The dining car was completely packed with diners at this moment.
Because this train was overcrowded, there were two dining cars available, located at the front and the end of the train. Siles and his group had chosen the dining car at the front.
Alva, with his sharp eyes, spotted a table for four and rushed ahead to claim it. Siles and the other two went to select their food. By the time they returned, Siles noticed Alva was red-faced, engaged in a heated argument with someone.
Siles couldn’t help but frown, walking over to ask, “What happened?”
Standing in front of Alva was a middle-aged man whose face looked extremely haggard and worn, his clothing shabby. He behaved in a haughty and arrogant manner toward the young Alva, but the moment Siles approached, his momentum instantly vanished.
For a split second, Siles found the man’s features somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t recall where he had seen him before.
“Uh, uh… Sir, it’s like this,” the man said, pointing at Alva. “This young fellow took our spot. This seat belongs to us… do you understand?”
Siles glanced sideways at the table; it was completely empty with nothing on it. There was no sign whatsoever to prove the man’s words. Besides, belongs to us?
Siles then said, “This young fellow is my companion, do you understand?”
The middle-aged man’s face flushed deep red. After a moment, he suddenly deflated and said resentfully, “Fine, have it your way then.”
He then departed.
Alva said angrily from the side, “I clearly told him that my companions had gone to pick out food, but he still kept rambling on and on about how I stole his seat… What a joke! Doesn’t anyone ask if a seat is taken before trying to sit down?”
He muttered to himself, looking thoroughly infuriated.
“You really make me see you in a new light,” a low laugh came from behind Siles.
He turned sideways, and as expected, saw Quinton standing there, gazing at Siles with a thoughtful look. After a brief pause, Quinton added, “I didn’t expect you could be so firm.”
Siles fell into a brief silence. For a moment, he felt he really couldn’t cope with someone like Quinton. It was as if everything in the world was divided into either interesting or uninteresting in his eyes.
Because of Siles’s past “judgments,” because of his knowledge of Hoodoka, and because of his various performances since arriving in the Ashless Lands, Quinton found him interesting and was willing to associate with him.
Because the “Fate Cards” were interesting enough, Quinton was even willing to exchange a couple of words with Chester and Alva.
Siles thought to himself that it was no wonder the people of the Ashless Lands considered Quinton to be an overly arrogant and difficult person to get along with. He seemed to possess his own unique logic of survival and system of values.
However, as far as Siles was concerned, no matter what kind of person Quinton was, he was at least his travel companion for now.
So Siles merely nodded calmly and said, “Let’s eat.”
The mirth in Quinton’s gaze froze. He seemed to want to say something, apparently feeling that his “interest” had been cut short by Siles’s boring, calm reaction. He looked as though he couldn’t comprehend why Siles could remain so indifferent.
After a moment, Quinton sat down beside Siles as if nothing had happened.
Alva had already closed his mouth, watching them with a dazed, bewildered look.
Then, he asked, “Did you two… have a fight?”
Siles and Quinton simultaneously cast a bizarre glance at him.
The young Alva tilted his head in confusion.
Dr. Chester, completely oblivious to what had transpired, walked over carrying a food tray, sweating profusely as he said, “Whew! It’s truly hot enough on this train!”
Indeed, Siles thought.
Sitting by the window, he only had to tilt his head slightly to behold the withered scenery outside.
It was dusk, and the entire world was shrouded in a dim, hazy yellow light. The world seemed to be slowly drifting into slumber, yet the parched earth and ruined terrain gave Siles a sensation that the world was marching toward its death.
This was the evening of October 23rd. Not long after Antinam’s birthday, this world would welcome the bitter winter.
If they were outside the speeding train right now, the temperature they felt would probably be around ten degrees. Inside the train, however, the temperature was much higher—at least twenty degrees.
This was not thanks to any air conditioning, but rather the considerable heat released by the rapidly burning coal.
Siles even noticed a few bare-chested men among the passengers. He himself wore only a thin cotton shirt with a coat thrown over it. The coat was the one he had purchased at the October Market.
