Chapter 966: Train

Seeing Alfred look over, Klein returned with a smile and nodded gently.

"I suddenly sensed some danger."

With that said, he calmly turned around and headed for the carriage

which Haggis had pointed out.

"Danger..." Alfred repeated the word softly as he warily surveyed his

surroundings but failed to find anything odd.

He slowed down his pace, constantly taking note of his surroundings

before returning to the nearby three-story building with

out-of-the-ordinary vigilance.

Pagani glanced at the heavy-expression wearing Alfred and asked, feeling

somewhat puzzled, "What happened?"

He was quite a distance from the arms deal, so he hadn't heard their

conversation.

Alfred walked to the window and looked down at the convoy that was

prepared to leave after loading the munitions. He deliberated and said,

"Dwayne Dantès suddenly left, saying that he had sensed danger."

"Danger?" Pagani didn't dismiss it as he warily looked around. He didn't

notice anything amiss even when Maysanchez's men left the region and

vanished into the darkness.

He then laughed.

"Haha, Alfred, I think you're too sensitive. I believe it's solely

because Dwayne Dantès is a coward and was unwilling to stay here for too

long!"

Alfred retracted his gaze and frowned.

"Perhaps."

After returning to his hotel, Klein made Enzo, who had turned into a

mixed-blood lad, open the suitcase in his hand. He took out the gold

coins and bars one by one and did the count.

It was valued at a total of 30,000 Loen gold pounds!

Thankfully my previous agreement with Miss Messenger is 10,000 Loen gold

coins. I don't need to make any additional conversions... Sitting

leisurely in the reclining chair, Klein drank the sweet and sour but

refreshing Gwadar as he "monitored" his marionette's work.

After Enzo separated the items, he took out the adventurer's harmonica

and blew into it.

Reinette Tinekerr walked out of the void with the four blonde, red-eyed

heads in hand. It was as though she was constantly nearby.

Her eight eyes turned towards the pile of gold coins and gold bars that

had been separated.

After a few seconds, the four heads in Reinette Tinekerr's hand said,

"Very good..." "In the future..." "Missions will..." "Cost more..."

...What's the logic behind this? Why are you raising the price after the

mission despite me paying you so quickly? Klein was taken aback as he

asked with a straightened back, "What?"

Reinette Tinekerr's four blonde, red-eyed heads nodded seriously.

"Mission..." "Price..." "Depends On..." "Your..." "Ability..." "To..."

"Earn Money..."

I never expected that... Klein turned agape, but he was unable to

retort. After all, such matters were solely decided by the helper.

Furthermore, with him advancing to Sequence 4 and becoming a demigod,

the missions that he needed her help with in the future was likely to

increase in difficulty and danger. It was seemingly reasonable to

increase the price.

After Reinette Tinekerr swallowed the gold coins and vanished from the

room, Klein reined in his thoughts and began doing calculations

regarding his current wealth.

My expenses have been quite significant recently. I'm left with 17,275

pounds in cash and 65 gold coins... This pile of gold bars is worth

25,000 pounds... That makes for a total of more than 40,000 pounds. It's

not something to dismiss in all of the Loen Kingdom. I can already buy a

manor and some land for farming... Arms dealing sure is profitable...

Reinette Tinekerr needed gold coins, so whatever was left were gold

bars.

Standing up and sending the gold bars above the gray fog, Klein walked

to the window and cast his gaze to the north.

With the matter coming to a close, he was poised to return to Backlund.

Looking at the horizon, Klein suddenly sighed silently.

Backlund...

North Borough, Backlund University of Technology.

Audrey was touring the campus with a few staff members of the Loen

Charity Bursary Foundation.

She was dressed in a simple, light-green dress. By her waist was a

white, unadorned leather belt. Her blonde hair had a veiled hat with

ribboned flowers that showed off her playful side. She didn't wear any

other accessories other than a silver bangle on her left wrist. She

looked no different from a female student that came from a family that

could only be considered middle-class.

Over the past few days, she had been to public primary schools that

bordered East Borough, and she had visited the technical schools in the

area around Backlund Bridge. She already knew the appropriate clothes

needed for the occasion, not treating charity work as another social

scene.

Her green, limpid eyes darted around slightly as she wore a faint smile

as she observed the students that came and went.

Backlund University of Technology had recently sent out its acceptance

letters, and it was matriculation day for the new class of students.

Matriculation should've happened in late-August or early-September, but

as a newly restructured university, Backlund University of Technology's

entrance examinations were later than the other universities. That also

delayed the results, which also meant that students that applied to the

school had also participated in the examinations of other universities

or might've already been accepted. Therefore, they had brought forward

the registration work to confirm the matriculated numbers before

deciding how many more students needed to be accepted.

