Chapter 128: Unlucky Events
Siles withdrew his gaze from the windowsill.
The doll in the dream said that Siles could manipulate its actions. However, when Siles woke up, he didn’t find the doll appearing on his nightstand. An invisible guidance drew his attention to the windowsill, to the dolls he had bought at the underground trade market.
One of the dolls suddenly “came alive.”
It was a smiling, child-like doll, about the size of a palm. After Siles woke up from the dream, it was as if some invisible silk threads had suddenly linked him and this doll.
Siles once thought these were just ordinary wooden dolls, but when he truly manipulated the silk threads according to his will, he suddenly realized that the hard wood was merely the doll’s disguise.
In fact, this doll that crossed the boundary between reality and illusion was very agile, capable of making all sorts of movements almost like a human. Its actions could only be manipulated using those invisible silk threads—in other words, only Siles could do it.
Furthermore, the doll was light, compact, and inconspicuous, and its material was very sturdy. Siles believed he could use this doll to accomplish many things.
Of course, this also meant…
The stall owner who originally sold this set of dolls to him clearly did so intentionally.
This set of dolls in reality was directly connected to the dolls in the small house on the farm in the dream.
Who could that stall owner be? A follower of Akamara?
Just like the six dolls on the farm, since Akamara left His own deployments in His paradise, it was highly likely He also left corresponding plans in reality.
Siles believed this was very possible. Of course, after realizing this issue, he also returned to the farm to ask the six dolls, but unfortunately, they were completely ignorant of that mysterious stall owner.
This matter made Siles feel extremely confused. Even though those Old Gods had fallen, They still seemed to have left many traces in this world, and these traces could not be erased no matter what.
He let out a slow sigh.
At the same time, that compact doll—which Siles dubbed Doll Number One—suddenly began to move. Its small body nimbly climbed the wall, landed lightly on the floor, then silently took two steps forward before leaping up onto the desk.
Subsequently, Doll Number One sat down next to Siles’s hand and patted the back of his hand, as if to say, “Stop worrying.”
Siles gazed into Doll Number One’s round, black eyes.
That entire series of actions just now was completed under Siles’s manipulation. It took him several days to become familiar with this set of operations. He manipulated this doll entirely through thought, which was already troublesome enough.
This made him admire those puppet masters even more.
He even thought that it might not be that difficult to make these dolls speak; he just needed to learn ventriloquism… forget it, that is truly difficult.
The busy Professor Siles Noel wisely tossed this idea to the back of his mind.
Currently, this silent doll could already help Siles do a few things, especially as he gradually got used to this multitasking operation—for example, he could have the doll help pour some water while he was reading.
…Sounded a bit like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
Rather, the doll was now like some sort of smart home appliance to him. Once the routine was set, he could have the doll help do something with just a thought.
Chendo was quite interested in this doll, but he couldn’t experience the feeling of manipulating the doll with invisible silk threads, so he only played with it for a little while before finding it boring.
Regardless, Siles believed the doll’s appearance did indeed provide some help.
If he had been able to manipulate the doll earlier, his actions could have been freer. For instance, he could have used the doll directly to investigate the underground passage without having to worry about arousing the mastermind’s vigilance.
After all, in the eyes of others, it was just an ordinary wooden doll.
However, once the doll left his line of sight, he could only observe the doll’s actions and surroundings by going to the farm’s small house in the dream. He couldn’t directly share the doll’s vision. And currently, he could only enter the mysterious farm at night.
On the miniature stage model inside the room, he could see the doll’s real-time situation.
More accurately, on that stage, everything happening in reality played out like an ongoing theatrical performance. The surrounding environment and the “extras” seemed both real and illusory, but would also genuinely change accordingly.
And the main actor in that play was precisely the wooden doll manipulated by Siles; the script the actor followed was precisely what the doll was doing under Siles’s manipulation.
In other words, the things genuinely happening in reality became the fake script being performed in the dream.
Siles marveled endlessly at this.
The power of the deities always manifested in some special way.
