Endless Debt Chapter 643 - 154 From the Fairy Tale

The first ray of dawn rose from the edge of the horizon, piercing through the dense forest and across the boundless wilderness, landing on the rumbling train, shining through the narrow gap in the curtains, onto Bologue’s face.

Waves of warmth caressed Bologue’s cheeks, waking him from his slumber, slowly opening his eyes. Bologue was dazed for a few seconds, then blinked forcefully, rubbing his face vigorously as if trying to scrape off the ice frozen upon it.

Bologue had been sleeping sitting up all night, his whole body stiff beyond belief. He got up from his seat and stood in place, briefly stretching his body.

The others were still asleep; perhaps they were awake but reluctant to come out.

After last night’s events concluded, Bologue let Duwa sleep in his room, while Bologue stayed up to keep watch... Though there was not much need for a vigil with Lebius there, with his strong Ethereal Perception, few could approach quietly.

Even so, Bologue stubbornly stayed, sitting quietly all night, contemplating.

According to Yuriel, for this operation, the Field Operations Department dispatched several teams, and the Crow’s Nest cooperatively spread a lot of deceptive information.

Evidently, last night’s attack was a result of successful deceptive information, currently unclear how the Zongge Orchestra learned of the Order Bureau’s movements. At least until reaching Free Port, Bologue’s party shouldn’t encounter any other incidents.

Is it really so?

Whenever Bologue closed his eyes, he thought of that blood-splattered shattered little window.

After inspecting the entire train, Bologue found no anomaly, even the previous scent of decay had long dissipated.

No Demons, no hostile Condensers, no abnormal information, yet Bologue couldn’t let go of his concerns.

The concentrated outbreak of battle occurred at the tail end of the train, even the Demons died in this area, yet in several further carriages, there were suspected outbreaks of battle.

A Demon separated from its group?

It’s quite possible; Demons are completely driven by hunger, seldom rational, and hard to control under commands. To satisfy the hunger, attacking unconscious passengers isn’t out of the question.

Then... Someone killed the Demons.

The person must understand the existence of Demons well, and know their distinction from ordinary people. After the battle, he even took the trouble to clean up the site.

No matter how Bologue repeatedly inspected, there was nothing to discover. Was the person’s Tier higher than his? If so, Lebius couldn’t have missed it, leaving only one possibility.

The person is a commoner, an ordinary person capable of hunting Demons.

Others might find it surprising, but Bologue thought it’s nothing. Before becoming a Condenser, Bologue already possessed the capability to hunt Demons.

No... The person might even be superior to Bologue a bit. Bologue has the Undying Body, allowing him to fight recklessly, but the person is just mortal; every battle with a Demon comes with the risk of death.

This requires extraordinary courage.

"Good morning, Bologue."

Aimou pushed open the door, greeting Bologue. She rubbed her drowsy eyes and sat down beside him.

Because she could dream, Aimou loved sleeping. The chaotic dreamscape was a novel experience for a rational machine, never getting tired of trying it.

After waking up for a bit, Aimou continued, "Didn’t sleep well? I told you, you should have let that Duwa sleep on the chair..."

"It’s nothing," Bologue shook his head, "just thinking about something."

Bologue’s gaze wandered between the carriages. On this train, besides Bologue’s party, there was such an ordinary person with the ability to hunt Demons. And as this person is ordinary, Bologue temporarily couldn’t identify him.

Never mind.

Bologue whispered within himself; his primary task now is to search for the tenth group and retrieve the primal object, not to divide his focus onto these unknown events.

Pulling open the curtain, bright light streamed into his eyes, dispelling the gloom within the carriage. Bologue would spend a long time on the train still.

...

"So who exactly are you?"

In the morning, in the dining carriage, the girl stuffed with food, spoke indistinctly.

"Don’t talk while eating."

Ewen whispered, unwilling to break the silence in the dining room. Just as he finished speaking, Ewen’s expression twitched. He picked up a tissue and sneezed loudly.

The girl sitting opposite laughed endlessly.

Ewen frowned. Seeing the girl always stirred a ceaseless absurdity within him.

Just last night, having experienced life-and-death combat with Demons, Ewen killed three Demons before her with brutal means. A normal reaction would have been endless screams, yet she merely dry-heaved... That was merely a physiological response; mentally, this guy didn’t show any issues.

No issues at all, and that’s the big problem.

The girl’s mentality was freakishly strong. Thinking about a few key rescues from her during the fight made Ewen feel dizzy. What had he encountered here? Are all young people like this now?

How robust is their ability to accept new things? And to maintain such a great mindset?

After encountering Condenser, the girl covered herself with her coat and just fell asleep so composedly. Her sleep quality was superb, waking up groggily at dawn.