The vast majority of the passengers on the train were men. Women were extremely rare, though not entirely absent. Siles spotted several pairs of traveling adventurers, one man and one woman, who were likely married couples.
The gender norms of this era had not yet liberalized to the point where unmarried men and women could travel far distances together. Of course, it wasn’t completely unheard of; it was just considered a highly rebellious act.
__
On the way back to Carriage 19 after leaving the dining car, they encountered quite a few married adventurer couples in the carriages along the path.
They even ran into the man who had almost brawled with Alva earlier. He was currently standing beside a woman, whispering something to her, his gaze filled with trepidation and anxiety.
Is that his wife? A shred of doubt arose in Siles’s heart. The man’s demeanor was far too panicked; the relationship between him and that woman seemed worth scrutinizing.
Moreover, a middle-aged couple, Siles thought. Their ages could easily be compared to Eric Collens and his wife. Why would they board a train to the Ashless Lands in the dead of winter?
At the same time, Siles also noticed that Alva would occasionally stare exceptionally intently at those traveling couples, seemingly rather mindful of the matter.
He did not overthink it. Before long, the four of them returned to their compartment.
Siles visited the washroom. Since there was no possibility of a shower on the train, he wiped his body down with a wet towel. This forced him to strip off his clothes. Fortunately, the washroom possessed a door lock.
After wiping down his body, Siles chose not to put his coat back on, only donning his shirt before returning to the compartment. His companions had no intentions of continuing to play cards; each was currently lying quietly on their beds, either reading books or newspapers, looking quite leisurely.
The sky outside the window gradually darkened. Siles also stepped lightly as he climbed onto his berth.
Quinton, occupying the upper berth opposite him, noticed his movements and lifted his eyes to look over, nodding casually at him. Those emerald-green eyes always managed to evoke a sense of wondrous admiration in Siles under this dim, heavy lighting.
Chester and Alva were both on the lower berths. The disparity in height made Siles feel a momentary trance, as though they had returned to the train from Lamifa City to Maltz City, where only he and Quinton occupied the compartment, and Quinton lay right across from him, reading in silence.
He seemed to be reading a newspaper.
…Where did the newspaper come from? Siles wondered with some curiosity.
Quinton seemed to finish reading one sheet, then noticed Siles’s gaze. He raised his eyes to look over once more, and after a moment, leaned forward to hand one of the newspapers to Siles.
The gap between the berths was just enough for them to pass the paper across.
“Thank you,” Siles said in a low voice.
Quinton let out an imperceptible laugh. He sat there with his back resting against the wall, one leg folded flat on the bed and the other bent upward, the newspaper resting on his thigh.
Siles sat cross-legged. Because Quinton was directly opposite him, his presence always lingered on the periphery of Siles’s vision. Though silent, it remained incredibly distinct.
However, once Siles immersed himself in reading the newspaper, he gradually filtered out Quinton’s presence.
This newspaper was precisely the Konst National Gazette. Previously, it was from the April 21st issue of the National Gazette in the year 393 of the Age of Mist that Siles had discovered clues regarding Alfonso Carte’s public announcement of his tribal ruins discovery.
Siles wondered where Quinton had managed to obtain this newspaper. Perhaps from some corner of the dining car?
The date on this paper was not very recent; it was printed and published on October 22nd—which was yesterday, the very day they arrived in Maltz.
The news on the paper was clearly divided into several major events.
The Greyson Incident on October 19th; the Divine Birth Day celebrations on October 20th; and the Withered Wasetland development plan announced by the Grand Duke. These three matters held equal prominence, each occupying a substantial amount of space in the paper.
From the newspaper, Siles learned that the investigation team in Lamifa City had confirmed that the Greyson Incident was connected to certain “special individuals” in the Ashless Lands. Consequently, the authorities were dispatching an investigation team to the Ashless Lands.