He thought this function might come in handy during his upcoming trip to Middleton. After all, he was about to head to an unfamiliar place, and perhaps he might encounter some danger.
He pondered this. Then, noticing the late hour, he decided to go to sleep early. It was already finals week; for the next half month, both he and his students would be extremely busy.
Group projects for elective courses, papers for general education courses, theses for his two apprentices, final exams, course scheduling and lesson plan preparation for the next semester, packing luggage to depart for Middleton… not to mention the renovation and remodeling of 99 Kelly Street.
Even with Chendo’s help, all of this still sounded like massive undertakings.
In addition, there was another matter added to Siles’s schedule.
The materials from the Church of the Past.
On New Year’s Eve, Siles had asked Grosvenor to help find information related to “Old God’s Scions” and the times and locations of the Old Gods’ falls. More than a month had passed, and the Church of the Past had finally sent the relevant materials over.
February 18th, Tuesday. After listening to the group presentations for his morning elective course, Siles returned alone to 6 Hayward Street and found the package from the Church of the Past.
It was quite large, definitely not just transcripts of documents. Siles brought the package up to the third floor, opened it, and took out the letter from Grosvenor.
“Hope this letter finds you well, Professor Noel.
“The package contains the materials you requested regarding Old God’s Scions and the fall of the Old Gods. In addition, there is also the corresponding compensation for the soul stabilization ritual and the recent Underground Archway Incident. I have prepared a Time Trace and a sealed artifact for you. I hope they will be of help to you.
“Another matter you should be aware of is that the children involved in the Underground Archway Incident have now been discharged from the hospital and taken in by various churches in the city to be fostered. They will likely become members of the Church of the Past in the future.
“Of course, we will not force them to believe in our god, only to act as staff members. You can rest assured on this point.
“For the few children who are not orphans, we have also found their parents and reunited their families. The two children, Nanisal and Garland, we have arranged for them separately at the Central Cathedral; both possess the aptitude of Revelators and will temporarily study with the investigators.
“As for the unique mental states they previously exhibited, we haven’t been able to find a reasonable explanation for the time being. However, I believe that letting them gradually master power is also a viable method; at the very least, it can allow them to strengthen themselves.
“Furthermore, I must add something else. I heard about your upcoming trip to Middleton. The reason I know this is because Lamifa University invited knights and investigators from the Church of the Past to travel together.
“On the one hand, this journey will, after all, pass through other unfamiliar countries and the Ashless Lands, so the Church of the Past can protect the participants from Lamifa University; on the other hand, the Church of the Past also intends to travel to Middleton.
“You may not know this, but in Middleton, although the vast majority of people believe in Amois, there are still a minority of believers who follow our god. Therefore, we also have a parish there.
“It’s just that, due to the long distance and poor transportation, it’s very difficult for us to maintain stable contact with the priests there. It just so happens that Lamifa University invited us to travel together this time, so we decided to head to Middleton to understand the latest situation.
“The current personnel roster roughly consists of the knight order led by Knight Commander Bunyan, and a group of Revelators led by investigator Catherine Kinsey. They will depart with you.
“Wishing you a pleasant journey.
“Grosvenor.”
Siles read this letter with slight surprise. The handling of the Underground Archway Incident was within his expectations, but he hadn’t expected Grosvenor to specifically send compensation for it, and to also mention the other accompanying personnel for this trip to Middleton.
Bunyan and Catherine Kinsey would also participate in this journey?
At this moment, Siles realized that this operation already involved two characters from the original tabletop role-playing game scenario: Dr. Chester Fitzroy and Bunyan.
Furthermore, Siles still remembered that he had once learned from Bunyan that Dr. Chester’s background was connected to Middleton. However, Chester himself didn’t seem to know much about this.
He couldn’t help but narrow his eyes, wondering to what extent the Church of the Past’s addition to this trip to Middleton was to investigate the secrets behind the doctor’s background?
This didn’t seem impossible. It was, after all, killing two birds with one stone.
