pass that stated his purpose of travel and a fake ID. But whether there was really nothing at the Station of Beginning and End, the ID passed, but the phrase ‘purpose of travel’ was suspicious.
The immigration officers kept questioning him, asking what he was going to do in that desolate station.
According to the shop owner, there was an inn, so he thought there would be quite a few people coming and going, but it seemed to be the opposite.
After a moment of panic, Leonardo mixed half-truths and half-lies, saying that he had someone he had promised to meet there. He also said that the gold bracelet was just something he had been wearing for a long time, and he shoved his hand in, and luckily it fit.
“Didn’t you buy this from the old man’s store? Is there a problem?”
“They kept asking me where I got it.”
Leonardo answered simply and stared at the engraving on the bracelet.
“Hmm… it seems like the security check has been strengthened compared to before. But are you going to keep wearing that bracelet?”
“Probably. Why?”
“I thought it would be better to put it somewhere. Pickpockets are common on the train. Of course, I’m here, so they wouldn’t dare approach you.”
The greenhorn put her hands on her waist and said that, but it made her less trustworthy. Leonardo took her words to heart and took the bracelet off his wrist. Then, he put all the valuables into a small bag that crossed his upper body. Normally, he would have put it in an Artifact to prevent loss, but there was something special about this bracelet.
‘Why doesn’t it go into the Artifact?’
When he had just come out of the store, and before entering the checkpoint. He had tried to put the bracelet in the Artifact several times, but it kept being pushed out of the distorted space. He had heard that there were occasionally things like this, but he was very embarrassed when he actually experienced it.
It was as if the bracelet was refusing to enter the Subspace. Or maybe the Artifact was rejecting the bracelet.
He had brought it because it was the most attractive item among the things the shop owner was selling, but he was still uneasy that it might be cursed.
Anyway, Leonardo, who had roughly organized his luggage, checked the huge clock hanging in the center of the rows of boarding gates.
“What time does it leave?”
“It’s already passed, but the trains here are often late. It’ll probably be here soon.”
Just in time, the train’s horn sounded from far away. The sound collided with the semi-circular ceiling, attracting the attention of the people in the station.
“Here it comes.”
The black, heavy lead car of the train scattered cloudy steam and approached the station along the railroad tracks. The outline of the iron horse gradually became clearer as it crossed the shimmering heat. The heavy iron wheels that had been turning regularly gradually slowed down, and the car body jerked with occasional sharp friction sounds.
As the train slid into the station, traces of soot and oil stains flickered everywhere. He heard that they were taking passengers on a train that had been modified from one used to transport supplies during the war, so that must be true. It was so old that he couldn’t even guess its age.
The wind that shook his hair, the smell of heated iron, and coal brushed past his nose. Leonardo suddenly recalled the scene in front of the Gate where he had said goodbye to Your Excellency for the last time in the midst of the fluttering black steam.
It was an unforgettable moment for him in many ways. On the other hand, he fell into a cheesy reverie, wondering if that person would think of him while looking at the steamboat.
The people sitting in the waiting room all turned their heads, checked their tickets, and slowly moved. Leonardo and the greenhorn with the military gear also slowly walked to boarding gate number 7, which was written on their tickets.
A little later, the red light flashed and the iron wheels came to a complete stop. Smoke announcing the stop was emitted from the chimney of the lead car.
It was a ticket he had bought in a hurry, but since it was a train that traveled such a long distance, he was lucky enough to find an empty seat in third class. Third class was far from private, but there was enough space to sit facing each other and chat with his companions.
The seats were close together, but it was a relief that there was a seat, as they had to go for about 5 more hours.
There was enough space between the facing single chairs to lower the table attached to the wall. And currently, all kinds of food sold on the train were spread out on the table in front of Leonardo.
“…Is it good?”
Leonardo, who had bought a newspaper that he didn’t usually read and was covering his face, asked the other person, who was sweeping the food like an out-of-control Portal, in a sullen tone.
A soldier, mouth full of croquette, nodded with shining eyes. Anyone would think she hadn’t eaten in days. Leonardo chided her to eat slowly, but still pushed the sandwich he had saved for himself towards her.
The soldier, looking puzzled, mumbled as she asked,
“Aren’t you eating?”
“I’m not hungry.”
But, at a bad time, a foghorn sound echoed from Leonardo’s stomach. It wasn’t loud, but it was a signal loud enough for the person sitting across from him to clearly hear.
A brief, awkward silence flowed, and the soldier laughed first, cutting half of the croquette she was eating and offering it to him.
“Eat some.”
“I told you I’m not hungry?”
“Eat it before you get even hungrier. You bought it with your money, didn’t you?”
The woman smiled playfully and urged him again. Leonardo, who had been arguing meaninglessly, hesitated for a long time before taking the offered croquette. He glanced around for no reason, then slightly lowered his mask and shoved it into his mouth. As if nothing had happened, his face was quickly covered again by the mask and newspaper.
The soldier, who hadn’t properly seen his face, took a sip of water with regret and casually asked,
“Isn’t it stuffy? It must be hot if you keep doing that.”
“I don’t get hot easily. Unless I’m near lava.”
“What is that, you have pride in weird things…. By the way, I still don’t know your name. What’s your name?”
“…….”
“I’m Signe. You can call me Sig.”
“…Le, no. Terzio. Call me Theo.”
“Theo, that’s a nice name.”
The woman, who introduced herself as Signe, continued to ramble on about personal matters. Her main interests were related to the military, and she talked about her desired position, and worries about whether she would be good at it.
It was a kind of prejudice, but people from Westforce were said to be more relaxed and sociable than those from Central, and it seemed to be quite true. Thanks to that, Leonardo, who had been keeping a slight distance, began to confide in her about the questions he had been harboring since the store.
“What exactly is the Station of Beginning and End? When I said I was going there for a trip, the checkpoint guards looked at me with suspicion.”
“Going there for a trip? No wonder it took so long. Of course, they’d look at you strangely.”
Signe chuckled and replied as if dumbfounded. Nevertheless, she carefully explained the origin of the station’s name, Beginning and End.
“It’s a station located exactly in the middle of Central and Westforce, and it’s most often used to mean the beginning and end of Westforce. The railway continues to the next station, but after passing through the tunnel, it geographically belongs to Central.”
“If it’s close to Central, wouldn’t it be normal to go there for a trip?”
“Hmm… it’s ambiguous to say it’s close, because the distance to the next station is quite far. Maybe the atmosphere isn’t as similar as you think. Central generally has developed urban areas except near the mountains. But it’s not like that there. And this is just a rumor, but… a long time ago, there was a plague, and they threw a lot of dying people and the bodies of criminals there. The surprising thing is that if you go there a few days later, the bodies always disappear without a trace.”
“…The bodies disappear?”
“Yeah. But actually, there’s also a story that those bodies weren’t dead, but they were pretending to be dead because they could escape oppression if they just went there. You know, there are a lot of criminal dens in the Empire that are difficult to deal with. Slums like Barmot or Libertas. They deliberately get abandoned in places where the state’s control doesn’t reach, then run away, abandon their identities, and live new lives.”
Signe explained that some people say the name Beginning and End was given because it connects the end and beginning of a person’s life.
Leonardo listened intently to her voice, which had become noticeably smaller as if she were telling a secret. Just as a place with a similar feel suddenly flashed through his mind, Signe drove the point home.
“So some people call it Bermuda Station.”