Shhh-click~!
The train compartment door opened faster this time around.
"Ah?"
Ned was in the middle of eating a delicious-looking sandwich and turned to the door to see who was entering.
If it was someone that was already assigned to this same compartment, there wouldn't be enough seats for that person.
Precisely because of Ned's heavy backpack that covered half of the sofa bench!
Click~ click~
However.
Then the blue top hat-wearing man stood at the doorway. He held a small metal tool in his hand, which clicked every time he pressed them together.
"Tickets."
The train conductor said.
Click~ click.
The small metal tool clicked again. It was a ticket puncher.
"Right away, sir!"
Annie reached into the pocket of her coat and took one out. It was silver in color and was as thin as toilet paper.
The train conductor snatched it from her hands. He then punched her ticket and handed it back to her with a cold look.
He wasn't much of a smiler.
"Where… where… where…"
Ned panicked as he went through his backpack in a search of the train ticket.
He then saw that the train conductor was staring straight at him. He almost pissed his pants. With tears in his eyes, he continued the search.
"Where did you hide it, dumbass?"
Annie angrily whispered at him and joined him in the search for the ticket.
"…Haah."
The train conductor let out a long sigh, and he then turned to the pink-haired boy and raised an eyebrow.
As if he were asking, "What about you, boy?"
With a gulp, Waylen scratched his cheek, wondering whether he even had a ticket, and he nonchalantly went over his pockets.
In that moment, he touched something, and pulled out a silver ticket that hadn't been punched just yet.
It then disappeared from his hands as the train conductor snatched it, and he then punched it with the metal tool and gave it back.
'I have a ticket? Does that mean before I woke up, I purchased this ticket and willingly entered this train?'
Waylen frowned.
"HERE!"
Ned excitedly shouted as he retrieved his ticket, and with a cheeky smile, he offered it to the conductor.
The train conductor wasn't amused.
He still took the ticket, punched it, gave it back to Ned, and then slammed the door back shut.
"Idiot!"
Annie slapped Ned's head, and he painfully winced in response, and it looked like it really stung.
"What if you hadn't found the ticket? You would've been kicked out of the train!"
Annie shouted.
"Kicked out of the train? No, I wouldn't have. Do you see how high we are in the sky? They would've kicked me out at the next station, but before we would've arrived there, I would've already found my ticket!"
Ned argued back.
"…You really think that the train conductor wouldn't have thrown you out?"
Waylen said with a smile.
To him, the train conductor didn't look like he gave a shit whether he threw someone out or not.
"Uh…"
Ned paled.
'I think they said that we will arrive at that school at night. They also mentioned the luggage car. Maybe I have my stuff there? There could be clues about who I am!'
Waylen's eyes brightened.
He then turned to Annie and asked.
"Where is the luggage car? There is something I'd like to retrieve from my bag."
"It should be at the back of the train."
Annie said.
"Okay~"
Waylen excitedly stepped out of the train compartment and started walking towards the back of the train.
"…Do you think he is a little weird?"
Ned said when he was gone.
"What do you mean?"
Annie asked.
"Like that pink hair. Doesn't he know that it is a trademark of the Karoline Family? He might make some people really mad at school if he keeps it like that.
"Karoline Family has made a lot of enemies. Slaughtered a lot of families. Even if I was born with pink hair, I wouldn't keep it, as I don't want to be associated with those monsters."
Ned said.
"He might be from a small village like us and doesn't know that."
Annie said.
"From an even smaller village than us? Even we know about the Karoline Family. It is almost like he has lived inside a cave.
"He was even confused about names! Hah! About names!"
Ned billowed with laughter.
"…Maybe we should tell him to dye his hair. If he is from a small village as well, we should help him out!"
Annie said.
"Sure!"
…
Shhh-click!
Waylen stepped through the door and walked down a narrow corridor.
There were compartments on either side, each with a different number. There were eager-looking students in all of them.
In that moment, he came across one of the compartments that had an open door and took a peek inside.