Grosvenor also mentioned in the letter that Middleton also had believers of Antinam and churches of the Church of the Past. This suddenly made Siles wonder: could one of the tabletop role-playing game characters who had yet to appear, the foreign female bishop, be a resident of Middleton?
The likelihood of this happening was indeed quite high, especially after Siles gradually realized the issue of coincidences in his fate.
He couldn’t help but think that this upcoming trip to Middleton seemed quite important.
On the one hand, some long-standing mysteries might be explained during this trip; on the other hand, he would be traveling to an unfamiliar land and gaining fresh experiences.
Unfortunately, Chendo couldn’t go to Middleton with him.
Siles’s trip this time was mostly due to work requirements, making it inconvenient to travel with Chendo. Additionally, Chendo also needed to take advantage of this spring break to return to Kansas and fulfill certain obligations as an Old God’s Scion.
They would probably part ways when the train passed through Kansas. However, Siles had already decided that when returning to Konst from Middleton, he would get off the train in Kansas and spend some time in Chendo’s hometown.
By then, the visiting scholar program in Middleton would have concluded, making it his personal time, so there would be no problem with him staying in Kansas for a while. It was likely the others would also want to travel around for a bit before returning to Lamifa City.
Furthermore, since Siles was no longer restricted by the 21-day interval of the farm, he could also meet with Chendo in dreams every now and then. At the very least, this was a viable approach.
The itinerary arranged was roughly like this. Siles hoped everything would truly proceed according to his thoughts when the time came.
He thought this over, then sorted out the items in the package. He placed the stack of documents aside, then picked up the two boxes. Grosvenor said they were a Time Trace and a sealed artifact, which made Siles curious about what was inside the boxes.
He opened the two boxes, and subsequently, a look of surprise couldn’t help but appear in his eyes.
On the packaging of the boxes, Grosvenor had very thoughtfully written the words “Time Trace” and “Sealed Artifact” to help Siles distinguish between the two items.
The Time Trace was a coin. According to the instructions on the paper, this was one of the earliest batches of Duke coins manufactured by the Duchy of Konst; later Duke coins were all modeled after this batch.
In other words, this ancient coin could be used to generate money, and the ritual name was exactly “Money Generates Money.”
Of course, the money “generated” was not real money, just the appearance of fake, temporarily maintained coins. Siles couldn’t immediately think of a use for this coin, so he set it aside for the time being.
As for the sealed artifact, this was what truly surprised Siles.
It was a piccolo. According to the instructions on the paper, this flute could remember what a person said and then repeat it, somewhat similar to a recording megaphone.
What surprised Siles the most was that this was a sufficiently lightweight musical instrument, and it was also a sealed artifact.
…This could serve as the dice’s body!
Why would the Church of the Past send this item over? Coincidence, or intentional?
Siles narrowed his eyes slightly.
Grosvenor had repeatedly emphasized that they would not pry into Siles’s life and thoughts, and judging by their actual behavior, Grosvenor’s words might be true.
For instance, they knew nothing about the things Siles investigated within Lamifa City. If the Church of the Past was truly prying into Siles’s life, would they really be so indifferent?
However, in two specific instances, they had invisibly aligned with Siles’s thoughts.
The first was the two Time Traces, Akamara’s Eyeglass Frame and the Boots of Nature, which perfectly matched Siles’s desire to travel to the Ashless Lands at the time, especially the former.
Akamara’s Eyeglass Frame provided the Siles of that time with many conveniences, and he happened to receive it from the Church of the Past shortly before he set off for the Ashless Lands.
Of course, Grosvenor’s previous explanation for this was that he simply thought these two Time Traces would be helpful to Siles, which was why he chose them.
In fact, when Siles said he learned the truth about Stardust through Akamara’s Eyeglass Frame, Grosvenor also acted very surprised, as if he had no idea this Time Trace would have such a powerful effect.
Siles felt this matter was passable for the time being.
However, the second instance—namely, the piccolo placed before him right now—aroused his suspicions.
Could there really be such a coincidence?
Just when the dice said it wanted a sturdier sealed artifact, the Church of the Past sent the item over at the perfect time?
