Clank.
Clatter, clatter.
The train began to move again.
Arthur, who had pushed the window all the way up, smiled broadly as the wind messed up his hair.
"We only have to go a little further now. You said we transfer to a steamboat at Tergesti and go up the Breck River to Koneburg, right? This is my first time leaving Albion since I was born."
Arthur seemed to have studied hard, excited as if he were really going on a trip.
In the front pocket of his jacket, a neatly folded map of Brunnen and the edge of a geography book could be seen.
Cleo, about to scold him with 'Do you think we're going on a holiday?', just closed his mouth.
It felt immature to scold a guy who had never even dreamed of a pleasure trip until he was nineteen, especially when there was a custom for children of decent families to go on a continental tour at least once.
"Right. We transfer to a steamboat at the free city of Tergesti and... then, let's see... what was it."
Cleo felt his mind go blank white.
No matter how omnipotent 'Promise' was, it couldn't pull out the contents of materials he hadn't read. Lately, he had been insanely busy, to the point of not even being able to memorize a simple travel route.
First, under the pretext of getting advice from Ezra, he sent Fran, 'the lab assistant of the Capital Defense Force Academy', on an errand, ensuring they developed the 'Delta' version of the Hemisphere of Embrace.
The Delta version was a wireless communication device that could be used multiple times, although its communication range was short.
Cleo realized it late, but since the telegraph existed in this world, a signal system also existed. And the operating method of that signal system was almost identical to Morse code.
So, the idea started with: couldn't they use the Hemisphere of Embrace for two-way wireless communication?
As soon as Cleo said they didn't have to worry about material costs, Ezra started forcing experiments that burned up real money into thin air every day.
Fran, who acted reluctant at first, surprisingly hit it off well with Ezra, and the two of them scattered an enormous amount of mana stones into the air every day.
Cleo was out of his mind just supplying the expensive experimental materials.
So he only half-heartedly looked at the Brunnen geography book. There was no way the knowledge about that country properly remained in his head.
Moreover, trying to exchange a considerable amount into bills of exchange late in the game took some time for the procedures.
Under the gold standard where the Bank of Albion guaranteed the value, fixed exchange rates felt convenient, but the exchange process itself was complicated.
The currency treated as the key currency from the eastern end to the western end of the Dernier continent was the dinar.
He didn't know because he had no interest, but Lundane seemed to be the center of the continent not only in magic but also in finance.
'With things like this, the Emperor of Brunnen, who has seen the Lundane Expo held twice, must have prepared for this expo while grinding his teeth.'
Just as Cleo was losing the thread of the conversation and blanking out, Arthur reached his arm across the table again to draw his attention.
"Hey, hey, don't sleep with your eyes open. If we go up the Breck River from Tergesti, the Principality of Jelenia is to the west, the Principality of Izar is to the east, and Koneburg, the capital of the Brunnen Monarchy, is in the middle, right?"
"Uh... yeah. You memorized it well."
Arthur, whose only good grades were in map reading and geography, just giggled as if he had heard a compliment despite Cleo's sarcastic remark.
"The system is different from Albion, so it's interesting. Seven principalities each have their own territory and monarch, and the Emperor reigns over them."
The Brunnen Monarchy had a unique political system where the representatives of each principality elected the Emperor. The current Emperor, Joachim Castillien, was from the Principality of Raetica.
"Even Tergesti alone is fascinating. A city where the borders of four countries meet has maintained autonomy for a thousand years; it's a shame we can't stay even briefly."
"If circumstances allow when we return, let's do that."
"Wow!"
Although Arthur in the 8th manuscript had never visited Tergesti, a trip to Tergesti didn't seem like an impossible task.
The manuscript was already changed as much as it could be, wasn't it?
With the mindset of a parent taking a child on a field trip, Cleo made a resolution. 'What does it matter. If we have time, let's let him play for a few days. He likes it so much.'
The terminus of the train was Tergesti—a city in an exquisite location connected to four countries: Albion and Brunnen, the Carolingian Republic, and the Kingdom of Pedre.