Because this matter directly affected the food supply of Lamifa City’s residents, the public was clearly taking it very seriously. However, as for whether the entire sequence of events could truly be investigated thoroughly in a short amount of time… Siles did not harbor high hopes.
There were two different directions of investigation involved here. The first was the mysterious organization that Bolin Elgar had joined; the second was the origin of that mysterious portrait.
Although the latter was more direct and perilous, it was evident that the former would be easier to investigate and yield quicker results.
…If Siles had to say, he would probably add a third direction of investigation—namely, Elgar’s words about how “They are ultimately one.” However, such an investigation might prove far more dangerous.
Siles shook his head, not expecting to reap any useful information from the newspaper. Clearly, if he wanted to know the inside story, he might as well wait until he returned to Lamifa City and ask Dominic directly.
Another item on the newspaper that caught Siles’s attention was, naturally, the Withered Wasetland development plan.
There wasn’t much to say about the Divine Birth Day celebration, which amounted to nothing more than singing praises to Antinam. However, Siles still felt a slight touch of emotion because, judging by certain phrasing, the people of this world truly and sincerely felt grateful toward Antinam.
This honeymoon period between humanity and the deity had persisted for at least four hundred years. But the future?
No one knew what the future would look like.
Siles himself harbored positive impressions toward Antinam and the Church of the Past, yet he constantly maintained a shred of vigilance.
After all, even to this day, he still did not know whether Antinam was truly connected to his transmigration, or if the overly friendly attitude of the Church of the Past was merely based on the fact that he had provided information regarding the apostates.
Regardless, his understanding of this world was still not deep enough.
The Ashless Lands might allow me to understand this world faster, Siles thought inadvertently. After all, the Ashless Lands concealed the most important secrets of this world—the fall of the gods during the Age of Silence and the descent of the mist.
Siles merely drifted into thought for a brief moment before continuing to read the paper.
Regarding the Withered Wasetland development plan, many items had already been initiated. Among them, the first to catch people’s eyes was the laying of more train routes and tracks.
Currently, if residents of the Duchy of Konst wished to travel to the Ashless Lands, they had to transfer to other train lines at border cities.
With the progression of the Withered Wasetland development plan, the Grand Duke of Konst intended to open direct train routes from Lamifa City and several other crucial cities to Galsworthy in the Ashless Lands.
According to the news in the paper, several private railway companies had already begun bidding. The newspaper also mentioned the impact of this matter on driving domestic employment, consumption, and so forth.
It was obvious that laying railways required many workers, and it was impossible for workers not to spend money once they earned it. Many merchants were already growing restless.
The railways in the Duchy of Konst were all privately operated. For instance, the “First Snow Light” train Siles was currently riding belonged to the “Dexter Railway United Company.”
The Dexter Railway United Company was a colossal titan in the Fisher World, its web of influence stretching across various nations, and the majority of railways within the Ashless Lands were operated, developed, and run by it.
For the Grand Duke of Konst to develop the Withered Wasetland, he had to negotiate with this company over a long period in the past, allocate interests, and only then could he finally announce the detailed plan.
However… Siles couldn’t help but think that according to some information he had obtained previously—such as Angela’s statements and the Grand Duke’s hints at the banquet—the Grand Duke similarly intended to carry out some development work within Lamifa City.
This kind of development was clearly an opportunity for some new, small-scale companies to exploit.
Subways. Siles guessed this possibility with great interest. Was it truly possible to take action in this area?
If that were really the case… wouldn’t the underground passages of the West District become a monumental headache? It was likewise underground; if the Grand Duke of Konst truly wished to develop a subway, it would clash with the territories of those underground gangs.
It had to be admitted that at this moment, Siles hoped the Duchy of Konst would clean up those underground gangs. Yet at the same time, he was well aware that the chaotic West District had its own chaotic order, which was the existing power and color of that region.
Thinking up to this point, Siles couldn’t help but let out a low sigh.
He finished reading the newspaper, folded it, and raised his head intending to return it to Quinton, only to find that Quinton had already turned his back to him and lain down on his side, seemingly preparing to sleep.
