Priest Augustus had departed from Tobesk Station in early autumn, and returned to Tobesk Train Station on a Sunday morning in late autumn. Although Shade knew that Priest Augustus had experienced many dangerous things in Middlesburg, and that the dangers he encountered during the Miburg Incident were no fewer than Shade's own.
Still, when Shade put his hands in his pockets and stood with the Dawn Church's welcoming party, watching the old man smiling as he carried his luggage down from the train that sprayed steam from both sides of its undercarriage, he was briefly dazed, almost thinking the priest had simply gone on vacation.
The priest's luggage naturally consisted of more than one suitcase. The other large pieces had been piled in the freight carriage and would be delivered to Dawn Church by someone else.
The weather at the turn of autumn and winter was fairly pleasant, but the city was still shrouded in polluted Great Fog. The chaos of the platform made this ordinary, lively scene seem hazy and unreal, but at least Priest Augustus had truly returned.
A total of seven local old priests returned with Priest Augustus, belonging to the Five Gods Church. Though the weariness of travel was impossible to hide from their faces, everyone was delighted to return to Tobesk City, the Pearl of the North.
"Even the smell of pollution in the air feels so familiar."
Priest Augustus actually said something like that, then immediately began coughing from being choked by it. The air pollution over the past few days had indeed been outrageous. Although Middlesburg, nestled against the mountains, also had Steam Industry, its overall air quality was far better than Tobesk City's.
On the low, dim platform, filled with travelers carrying suitcases and permeated by strange smells, the Five Gods Church