The next morning, Klein Moretti was awakened by a burst of knocking. He climbed out of bed, reached for the pocket watch on the table to check the time—it was exactly 7 o'clock.
Melissa was preparing breakfast for the whole family, and Benson was washing up in the washroom. Klein could only rub his slightly puffy, sleepy eyes and go to open the door.
Standing at the entrance of No. 2 Daffodil Street was his colleague, Angel Granger, who had also recently joined the Nighthawks.
The beautiful blonde woman said to him apologetically, "Sorry, I can't make the appointment on Saturday."
Not yet fully awake, Klein took several seconds to comprehend the meaning of this sentence, then blankly asked in return, "What?"
Only then did he notice the leather suitcase next to Angel, and she wasn't wearing her usual trench coat, but a long cloak with a hood. Underneath was light casual clothing.
"After you left yesterday morning, the captain informed me that there's an emergency mission I need to join," Angel said with a bitter smile, pointing to the east side of Daffodil Street. "He asked me to pack weapons and living supplies overnight and take the steam train to Enmat Harbor early this morning."
Klein shifted his gaze to the direction she pointed—rays of soft sunlight from the rising sun lit up the entire street. That was the direction of Enmat Harbor, which was about a four-hour drive from Tingen City.
"Did he say what the situation is?" Retracting his gaze and looking at Angel, Klein asked, "How long will it take?"
The woman in front of him lowered her head in thought, seemingly hesitating whether to tell him the mission details. Klein stood inside the door; the height difference from the steps made it hard for him to see her expression.
But Angel quickly lifted her head, her deep purple eyes looking at him.
"He didn't say the specific task, only said it's a large operation. Nighthawks from Stone City, Pritz Harbor, and even Backlund have been deployed. Tingen's team also needs to send people over, but we're short on staff here, so he's only sending me."
"If all goes well, I should be back in about a week."
So many Night Watcher teams from different places were mobilized?
Klein, upon hearing the names of those places, silently mapped out the Kingdom of Loen in his mind and found that the major cities east of the Tussock River were all involved.
But wouldn't this be inefficient… Pulling a few Nighthawks from each city to form a temporary team—would that really have any combat power?
Silently criticizing the Nighthawks' organizational ability in his mind, Klein saw Angel already lifting her suitcase and hurriedly said:
"Then I wish you a smooth journey. When you're back, let's set another time."
Angel was clearly taken aback for a moment, then smiled and nodded.
"Okay."
Watching her carry the suitcase toward a hired carriage at the street corner, Klein suddenly remembered something, turned, and ran back into the house, climbing the stairs three steps at a time to the second-floor bedroom. He grabbed something from the desk and dashed back downstairs.
"Benson? Klein? What's going on?"
The sound of footsteps on the wooden stairs echoed throughout the house. In the kitchen, his younger sister Melissa asked in confusion. Ignoring her question, Klein ran out to the street and saw that Angel had already loaded her suitcase onto the carriage and was speaking with the driver.
"To the steam train station, please get there quickly—I can pay double the fare."
Angel had already lost a lot of time saying goodbye to Klein and might miss the first train to Enmat Harbor. If she missed it, the next train wouldn't leave until the afternoon, reaching the destination only after nightfall.
To arrive on time, she promised to pay double, which immediately made the driver beam with joy. He repeatedly nodded, saying he was familiar with all the shortcuts in Tingen and that the horse pulling the carriage was known for its speed. He guaranteed he'd get her to the station on time.
"Wait, just a moment."
Klein's voice came from behind. Angel turned her head in confusion.
"Take this, I just finished making it."
Klein stretched out his hand and handed over a silver pendant.
At the end of a thin silver chain hung a maple leaf-shaped pendant the length of a thumb, intricately carved with letters and patterns—all written in Hermes.
"This is… a protective charm?"
Angel raised her eyebrows and asked curiously. She took the pendant, activated Spirit Vision, and saw a clear aura of spirituality emanating from the ornament in her hand.
This indicated that it was an item rich in spiritual properties.
"Yes. I hope it can bless you with a safe journey."
"Thank you!" Angel thanked him sincerely.
She knew how complex making charms was. Recently, she had been trying to make the "Sleep Charm" and "Dream Charm" taught by Old Neil, but had more failures than successes. Even with her rich experience making special bullets, she still struggled with the fine work of engraving runes on thin silver sheets.
What's more, the letters and patterns on this charm were far more intricate than those on standalone charms—it clearly took the maker a lot of effort.
