Travel

"The Canaan has a top speed of four hundred kilometers per hour, an operating speed of three hundred and fifty kilometers per hour, a train height of four thousand and fifty millimeters, quiet and vibration-free travel throughout, and complimentary Wi-Fi for the entire trip..." Walking along the underground concourse, Igola read aloud the information he had pulled up on his phone. "I recall the fastest maglev train in Blood Moon reached superconducting speeds of six hundred kilometers per hour, but that relied on countless alchemists manufacturing miracle materials... I had thought steam trains would be the absolute limit for mortals." "Even without sorcerers, mortals are just as capable of creating miracles." Yaxiu took his suitcase back from Weixi. "Never underestimate any civilization." "The Canaan," Harvey said, picking at his ear. "Sounds familiar." "During the first Angel Hunt, the city swallowed by the white mist where over a million people were lost was Canaan," Yaxiu said after a moment's thought. "I'm not sure whether it was named in memorial or simply shared the name from the start." "It was to commemorate the Canaan Reconstruction Plan." Feili glanced at Yaxiu. "The Canaan Railway you donated to help build seems to be nearing completion and should open for service soon. Rail transport is much faster than freight trucks, so once it's running, aid from across the country can reach Canaan to support the rebuilding." Yaxiu paused, then smiled faintly. "That's wonderful." "Even though we couldn't use the money Heath left behind to take out the other demons, at least... it didn't go to waste." He shrugged. "Luckily Rose was around to help, or I wouldn't have even known how to spend it. Come to think of it, though, Rose booked the tickets, Rose found the hotels, Rose took care of every messy little chore, and even my luggage was packed by Rose..." "You're basically indistinguishable from a useless Lalafell at this point," Igola chimed in. "Let's see if you can still take care of yourself after parting ways with Rose." "Huh?" Yaxiu blinked. "Don't I still have you?" "...The sheer entitlement in your tone almost made me wonder if I owed *you* a wish for a second." Igola arched an eyebrow. "Then again, if I remember correctly, *you* owe *me* a wish, my dear cult leader." "You still remember something from so long ago?" "I generally only remember two kinds of people: those who crossed me, and those who owe me. You're fortunate, because you top both lists." Igola tilted his head. "How should I spend that wish? At your wedding with the Sword Princess, make you recount your sexual fantasies about the Witch? Or at the Witch's wedding, make you describe your sexual fantasies about the Sword Princess?" Harvey remarked, "There's a flaw in that. What if you hold a joint wedding for both?" "No need to worry at all. He has so many objects of sexual fantasy, I doubt a single wedding could contain them all," the Deceiver mused. "Still, that would embarrass the ladies in public, which isn't quite my style... Better to wish that on his wedding night, he confesses to his bride how many people he has fantasized about." "Hey!" "You should do some serious soul-searching about why that threatens you in the first place," Igola scoffed. "Even so, I'm more than happy to look after you. After all, I wouldn't want to miss seeing whether your finale ends in a bloodbath or having your corpse torn to pieces." "Master, you still have me!" Weixi hooked her arm around Yaxiu's, saying softly, "I'll take care of you forever!" "Thank you, Weixi," Yaxiu replied gratefully. "Nothing could motivate my independence quite like that curse of yours." Remembering something, he pulled a bucket hat from his backpack, slowed his pace to fall in beside the silently trailing Niya, and set the hat onto her head. "..." Niya looked at him without a word. "Rose may have forged an identity for you, but I think it's better to stay cautious," Yaxiu said with a grin. "Besides, it suits you nicely—it makes your face look petite and delicate." As a wanted fugitive, Niya naturally could never buy a ticket through normal channels, but forging identities was the underworld's most thriving enterprise. Rose handled all sorts of dirty work with ease, so fabricating an identity for Niya was hardly worth mentioning. "...If anyone recognizes me, I'll carve my way out." Niya looked away. "It's not as if I wanted to go save the world with you in the first place." "But I need you! Aside from Weixi and me, you're our strongest fighter." Yaxiu pressed his palms together pleadingly. "You'd only be idling around in Jiashi anyway, so just think of it as helping me out. I really do want you to travel across All Stars with us." Niya lowered her head and murmured, "You just don't want me out of your sight." "That's part of it, yes." Yaxiu blinked. "Is there a problem with that?" *You're still just doing this for the Sword Princess. You only want to keep me from causing trouble for her. It's not that you truly want...* Niya instinctively thought of a dozen sharp retorts, but as she caught Yaxiu looking at her with an earnest expression, her lips parted slightly, only to fall silent. In the end, she said nothing, quietly pulling the brim of the hat down until her red hair was nearly entirely tucked away. Seeing Niya acting so tame, Yaxiu grew bolder and couldn't resist reaching out to pat her head. An instant later, realizing he might get clawed, he quickly jumped back. Niya merely cut him a sidelong glance, however, without losing her temper. Yaxiu let out a sigh of relief and turned to meet Feili's gaze. He blinked and was just about to reach out toward her when Feili blocked his hand. The little sheep then stood on tiptoe and patted *his* head instead, as if it were some sort of competition. Between the parking lot and Jiashi Station lay a massive underground shopping mall, already bustling with shops and echoing with crowds. As they walked, they noticed a bottleneck up ahead. It turned out entering the station required lining up for security checkpoints and using a phone to log into a website to register personal details. Feili looked puzzled. "I remember when I traveled last year, there weren't any security checks..." "The government of the Nation of Stars classified the Canaan City and golden rain incidents as abnormal meteorological events and antisocial terrorist attacks—specifically, terrorists using extreme weather to carry out vicious acts of revenge on society," Rose explained calmly. "Therefore, besides establishing a specialized agency to handle extreme weather, the government has mandated strict security screening at major