Siles couldn’t help but startle slightly. He opened his pocket watch to check the time and discovered that reading the newspaper had consumed more time than he had anticipated. It was already nine o’clock in the evening.
He temporarily folded the newspaper up. He glanced at his berth and ultimately placed it casually beneath his pillow. He quietly slipped out of bed, visited the washroom to freshen up, and then returned to compartment 901, falling asleep as well.
__
The next morning, Siles woke to a sharp, faintly echoing scream.
“What happened?” He sat up, inquiring almost instinctively.
Opposite him, Quinton was sitting on the edge of the berth, shrugging his shoulders as he said, “I’m not entirely sure either. The conductor was shouting to ask if there was a doctor, so Dr. Chester followed them over. Alva was also startled awake and followed them too.
“As for me, I originally wanted to join the excitement, but… Professor Noel, honestly, the fact that you didn’t wake up under such circumstances truly surprises me. So I had to stay here lest anything happen to you.”
So, Siles thought, neither Chester nor Alva is in the compartment.
They stared at each other for a moment. In the end, Siles ignored Quinton’s teasing, merely offering a soft word of thanks before climbing down from the berth. He went to the washroom first, letting the cold water rouse his mind.
By the time he was completely awake and had returned to compartment 901, Alva came rushing back in, saying, “Someone is dead.”
Siles stopped mid-motion while buttoning his coat, asking in surprise, “Who?”
Alva looked a bit conflicted but eventually said, “The middle-aged man who argued with us yesterday.”
Siles’s brow gradually furrowed.
Quinton said thoughtfully, “Then it seems… we have become suspects?”
Alva let out a sigh. “One of them.” His expression looked a bit dejected, but suddenly, his emotions flared up again. “Come to think of it, a corpse on a train, suspects with different identities—this is truly a perfect setup for a detective novel!”
Siles and Quinton maintained their silence.
Alva glanced at the two of them, shaking his head with an air of feigned depth as he said, “It would be great if the doctor were here right now. He would definitely agree with me. As for you two…”
He flashed a highly exaggerated, provocative expression.
Siles paid no heed to the young boy’s desire to show off. He simply asked, “Where is Chester?”
Alva let out a thoroughly bored sigh and then said, “The doctor was just called over to perform an autopsy.”
Siles pondered for a moment, then asked with some confusion, “Then who uttered that scream I heard just now?”
According to Alva’s words, Chester had been called over specifically to perform an autopsy. Yet when Siles was startled awake by that scream, compartment 901 already had only him and Quinton left inside.
The timing clearly didn’t add up. When exactly was the body discovered? Wasn’t that scream supposed to be the cry of an eyewitness?
“It seems to be the deceased’s wife,” Alva said. “She saw her husband’s corpse and screamed in terror, and now she has fainted. The conductor is still waiting for her to wake up to ask about the deceased’s identity and information.”
Only then did Siles understand. However, he still felt a slight sense of confusion—the deceased’s wife? Why wasn’t this lady staying with her husband?
As he thought about it, he fastened the topmost button of his coat. He checked his pocket watch and found it was only six in the morning. The sky outside the window remained a murky gray, as if the train were traveling through dense fog.
Alva’s words interrupted his train of thought: “Professor, Mr. Quinton, since you’re both awake, come with me. The conductor said he needs to ask us a few related questions.”
Siles nodded, and along with Quinton, followed in Alva’s footsteps.
The deceased had previously slept in Carriage 3. However, the corpse had already been moved by now. The entirety of Carriage 3 exuded a faintly restless atmosphere, accompanied by many hushed whispers.
It seemed everyone was curious and terrified by a person’s death.
Alva led them to the dining car located at the front of the train, which was precisely where they had eaten dinner last night. Now, that corpse was laid out upon one of the dining tables. At a glance, there were no visible external injuries on the surface of the body.
The deceased’s expression was frozen in terror and disbelief. After one night, a vibrant life had turned into a pale, withered corpse.
