By Zephyria “Bermuda… Station?”
Leonardo, raising his eyebrows involuntarily, trailed off as he asked.
He was quite taken aback to hear the name he had only thought about in his head actually come out of someone else’s mouth.
Signe nonchalantly stuffed a croquette into her mouth and nodded. Unlike her reaction, which didn’t seem to think much of it, the edge of the newspaper Leonardo was holding trembled slightly.
The train of thought led to Alex Siles, who led him to the Station of Beginning and End, and his origins. Could there be some other meaning in the strange address he left behind?
“Is the term Bermuda Station commonly used? In this area? What’s there? I thought there was an inn? But why did the checkpoint guard say it was a wasteland….”
Leonardo rattled off the questions that suddenly arose in no particular order. His voice, which had become noticeably lower, was an instinctive reaction. Signe, noticing his changed reaction, licked the croquette crumbs off her fingers and quietly pulled them away.
“Uh… it’s not a commonly used term, only old people who have lived around the station for a long time would know it? I heard it from Grimbleton.”
“Grimbleton?”
“I mean the owner of the store where you bought the bracelet.”
Ah, that person. Leonardo, muttering as if sighing, asked again.
“That guy, is he perhaps from Bermuda? How does he know that the station is called that when he’s only been in Riverside? Is it actually related to Bermuda?”
“Uh, um… I don’t really know about that. From Bermuda… I don’t even know if he is. He hasn’t really talked about that. I just thought he knew a lot of things because he’s lived there for a long time? The guy, he looks old now, but he’s actually much older than he looks.”
Signe added, picking at the soggy fries in the paper bag with a fork.
“He says he’s over three hundred years old, but that seems like a lie. The townspeople say he’s over a hundred years old. Come to think of it, there are people from Bermuda who have particularly long lifespans, right? Then that could be possible.”
“…Over a hundred years old?”
Leonardo, who had already folded the newspaper in half, leaned his upper body towards Signe. However, his gaze, which wandered meaninglessly over the other person’s face, was recalling the appearance of the owner of the supply store he had met earlier.
He looked a bit old, but he definitely didn’t look like an old man who had lived for more than a century. He said his skills were embarrassing, but he knew how to use magic, so was he maintaining his imperfect youth with magic?
Just as he was thinking this and that, Signe suddenly asked.
“Why, are you from Bermuda too?”
“…What?”
“Oh, right, my sister said it’s rude to ask things like that carelessly. Sorry.”
The moment he instinctively tried to say no, the other person laughed awkwardly and changed the subject first. It didn’t seem like she had asked with any particular meaning.
“At the Station of Beginning and End… like I said before, a lot of bodies were thrown away there. So there’s a story that the atmosphere is eerie, and there are ominous rumors, so people don’t really live near there. Of course, there aren’t any towns, and there are stores and restaurants around the station, but not many. It’s close to a wasteland.”
“…Didn’t you say you went there often with your family?”
“There’s a big lake and a flower garden there, and it’s really pretty. My mom and dad liked it there. You’d be surprised if you saw it too? I honestly don’t really understand the eerie stories, because when you go there on a nice day, the sky can’t be any clearer, you know?”
The scenery she described evoked a refreshing natural landscape that made him feel like he could breathe even without seeing it. The green grass gently swayed in the wind, and the shimmering sunlight reflected on the lake sparkled like jewels. It made him squint because of the glare, but even that was said to be ethereal. When he heard it, it just seemed like a sparsely populated and peaceful area.
“There are a few old castles beyond the hill, and the inn that the guy mentioned was made by fixing them up. You have to walk a bit after getting off at the station, and it’s usually foggy so you can’t see it well. I heard it’s been out of operation for quite a while. There’s treasure sleeping inside, and something went wrong because the innkeeper touched it wrong.”
Naturally, rumors spread that the place was cursed, so it’s empty now, Signe added, munching on the muffin she had just unwrapped. Sometimes relic hunters visit the castle to try to find the rumored treasure. It was a part that made him guess why the checkpoint guard was so hung up on the gold bracelet.
Leonardo, who had been listening to her story with his neck and shoulders stiff, gradually leaned back in his chair. It wasn’t because he was losing interest, but because he felt uncomfortable in many ways. Somehow, all the places that scholar leads him to are unsettling places.
In the peninsula, it was the Queen’s Nest, and this time it’s a cursed land.
If his destination now is really the place written on the memo, then intuitively, the only place that guy could be is there. The old castle in the wasteland.
It’s not that he hesitates to act because he’s afraid of danger, but he becomes cautious when it comes to things related to the scholar. That guy was the one who manipulated people’s wills and even experimented on them in the peninsula, which was full of various dangers. He couldn’t be sure that he wouldn’t become the subject of that experiment this time.
In fact, wasn’t the fact that he ate the Amplifier to kill the core once already volunteering to be the experimental subject that guy wanted? Leonardo didn’t really like the destination that had been concretized for the first time in nearly three months, wondering if this was a similar context. He was even more reluctant because the name was called Bermuda Station.
