After spotting Owen, Mulan hesitated for only an instant before stopping in his tracks. He skirted any spot where Owen might catch sight of him and quietly slipped behind a secluded street.
"Lord Jonester, what is it?"
Seeing Mulan suddenly become so cautious, Farolynch hid carefully alongside him. Curious, he glanced outside as he asked.
"Someone I wasn't expecting seems to have arrived. We'd better not let him spot us."
Keeping his eyes on Owen, Mulan offered Farolynch a quiet explanation.
Why would Owen come here?
Had the Royal Capital learned that this train had stopped here and specifically sent Owen to investigate?
"No, that's impossible!"
Mulan immediately rejected the idea. He had bought his own ticket and chosen his own departure time when leaving Digo, without telling anyone. No one else knew which train he had taken, nor was there any real-time tracking. They certainly would not send Owen to investigate an ordinary train breaking down. Besides, the passengers who had already hitched rides had not been heading toward Digo.
Even setting that aside, Mulan still had a fairly good grasp of the latest developments at the Black Castle. At the very least, he knew Owen had not been in Digo when he left.
In other words, judging by the current circumstances, Owen must have come to Shire on his own.
Mulan felt faintly uneasy, and some troubling possibilities began to occur to him.
A moment later, Mulan decided to slip away. He did not want to encounter Owen directly. Even if they were to meet, he would rather wait until Owen learned that Mulan Jonester was here and came to see him at the Baron's Residence.
"Come on. Let's head back first."
Upon returning to the Baron's Residence, Mulan immediately sought out Shire to give him some detailed