Chapter 476 : Desert

At the banquet, Kankdal’s mayor stood with a glass of red wine in hand, listening intently to Vania’s proposal. After she finished speaking, he pondered for a moment before nodding slightly.

“You wish to bring supplies to aid the people of Yadith? Hm… that is indeed a good idea. It could leave a strong first impression on the people there. Sister Vania, your thoughtfulness is truly admirable.”

Robert spoke with approval, and upon hearing his response, Vania continued.

“It’s nothing… just a necessary consideration. After all, the people there have endured war. This is the time they most need help. It’s also an opportunity for us to demonstrate our sincerity in these negotiations.”

“What you say makes sense, Sister Vania. Understood—then your departure will be postponed by two days. In the meantime, the Kankdal city government will do everything it can to assist the envoy in acquiring supplies.”

Robert said this to Vania, and she responded graciously.

“Thank you for your understanding and support. I leave it all in your care.”

…

Time passed quickly. The welcome banquet in Kankdal soon came to an end, and the various guests and members of the envoy returned to their respective lodgings. After a night’s rest, dawn arrived once again.

Early the next morning, Robert officially announced that Sister Vania’s envoy would delay their departure, opting to first gather supplies before heading to Yadith. As soon as the news broke, representatives from across Kankdal stepped forward with donations. Combined with the envoy’s own purchases, a mountain of food and medical supplies began to pile up in the warehouses near the train station.

The Desert Arrow was a luxury train prepared especially for the envoy by the Kankdal Railway Company. Famous even in neighboring countries, it was designed to serve upper-class clientele. Though the train had relatively few carriages, it boasted lavish interiors and facilities. In addition to standard passenger and dining cars, it also featured bar cars, casino cars, social lounges, and other amenity-focused compartments.

The Desert Arrow was like a cruise ship on rails—capable of providing passengers with luxurious comfort while achieving remarkable speed due to its powerful locomotive and lighter configuration. It could travel at nearly twice the speed of a normal passenger train.

However, this particular journey would see the Desert Arrow undergo some changes. To accommodate the transportation of large quantities of relief supplies, the Kankdal station was forced to reconfigure the train’s composition. Many of the luxurious but nonessential entertainment cars were removed, replaced by heavy-duty freight cars. Thus, the train—originally meant for elites—was now partly repurposed as a cargo carrier.

Reconfiguring the train took half a day, and loading the supplies took about as long. Due to Sister Vania’s specific request, many freight cars were added to the train, and even after all donated supplies were loaded, several cars remained unused.

To avoid wasting this cargo space, Vania reached out once more to the merchants of Kankdal, inviting them to bring essential goods for civilians suffering from the war. She encouraged them to ride the Desert Arrow to Yadith and promised that, as long as they were willing to sell the goods at fair prices, they would be allowed to travel with the envoy.

Because of the current unrest in Addus, few merchants were interested in doing business there. Those willing to take the risk mostly hoped to exploit the situation for massive profit and thus rejected Vania’s fair-pricing condition. Her offer, though noble, received few responses.

In the end, only a handful of merchants approached the envoy and agreed to Vania’s terms, requesting permission to board the train with their goods. Vania promptly accepted their request.

Transporting humanitarian relief was a noble act, but it wasn’t without risk. Over the next day, the envoy’s guards carefully inspected the entire train and all supplies. After confirming everything was secure, it was decided that the train would depart the following morning.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

On the morning of the third day, the Desert Arrow, now fully loaded with goods, was finally ready to depart.

At Kankdal Station, a large crowd had gathered to see them off. People stood along the platform, watching as the great steel beast, billowing steam and smoke, slowly pulled away from the station and headed deep into the inland territories of North Ufiga.

In one of the passenger cabins of the accelerating train, Dorothy—dressed in the traditional long robes of North Ufiga, her face covered with a veil and headscarf—sat comfortably by the window. She watched the cityscape whip past, gradually giving way to lush greenery.

Posing as merchants, Dorothy and Nephthys had boarded the Desert Arrow along with Vania’s envoy en route to Yadith. Their ship had arrived in Kankdal two days ahead of Vania’s, and during that time, Dorothy used her corpse marionettes to gather supplies. When Vania opened her envoy to fair-dealing merchants, Dorothy quickly signed up, bringing along around 700 pounds’ worth of goods. Thanks to Vania’s cover, she and Nephthys had boarded without much scrutiny and were now safely en route to Yadith, well-concealed.

“It still feels surreal… that Sister Vania has become such a big deal now. She’s the envoy the church has sent to Addus,” Nephthys said in awe, sitting across from Dorothy in a similar robe. “Just last year when I met her, she told me she was just a regular sister from a chapel in the North District. Now she’s making front-page headlines…”

“You’ve changed quite a bit too,” Dorothy replied while sipping her tea.

“Last year you were a university student. Now you’re a legendary thief. I’d say you’ve made the papers as many times as Vania, if not more.”