The Clotho River stretching from the Pindos Mountains and the Breck River crossing the Brunnen Monarchy from northeast to southwest met at Tergesti and flowed into the Hatria Inland Sea.
Traffic and trade between Albion and Brunnen took place only through two routes: passing through the Cruel Duchy and going through Tergesti.
The Absalom Barrier across the middle of the Pindos Mountains could not be partially destroyed or modified by ordinary civil engineering. This was because the magic cast by the royal magic inspector several generations ago was still exerting its power.
Going further north than the barrier, the terrain was terribly rugged. The climate was also harsh. Even now in an enlightened age, the northern Pindos Mountains were an area where missing persons occurred every year.
Because various ores were too abundantly buried, compasses couldn't point north and spun in circles.
Laying roads or tracks across the Pindos Mountains was not a civil engineering project on a scale that the private sector could undertake.
However, since the relationship between Brunnen and Albion repeatedly stiffened and thawed, it was not easy for the two countries to cooperate and open a road either.
As a result, overland traffic between Albion and Brunnen relied entirely on the Cruel Duchy.
The central train station in Dier City, the capital of the Cruel Duchy, was the largest in eastern Albion and was called the main artery of eastern trade.
Therefore, the aristocratic faction headed by Duke Cruel had no incentive to spend a budget to open a new road between Brunnen and Albion.
And the route chosen when overland traffic through the Cruel Duchy was not feasible was the Breck River waterway starting from Tergesti.
Tergesti, a city that had maintained neutrality since the era of the Horarium Holy Empire, harbored a port with a deep history.
Although it had yielded the title of the continent's largest trading port to Colpos, which received large trading ships with the latest port facilities, Tergesti was a few steps above when it came to complex and exotic flavor.
Of course, Cleo's sentiment about that beautiful city was singular. 'If only I could have gotten a direct train ticket so we wouldn't have to transfer, damn it.'
It was a blunder by Cleo, who hadn't even imagined there would be train ticket reservation competition in such an era.
The direct train from Lundane to Koneburg departing in the first week of the expo was completely sold out. No matter how much money he offered, it was impossible to get a first-class cabin for four people.
However, to match the date of the Vineyard Festival, they couldn't delay their departure date any further.
Even with Dione's help, the best he could do was get second-class tickets where the four of them could ride together.
Of course, Arthur, not caring at all about the discomfort of the seats, kept initiating conversation as if he were excited.
"Ray, Ray! Have you ever been to Brunnen?"
Cleo answered indifferently.
"No, crossing the border is a first for me too."
He hadn't even gone on an overseas trip in his previous life either.
For him, who was weighed down by life and didn't even have a passport, even an exploratory trip to a nearby country was a luxury.
"What's with that. You look so unfazed, I thought you were someone who travels back and forth to Brunnen every month!"
"Whether it's good or whatever, I don't have overflowing stamina like you."
"It's strange. Even though he's just as skinny as a bone thorn, Fran has amazing stamina. Look at him now too. Just how many hours has he been reading that book in this shaking carriage."
Arthur's words were exactly right.
Fran had been reading a book titled
Without any special movements except when going to the dining car for meals and taking notes in his notebook.
Realizing a beat late that the conversation was centered on him, Fran peeked his head over the spine of the book.
Light reflected sparklingly off the surface of his well-polished glasses.
"You need stamina to sit and read, so I just run every morning and do a little training before bed. There's no need to make such a fuss."
This time it was Cleo's turn to widen his eyes.
What kind of statement was that, like someone who had passed the bar exam with top honors in three categories.
Cleo was also doing that level of physical training almost every day. However, this body originally had bad fuel efficiency and was a constitution where muscles didn't build well at all.
Whether Cleo felt internally aggrieved or not, Arthur, gaining momentum, made useless attempts asking if Fran had any thoughts of learning the sword, saying he'd probably handle a sword well since he had good posture, until he was scolded to go chatter outside the window if he was going to keep talking.