Over the recent period, Siles hadn’t had the time to look for viable items, yet it was as if fate didn’t even require him to look for it personally, and had already delivered a suitable item right to his door.
…The dice?
Siles pondered for a moment, and finally realized a possibility.
This possibility was built on the premise that the Church of the Past had indeed neither pried into his life nor used any method to spy on his thoughts. Judging from the consistent behavior of the Church of the Past, Siles was willing to trust their character.
Therefore, it was highly likely that his needs were leaked invisibly.
This invisibility might stem from Antinam’s attention; it might stem from the dice pulling strings behind the scenes—it was the Dice of Fate, according to its own claim.
Since it said so, perhaps it could manipulate fate a bit, allowing the item it wanted to “coincidentally” appear by Siles’s side.
Furthermore, Siles also thought of another possibility, which was that there might be some wondrous connection between the dice and Antinam.
Firstly, his transmigration to the Fisher World seemed to be related to both Antinam and the dice simultaneously. The dice directly admitted this, and Antinam seemed to have consistently tacitly acknowledged this as well, even having the Church of the Past secretly look after Siles.
Secondly, the dice itself seemed to have no way to directly “use” the power of fate. It was merely power itself, and was very passive. All along, it was only when Siles made a check, or when fate steered around a certain corner, that the dice would suddenly appear.
Before Siles attempted to make a check on the sealed artifact, the dice couldn’t even proactively communicate with Siles in the usual sense.
Based on these two premises, the possibility of a certain connection between the dice and Antinam seemed highly likely.
Perhaps the dice secretly passed a message to Antinam, or perhaps Antinam had been continuously paying attention to the dice’s movements, and thus was able to invisibly grant a “revelation” to Grosvenor, drawing his attention to that piccolo, thereby allowing this item to come to Siles?
The logic flowed smoothly, but it was highly fantastical.
…But this world is fantastical to begin with, Siles thought to himself.
The appearance of this piccolo meant Siles could converse with the dice once again. He also needed to find time to read those documents. Additionally, he was considering having a conversation with Garland in the dream.
…Siles sighed imperceptibly.
Chendo hadn’t appeared at the Hayward Street side this afternoon either. He was being driven crazy by the students’ papers. A Kansan currently researching Konst’s language grammar and literary past—this strongly reflected Teaching Assistant Chendo Praia’s love for Professor Siles Noel.
The Ligadia amulet hanging around Siles’s neck could testify to that.
This afternoon, Siles originally planned to organize the lesson plans for the third term, but since Grosvenor had sent these items over, he deliberated for a moment, and then first made a check on that piccolo.
Unsurprisingly, the piccolo sealed artifact with a Will of 0 quickly gained the Dice of Fate as its soul.
“Good afternoon, dice.”
“Good afternoon, Keeper of Secrets. I like this body; it’s just a bit long. Do you know what I mean? I myself am quite a square thing,” the piccolo said, shifting its piccolo body slightly.
The timbre of a piccolo was typically quite high, and paired with the dice’s chattering words, it already gave Siles a slight headache.
But he wisely didn’t discuss this issue with the dice.
He just asked, “How long can you stay in this piccolo?”
“If I use it sparingly, like ten or twenty minutes at a time, then maybe it can last for quite a while,” the piccolo said. “Of course, in reality, it’s hard to say; it always depends on the actual situation. Different times, different places, different situations will all be different.”
Siles nodded slowly.
The piccolo then said, “You wanting to talk to me this time, you must have something to ask, right?”
“Yes.” Siles hesitated slightly, then said frankly, “I want to know: do you have any connection with Antinam?”
“Oh!” The short flute let out an incredibly loud whistle as if it had been severely startled, then hurriedly coughed twice. “Sorry, sorry, I’m not very used to this body. I mean, I’m very sorry for making such a sharp noise just now; I scared myself. This is not a good thing. I’m obviously just a dice that rolls around.”
“As for… er, as for your question… I have to say… to some extent, you are right.”
