Chapter 64 On the Journey
The next morning, Klein Moretti was awakened by a knock on the door. He got up from the bed, reached for the pocket watch on the table and looked at the time. It was exactly 7 o'clock.
Melissa was preparing breakfast for the family, and Benson was washing up in the bathroom. He had no choice but to rub his swollen eyes and go to open the door.
Standing at the door of No. 2 Daffodil Street was his colleague, Angel Granger, who was also a new member of the Nighthawks.
The beautiful blonde woman said to him apologetically, "I'm sorry, I can't make it to the appointment on Saturday."
Klein, who wasn't fully awake yet, took several seconds to understand the meaning of this sentence. He asked blankly, "What?"
Only then did he notice that there was a leather suitcase next to Angel, and he was not wearing his usual windbreaker, but a long cloak with a cape, and light casual clothes underneath the cloak.
"After you left yesterday morning, the captain informed me that there was an urgent mission requiring my participation." Angel smiled wryly and pointed to the east side of Daffodil Street. "He told me to pack my weapons and daily necessities overnight and take the steam train to Enmat Harbor early this morning."
Klein glanced in the direction she pointed. The rising sun cast its soft light across the entire street. That was the direction of Enmat Port, approximately a four-hour drive from Tingen City.
"Did he explain the situation?" Klein asked, looking back at Angel. "How long will he be gone?"
The woman before him lowered her head in thought, seemingly hesitating whether or not to share the details of the mission. Klein stood inside the doorway, the height difference of the stairs preventing him from clearly seeing her expression.
But Angel quickly raised his head, his deep purple eyes looking at him.
"He didn't elaborate on the specifics of the mission, only saying it was a major operation. Many Nighthawks from Stoen City, Pritz Harbor, and even Backlund were dispatched. The Tingen City team also wanted to send some personnel, but they don't have enough people here right now, so they only wanted me to participate."
"If everything goes well, I'll be back in about a week."
Have the Nighthawk teams from so many places been mobilized?
After hearing a few place names, Klein secretly drew a map of the Kingdom of Loen in his mind and discovered that several large cities east of the Tussock River were included in it.
But this would probably be very inefficient... If we draw a few Night Watchmen from each city to form a temporary team, would it really have any combat effectiveness?
After mentally complaining about the Nighthawks' organizational abilities, Klein saw Angel already picking up the suitcase and quickly said,
"Then I wish you a safe journey. When you come back, we can make another appointment."
Angel was visibly stunned for a moment, then smiled and nodded.
"OK."
Watching her carrying her suitcase towards the hired carriage at the corner, Klein seemed to remember something. He turned and ran back home, taking the stairs three steps at a time to the second-floor bedroom. He grabbed the things on the desk and strode down the stairs again.
"Benson? Klein? What's going on?"
The sound of footsteps on the wooden stairs echoed throughout the house. Melissa, his younger sister, asked in confusion from the kitchen. Without bothering to answer, Klein ran out onto the street and found Angel already loading his suitcase onto the carriage and conversing with the driver.
"Steam train station, please come as soon as possible, I can pay double the price."
Angel and Klein had already wasted a lot of time saying goodbye, and they might miss the first train to Port Enmat. If they missed the time, the next train would depart in the afternoon and would not arrive at the destination until nightfall.
In order to arrive on time, she promised to pay double the fare, which immediately made the coachman smile. He nodded repeatedly to indicate that he was familiar with all the shortcuts in Tingen City, and the horses pulling the carriage were also famously fast, and he would ensure that he could take people to the station in time.
"Wait, wait a moment."
Klein's voice came from behind him, and Angel looked back in confusion.
"Take this, I just made it."
Klein extended his hand and handed over a silver pendant.
At the end of the slender silver chain hung a thumb-length maple leaf-shaped pendant, engraved with intricate text and patterns, all written in Hermetic.
"Is this... an amulet?"
Angel raised her eyebrows and asked curiously. She took the pendant, turned on her spiritual vision, and found that the ornament in her hand emitted a clear spiritual light.
This shows that it is an object rich in spirituality.
"Yes, I hope it will bless you with a safe journey."
"Thank you!" Angel thanked sincerely.
She knew the complexity of amulet crafting. She had been trying the "Sleep Charm" and "Dream Charm" Old Neil had taught her, but unfortunately, she had more failures than successes. Even with her extensive experience crafting special bullets, she was still troubled by the delicate work of carving runes on thin silver sheets.
What's more, the words and patterns on this amulet are far more complicated than those of a single talisman, and it is obvious that the maker spent a lot of effort.
Unable to bear the thought of disrespecting Klein's kindness, she undid the buckle at the end of the silver chain, put her hands around her neck, pushed her long hair back, closed the button, and then tucked the maple leaf-shaped pendant into the front of her clothes.