Siles felt the atmosphere within the dining car was incredibly stiff and cold; everyone bore a look of wanting to speak but not knowing what to say.
Chester was wearing medical gloves, with some instruments laid out by his hand, indicating he had conducted a highly meticulous examination of the body. He stood there expressionless, looking more dazed than truly indifferent.
His clothing was somewhat disheveled, making him look rather haggard; he had likely been dragged over to perform the autopsy before he was even fully awake. It was probable that he himself had never imagined that a simple trip would involve performing an autopsy on a train.
At this moment, the dining car was not occupied solely by the corpse, Chester, Siles, and the others. In fact, it appeared exceptionally bustling and crowded.
Several men were standing to one side, their faces devoid of color, as if terrified by the occurrence of a death on the train. A few conductors stood expressionless in a corner of the dining car.
Compared to the conductors on the previous train who had seemed somewhat at a loss when faced with a theft incident, these conductors who regularly traveled to and from the Ashless Lands appeared far more stern and cold. Facing Siles’s gaze, their eyes held only a very shallow, polite warmth.
Additionally, a lady was currently sitting quietly to one side, her head bowed as she wept softly. She wore a very plain black gown with a few patches on it. That was likely the deceased’s wife, the source of the scream Siles had heard.
He took particular note that this lady was precisely the person they had seen along the way when returning to their compartment from the dining car yesterday. At that time, the deceased was by her side… conversing with her in a manner that was almost reverent and fearful.
Siles’s gaze swept over them once before settling on the corpse. He examined it somewhat closely, particularly the deceased’s face, which was distorted by fear and death.
When he had encountered this middle-aged man in the dining car yesterday evening, Siles had felt he looked somewhat familiar.
Now, seeing this man once again—especially his twisted face—Siles finally realized exactly where he had seen him before.
He was one of the two suspects who had stolen the astrologer Heidi’s star chart. On the previous train, this man had angrily argued with the conductor and the other suspect, staunchly denying his involvement.
That face distorted by anger bore a striking similarity to his current face distorted by agony, which was why Siles recognized him all at once.
He hadn’t realized this yesterday because he hadn’t actually observed the features of those two suspects very closely. At that time, his attention had been entirely captured by what Heidi was saying. Up until now, he didn’t know the astrologer Heidi’s whereabouts either.
Could she be on this train? Siles wondered.
Realizing the deceased’s identity—or rather, a certain past experience of his—Siles began to ponder whether it could be related to his death. However, how exactly did this deceased man die?
Before Siles could formulate an idea, two conductors suddenly walked over to them.
One of them spoke in a polite but cold tone, “Mr. Noel?” Seeing Siles nod, he then turned toward Quinton. “Mr…. Praia?”
It appeared this conductor was aware of Quinton’s reputation.
Quinton likewise nodded.
The conductor then said, “We hope to learn some details from the two of you. Would you mind coming with us?”
Alva chimed in from the side, “Don’t be afraid, we were questioned just now too.”
Siles glanced at him, thinking to himself that saying that was worse than saying nothing. He sighed at the young man’s rashness, then said softly, “Of course.”
Quinton continued to nod, looking far too lazy to speak. However, his gaze would occasionally linger thoughtfully on the corpse for a brief moment. It appeared Quinton had likewise recognized the man’s identity.
The conductors led them to a nearby empty compartment. Subsequently, one was responsible for recording while the other was responsible for questioning, showing that they took this murder incident very seriously.
They naturally asked about what had transpired in the dining car yesterday. Siles answered truthfully. Quinton hadn’t had any contact with the deceased, so he didn’t have much to say either.
After recording the statements, the conductor spoke in a milder tone, “Your account aligns with what the others have said. We do not believe you are suspects in the murder. However, your minor altercation with the deceased will still be placed on the record, and you may still need to cooperate with the investigation later.”
Siles nodded.
He thought to himself that in this era, they probably wouldn’t investigate alibis or motives for murder very thoroughly.
