"Please..."
After speaking his last words, the man named Sodod died in front of Dorothy. Seeing this scene before her, Dorothy, who was still hiding under the bed, confirmed that the other party was truly dead using the Corpse Puppet Ring, and her expression turned serious.
Crawling out from under the bed, Dorothy didn't say a word. She immediately took out the magic box, opened it, and placed it on the ground. Then, using the Corpse Puppet Ring, she pulled Sodod up and had him jump back into the magic box with Edrick. After putting away the magic box, only Dorothy was left in the private room.
Hearing that this Sodod might have been being pursued, Dorothy naturally had to put the corpse away, otherwise, it would be bad if it was seen. Fortunately, Sodod had roughly bandaged his wound before coming to her place, so he didn't leave a trail of blood.
After putting away the corpse, Dorothy sat back on the sofa, her expression serious as she began to ponder. In her mind at this moment, she was recalling the words that Sodod had just spoken.
'This man named Sodod claimed to be a Captain of the Alster Security Agency. He got on this train to deliver something to the An-Yin Main Bureau in Tivian. However, not long ago, he was robbed by a Black Rank Extraordinary suspected to be a "Shadow".'
'This guy might be a 'Light'. He probably wanted to use his ability to search for the'Shadow's' whereabouts during their fight, but who knew he ended up searching me out instead. This guy is likely the one who used up all the'Shadow' stored in my ring...'
'He knew of my existence, so he came to me for help in his dying moments. To him, I am an unknown Extraordinary with no known background, while the other'Shadow' Extraordinary is clearly his enemy, wanting to steal the item he was escorting and harm him. So, he came to me for help with a try-it-and-see attitude, luring me with the An-Yin Main Bureau's reward...'
'So... should I accept?'
Sitting back on the sofa, Dorothy thought this. Becoming an enemy of a Black Rank "Shadow" was a very risky thing. Furthermore, this matter had nothing to do with her; she could completely ignore it.
'Regardless, the An Yin Bureau is always an official organization. Those who openly oppose them are highly likely to be dangerous societies and cults like the Holy Communion Society. To be honest, I am completely willing to act against Extraordinaries from these organizations; they are my main source of Extraordinary resources.'
'Moreover, the other party is a'Shadow'. Recently, I'm really short on'Shadow'. All my Spirituality storage items were used up when I fought those two Bonecrafters, and I also used a lot of what I had accumulated. Now even the'Shadow' stored in my ring is gone. I really need to replenish my'Shadow'.'
Dorothy thought this. She was indeed very short on "Shadow" right now, with only 1 point left accumulated after exhausting her "Shadow" storage items in the school battle. Dorothy originally wanted to buy some "Shadow" storage items from Aldrich, but he planned to venture into dangerous places to recover his strength and needed to keep all his storage items for combat readiness, so he wasn't selling them for now. Instead, he recommended Dorothy go to the White Stone Craftsmen's Guild branch in Tivian to buy things.
Therefore, Dorothy currently only had 1 point of "Shadow" in total, including both accumulated and stored amounts. This was actually very disadvantageous for Dorothy, who tends to hide herself behind the scenes, so she also had a need to acquire "Shadow". And this time, if she could eliminate that "Shadow", she might gain something and have a chance to get the An Yin Bureau's reward.
'If handled well, perhaps I can eliminate that'Shadow' safely.'
Thinking this, Dorothy decided to intervene in this matter and meet that "Shadow" Extraordinary for a while.
'First... I need to find him. That guy has already gotten what he wanted, and he is likely trying to get off the train now. Before the train stops next, it's my chance...'
Thinking this, Dorothy walked out of her private room and headed towards the front of the train. After crossing a carriage, she found the conductor's duty room behind the driver's compartment and found the conductor on duty inside.
"Mr. Conductor, where are we now? How much longer until we reach Tivian?" Dorothy asked the conductor in the duty room, and the other party replied politely.
"Miss, we are now at the border of Black Forest County. If everything goes smoothly, we should reach Tivian tomorrow afternoon."
