After Dunn left, Caesar finally got a good night's sleep.
He woke up to a bright morning. After breakfast, Caesar packed his bags and bid farewell to his sister.
Donning a black trench coat and a top hat, the reflection in the mirror showed a truly dashing Caesar. He glanced at himself, smiled indifferently, picked up his briefcase, and stood in the hallway, turning back to Cecilia and saying:
"I'm off, Cecilia. I should be back in about four or five days. Take good care of yourself at home. Oh, and I'll bring you a gift. What would you like?"
"Any gift is fine," Cecilia said, dressed in a plain-colored dress. She saw him to the door and straightened his collar. "What I want more is for you to come back safely."
Unlike the Moretti siblings, Cecilia knew that her brother's work was a very dangerous profession, so her worries were amplified.
"Don't worry, I have two colleagues going with me, and our usual work isn't that unsafe."
"Brother, why did you change your shirt?"
Cecilia, while adjusting his shirt collar, suddenly noticed something unusual and asked curiously.
Ah, that's the one I changed into that night.
Caesar immediately realized that the shirt he was currently wearing was borrowed from Leonard at the security company. He had already thrown away the blood-stained, torn shirt from the night he was stabbed. A flicker of panic crossed his heart, but he maintained a calm expression and smiled, "Oh, that one? I accidentally ripped it during training with my combat instructor, so I wore one of his shirts."
Fortunately, his quick thinking and plausible explanation meant Cecilia didn't find any issues, merely sighing, "Brother, you shouldn't just throw it away. You could bring it back and turn it into a rag or a patch."
Sister, our family hasn't had to live such difficult lives for a long time.
Caesar grumbled inwardly.
The two walked to 2 Narcissus Street, where Klein also happened to be coming out with his suitcase.
"Good morning, Caesar, and Cecilia," Klein greeted them, his gaze lingering on the siblings' faces for a moment.
If they weren't Nighthawks, they would actually be more suited to being actors in a theater. Regardless of their acting skills, the Spectator would surely be packed.
Klein looked at their equally exquisite faces, thinking to himself.
The morning temperature was a bit low, and seeing Cecilia dressed lightly, Caesar told her to stop sending him off. He then walked with Klein to the street corner, hired a carriage, and headed to Tingen City train station.
— — — —
"Newspaper, newspaper! 'Tingen City Respectable People's Daily,' today's latest news: Big star shot dead!"
"Freshly baked bread, 3 pence each!"
"Ruth, I'll miss you!"
The train station was bustling with noise.
The last time Caesar was at the train station was late at night to greet the High-Ranking Deacon. This time, coming during the day, the station was much livelier. The platform was teeming with travelers heading to various parts of Loen. Whenever a train arrived, the platform would be enveloped in billowing steam, and everything and everyone in sight would become hazy, like some hallucinatory dream.
"Watch out for pickpockets."
Leonard whispered a reminder.
The chaotic crowds and obscured vision were prime opportunities for pickpockets. Caesar readily clutched his pocket tightly and, with his two colleagues, followed the throng onto the train. As he was about to enter the carriage, he couldn't help but pause and look at this steel beast. The steam-powered locomotive furiously spewed white steam, appearing larger than the trains of his previous life, yet its speed was far inferior, and its passenger capacity much smaller.
I'm telling you, Roselle, you still didn't try hard enough. Why didn't you invent the internal combustion engine or the electric motor?
Caesar inwardly teased his fellow time traveler predecessor, then chuckled to himself and stepped into the carriage.
Due to insufficient reimbursement, the three of them bought second-class seats. The environment inside the carriage was better than third-class, with four seats per row and an aisle in the middle. In third-class, there would be six seats per row, making it very crowded for passengers, and the air in the carriage would be quite murky.
Because Tingen was the starting station, there weren't many passengers on board. They bought consecutive seats, and there was no one in front, behind, or to their sides.
"It's a shame we couldn't convince the Captain to buy first-class tickets," Leonard said with some regret, across the aisle to the two of them. "I was originally thinking we could play poker, the three of us, on the train."
Oh, right, right. I'll buy two more bottles of wine, and then we'll have Klein buy some snacks to go with it, and we'll just eat, drink, and play the whole way, won't we?
Caesar placed his briefcase beside his leg, sat down, and said, "We're on a business trip. It wouldn't look good if someone saw us."
His suitcase contained a few changes of clothes, some ritual materials, talismans, a silver dagger, and so on. In addition, it also hid two mystical items sealed by a Wall of Spirituality: the servant's bell and the bone flute. He brought all of these with him, as there might be danger in Enmat Harbor this time.
"Whoosh—"
A loud whistle echoed through the station. Wheels turned on the tracks, causing the carriage to vibrate. Through the glass, Caesar watched the people and scenery outside slowly recede, then faster and faster, until they flew by.
Swish!
The scenery outside suddenly opened up. The train passed through the urban area, swept past the low-lying houses of the slums, and headed straight for the open fields. Large expanses of green rushed toward them, and in the distance, rotating windmills and working farmers could be seen.
Caesar looked out the window, occasionally chatting with Leonard and the others.
Enmat Harbor belongs to East Chester County. Loen's coastline curves here, forming a perfect sheltered bay, making it a port city since ancient times. With the advent of the Steam Age and the Age of Exploration promoted by Roselle, Enmat Harbor has become increasingly prosperous, now a vital transportation hub for Loen.
Enmat Harbor is located southeast of Tingen City. This train will first travel east to Stone, the capital of East Chester County, where it will stop for ten minutes before heading south directly to its final destination, Enmat Harbor. The entire journey is expected to take five to six hours.
At first, the few of them were quite lively, chatting and laughing from time to time. But the journey was truly too long, and all three became somewhat tired towards the end, only exchanging a few desultory words. Caesar was even dozing off.
However, just then, a remark from Leonard suddenly startled him awake.
"Hey, by the way, did I forget to tell you that the Nighthawks Captain of Enmat Harbor and our Captain don't get along well?"
Caesar sat up abruptly.
"What did you say?"
"I mean, Edward Crawford, the Nighthawks Captain of Enmat Harbor, dislikes our Captain, Dunn Smith."
"Why? Is there a grudge between them?"
Klein also asked curiously.
"It's not exactly a grudge. How should I put it? It's more like Edward Crawford unilaterally dislikes our Captain," Leonard revealed a gossipy smile. "As for the reason, it's quite simple: Edward Crawford likes Ms. Daly."
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