He merely remained silent for a moment before saying, “However, Mr. Conductor, I have something else I wish to share with you.”
The conductor was surprised to learn this.
“Quinton and I,” Siles turned his head to look at Quinton, “traveled together from Lamifa City to Maltz by train. On that train, we happened to have a brief encounter… or rather, a coincidence, with this deceased man.”
The conductor stared at him in surprise, then asked, “Could you elaborate on that?”
“Certainly,” Siles said. “On that train, an item belonging to a lady named Heidi was stolen; it was said to be a piece of cloth embroidered with a star chart. I knew that lady, so I conversed with her for a period.
“At that time, this deceased man was one of the suspected individuals. However, that theft incident was never resolved, and Ms. Heidi did not seem to intend to pursue the matter further.”
The two conductors exchanged looks, and one of them couldn’t help but say, “If that’s the case, then this man’s death might…”
The other conductor, who was older and more composed, shook his head. He merely recorded the matter and said pensively, “We will attempt to look for this Ms. Heidi and see if the stolen star chart is truly on the deceased’s body.
“However… your destination is the Ashless Lands. Which means that star chart is a…?”
“A Journey card,” Siles said. “Indeed.”
The conductor’s brow furrowed even tighter, seemingly thinking of a certain possibility.
Siles likewise understood his thoughts, asking, “Are you wondering if it might have been caused by an out-of-control Journey card? However, I would like to ask, what exactly was the deceased’s cause of death?”
The two conductors glanced at each other, hesitating, appearing somewhat indecisive.
At this point, Quinton spoke up, “Asphyxiation.”
Siles turned his head to look over.
A casual, playful smile played on Quinton’s face, looking highly satisfied with the situation where “the conductors wouldn’t tell Siles, but he did.”
However, Siles suspected he simply found the situation highly amusing; sometimes Quinton possessed a malicious streak for deliberately undermining others.
Quinton said, “There are strangle marks on the deceased’s neck. He was choked to death by someone.”
Siles couldn’t help but frown, murmuring in a low voice, “But, choked to death? Didn’t the deceased resist? In a shared compartment…”
In a shared compartment, someone was choked to death while the others remained entirely oblivious? The deceased didn’t make a single sound when he died?
The conductor looked at Quinton with some exasperation and ultimately let out a sigh, seeming reluctant to provoke this troublesome figure. Finally, he said, “Sir, please keep this matter confidential. We still do not know the exact details of the situation.”
Siles snapped back to reality and naturally nodded in agreement.
They rose and left the compartment. One of the conductors headed in another direction, seemingly off to investigate something else—Is Heidi on this train? Siles thought.
Meanwhile, the other conductor returned to the dining car. Siles and Quinton followed behind him, and the conductor did not stop them, seemingly letting things take their natural course.
__
Time slowly approached seven o’clock, and the sky outside gradually brightened, but the fog remained thick. Perhaps they should rejoice that the fog was merely ordinary morning mist, not any kind of special, eerie fog.
Even so, the dense white mist still cast a layer of gloom over Siles’s heart.
When they returned to the dining car, the corpse was still laid out there. Dr. Chester sat alone, having already packed away his medical instruments, but his expression remained highly dazed, as if he hadn’t fully recovered his wits. Alva, on the other hand, was brimming with energy, gazing with great interest in another direction.
Opposite him, the conductors were questioning the lady and those men. By the time Siles and the others returned, the questioning was drawing to a close.
Siles didn’t fully catch what was said. However, he glanced at Alva, knowing this young man had definitely heard the entire exchange, so he wasn’t in a hurry. Truthfully, he was a bit puzzled; Dr. Chester was understandable, but why would the conductors allow Alva to remain there and listen in?
As expected, once the conductors dismissed everyone back to their compartments to await the subsequent results of the investigation, and they returned to their compartment, Alva began sharing everything he had overheard in the dining car with a slightly excited tone.
“Unbelievable. If I had known traveling was this thrilling, I would have worked harder to convince my parents a long time ago,” Alva said. “Ahem—of course, I don’t mean to disrespect the dead. Death is one thing, but the living are another.”