The length of the silver chain was just right. She adjusted it slightly to center the pendant. When she looked up and saw Klein's slightly red face, she realized that her actions were not very elegant.
As if to conceal his feelings, he put on his hood and tightened his cloak. Then, Angel thanked him again: "...Thank you for the amulet. I will carry it with me."
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“Woo—”
A long but sharp whistle sounded, and the train made of steel by humans, like a giant monster, spewed out bursts of gray smoke, and slowly started to move forward under the steam sprayed from the boiler, heading towards the east.
Angel arrived at the platform in the last five minutes, showed his ticket and boarded the train to Port Enmat. If he missed this train, he would have to wait until the afternoon for the next train to the same destination, and he would miss the arrival time agreed with the Nighthawks team at Port Enmat.
But even for the first train, Angel had very little time left. There was no direct railway from Tingen to Port Enmat. The train would detour to the northeast city of Stoen, stay there for a while, and then go to Port Enmat. The whole journey took nearly four hours.
The estimated time of arrival at Enmat Port is 11 a.m., leaving her less than an hour to reach the Nighthawks' base at Enmat Port.
Looking out the window at the low houses slowly moving backwards, feeling the vibrations of the wheels passing through the gaps between the rails, Angel found his own seat and sat down, placing his suitcase at his feet. He slowly exhaled the breath he had been holding while rushing all the way.
Originally, according to the plan, she had plenty of time to catch the train, but as she was leaving, she suddenly remembered to inform Klein that she couldn't attend dinner tomorrow evening. This was why she knocked on the door of No. 2 Daffodil Street, wasting quite a bit of time.
But even if she missed the train and was delayed in arriving at Port Enmat, she would not regret her impulsive behavior.
After all, I received a gift...
She touched the pendant on her chest through her clothes, and made an excuse for wasting time. She pulled the leather suitcase at her feet onto the table, unfastened the buckle, opened the suitcase halfway, and checked the items inside again.
The suitcase was not big, and the main space inside was reserved for two sets of clothes, followed by a spare revolver and most of the ammunition that were inconvenient to carry with her. She only had her main weapon in the holster under her armpit, a dagger at her waist, and twelve spare rounds of ammunition.
In addition to the 50 pounds she received temporarily, she also carried all the cash with her. Not only was she worried about leaving the money at home when she was away for a long time, but she also wanted to find an opportunity to buy some potion materials to be promoted to "Instigator" in Port Enmat.
She also remembered the address of a craftsman that The Hanged Man had provided. If she had the chance during this trip to Enmat Port, she planned to ask about the price of the extraordinary weapon.
There was also a metal box tucked into the corner of the suitcase, which contained a revolver that had been broken by Cole Granger before Angel crossed over, as well as some strange items she had picked up from the basement, which were probably the extraordinary characteristics of a "witch".
It was supposed to be like this...
When she was packing her things last night, she remembered this long-forgotten extraordinary characteristic and planned to take it with her to Enmat Port to ask someone, or give it to the "craftsman" to make extraordinary weapons.
But when she took out the iron box from the secret compartment in the study and opened it, she found that the purple-red jelly-like substance had disappeared, and the revolver placed together, whose hammer was damaged and could not be used, had undergone a strange change.
Taking the iron box out of the suitcase and placing it on his lap, Angel carefully opened the lid.
Just by opening a crack, a strong, bloody smell overflowed from the box. Looking through the gap, the revolver originally made of brass had become completely black, and even the missing hammer had been replaced by an unknown substance, becoming complete again.
She didn't even need to use her clairvoyance; just looking at the weapon with her naked eyes made her feel a stinging sensation.
This carriage was a second-class carriage and there were not many people at the moment. There were only less than ten people sitting in the seats that could accommodate forty passengers, but the bloody smell that instantly filled the carriage had attracted a lot of attention.
Seeing that some passengers in the carriage were frowning and standing up to look for the source of the fishy smell, Angel quickly closed the iron box again. The box with the function of isolating spiritual things sealed the source of the fishy smell again, and the fluctuations that spread to the entire carriage disappeared in an instant.
There's no doubt that the Beyonder characteristic has become one with this revolver...
Angel made this judgment when he recalled the mysterious whispers in his ears and the bloody smell in his nose when he first discovered the extraordinary characteristics.
According to Old Neil, this revolver should have become a magical item, and should have some of the abilities of extraordinary characteristics, as well as the accompanying negative effects.
However, due to her lack of relevant knowledge, she was unable to use this weapon for the time being. Its functions and side effects were unknown. Even taking it out would make those nearby frown and search for the location of the bloody aura...
Perhaps only the "craftsmen" of Port Enmat can answer these questions and even find a way to use this revolver safely.
Looking out the window at the suburban houses gradually turning into countryside, Angel suddenly began to look forward to this trip.
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