Siles was slightly taken aback and couldn’t help but ask, “To some extent?”
“It’s hard for me to tell you clearly about my connection with… Him,” the short flute said vaguely, seemingly on purpose. “It’s also not very suitable for you to know about this right now.”
“Anyway, yes, there is indeed some sort of connection between us. After all, I am always by your side, and He is not. But His gaze is always on you; you should be clear about that by now.”
Siles frowned slightly and said, “So, you can spy on my thoughts?”
“No, no! Of course not! What kind of person do you think I am… er, what kind of dice?” the short flute said indignantly. “I would never do such an annoying thing.”
Siles then told the dice about the two things he had discovered—Akamara’s Eyeglass Frame and the short flute he was currently holding.
The short flute clicked its tongue repeatedly as it listened. It said, “Oh, the charming coincidences of fate.”
Siles was highly skeptical of this statement.
The short flute continued, “I can understand your suspicion. However, the two Time Traces you obtained previously are indeed very useful. Even if you didn’t go to the Ashless Lands, the Church of the Past would probably still have given those two items to you.”
Siles nodded; he had thought so himself.
“As for my current body,” the short flute said, “He can naturally sense that I have appeared in reality, and He can also sense that I will be leaving very soon.”
“So, perhaps it is precisely because of this that He realized your needs and mine, and therefore had the Church of the Past send this flute over. This is very normal, isn’t it?”
The short flute spoke these words in a very light tone, and its voice indeed reflected the beautiful timbre of this flute, although Siles found it hard to glimpse the truth of the matter from its words.
The more logical and serendipitous it seemed, the more suspicious and troubled Siles felt. After all, this was fate, wasn’t it?
However, he had no intention of arguing with the dice about this matter. Judging from these events, the attitudes of Antinam, the dice, and the Church of the Past all leaned towards goodwill. Siles didn’t want to force a showdown just yet and press them on what exactly they wanted to do.
…Hoping Siles would save this world?
That sounded even more like utter nonsense.
Compared to that, Siles was currently more focused on a certain word the dice had used.
He asked, “Sense?”
The short flute rotated its body, seemingly out of boredom, while also answering Siles’s question: “Yes. I am an existence different from the real world; you should be able to realize that.”
“Therefore, when I leave the place where I originally stayed and appear in the real world, there are some… ‘existences’ that can sense it. Antinam is among them.”
“There might also be some ‘existences’ in the real world that can sense my appearance, but that is probably very rare. You perhaps can, but you also have strong reason and extremely high spirituality.”
“If some humans with overly high spirituality but insufficient reason sensed my existence, they might immediately fall into madness.”
The short flute said these words in a subtle, flattering tone. Siles thought this was very likely based on the two topics of “reason” and “spirituality.”
…Siles suddenly realized that he didn’t seem to know what his spirituality actually was yet.
Furthermore, the Dice of Fate was also using TRPG terminology, which gave Siles a subtle sense of incongruity. He somewhat wanted to know what the TRPG scenario actually meant to this world.
There were simply too many questions, but he didn’t have much time. So finally, Siles asked a more practical question.
He said, “So, are there other ‘existences’ like you that appear in reality?”
“Oh, I am not an ‘existence.’ Keeper of Secrets, I must first correct this thought of yours. ‘Existence’ refers to the real world, whereas I, and some other things, do not belong to the real world.”
“Of course, you can call us ‘things’; there doesn’t seem to be a more appropriate term.”
Siles felt that this term sounded like subtle abuse and mockery.
Then, the short flute continued, “As for your question itself… Yes, there are indeed such ‘things.’ They, and perhaps including me, are things that pry into the real world from the darkness.”
Siles weighed his words and said, “I don’t quite understand… what is ‘darkness’? Does there exist a ‘light’ that opposes such darkness?”
The short flute stopped wobbling its body.
It said, “Mentioning darkness is because that place is indeed very ‘dark.’ We don’t have much time to get tangled up in these conceptual issues… I think. I will try to use a simpler explanation. In short… do you think the real world itself can possess those bizarre and magical powers?”