He said so, but Siles and Quinton merely stared at him with complete tranquility.
Alva muttered something under his breath and then said, “Alright! Let’s get to the main point: what exactly did the conductor ask that lady and those men?
“Those men are actually the deceased’s roommates. According to the lady’s account, she and the deceased were a married couple. However, because the sleeper compartments require at least four people per room and they didn’t have much money to buy out all four berths, they bought their tickets separately.
“The lady stayed with other women, while the deceased stayed with the men. They would meet a few times during the day, like during meals, but were separated most of the time.
“Last night, they separated after eating dinner. Regarding our encounter with the deceased, the lady said she was unaware of it. She said that before boarding the train, they had agreed that the deceased would go to the dining car to claim a seat, and then the lady would go find him.
“Because the deceased didn’t expect the dining car to be so crowded, they didn’t get to eat dinner right away. The two of them waited for a period while famished, which caused a slight conflict between them.
“Uh… at this point, the lady said they shared a silent dinner and then returned to their respective compartments without staying together.
“Subsequently, it was this morning when she woke up and came to the dining car intending to have breakfast with her husband, only to unexpectedly behold her husband’s corpse here… Truly terrifying.”
Siles nodded thoughtfully, thinking to himself that it was no wonder that scream had been so piercing. It was probable that anyone would find it terrifying to go to the dining car for breakfast as agreed, only to find the corpse of the husband who was still alive the previous night lying on the dining table…
Thinking about it, Siles also felt his hair stand on end.
Alva couldn’t help but pause for a moment before continuing, “As for the deceased’s roommates, they only met just yesterday and actually didn’t know the deceased very well at all.
“They merely said the deceased had a rather poor temper and seemed to have… uh, some bad living habits. He slept in a ten-person room where one of the upper berths happened to be empty, so everyone could have used it to stack their belongings.
“The deceased occupied the lower berth beneath that empty upper berth. He placed his own luggage on the upper berth and refused to let anyone else put their luggage there… This seemed a bit strange. These two berths were right next to the door.
“…Perhaps you haven’t seen what a ten-person room looks like. It doesn’t have independent, private compartments like ours; their compartments are more like structures partitioned by thin wooden boards, with the bed frames fixed to the floor.
“There are no door locks like ours either; it’s an open layout. Therefore, people can come and go freely. The deceased’s roommates all said they didn’t hear any sound last night.
“The deceased’s berth was originally right next to the compartment door, so someone could easily have walked in, killed him, and left…”
As he spoke, Alva’s tone grew subdued, as if he had finally realized that a living, breathing person had truly died. They were in reality, not some thrilling detective or adventure novel.
They all fell silent for a brief moment.
Subsequently, Siles asked with a hint of doubt, “Even so, didn’t the deceased make any sounds of struggle when he was being killed?”
At this moment, Dr. Chester let out a long breath and said, “There are absolutely no signs of struggle on the deceased’s body. The handprints on his neck… are very deep, with no signs of shifting. I suspect the deceased was poisoned, and it is highly likely he suffocated to death while completely unconscious.”
“Poison?!” Alva exclaimed.
Even Quinton showed a bit of interest, asking, “How did you deduce that?”
Chester glanced at him, then spoke with a hint of professional confidence, “I am a professionally trained doctor. While performing the autopsy, I noticed his fingernails were tinged with gray.
“This is a relatively obvious sign… Of course, it would be best if a more detailed blood analysis could be conducted later. Right now, I am merely making a judgment based on experience, which may not be entirely accurate.
“In short, he is highly likely to have ingested a plant belonging to the Hyoscyamus genus. It’s hard to say exactly which species, but plants of this genus generally possess hallucinogenic, sedative, and anesthetic effects. Therefore, he might have been completely unaware that someone was killing him.”
As he spoke, Chester couldn’t help but let out a sigh.
