As the first rays of dawn appeared, Phil Gray and his companions had already arrived outside the city. A large procession carrying pedestrians roared in, and they waited in the open space.
Ernest was wary of his surroundings, while Eli idly played with the black cat in Phil Gray's arms, his hands covered in scratches.
"Should we buy a ticket for this little guy?" Eli asked.
“Probably not,” Phil Gray replied, as the black cat jumped onto his shoulder and gazed haughtily into the distance.
"We've arrived," Ernest reminded him.
They boarded the train, intending to travel from the city of Duer all the way to the eastern coast of the western continent, and then board a ship bound for the eastern continent.
The journey will take you through many cities, but some of the trains are continuous, requiring only transfers in a few cities.
"Have a pleasant journey!" Ron came to see them off, panting, just as the train was about to depart. He needed to see the black cat leave before he could feel at ease enough to buy the next fireblood fish.
"Goodbye!" they waved to Ron.
Once on the train, Phil Gray and his companions all looked at the black cat on their shoulders.
It was too dark last night, so I didn't get a good look at the cat.
It is pure black, with emerald green eyes and a bushy tail that looks like a small broom.
"Its claws can step over thorns, and its body can pass through vines. It's very good at dodging. I wonder how powerful it is?" Eli asked curiously.
Phil Gray chuckled. "Perhaps its attack wasn't very effective, otherwise, would you still have such shallow scratches on your hands?"
“Alright, but is this cat going to stay with us? What do you plan to name it?” Eli asked, taking out the Church of Life newspaper he had just bought that morning from his storage space. He hadn’t read it for several days and wondered if there was any important news.
“Let it stay with us for now. We haven’t figured out its true identity yet. As for its name, let fate decide.” Phil Gray thought to himself that his naming skills were rather poor.
I'm not going to bother thinking about it anymore.
He pointed to the newspaper in Eli's hand, "What are the first two words of the headline in the second column of your newspaper?"
“Huh?” Eli looked at it and read it aloud, “The brightest star in the night—the legendary life of Conrad Garden, the bard of the Kingdom of Barrow. The first two words, ‘night’? That does fit the color of this little cat quite well.”
"So this is fate. Night, sounds pretty good." Phil Gray chuckled, scratching the cat's chin. "What do you think of the name?"
The black cat licked his hand, which he took as agreement.
"However, why is your Church of Life's newspaper telling the story of a bard?"
“Oh, you don’t know that this bard named Conrad is a legendary figure of the Church of Life. He traveled all over the world of Vil, composing numerous hymns of praise for the God of Life and some of the Church’s most famous figures, and spreading the hymns to many places,” Eli explained.
"So that's how it is."
The procession continued toward their destination, and the three of them took out the prepared playing cards and continued their "noble duel."
Meow~
Night suddenly cried out and jumped down from Phil Gray's arms.
"What's wrong?" Phil Gray asked.
But it vanished in the blink of an eye.
"Oh no!"
The three of them went through the passageway, searching everywhere for the cat, but it had vanished without a trace.
Just as they were wondering where to look, they heard a surprised voice coming from one of the cubicles ahead—"Ah!" It sounded like a young lady.
But the noise subsided quickly.
Phil Gray glanced at Eli, "Could it be our cat?"
Eli stepped forward and knocked on the wooden plank. "Excuse me, is there a cat inside?"
"Yes," the woman replied, opening the door to the cubicle.
A dark shadow flashed by, and Night jumped onto Phil Gray's shoulder, licking its paws.
“I’m sorry, did it startle you?” Phil Gray apologized.
Sitting in front of me was a somewhat plump young lady, wearing a pearl necklace, a white lace-collar long dress, and a silver belt studded with scattered diamonds, looking quite wealthy.
"Yes, it gave me quite a fright, but this cat is so cute. Look, it ate all the dried fish I just took out." She was carrying an empty bag with the symbol of the Church of the God of Food on it.
"I'm so sorry, we'll compensate you." Phil Gray took out some gold coins. "How much is this bag of dried fish?"
"No need, consider it my treat. This adorable little black cat reminds me of a quiet night with stars in the sky," the young lady said softly, taking out three bags of dried fish from her suitcase. "I'll give it some more; it's not worth much anyway."
Night perched on Phil Gray's shoulder and meowed, seemingly urging him to accept it quickly.
“Okay, thank you so much! If anything happens during your journey, you can always come find us over there.” Phil Gray thanked him and pointed to his cubicle.
"Okay, goodbye kitty!" she said with a smile and a wave.
Phil Gray, his face grim, took the cat back to his cubicle and lifted Night by the scruff of its neck, placing it on the table.
"You should be able to understand us, right, Nightfall? We like you a lot, but you can't act so recklessly. If it happens again, we'll throw you into the sea when we cross it."
Phil Gray threatened him "fiercely".
The darkness jumped onto his shoulder again, but he pulled it off again.
"Did you understand what I said?" Phil Gray asked again.
He began to doubt whether the cat could understand their language.
However, Hei Ye meowed several times and rubbed her head against him.
“Okay, I’ll assume you understood.” Phil Gray said somewhat helplessly, while Eli next to him burst out laughing.
At lunchtime, Phil Grete specifically asked the person in charge of the train for some fresh fish and put it in his space, intending to feed Nightfall to prevent it from stealing food from other passengers.
However, it was too picky; it wouldn't eat ordinary fish, only the dried fish that the lady had just given it.
"What kind of fish is this?" Phil Gray carefully searched the bag and found the fish's name—a crystal fish. Its flesh is like crystal, and it only grows in the clearest, purest water. It sounds like a rare fish.
Phil Gray regretted agreeing to Ron's request; keeping a cat like that would bankrupt him!
Three days passed in a flash. The train stopped, and passengers began to disembark one after another, bringing their cats with them, intending to head to the next city.
This was a somewhat desolate outskirts. They had heard that the city lord of the city ahead was somewhat resistant to the inventions of the Creation God Cult, so Dalie could not stay in the city.
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