Hearing this, Nephthys froze for a second and then whispered back with mild urgency—

“Don’t bring that up again… Miss Dorothy, none of that’s good news. I never wanted to be famous to begin with…”

“Alright, alright, I won’t say any more.”

Seeing Nephthys’s slightly flustered expression, Dorothy responded with a smile. Nephthys let out a long breath and then shifted the topic back to Vania.

“Right, Miss Dorothy, this time Sister Vania is heading to Addus for negotiations, and you’re secretly tagging along… does that mean there’s some society influence involved in the matter? Is Sister Vania’s mission not purely a church assignment? Is there perhaps… another will at work behind it all?”

Nephthys asked curiously. The "society" she referred to was the Rose Cross Order, which she considered herself a part of.

She knew that Vania was also a member of the Rose Cross. With Vania being sent to negotiate in a country in civil war, and Dorothy coming along as well, did that mean the Order had some hidden involvement in Addus’s affairs? Could it be that the Rose Cross Order was manipulating the situation behind the scenes?

Nephthys felt a flicker of excitement. She had always known that the Rose Cross Order was mysterious and powerful, but she had never seen its influence manifest so directly on a national scale. If the chaos in Addus truly involved the Order, then that would be proof of its ability to influence the political situation of an entire nation. This was the power of a great society.

While Nephthys spoke with some excitement, Dorothy glanced at her, sipping her tea, internally rolling her eyes. In truth, Vania had been roped into this by infighting within the Church, and Dorothy was only following to keep an eye on her—nothing more. Even she didn’t fully understand why Vania had been chosen for this mission.

“There are indeed some deeper reasons behind Vania’s trip to Addus. But they don’t lie just with us. Most of them come from within the Church…”

“The Church’s internal politics? It runs that deep? Then what exactly is—”

Before Nephthys could finish, Dorothy waved her hand dismissively.

“Those secrets aren’t for you to know just yet. Besides, haven’t you neglected today’s mystical text reading? The light is great right now—why don’t you go back to your compartment and do some reading?”

Since even she didn’t know the full truth, Dorothy figured she might as well deflect. Nephthys, realizing she might’ve asked something too far above her rank, quickly backed down.

“Ugh… if that’s the case, I’ll go read now. See you later, Miss Dorothy.”

With that, Nephthys stood, gave a quick farewell, and left Dorothy’s compartment.

Now alone, Dorothy let out a small sigh and turned her gaze out the window. The greenery outside was rapidly thinning, and dry, withered shrubs appeared on both sides of the tracks, speeding past. Not long after, an endless expanse of yellow desert began to spread across her view.

“So we’re finally entering the desert region… That means we’ve left Kankdal behind and are truly entering the interior of North Ufiga now…

“According to Beverly’s intel, Vania’s mission in Addus comes with considerable danger. With such deep-rooted conflict involved, there are going to be many who want her dead. An assassination attempt is highly likely.

“Fortunately, the Church has provided her with a solid security team—three White Ash-rank Beyonders and a whole group of Black Earth-ranks. With that kind of force, even an average mystical faction’s squad would find it hard to get close.

“The entire train has already been thoroughly inspected by Vania’s guards—no suspicious activity, all supplies checked, even spiritual scans performed using Lantern. Nothing abnormal. I didn’t trust that alone, so I had my own small corpse marionettes inspect everything again myself. Still nothing.

“As of now, everything seems safe. So the journey to Yadith should be uneventful. What I really need to worry about is what happens after we arrive.”

Gazing out at the endless, barren terrain, Dorothy continued her thoughts. To ensure the train’s safety, she had even stationed a bird marionette on the roof. Whenever the train entered a potentially dangerous area, it would take flight to scout the surroundings. Right now, that marionette was soaring overhead.

Using the bird’s viewpoint, Dorothy surveyed the desolate landscape. There was no sign of life, no traces of ambushes—nothing but dead silence under the glaring sun.

“Looks like there’s no hidden danger in this stretch,”

she thought, planning to recall the bird marionette soon. But just then, something flashed in her peripheral vision.

“…Hm? That glint…”

The flash caught her attention. She guided the bird puppet to face the source of the light. But the distance was too far—even an eagle’s eyes couldn’t clearly make out what it was. Flying over would risk losing the train, meaning the bird couldn’t return.

Luckily, she wasn’t the only one who noticed it. Elsewhere on the train, a guard from the envoy also spotted the glint while on lookout. He immediately activated his Lantern vision to enhance his sight—and managed to identify the source.

Atop a small rocky hill stood a man in North Ufigan traditional robes, complete with headscarf. He held a long telescope and was carefully observing the fast-moving train. A camel stood tied beside him.

One man, one camel, one telescope—that was the source of the flash. The light had simply been sunlight reflecting off the lens.

Realizing someone was watching the train, the guard stayed alert and continued observing. But after a long while, he saw nothing suspicious. The man just stood there, quietly tracking the train through his scope. Even as the train pulled away, he made no move.

“Maybe… just a curious civilian,”

the guard thought, finally looking away.

But elsewhere, in another carriage, Dorothy’s eyes still carried a flicker of doubt.