Siles frowned, sensing a subtle discrepancy. After a moment, he finally realized where that discrepancy stemmed from and said, “But… if someone could administer poison to him, why would they still need to personally choke him to death?”
They stared at one another.
Siles explained his thoughts in greater detail: “The fact that the deceased was poisoned indicates he lacked vigilance against this type of medicine or toxin.
“And since the person who poisoned him utilized this kind of plant, it shows they possessed some understanding of plant toxicity and could completely have used a more potent toxin or other lethal substances.
“Furthermore, Doctor, according to your statement, the effects of this class of plants are hallucinogenic and sedative. Don’t you find that the purpose of using such a plant wasn’t to kill a person, but rather to extract some information or search for a specific item?
“To truly choke a person to death by hand requires a great deal of resolve and a sufficiently ruthless heart.”
Chester nodded thoughtfully.
Ultimately, since poison had already been administered, why perform an unnecessary action?
Quinton joined the discussion with great relish, saying, “Perhaps the killer didn’t obtain the item they desired, so they killed him in a fit of rage?”
Alva muttered, “That doesn’t seem impossible either.”
Siles nodded and said, “That is one possibility. There is also another possibility: the person who administered the poison and the person who committed the murder are not the same individual.”
Alva clicked his tongue, unable to help but remark, “But does this fellow really attract that much hatred?”
Quinton let out a laugh and said, “On this train bound for the Ashless Lands, anything is possible.”
His mention of the Ashless Lands caused Siles to suddenly recall a question he had overlooked. He asked Alva, “When the conductor was questioning the deceased’s wife, did he ask why they were traveling to the Ashless Lands?”
Alva recalled carefully for a moment before saying, “It seems so. The lady said they were traveling specifically to the Ashless Lands to look for something.”
To look for something?
Chester couldn’t help but remark, “That is truly a vague and evasive explanation.”
Siles nodded in agreement. This was hardly an honest and transparent attitude for someone reacting to her husband’s death. No matter what, the man was dead now, and their operation would presumably remain incomplete.
Under such circumstances, why did this lady still intend to keep it hidden?
Siles found himself somewhat perplexed.
They discussed it for a while, but ultimately remained unable to reach a conclusion regarding the truth given the current lack of information. During the discussion, Siles also revealed the brief encounter he and Quinton had shared with the deceased on the previous train.
Alva made an even greater fuss, feeling that a dark, hidden secret lay behind the deceased’s death.
…But in the end, what exactly was that secret?
The commotion of the early morning left them all exhausted and hungry. Chester stated he needed to catch up on some sleep. Once Alva’s excitement waned, he seemed infected by Dr. Chester’s fatigue and likewise let out a yawn.
Consequently, only Siles and Quinton went together to the dining car at the rear of the train to eat.
…There was a corpse lying in the dining car at the front, after all. Even if it reopened for business later, Siles doubted he would ever eat there again. They had fled the Greyson Food Company of Lamifa City, only for their appetites to be shrouded by another shadow now.
Siles couldn’t help but let out a sigh.
“You seem quite fond of sighing,” Quinton said. “Are there truly so many troubling matters?”
Quinton’s curiosity seemed to instantly dispel the slight melancholy in Siles’s heart.
Siles thought for a moment before saying, “Perhaps it is merely because I am currently traveling far from home.” He paused, then added, “Therefore, melancholy always surrounds me. How I long to return to my homeland.”
The traveling far from home he spoke of did not merely refer to Lamifa City, but even more so to his distant home planet, Earth.
Quinton startled slightly, seeming as though he wanted to say something, but in the end, he merely gave a soft hum of acknowledgment. He said dryly, “I can understand.”
What exactly did he understand?
Yet Quinton did not continue to delve into this topic, maintaining a rational and resolute silence.
Siles glanced at him with slight confusion but ultimately did not pry further. They went to the dining car and shared a breakfast. However, due to the events of the morning, Siles still found the food completely tasteless.
By the time they finished their breakfast, the investigation on the conductors’ side had yielded a brand-new clue.