As for Ewen...

Ewen woke up cold several times in the night, contemplating reclaiming his coat several times, but decided against it, and now Ewen appears to have caught a cold.

Indeed, he must be getting old; he recalls swimming all night at sea when younger, emerging energetic onshore.

"Could she really be what I’m thinking?"

The girl swallowed her food, rubbed her hands excitedly, "Retired assassin?"

"And those people were your enemies? Revenge drama?"

"Shut up," Ewen handed over his portion of food to the girl to silence her, "finish my meal, then we part ways."

Ewen enjoyed solitude, always had; he has lived alone for a long time. Even when meeting interesting people on his travels, after journeying for a while together, Ewen would take the initiative to leave.

Ewen dislikes farewells, so before becoming emotionally attached, he always withdraws early.

"Farewell?" The girl shook her head vigorously, "No, no, no, you saw how well we cooperated. Perfect team."

"I can help you, we took down the enemy together, we’re allies on the same front now, right?"

Ewen looked expressionlessly at the girl, his meaning was clear.

"You... you’re not going to kill me to silence me, right?"

The girl pretended to look panicked, her gaze wandering. This didn’t fool Ewen.

"So what do I do? What if an assassin comes for me? I got implicated because of you, I... I even saved your life!"

The girl stammered, but in the end, she had no choice but to confess.

"Okay, okay, I just had a family conflict and ran away from home."

"Where are you going?"

"Free Port."

"Why go there?"

"Because my sister is there," mentioning her sister, the girl was full of energy, "My sister treats me very well, better than anyone else, I want to live with her."

Ewen understood that this time the girl wasn’t lying; the truth was written in her eyes.

"What’s your name?"

Ewen felt like he had asked this question many times before, but each time the girl would evade it in various ways.

"Not telling you," the girl said, "My family said not to tell strangers my name."

Ewen’s expression twisted briefly, coughing heavily.

This bastard had just helped him eliminate three Demons last night, as the girl put it, they were comrades on the same frontline, partners for the journey ahead, yet she pretended to be a good kid, saying not to tell strangers her name.

Ewen just wanted to get rid of the girl as soon as possible, "Once you see your sister, we’ll say goodbye."

The girl was surprised, "Ah... I thought you would ditch me once we reach Free Port."

"Free Port is not a safe place; you might get sold to the Kagader Empire the day after getting off the train."

Ewen was familiar with Free Port; in his youth, he spent a lot of time there and was sold several times; those experiences were too awful.

Worse still, even cattle and sheep were worth more than Ewen, which made him question his own value for a while.

The girl was stunned for a few seconds before saying, "Ewen, you really are a great person."

"I just hold on to my principles and strive for them..."

Halfway through his words, Ewen’s expression changed, "How do you know my name?"

"Hmm? Isn’t this your notebook?"

The girl raised Ewen’s notebook from her bosom, opening to the first page where his signature was.

Ewen Flesher.

Seeing his precious notebook in the girl’s hands, Ewen immediately became furious. The girl undoubtedly hit Ewen’s bottom line, but before the anger released, she said something Ewen never expected.

"So... are you a Poet?"

The girl looked at Ewen seriously; she didn’t notice that her behavior had aroused Ewen’s anger, she was simply curious, like a fawn poking its head into a human tent in the wild.

"A Poet?"

All at once, Ewen’s anger vanished, he took a deep breath, affirming.

"Yes, I am a Poet."

"Hmm..."

The girl nodded while flipping the notebook, pointing to a page, "So this is about me, right?"

"Hmm? Yes!"

Ewen became uneasy, barely angered now, but rather embarrassed, as he had written about the image he fantasized for the girl, regarding her actual circumstance.

Ewen knew nothing about the girl, not even her name, was it the same.

"If you feel it’s an invasion of your privacy, I can tear out this page."

There really wasn’t much privacy to it, more of Ewen’s fantasy. He imagined everyone’s image and tried to know their true selves, feeling the gap between fantasy and reality.

"No, I think it’s quite nice."

The girl read Ewen’s imagined version of herself, her voice light, as if telling an ancient story.

"On the gloomy platform, she was so bright, like the only color in a black and white film... I don’t understand this girl, she’s too peculiar, like a fawn stepping out from a fairy tale, you can only see her silhouette dart through the woods, yet you can never catch up with her..."

The girl closed the notebook, handing it back to Ewen.

The wine-red eyes gazed at Ewen, her voice clear, as if it were the only sound left in the world.

"Do you know Cinderella?"

"A well-known fairy tale, how could I not know it?"

"I like that fairy tale... Cinderella!"

Ewen remembered the name, it was the Cinderella favored by fate in the fairy tale.

The girl revealed a radiant smile.

"You can call me Cinderella."