"So when will the train stop next? Will it stop for a long time like before? The stopped train feels so boring, I prefer it when the train is moving~" Trying her best to act innocent and naive, Dorothy continued to ask, and the conductor thought for a moment before saying.
"About that... Hmm... The next stop should be in Cedar Town. The train just passed the Moon Tree River railway bridge. According to usual practice, it will be there in about ten minutes. But don't worry, Miss, we are just handling garbage and replenishing food there, not refueling, adding water, or doing mechanical inspections, so it will start again quickly."
"Ten minutes... Thank you!"
Bidding farewell to the conductor, Dorothy walked back to her carriage. Walking down the carriage aisle, her expression immediately changed from a naive smile to one of serious solemnity.
'Ten minutes... It feels very difficult, almost impossible, to find that guy in this entire train and deal with him in just ten minutes... If what Sodod said is true, that guy has the ability to pass through walls. Then once the train stops, he can immediately pass through the wall and get off. Any part of the train could be an exit point, and I can't stop him at all. To catch him, I must first prevent the train from stopping... But how can I do that?'
Dorothy thought deeply. Then, she had an idea.
Thinking of an idea, Dorothy quickly started walking down the carriage aisle. After quickly passing through another section, she came to a carriage that still had wisps of white smoke lingering. In this carriage, she saw a private room with its door wide open.
Quickly coming before this private room, Dorothy carefully examined the interior of the room and found faint traces of dripping blood.
'This is it, where Sodod and the other Extraordinary clashed.'
Thinking this, Dorothy looked around. After looking around, she murmured.
"It seems I need to... set up a little..."
...
In the dark night, the roaring train continued to speed forward on the tracks.
In the conductor's duty room at the front of the train, before the first-class carriage, the few conductors on duty were currently bored, playing poker and chatting.
"Hey... what happened in car number three just now? There was so much smoke."
"Who knows... I thought it was a fire, but when I went there, there was no fire at all, just smoke. I opened the windows to air it out and that was it."
"Hey... let me tell you, I just saw a little Miss when I was checking the platform, she was so cute..."
...
Just like this, the few conductors talked back and forth while playing cards. Suddenly, a sharp, clear scream came from the direction of the first-class carriage.
"Ahhhhh!!!!"
Hearing this scream, the few conductors were startled and exchanged glances.
"What happened again?"
"I don't know, let's go check."
Quickly putting down their cards, the conductors hurriedly put on their hats, ran out of the duty room, and ran towards the direction of the sound. After a while, they reached the target location, which was carriage number three.
Entering the carriage, they saw that the doors of several private rooms were open, and the passengers inside had come out together, gathering at the door of one private room.
Realizing that something was wrong, the few conductors quickly went to the private room where the crowd was gathered. Then they saw that the faces of the people in the crowd all showed expressions of panic. Among the crowd, a noblewoman was sitting on the ground, pointing with a trembling hand in panic towards the open door of the private room ahead.
"D-d-d-dead... Someone is dead!!!"
The noblewoman said in a trembling voice of terror. When the conductors heard this, their hearts tightened, and they quickly pushed their way through the crowd and looked inside the private room.
Then, they saw a man around thirty years old, wearing a dark blue jacket and gray trousers, lying on the floor of the private room, clutching his stomach. A large amount of blood flowed from his abdomen, forming a pool on the ground. His lifeless eyes were wide open, an unusually horrifying sight.
Seeing this scene, all the conductors were also stunned. They looked at each other, somewhat at a loss.
"He, he's dead? Th-this is... what happened!?"
One of the conductors said in surprise, but a voice from the crowd answered him.
"A murder case..."
Hearing this voice, the conductors and many passengers turned their heads together and looked at a tall, thin man wearing a trench coat, a fedora, with deep-set eyes and a hooked nose.
Looking at the many gazes directed at him, Edrick said with a serious look.
"Ladies and gentlemen, unfortunately, I'm afraid we have witnessed a despicable murder case tonight."