On a steam train racing towards Conshton City in the Inner Sea County.
Klein, disguised as a wandering magician, looked at the young man across the narrow table cluttered with items and his parents and said: "I have two types of magic. One is making your wishes come true, and the other is answering your questions with a mirror. Of course, the first type of magic requires payment, while the second requires you to answer the mirror's questions. Which show would you like to see?"
The young man, who had black hair and brown eyes and seemed fairly well-educated, glanced at his parents sitting beside him and chuckled, "My wishes are too difficult, so I won't trouble you. Comparatively speaking, I'm more curious about the mirror that can answer questions."
Klein sighed and shook his head. With a flick of his left hand, he revealed a silver mirror that could fit into a sleeve, with a black gemstone on each side.
"Looks like an antique," the young man across from him commented with interest, and then said, "My question is, what is the purpose of my trip to Conshton City this time?"
A smile, typical of a street magician, appeared on Klein's face. He extended his right hand, stroking the surface of the mirror, and muttered quite seriously: "Magic mirror, magic mirror, tell me what the answer to the question is."
After repeating this three times, he removed his right hand, showing the surface of the mirror to the three passengers opposite him.
A few silver words had already appeared on it: "To get married."
"...Amazing." The young man exchanged glances with his parents, all of them showing expressions of disbelief.
Since boarding the train, they had never mentioned anything related to weddings or shown any items that could prompt such an association.
This was the first time they had seen magic that didn't rely on props or fake audience members.
"Alright, now it's the mirror's turn to ask a question." Klein smiled and placed his right hand over the surface of the mirror.
"Alright," the young man replied with great curiosity.
"Now, let's see what question the magic mirror will ask." Klein, as if performing a formal magic show, somewhat theatrically removed his right hand.
The silver words on the mirror's surface had changed, stretching into a complete sentence: "You prefer your bride to be a lady over forty, don't you?"
The young man's expression froze, then turned pale, and then completely flushed red.
"How is that possible!" he immediately retorted, and couldn't help but glance sideways at his parents, complaining hastily, "What kind of strange question is that!"
"...It was joking." Klein smiled apologetically and quickly pressed his right hand onto the mirror's surface, looking as if he himself hadn't known this would happen.
Immediately after, he removed his right hand again.
Sure enough, the words on the mirror had changed: "How old are you?"
"25..." the young man answered cautiously, as if afraid of falling into a trap.
He felt that the way his parents and the surrounding passengers looked at him had already changed somewhat.
"Alright, this magic show ends here." Klein smiled and put away his mirror. "You can try the other type of magic."
As soon as he finished speaking, the steam train let out a whistle, a sign that it was about to enter the station.
"Sorry, I need to get off here." Klein took out a gold-cased pocket watch, snapped it open, glanced at it, and said.
He then picked up his luggage and, blending into the flow of passengers exiting the train, arrived on the platform where the gas lamps had not yet been lit.
This was Beldan City in the Inner Sea County, a city that had risen because of coal and declined because of coal.
For Klein, its greatest significance was that it was a critical node on the Feysac invasion route during the previous world war.
— Feysac had three invasion routes. One was to attack the Amantha Mountains on the border, attempting to break through the land defenses there. Another was to set out from Sounia Island, attack the coastal ports, and attempt to land. The third was to start from the Inner Sea, advancing along the main railway towards
Among these, due to the existence of the
Of the three routes, the only successful one was the Inner Sea troops. Combining land and water attacks, they captured Loen's second city—Conshton, the capital of the Inner Sea County—and then pushed southeast, joining up with the Intis forces in the Backlund region.
Klein was playing the role of a wandering magician. On the one hand, he was accumulating wishes, manifesting miracles, digesting his potion, and increasing his strength. On the other hand, he planned to retrace the path of war, using his own eyes, his own ears, and his own heart to truly witness the trauma brought by the previous war.
After learning the secrets of the starry sky and the underground, he could understand the "Goddess of the Night"'s plans and accept them to some extent, but this did not mean he was indifferent to those sacrifices.
At the same time, he had determined one thing: even if he hadn't managed to stop George III from becoming the "Black Emperor", the world war would still have erupted, except Loen would have had the advantage. The "Goddess of the Night" and her allies would have directly pressured the "
At that time, the frequency, intensity, and scale of the divine war would have surpassed the current one.
For such reasons, Klein was wandering along the Feysac invasion route, stopping station by station.
Exiting the platform, which still bore traces of artillery bombardment, he carried a shabby suitcase containing a change of clothes, oriented himself, and walked towards where a hotel might be.