"Huh?"
A green-haired boy inside looked over. So did his friends. They didn't look all that friendly.
"…Hi."
Waylen awkwardly greeted them, then walked past and just rolled his eyes at their unfriendly stares.
He reached the end of the car, opened the door, and stepped into the next car—it was the luggage car finally.
There were shelves with bags of all shapes and sizes stacked neatly on top of each other. They were kept in place by a series of ropes and bungee cords.
'I thought it would be harder to breathe since this train is so high up in the sky, but the air is surprisingly crisp and fresh.'
Waylen thought.
He then went to look for his bag, but there were so many of them that he realized it would take a while to find his.
'These bags are separated alphabetically, so is mine over at W…'
He found the shelf with A… then found the B… then C… he kept going until he found the shelf with W.
"Uhh… Westwood… Wilhelm… Woody… No, there isn't Waylen anywhere."
He scratched the back of his head and realized that all of them were family names, so they were separating the bags alphabetically based on family names.
'Great. I don't know my family name, so I am completely lost here. Hey… Maybe my ticket has the family name!'
He excitedly took out his ticket, but his face soon fell apart as he took a good look at the ticket.
It only had one name—Waylen.
'What in the world? I didn't include my family name when I purchased this ticket. Seriously, who does that?'
He groaned and then had an idea and walked all the way to the end of the luggage car until he found the last shelf.
The last shelf didn't include a letter. It had only one bag.
He checked the name in the bag and chuckled.
[Waylen's Bag]
"Excellent!"
He removed all the ropes and then opened the bag with an excited look but only came across clothes.
A lot of clothes.
'Is there really nothing else?!'
Waylen panicked and rummaged through the bag, but then, he touched something hard at the bottom.
It was a notebook.
[Karoline Leonidas' Notebook]
'…Karoline Leonidas. It's not my notebook.'
He curiously opened it and came across all kinds of scribblings about magic circles, incantations, and words that he didn't understand.
It was very technical and detailed, like the work of a professional.
'Does this notebook contain the studies of this Karoline Leonidas guy? Why do I have this? Do I know this person?'
He thought, and then he stuffed it back into his bag and decided to take a look at that once he was over in the school.
Shhh-click-bam!
The luggage car's door suddenly slammed open.
"Eh?!"
Waylen looked over.
It was those people he saw. The green-haired boy and his friends. They then noticed him and again looked unfriendly.
"Why are you here, pink bastard?"
Baru asked.
He had dark green hair with a broccoli-top haircut, and his eyes were a piercing yellow, like a wolf's eyes.
"I needed something from my bag."
Waylen said and put the bag back onto the shelf.
"You didn't take anything. You're lying. Are you here to steal from these bags?"
Baru asked.
His friends crossed their arms. They stood behind Baru like they were his loyal bodyguards.
"It wasn't in my bag… I think I left it back home."
Waylen said with a nervous gulp.
"Yeah, right… I really dislike your hair. You cannot trust anyone with that pink hair."
Baru said coldly.
"…It's just a hair."
Waylen said nervously.
"Or maybe you are related to them. Are you part of that monster family, hmm? Are you a Karoline?"
Baru asked spitefully.
"I don't know who that is."
Waylen said with confused look.
"Now I know you're lying. Everyone knows them. I am from the well-respected Arafari family. My family has been part of the upper echelons of the Justice Army for generations.
"And we have witnessed the terrors of Karoline Family firsthand. Sorcerian High is not a place for trash like you!"
Baru screamed, and he then kicked Waylen off balance, and he stumbled backwards and fell to the ground with a loud thud.
"Aish… I am not part of them!"
Waylen cried out and rubbed his aching back as he struggled to stand up.
"Domi, go through his bag. Let's find out if he is really speaking the truth."
Baru said with a smirk.
'If they find that notebook with Karoline Leonidas's name on it, I will be killed by them. I can't make up an excuse for that one!'
Waylen paled.