"It really disappeared." The train car was not very large, and everything inside was visible at a glance.
Suzuki Sonoko looked at the empty room and the scenery rushing past outside the window, unable to stop herself from muttering, "So this is Vanishing from the Sky? The name isn't much, but it's amazing!"
In the corridor, a shadowy figure cast her a faint glance, then quickly slipped back into the crowd without drawing attention.
Everything had happened too fast. By the time the attendant arrived, all that remained in the room were scattered roses and fragments of balloons.
"Th-this..." After hearing the account, the attendant looked utterly bewildered. "Could you have seen it wrong? This compartment is sealed, and the windows are tiny. There's no way a body could fit through them—maybe that Hell Puppeteer used a projection or a painted backdrop?"
"Impossible." Officer Sato spoke with certainty. "I've seen too many corpses to mistake one. That was definitely a real person in the car just now."
The matter was reported all the way to the conductor. With the destination so close, he only wanted to unload this whole trainload of trouble as soon as possible.
He cleared his throat and said steadily, "This train is already delayed. Since there is no body, it would not be appropriate to stop midway—we'll soon arrive at Shikotsuhara Terminal Station. How about we stop and investigate once we get there?"
Officer Sato had wanted to object, but on further thought, even if the train stopped now, she did not seem to know where to begin investigating...
In the end, she sighed. "All right. This is all we can do for now."
The Silver Meteor, having been through far too much, continued racing across the vast plains.
Before long, the mist around them