The train carrying Signe’s chatter and his thoughts continued to stop and start, passing through several stations afterward. It was 30 minutes later that she got up, saying she would empty her stomach on purpose, having eaten almost all the small snacks.
“I’ll be back, so take care of my luggage. Don’t steal anything from my military supplies?”
“What would I do with it? It’s all military supplies.”
“That’s true.”
She chuckled, took off the beret she had been wearing all along, and disappeared into the hallway in search of the restroom. The sandwich she had left behind with her hat was left alone on the table. He didn’t know if she did it on purpose, but the act of entrusting a hat to someone else is the Imperial Army’s way of showing trust towards the other person.
It seemed like she had deliberately left her seat as a consideration for him to eat comfortably without covering his face. The girl, whose short-trimmed hair was like a chick, was unexpected in this way.
Thanks to that, Leonardo, who had some free time, confirmed that the people in the seat next to him across the aisle were packing their bags and getting up. It seemed like the next station wasn’t far away. He slyly lowered his mask and took a big bite of half of the sandwich.
If he had changed his appearance, it wouldn’t matter if he revealed his face a long time ago, but these days he didn’t bother unless he was passing through the Gate. Maintaining a virtual face was actually a difficult task, and he also wanted to enjoy the freedom that person had given him. It’s just that he wasn’t ready yet, and he was covering it up because it unnecessarily attracted attention.
Unlike Signe, who had been eating for a long time, Leonardo completely finished the sandwich in just six bites. He dusted off the bread crumbs on his hands and was about to clean up the table with his complicated thoughts.
‘But how would the scholar know when I’d arrive? Is he even still waiting?’
Less than three minutes after stopping, new passengers boarded the seat next to him. But the atmosphere was unusual.
Unlike the seats where Leonardo and Signe were sitting, the chairs in the next seat were long enough for three people to sit on one seat. Since the two chairs were facing each other, the capacity would be at least six people, and the table was also much larger. Three tall and sturdy men rushed in and sat down in that seat.
The seat looked cramped with just three people. It was bad enough that only men had gathered, but they were well-trained. You could tell just by looking at the fit of their clothes.
Leonardo quickly covered his face again. He turned his body towards the window, showing that he wasn’t interested.
“Even though we’re getting closer to Central, we’re almost wiped out when we go down to Westforce. Moving in the opposite direction seems to be the only way to expect some gains.”
“The Central-Western region is a particularly important area to him. We have to sweep through it at least once. Don’t doubt his orders. Reconfirm the list while moving, and get some sleep if you can.”
“I’m concerned that Giovanni Ambrose and Margo Penlett are still affiliated with the Imperial Army. They’re the only ones who seem like they’d speak out, but it’s probably hard for them to open their mouths if they’re active soldiers.”
He didn’t intend to eavesdrop, but when the story about the Imperial Army came up again, he unconsciously focused his attention. They felt like they had boarded with a purpose, but just listening to the nuance, it seemed like they were chasing important information.
“I guess so. But what can we do, we have to find clues and go back no matter what. Because it’s his will.”
The stiff and stagnant intonation, and the formal tone, made him infer that they were well-trained henchmen of someone, and at the same time, people from the Central or Eastern part of the Empire. The appearance reflected in the glass was wearing plain clothes, but it was full of the aura of a soldier or a loyal knight.
‘By the way, have I ever heard those names before? Why does it sound familiar?’
Outside the window, the trees that had been logged during the war were just sprouting new branches. Leonardo stared at the station that unfolded against the backdrop of the desolate wilderness and mulled over his memories.
‘They said they were active soldiers, so I might have heard of them….’
At that time, a shadow approached the seat where the three men were sitting. The appearance and size were similar, so they seemed to be with them.
As expected, when he naturally took a seat, one of his companions asked.
“You came quickly. I thought you’d be here just in the nick of time.”
“Ah, I just got a call from a colleague. Did you all hear? An intruder broke into the barrier inside the main castle.”
“What?”
“What are you talking about?”
The voices of the men, who had been calm, became a little louder. In an instant, the atmosphere stiffened, and their silhouettes stirred as if they were about to jump out at any moment. The man who joined last waved his hand and calmed his companions.
“It’s nothing serious, they say. The intruder has already escaped, and no signs of threat have been confirmed. However, a level 3 alert has been issued around the main castle, and all of the Azure Knights are on standby in full gear.”
“At that level, shouldn’t we also return?”
“The Lord said it’s not a big problem and ordered us to maintain the status quo… but it would be better to watch the situation.”
Leonardo’s eyelids twitched at the word ‘Lord’ that he suddenly heard. His head, which had been averted, reflexively turned.
‘…Huh?’
Somehow, the situation he was hearing sounded familiar.
He looked at the actual appearance of the men sitting in the next seat, not the image reflected in the train window. At that moment, one of the men diagonally across from him, feeling his gaze, turned to look at him.