Not wanting to belittle Klein's good intentions, she unfastened the clasp at the end of the chain, used both hands to loop it around her neck, pushed her long hair aside, clasped it shut, and then tucked the maple leaf pendant into her shirt.
The length of the silver chain was just right. She adjusted it slightly to center the pendant, then saw Klein's slightly blushing face and realized her actions had been a bit unseemly.
She pulled up her hood to cover it, tightened her cloak, and thanked him again: "...Thank you for the charm. I'll carry it with me."
"Woooo—"
A long, shrill whistle sounded. The train, a steel-made, monster-like creation by humans, exhaled puffs of gray smoke. Propelled by steam from the boiler, it slowly started and headed east.
Angel arrived at the platform in the last five minutes. After presenting her ticket, she boarded the train to Enmat Harbor. If she missed this one, the next wouldn't be until the afternoon, making her miss the agreed arrival time with the Enmat Harbor Nighthawks.
But even the first train left very little time. There was no direct railway from Tingen to Enmat Harbor—the train would detour northeast to Stone City, stop briefly, then continue to Enmat Harbor. The whole trip would take nearly four hours.
She was expected to arrive around 11 a.m., leaving her less than an hour to reach the Nighthawks' base.
Looking at the low houses slowly sliding past outside the window, feeling the jolts of the wheels over the track joints, Angel found her seat and sat down, placing her suitcase at her feet. Only then did she exhale the breath she'd been holding from the rush.
Originally, she had plenty of time to catch the train. But when leaving home, she suddenly thought of informing Klein she couldn't attend the dinner scheduled for tomorrow evening, so she knocked on the door at No. 2 Daffodil Street, which delayed her quite a bit.
But even if she had missed the train and arrived late to Enmat Harbor, she wouldn't regret that impulsive action.
After all… she received a gift.
Touching the pendant through her clothes, giving herself a reason for the wasted time, she pulled the leather suitcase up onto the table, undid the clasp, and half-opened the case to check its contents again.
The suitcase wasn't big. Most of the space was for two sets of clothes. Then there was a spare revolver and most of her bullets, which weren't convenient to carry on her. On her person she only carried her main weapon in the underarm holster, the dagger at her waist, and twelve spare bullets.
Along with the 50 pounds temporarily issued to her, all her cash was also on her—both because she didn't trust leaving money at home for a long trip and because she planned to buy materials in Enmat Harbor to advance to "Instigator."
She also remembered the address of a certain artisan once provided by "The Hanged Man." If she had the chance this time, she planned to ask about the price of extraordinary weapons.
In the corner of the suitcase was a metal box, which contained a revolver that had been broken by Cole Granger before Angel crossed over, and a strange item possibly containing a witch's extraordinary trait that she had recovered from the basement.
That was the original plan…
Last night while packing, she remembered that long-forgotten extraordinary trait and intended to bring it along—to ask someone at Enmat Harbor or let the "artisan" use it to craft an extraordinary weapon.
But when she retrieved the iron box from the study's hidden compartment and opened it, she found the purple-red gelatinous substance resembling jelly had vanished, and the revolver—whose hammer had been broken—had undergone a strange change.
She took the iron box out of the suitcase and carefully opened the lid on her lap.
Just opening a small gap, a strong wave filled with the scent of blood spilled out. Peeking through the slit, she saw the revolver, once made of brass, had turned completely black. Even the broken hammer had been replaced by some unknown material and was now whole again.
She didn't even need Spirit Vision—just looking at it with the naked eye made her eyes sting.
This was a second-class cabin. There weren't many people now. Out of forty available seats, fewer than ten were occupied. But the smell of blood filling the carriage instantly attracted attention.
Seeing passengers already frowning and standing up to find the source of the odor, Angel quickly closed the iron box. The box's spirituality-blocking function sealed the source of the stench, and the fluctuation throughout the carriage instantly vanished.
No doubt, that extraordinary trait had merged with the revolver…
Recalling the mysterious whisper and bloody scent from when she first discovered the extraordinary trait, Angel came to this conclusion.
According to Old Neil, this revolver had already become a mystical item. It should have part of the extraordinary trait's ability—and an attached side effect.
But due to her lack of knowledge, she couldn't use the weapon for now. Its function was unknown, side effects unknown—and just taking it out made others start searching for a bloody smell…
Perhaps only the "artisan" in Enmat Harbor could answer her questions—or even find a safe way to use this revolver.
Watching the suburban houses turn into countryside fields outside the window, Angel suddenly began looking forward to this trip.