Siles shook his head.
“Indeed,” the short flute said. “Because the real world is sufficiently ‘solid’ and ‘dense,’ whereas those powers are like mist penetrating the gaps in these solid entities. Formless, yet truly existing.”
Siles pondered the dice’s explanation.
From the perspective of Earth’s physics, he was surprisingly able to understand this concept. Objects are divisible and have gaps; even the most subtle particles have “empty spaces.”
And according to the dice’s explanation, the things existing within these “empty spaces” were the source of the world’s power.
“The formless ‘mist’ fills these gaps,” the short flute said. “…Er, I’m not talking about some microscopic concept. You can view it as light and shadow. That is a superimposed state… My god, that sounds even more like the microscopic world.”
Siles suddenly laughed. Hearing these physical concepts from Earth coming from the dice’s mouth gave him a long-lost sense of familiarity, and of course, a hint of subtlety as well.
The dice made absolutely no secret of the fact that it knew Siles was from Earth.
“…Ahem, anyway, this world is not just a single-layered world,” the short flute continued. “Different ‘things’ live on different levels. They are not independent levels that can be simply separated, but rather stirred together, like a paste.”
“Ah, I just thought of a clever analogy. Perhaps if you grind corn, rice, and black rice—all sorts of grains—into powder, and then mix them together with water… Perhaps it looks like a single lump of stuff, but in reality, the raw materials are all different.”
Siles said, “I understand. So, you come from another ‘level.’ And on that level, there are other things like you, prying into the real world.”
“Because reality is the source of everything,” the short flute said. “Taking the previous analogy, the real world is like the water. Water also exists within this paste-like lump, and it is the most important. Because without water, these things couldn’t be stirred together.”
Siles nodded.
The short flute let out a huge sigh of relief: “It couldn’t be better that you can understand. I knew all along that you would be able to understand all this. This is also…”
It suddenly stopped.
“This is also?” Siles asked.
The short flute remained silent for a while.
Just when Siles almost thought it had left, the short flute suddenly moved a bit, and then said, “I am very sorry, Keeper of Secrets. You cannot know this for the time being.”
Siles frowned slightly, then said rationally, “I understand.”
Whether the dice meant that his power wasn’t sufficient yet, or that knowing the matter would drive him mad, Siles realized that he had accidentally touched upon a taboo.
Afterward, the short flute’s tone became much more serious.
It said, “This world is like this, Keeper of Secrets. When you are ignorant and innocent, you might feel this world is very safe and happy, like an innocent, pure white, and soft baby living in a cradle.”
“But, as you gradually understand the essence of the world, as you gradually grow, become stronger, and mature, you will discover that the world is so dangerous and so complex. The maturity of the mind has never had anything to do with the maturity of the body.”
Siles was somewhat surprised to hear the dice say these things. He felt that the dice’s earnest words seemed to carry some ulterior motive, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it right now.
He thought of his Knowledge stat, which was “only” 66 points, and had to admit that there were still many, many things he didn’t understand about this world.
However, the dice’s tone quickly became brisk again.
The short flute emitted a series of brisk and melodious notes. It said, “We’re running out of time! Anyway, Keeper of Secrets, I know why you asked me this—it’s about those two children you checked before, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Siles said.
“They have indeed been noticed by certain ‘things.’ You can consider that as a more ‘inferior’ divine power. If you want to ensure their safety, then have them increase their soul strength. The premise of protecting oneself is to strengthen oneself; this is a golden rule.”
Siles breathed a slight sigh of relief. Getting a clear answer from the dice indeed made him feel a heavy burden lift from his heart. More importantly, he also knew how to make those two children safer.
Having these two children become Revelators and gradually master the power was the best method.
But… what was a more “inferior” divine power?
Could there be a hierarchy of divine power? Moreover, did this refer to a comparison between different deities, or a comparison within the divine power itself?
Just as Siles was about to ask, he heard the short flute make a slight noise. Then, the short flute fell completely silent.
