After concluding the discussion about the discord between the leaders, Isaac brought up Fenri's matter again. "Boss, when I went back to the office to put something away just now, Fenri wasn't there. I didn't go up to the second floor to check, but she wasn't on the first floor either."
Carlo picked up a booklet and flipped through it. "I doubt it would dare go upstairs; it probably ran out. Looks like that scoundrel isn't behaving itself."
"Should we look for it?"
"What are you looking for? It's not a real dog, it can't possibly get lost. It'll come back on its own," Carlo said. "But when we get back, we can pretend we didn't find it and see how long it plans to play dumb."
Isaac nodded. Fenri had taken the initiative to stay and show goodwill, so he must have something on his mind. It would be better to pretend he knew nothing, observe its actions, and see what it really wanted to do.
"However, since it's... well, not very well-behaved, should we take it out again tomorrow?"
"Bring it, why not? Let's see how effective it is in actual combat. If it's unreliable and weak, then there's no point in raising it."
Isaac asked no more questions, and seeing that it was getting late, he and Carlo headed to the cafeteria.
Dinner was still potatoes, but this time it was potato soup with bread. By the time we finished dinner, it was completely dark.
Back at 122 Red Maple Street, in the living room, Fenri lay on the cushion in front of the fireplace, her tail sweeping across the floor twice, just like yesterday, with a "you're back" look on her face, as if she hadn't left at all.
It seems they don't intend to honestly confess to sneaking out... Isaac, as agreed beforehand, pretended not to notice, and Carlo didn't even look at Fenri, heading straight for the stairs.
The next day, at 5 a. m.
After washing up, Isaac put on his old work jacket and octagonal hat, while his hunting suit from yesterday was hanging in the closet.
After all, today we're going to the wilderness to deal with calamity, so it would be a waste to wear new clothes and ruin them; old clothes are more durable.
He picked up the revolver, opened the magazine, and found the six bullets left by his adoptive father, Edward. One was used to purify the vengeful spirit of the Amorton Manor, one killed Mary's lamb, three were used on Mary, and now the last one remained in the magazine.
He emptied the bullet, put it in the drawer as a souvenir, then took six new bullets from the Joint Investigation Bureau- issued ammunition box, loaded them, and tucked the revolver into the holster under his arm.
Stepping out of the guest room, Fenri was lying on the mat, seemingly still asleep. Carlo was nowhere to be seen, and there was no sound from upstairs.
Isaac tiptoed into the storage room, took out a few biscuits, rummaged through the tea canister, pinched off a small amount and put it in a teacup, then filled the kettle with water, went to the gas stove in the corner of the living room, turned on the valve, and lit a match.
After boiling the water, he made a cup of black tea, ate two biscuits while holding the cup, finished the tea, rinsed the cup clean and put it back in its place, and checked his equipment again: the revolver was under his arm, the ammunition box was in his pocket, and the cane sword was leaning against the door. Fenri was already awake and staring at him.
Everything was ready, except that the boss hadn't arrived by 5:30.
Isaac was wondering whether he should call out from the top of the stairs when he heard footsteps. Carlo slowly walked down the stairs, still wearing that dark gray trench coat, his hair a little sticky, as if he had just casually tidied it up before leaving.
Seeing that Isaac had already boiled the water, Carlo didn't bother with any more fancy dice-based tea-making techniques. He simply brewed a cup of tea, didn't take any biscuits, drank it in a few gulps, and said, "Let's go."
Isaac picked up his cane and the makeshift leash, and fastened it around Fenri's neck. Fenri stood up, shook his fur, and followed him to the door.
The two men and the dog went out the door. Carlo walked in front, twirling the pair of dark gold dice in his hand. "You've never ridden the railcar to the city gate before, have you?"
When Isaac entered the city, he saw those carriages speeding along the elevated tracks, moving at high speeds without the need for horses to pull them. He found it fascinating at the time, but he never had the chance to get up close to them.
At the street corner leading to the Joint Investigation Bureau, Carlo turned in the opposite direction and walked for a few minutes until a pedestrian bridge appeared across the street.
The overpass is about three or four stories high, with a platform large enough for five or six people to stand side by side. It has a rain shelter on top, and electrical wires run through it. Iron supports hold two parallel rails, and there are steps at each end leading to the ground.
Next to the staircase was a small pavilion, probably a ticket booth. A sign hung by the window, indicating the departure times, and a middle-aged woman was sitting inside.
Carlo pulled out a shilling and tossed it to Isaac: "Go ahead, experience buying a ticket."
Isaac took the coin and walked to the window. The ticket seller inside, seeing him arrive, finally looked up and asked, "Where to?"
"East Gate, two tickets."
"Which section of the East Gate? Be specific," the ticket seller said impatiently.
Isaac thought Dongchengmen was just one stop, but he didn't expect there to be more. Looking at the station sign, he saw several stop names listed: East Gate Square, East City Gate Street, East Gate Bridge...
He scanned the list and picked the station name closest to the city gate, announcing, " East Gate Bridge."
Three pence.
Isaac glanced at the sign again. "Uh, ma'am, doesn't the sign say this section is one penny a ticket?"
The ticket seller grew even more impatient, pointing at Fenri: "Even the dog wants one."
"It needs a ticket too?"
"You have to buy a ticket to occupy land, don't you understand that?"
"Uh..." Isaac really didn't understand, after all, he had never had a pet before, nor had he ever ridden a railcar.
He was a little embarrassed, so he didn't ask any more questions and handed over the 1 shilling coin.
The woman took the coins, counted out nine pennies from the drawer, laid them out one by one, tore off three tickets, stamped them, and slammed them onto the window. "Keep an eye on your dog. If it gets stuck in the gap between the platforms and gets run over or falls to its death, we're not responsible."
Isaac put away the change and the ticket, and seeing that Carlo had already gone up the overpass, he led Fenri up as well. There was no one else on the platform yet.
Carlo leaned against the railing at the edge of the platform and yawned. Isaac walked over and handed him a ticket. "Boss, here's your ticket."
Carlo took it. "So, Vista's public transportation service is pretty good, isn't it?"
Isaac smirked. "The ticket price is cheaper than I expected. Three pence wouldn't be enough to get to the city gate by carriage."
"That's normal. Public railcars are intended for lower and middle-class people. They run on time regardless of whether anyone rides them, so the price needs to be low enough that people are willing to pay, encouraging more people to use them. If the ticket price is too high, and few people ride them, running them empty is a waste."
"I thought this kind of transportation would be quite expensive, at least for the middle class and above, since it looks quite advanced," Isaac said in surprise.
After all, in Palmer, anything with even a hint of new technology is expensive.