Alfred, after chatting with his parents and sister for a while, took advantage of the pre-departure gap, left the carriage, and said to an attendant on the platform: «Give me a Dong Bailang.»
If the past few years had had any negative effect on him, besides the mental anguish and pain, they left him with just a few bad habits.
Having smoked too many Dong Bailangs—made from roasted tobacco leaves wrapped with spices and herbs—Alfred was now completely unable to tolerate the paper cigarettes popular on the Northern Continent. He found them bland and tasteless, like spirits watered down.
As for cigars, he felt they needed a proper environment to be savored slowly, and that wasn’t suitable now.
Of course, he wasn’t seriously addicted—as a Punishment Knight, he had enough physical and mental strength to resist such influences. The reason he came out to the platform to smoke was because he felt the carriage was too stuffy and his mother kept bringing up his marriage.
When the attendant took out and lit a Dong Bailang, Alfred brought the yellow-black outer leaf to his lips and took a deep drag.
The pungent flavor seeped into his body, instantly revitalizing his spirit.
At that moment, he saw a blonde man resembling a classical sculpture walking over, accompanied by his valet.
Alfred hesitated, then smiled and raised his right hand: «Hibbert, I thought you weren’t coming back to Eastchester.»
The newcomer was the eldest son of
Hibbert gave a perfectly courteous smile: «I’m just a Cabinet Secretary, not the Chief Cabinet Secretary, not so busy that I can’t even have a weekend off.»
In fact, he wouldn’t aim to be the Chief Cabinet Secretary either. His main goal was to gain experience in various government positions, build his own network, and prepare for future entry into the House of Lords.
Alfred took another puff of his Dong Bailang and said with a smile: «Have a good weekend.»
After seeing Hibbert into the carriage, Alfred faintly felt people looking in his direction and discussing: «Why isn’t anyone waiting for that train?»
«It doesn’t seem to be full.»
«Haha, that’s a special train, booked in advance by some big shot who paid a hefty sum of pounds. I know you may not have seen such things, but remember, in Backlund, Conston, and other big cities, it happens often. When those big shots travel with their families, they have hundreds of servants and maybe even pets. How could they squeeze into a train with ordinary people…»
«I see…»
«I wonder which big shot it is?»
Alfred turned his head and saw on Platform 2 a few dozen people in grey-blue uniforms, across the tracks where no train was stopped, quietly observing them.
The distance was not small; if not for his sharp hearing, he wouldn’t have made out what they were discussing.
«Who are they?» Alfred asked his aide.
He could only recognize that their uniforms belonged to the railway company.
The aide immediately turned, found a platform staff member, and asked.
Soon, he trotted back and whispered to Alfred: «General, they are train dispatchers from all over the kingdom, taking a short-term training in Backlund.»
Alfred nodded slightly and glanced again at Platform 2.
The oldest dispatcher had white hair, the youngest looked just over twenty, most were middle-aged men in their thirties or forties, many with grey at the temples.
* * * Sonia Sea, the Bountiful City of Bayam.
Weirdu carried a suitcase containing nothing of value. At night, he took a small boat out of the harbor and boarded a pirate ship.
— The Apprentice pathway Sequence 7 was not particularly adept at combat, and although Weirdu carried magical items with him, he greatly feared their negative effects and was reluctant to use them unless absolutely necessary. Therefore, to avoid danger, and since he didn’t trust pirates, he tried not to bring things that might arouse greed in others.
The pirate on deck glanced at Weirdu and said with a snicker: «Don’t worry, we keep our word. As long as you pay the fare, we won’t throw you into the sea. Here, you’re even safer than on a passenger ship, at least you won’t have to worry about pirates.»
Seeing that Weirdu remained silent and looked a bit scared, the pirate smugly tossed him a key: «Second deck up, the innermost room.»
Weirdu caught the brass-colored key, entered the cabin, climbed the stairs, and walked to the end of the corridor.
This level seemed specially set aside for people who, for various reasons, traveled on pirate ships. Along the way, Weirdu met several passengers who did not look like pirates at all.
Among them were a woman dressed rather revealingly like a streetwalker, a potbellied, greasy-faced middle-aged man, and a young man in a trench coat and hat, very stern-faced.
«Want to stay in my room?» the woman asked seductively when Weirdu looked her way, unclear whether she intended to do business while traveling or to travel while doing business.
Weirdu ignored her, looked away, and arrived at his own room.
That sharply featured, cold-faced young man also stopped at the door diagonally across.
* * * Backlund, West Borough, 9 Bellotto Street.
«Come in.» Xiu straightened up from the wide chair and said.