Siles was slightly taken aback, realizing that the dice had already left, and couldn’t help but let out a sigh.
The next conversation with the dice might be a long time away. And by that time, he might have generated new questions again. Siles was somewhat self-aware of his curiosity and how busy he was.
He took off Akamara’s Eyeglass Frame and pinched the bridge of his nose to let himself slowly calm down.
Regardless, the dice’s conceptual explanation of the “world” had already yielded Siles a great deal. It actually validated some of his thoughts, such as the inner and outer worlds, or light and shadow.
But that also brought more confusion.
Because, judging from the dice’s attitude, the concept of the world itself seemed to be related to certain things Siles might encounter in the future.
…What would those be?
Siles couldn’t help but ponder for a moment before shaking his head. He didn’t have time to mull over these things right now. He would be departing for Middleton in three or four days, and right now, he hadn’t even finished organizing his lesson plans for the next semester.
He put these Time Traces and documents away, then continued to focus on his proper business.
Shifting from profoundly complex mystical powers to mundane daily affairs always made Siles space out for a moment.
Facts proved that Professor Noel’s busyness left him with absolutely no time to read the materials sent over by the Church of the Past. He could only select a portion of the materials to put in his suitcase, planning to read them on the journey to Middleton.
On February 22nd, Siles boarded the train heading for Middleton.
Of course, it wasn’t a direct trip.
Their group would have to transfer to another train in Maltz, the border city of the Duchy of Konst, and first head to Biedel City in Galsworthy, within the Ashless Lands. Then, they needed to take a train heading northeast from Biedel City, travel all the way through Kansas, arrive at a certain port city in Middleton, board a ship at the port, and travel by sea to finally reach Middleton’s capital, Bethune.
Since there was no direct train line from Konst to Middleton, they could only choose such a troublesome transfer route. However, after the date and destination for this visiting scholar trip were set, the participants were mentally prepared for this.
In fact, the first half of this itinerary was exactly the same as Siles’s first journey to the Ashless Lands. And that train route departing from Lamifa City was exactly where he and Chendo formally met.
He couldn’t say it was the first time. After all, his and Chendo’s first meeting should have been in the back kitchen of the Royal Palace.
“…But I don’t think that place was romantic at all,” Chendo muttered softly. “Full of madmen and chunks of meat.”
Siles couldn’t help but smile at his words. Chendo always cared about these bizarre little details, but it allowed Siles to feel the deep care Chendo had for Siles himself, hidden behind that childishness.
He said, “It’s time to board the train, Chendo.”
Siles’s berth was originally arranged to be with Lorenzo Grantham, but he additionally bought the ticket for the compartment Chendo was in. Of course, he didn’t intend to stay with Chendo the entire time, just to be prepared for any contingencies.
From Lamifa University, there was a total of four professors plus three traveling companions (a guide, a translator, and a doctor), plus two professors responsible for handling administrative affairs—a total of nine people.
The Church of the Past had more people. Banyan brought eleven knights, forming a squad of twelve; Catherine Kinsey similarly led four Revelators of considerable strength. They totaled seventeen people.
Adding the two sides together, there were twenty-six people in total. Their train tickets were all purchased together—two people per luxury sleeper compartment—but this was only for the distance from Lamifa to Maltz. Once they arrived in Maltz, they would have to buy tickets again. After all, it was impossible to buy tickets online in advance in this world; they could only purchase the corresponding tickets after arriving at the train station. However, that would also conveniently allow them to rest and reorganize in the corresponding cities.
This aspect of the arrangements was managed by the professor in charge of administrative affairs. That was a woman in her thirties; according to Lorenzo’s introduction, her name was Isabella Holt, and people usually called her Professor Bella.
It was said that Professor Bella was about to take over the position of Professor Attlee, the administrative teacher of the School of Literature and History, just waiting for Professor Attlee to retire. And handing full authority for this trip to Professor Bella was clearly a test for her.
However, compared to the rigid and conservative Professor Attlee, Professor Bella was clearly a much more reasonable lady. Therefore, she maintained a gentle tacit approval regarding Chendo’s brief presence in the team.