public venues across the nation. For now it's only transportation hubs, but in the future, even large supermarkets will likely adopt mandatory screening." "In a way, the conclusion the government came up with is surprisingly close to the truth," Yaxiu remarked. "None of you brought contraband, right?" Weixi pondered for a moment, then detached the spearhead from the collapsible spear in her backpack. "As a maid, carrying a clothes-drying pole around is perfectly reasonable, isn't it?" Igola thought it over and disassembled the handguns in his pockets into individual components. "A rifled steel tube is merely an artisanal handicraft, not contraband." Harvey shook his head with utter calm. "I brought no contraband." Everyone stared at his oversized trunk—a full 1.5 meters tall, large enough to cram several people inside—and fell into a prolonged silence. Strictly speaking, whatever Harvey kept inside his luggage wasn't quite as overtly illicit as spears and firearms... "I'm not parting with my sword," Niya declared, clutching her sword bag tightly. "Never!" When Yaxiu instinctively turned toward Rose, he suddenly realized he truly did have a natural gift for being a useless Lalafell. Rose nodded understandingly. After making a few brief phone calls, she said, "All set. I bribed the three security guards at the left checkpoint. Everyone can head straight through, though you'll still need to log into the website to register your personal details." "Troubling you again," Yaxiu said with a wry smile. "And I'm fairly certain we'll keep causing trouble for the rest of this journey." "That is an assistant's duty," Rose replied. "Besides, there are controlled substances inside my dolls. If they couldn't get through, I would have had to bribe the security guards anyway." "I've actually been meaning to ask for a long time." Yaxiu glanced at Rose's backpack, the corner of his mouth twitching. "Why do you have to bring along these four... rather unique dolls on a trip?" Hanging on the outside of Rose's backpack were four large plush figures. One was golden and composed entirely of wings densely covered with eyes. Another was blue, formed by four concentric rings of varying sizes in a peculiar arrangement, each ring studded with eyeballs. A pale green doll looked like a heart, patterned with pupils of all different sizes. The most normal of the bunch was a pink one resembling an ouroboros, but a closer look revealed its scales were made of tiny hands, each palm concealing an eyeball... Walking with them this whole way, Rose had frightened who knew how many children to tears. "Is it not allowed?" Rose asked in return. "If it bothers you, I can throw them away." "That's not what I meant. It's just... do you really like these dolls that much?" It wasn't as if Yaxiu had only just discovered Rose's eccentric tastes. While he had never seen her full collection, whenever he couldn't sleep and went to the study to read, Rose would inevitably yawn, knock on the door while clutching one of her grotesque dolls, and ask what late-night snack he fancied. "I don't like them," Rose answered, catching Yaxiu completely off guard. "I hate them with a passion." "Huh? Then don't you sleep cuddling them?" "When I sleep, I cuddle Mr. Fish and Miss Cow. These four are usually kept on the floor so I can step on them." Yaxiu looked bewildered. "Then why didn't you bring Mr. Fish and Miss Cow?" "Why would I bring them?" Rose asked in return. "I don't want to step on them." Yaxiu blinked. In the intellectually barren Nation of Stars, an extraterrestrial capable of keeping up with Rose's train of thought had yet to be born. "If only you could become a sorcerer, Rose," he said with a smile. "You would certainly add so many wonderfully bizarre colors to this world." "Hmm?" Rose didn't seem to grasp his meaning, tilting her head in mild confusion. Not dwelling on it, she looked back down at her phone to enter her details. While clearing security, Yaxiu looked back and saw Niya at the end of the line, still head down, fiddling with her phone. He leaned in, glanced over, and said, "Just put our home address, and put my number as the emergency contact... You remember my number, right?" Niya glanced at him, entered the information, and finally cleared the first security checkpoint. Beyond the entrance was another screening before the main waiting hall. Rose once again wielded the power of money, and the group finally made it into the VIP lounge to rest, their various contraband items safely in tow. Just as Yaxiu was getting ready to pass the time on his phone, he noticed Feili glancing around beside him. Standing up, he said, "I passed the restrooms earlier. Does anyone want to go with me?" "Me!" Weixi rose languidly. "Whenever Master goes to the restroom, he always needs my help holding—" Noticing the subtle, knowing looks from the other passengers in the VIP lounge, the corner of Yaxiu's mouth twitched. "Good thing I'm already about to leave this city. Feel free to slander me however you like." "I only meant holding your shoulder, Master. What were you thinking?" Weixi's eyes fluttered seductively, her head tilting as she let out a soft giggle. "Why is it that no matter what I say, your mind always leaps in that direction? Master, carrying on like this all the time can't be good for your health, you know." "Your very presence is already bad for my health," Yaxiu retorted testily. "If I end up dying at your hands in the future, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised." "Sometimes I wonder if you're flirting with me on purpose, Master." Weixi mused, "Though I must object—the odds of you dying at the hands of the Sword Princess, the Witch, or the Veela are far higher than dying at mine. In every sense of the word." "I'll go too," Feili piped up timidly, tagging along behind them. "Feili, did you let your school and friends know about the trip?" Yaxiu asked with a chuckle. "I'd hate to be accused of abducting a college student." "I told everyone." Feili nodded with a smile. "When Senior Liya heard I was going to travel across All Stars, she was so jealous she nagged me about it all night." In truth, it was more than just nagging. Senior Liya had become convinced that Yaxiu intended to use this opportunity to win Feili over, and had spent the night tutoring Feili on how to capture Yaxiu instead—after all, the line between predator and prey was a very blurry one! "Nobody was worried?" Yaxiu asked. "Traveling out of town for an extended trip with drifters like us... even I feel like I'm abducting a college girl." "Not really..." Feili hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. "No, not at all."