Due to this, Audrey and the Loen Charity Bursary Foundation's staff came

to help the first batch of approved applicants to complete their

matriculation procedure.

Wherever she could see, she discovered that the students on campus wore

a beaming expression, and every action they made exuded obvious

confidence. Their words and actions had an indescribable vigor, one that

seemed to have immense hope for the future that allowed them to see

light.

And this feeling was completely different from the few public primary

schools that Audrey had experienced in the past. The students there were

either boorish and noisy or silent and gloomy. A common trait of theirs

was being uneasy and confused. Whenever they encountered strangers of

status, they would be filled with trepidation. Their eyes were dull,

lacking the spirit that youths ought to have.

I really wish those kids will have a chance of receiving higher

education and be like the students here where they can work hard for a

better future... As Audrey sighed silently, she swept her gaze to a

male-female duo who were likely siblings.

The elder brother had clearly stepped into society and started working.

He wore a silk hat and wore a rather thin black formal suit. He appeared

to be in his thirties and had the air resembling a civil servant.

He had borrowed a rather old camera from somewhere and had placed it on

a tripod. He gestured for his younger sister to move and adjust her pose

as he searched for the best angle.

The sister was about seventeen or eighteen, and her black hair simply

cascaded down. Her brown eyes had a look of exasperation, but she didn't

say a word as she seriously listened to her brother's instructions.

Such combinations were everywhere on campus. Some of them had parents

and their child, while others were groups of friends.

What a beautiful scene... Audrey looked away and continued proceeding

forward.

It was a square, and in the middle of it was a decommissioned steam

locomotive. Its massive body was standing there proudly, adding

industrial vibes to the Backlund University of Technology.

Whoosh!

The behemoth-like steam locomotive spewed out smoke as it hauled its

long body into the platform before slowing down a stop.

A mixed-blood, seven- or eight-year-old girl who looked like a doll,

held her mother's hand as she waited in a long line. She asked her

father, who was similarly mixed-blood with Loen and Balam heritage,

about Desi Bay.

Amidst her shuffling, she saw a gentleman with white sideburns and a top

hat holding a gold-inlaid cane. He had a servant with brown skin as he

walked towards first-class.

The servant looked around curiously and said, "Sir, the recent situation

is different from what I had imagined. I thought the people from Balam

would lead tough and difficult lives, with squalid, chaotic, poor, and

repressed surroundings. But there was none of them. We even drank Gwadar

and smoked East Balam cigarettes. There were even some people who could

afford bikes. Uh, as you know, although I have Balam blood in me, I was

born in Backlund. I've never been to the Southern Continent. Of course,

my Dutanese is still not too bad."

The very noble middle-aged gentleman chuckled and waved his cane.

"That's because we only went to the cities and regions that aren't too

bad. The saddest people of Balam are in the villages, in the

plantations. The rest take up residence around the factories, creating

slums. We never had a chance to see them."

As though sensing the girl's notice, the gentleman with his deep blue

eyes and his servant looked over and gave a warm smile.

The corners of their lips clearly curled up, revealing eight teeth

before they nodded gently, looked away, and continued on their way.

Before long, the girl and her parents boarded the steam locomotive and

found their seats.

When the whistle sounded again, the girl saw a man with dark brown skin,

soft facial features, and red lumps on his cheek walk over with his head

bowed. His hand pressed on his hat as he quickly walked down the aisle

and headed for the head of the train.

The man knocked on the partition before quickly entering the operator's

compartment and said to the train driver, "All the train attendants have

been swapped with our men. The bridge ahead is where the sacrifice will

be held."

With a thick mustache, the train driver nodded and said, "May God be

satisfied with the sacrificial items on this train.

"Let's hope we can gain eternal life in the kingdom."

Whoosh!

The steam locomotive drove under a bridge before cruising past a huge

bridge. After a long trip, it finally arrived at its destination, the

pier.

The doll-like, mixed-blood girl was somewhat sleepy and was no longer as

lively as before. Under her parents' lead, she followed the crowd and

inched towards the door.

There were a few attendants at the door who were helping some of the

passengers remove their luggage.

When the girl and her parents walked past, these attendants curled the

corners of their lips and revealed eight teeth, showcasing a warm smile.

After the girl jumped onto the platform, she looked back at them

subconsciously. She saw figures standing outside the door, discussing

something. Among them was the train conductor, as well as the man with

the lumps on his cheek.

A second later, these people turned their heads over and curled the

corners of their lips, revealing eight teeth.

The girl retracted her gaze and skipped along as she left the platform

with her parents.