Of course, she also asked Siles about this privately. Siles had no intention of broadcasting his romance with Chendo everywhere; he just said that this teaching assistant of his was from Kansas and planned to make a trip home during the spring break, so he was traveling with them. He additionally added that Chendo wouldn’t follow them all the way to Middleton, but would separate after traveling with them for a short distance.
This made Professor Bella breathe a sigh of relief. It was evident that this travel mission also made her very nervous, and she hoped she could do her best.
In short, before truly arriving in Middleton, their schedule was very relaxed; no one would demand that they do or not do certain things. Siles could also stay with Chendo—after all, this was his teaching assistant, wasn’t it?
Knowing their relationship, Chester and Lorenzo instead revealed a subtle smile, and quickly developed an unexpected sense of intimacy upon realizing the other party also knew about it. This intimacy became even more obvious after learning that they were both aficionados of Fate Cards.
…It had to be said that whenever Dr. Chester embarked on a journey, he could always find an unexpected but genuinely suitable traveling companion. This could be considered a very wondrous fate.
There weren’t many passengers on this train; perhaps the bitter cold weather had stopped people from traveling. When Siles left the house this morning, he noticed the sky was densely covered with dark clouds; perhaps it would start snowing again very soon.
He hoped the weather in the future would be a bit better, but in reality, they would ultimately be heading north, and the temperature would probably be even colder.
The train schedule they chose was one that departed at night and arrived the following afternoon, which was not quite the same as the one Siles had taken before. After they boarded the train and organized their luggage and belongings, Siles bid farewell to Chendo and returned to his own compartment.
Lorenzo, with a hint of teasing, asked, “Why don’t you sleep over there?”
“It is, after all, a journey traveling with other professors,” Siles said.
Lorenzo shrugged, “Just the answer you would give.”
Siles glanced at him, hesitated for a moment, and then added, “Besides, there’s no rush for this little bit of time.”
Given his personality, it was hard for him to stick together with his lover all day long like young people passionately in love. Chendo seemed to quite want to do that, but their busy lives also made it hard to allow them to do so.
…In fact, Siles had just finished rushing his manuscript yesterday afternoon, sending the manuscript for Miss Garland’s Dream Adventure covering the spring break period to the newspaper. This was enough to show how busy he had been recently.
Actually, Lorenzo, who was just teasing him, was in pretty much the same boat. He was probably even more frantic than Siles; after all, Professor Dunlop had left very hastily, and Lorenzo basically took over all of Professor Dunlop’s duties from scratch.
Of course, he did an excellent job, as evidenced by his selection for this visiting scholar trip. He said himself that he would become a full professor next academic year. However, this also meant that he hadn’t gone out for fun much over the past semester. This also made Siles look at him with new respect.
Both Lorenzo and Siles only truly finished this busy semester yesterday, and the very next day, they were about to embark on the distant journey to Middleton.
Lorenzo lay back on his berth, let out a deep sigh, and said, “Let’s go to sleep early, Professor Noel. We will continue rushing about tomorrow.”
Siles also nodded. He took his toiletries out of his suitcase, went to the washroom, and after returning, turned off the lights in the compartment, lay down on his berth, and fell asleep.
The swaying compartment made him feel as if he had returned to the time he first left Lamifa City; this mysterious and grand world was once again unveiling a new piece of territory to him. Outside the window, it began to snow in the Fisher World.
He seemed to have dreamed for the first time in a long while, but the scenes in the dream were chaotic and fragmented. When he woke up, he couldn’t remember anything.
When Siles woke up, he vaguely felt as if he was still on flat ground. The customary swaying feeling of the train had suddenly disappeared. He sat up, looked out the window, and then suddenly froze.
The train had really stopped.
Someone knocked on the door. Siles snapped back to his senses and opened the door. Chendo was outside.
Chendo stood there with his arms crossed and said in a very depressed tone, “Heavy snow crushed the tracks. So, I’m afraid we’ll have to stay in this deserted wilderness for a while.”
