Rock Junction Station, Basic Level.
Lanchi silently led the way, holding the chain in his hand. The other end was locked around a woman's slender wrist.
They passed through the secluded stairway, the metal of the handcuffs occasionally clinking crisply, falling in and out of rhythm with their footsteps.
At the end of the passage was a slope leading up to the sunlit platform level.
Lanchi narrowed his eyes slightly, while Sid's head hung beside him, making it difficult to see her expression.
Natural beams of light streamed down through the glass canopy above the platform, like spilled gold coins sparkling in spots across the floor, occasionally trampled beneath their feet.
The platform was sparsely populated. Some passengers sat uneasily on the benches, while others stood at the edge, gazing into the distance toward the tracks.
Before the two of them had even come to a complete stop, the Magic Energy Rail Train at the far end of the tracks came into the station with a roar and a long line of carriages.
The metallic sheen of its body gleamed in concert with the reflections outside the windows. The stamped insignia flashing past on each carriage bore the emblem of the Protos Empire.
Lanchi and Sid waited behind the painted line on the ground.
Only after the train gradually slowed to a steady stop did the doors open. A faint, transparent mist drifted out from inside the carriage, while the residual heat released by the Magic Energy Regulator slowly dissipated.
"Get on."
Lanchi ordered coldly.
There was no need for Lanchi to tug Sid along with the handcuffs. She naturally followed his footsteps into the carriage.
She obeyed without saying a word, like a doll, making the passengers in the distance afraid to glance over. They could hardly imagine what