Of course, Arthur just laughed heartily as if he knew it was a joke.
"By the way, didn't you say Lady Dione also boarded the same train? I didn't see her in the dining car earlier either."
"Over there isn't a second-class seat where four people squeeze into the same carriage like us, but a special-class sleeper cabin reserved months ago. Meals are room service too. She said she has over three business meetings scheduled just during the trip."
"My, our fragile great wizard should have ridden in a sleeper train with fluffy velvet cushions. To think getting a ticket would be harder than winning the lottery."
"You seem to be enjoying pouring oil on the fire and fanning it right now, huh? What am I supposed to do when no one will sell even if I offer three times the price, damn it."
"Fanning a fire? Ray, where do you come up with such fascinating metaphors. Hahaha."
Isiel, who had also been looking into a pocketbook, lifted her head.
"Since this expo drew so much attention, it seems unavoidable. If it's really hard, lean on me again and close your eyes, Cleo."
"No, Isiel... I'm already thankful enough that you looked after me earlier."
Throughout the morning, Cleo had been dozing off, unable to keep his back straight and repeatedly slumping over, so Isiel, unable to just watch, had lent him her shoulder.
He was only barely able to stay awake after taking a nap like that.
Even though it was an express train that only stopped at major stations, a long-distance train journey was truly exhausting. Having sat for over six hours, his back became stiff and his calves and thighs felt like they were going crazy with numbness.
'Isn't this economy class syndrome which wasn't even in my destiny. Ugh.'
The distance from Lundane to Tergesti alone was a grand journey of a whopping 800km. They were only halfway there, and he was in this state.
Cleo felt his mind grow faint. He spoke as if to persuade himself.
"Regardless, right now I'm in a position where I should be grateful that I was even able to get this ticket."
Among the corporate participants putting out goods in the expo's commercial pavilion, those who finished their preparations late couldn't use the direct Lundane-Koneburg train route, which had limited transport capacity, and had to choose the route of transferring their goods to a steamboat at Tergesti.
The Graier Company was the same, so Cleo was luckily able to buy the spare tickets purchased under the company's name.
"Since it turned out like this, let's at least eat snacks and enjoy the mood."
Even though it hadn't been long since they ate lunch, Arthur started pulling out paper bags.
Cleo, who lacked energy and had an upset stomach, was displeased, but for the kids whose growth period hadn't finished yet, it didn't seem burdensome at all.
Fran also didn't decline and neatly picked up and ate ginger beer, cherry pie, a ham sandwich, and a boiled egg.
For Cleo, who was exhausted and spacing out unable to even peel a single egg, Isiel gently pushed a slice of pie toward him.
"...Thanks, Isiel."
Thinking of Isiel's sincerity, Cleo took a small bite of the edge of the tart, and his eyes widened.
The tart, baked with frangipane mixed with orange peel spread inside a crumbly crust, and topped with custard cream and cherries, was nutty yet refreshing and fragrant.
It was delicious enough that even Cleo's stomach, which had completely lost its appetite, accepted it. Arthur didn't miss that reaction.
"Delicious, right, Ray! It's a specialty of Lundane East Station. This is Mrs. Savage's tart that you can only buy if you go early in the morning!"
"I wondered what you were doing arriving at the station before the sun even came up; doing useless things..."
"Useless? When you're eating it this well."
"Sir Arthur is right. It seems to suit your palate. Eat more, Cleo."
Since the two, lord and vassal, reached a consensus and pushed him, Cleo had nothing to say and just ate the pie.
Watching that sight, Isiel smiled faintly.
Chatter, scolding, laughter, the rustling of paper holding snacks, and the rattling of the train mixed together to compose the time and space of a summer afternoon.
Arthur, caught up in the excitement, continuously belted out vulgar popular songs trending in the back alleys, making even Fran chuckle.
Before he knew it, Cleo had also forgotten the languor of his body and was laughing together among his friends.