Volume 01: Start Again
Chapter 07: Leaving the station
"Good." Pulling the bamboo hat back over her head Amelia then placed two shiny copper coins onto the table.
"How about accompanying me back to the capital city? Then I can show you around a little bit since you are still new." Amelia said as she turned around to walk out of the building.
"Huh?" Hearing this I was a bit dumbfounded as I had not even gotten to finish my soup yet and seeing that the single bowl was worth two copper coins my stomach seemed to call out for me to finish it. Glancing at the still steaming soup before me I chunked in one last bite before I got up from the table and began walking after the woman as I could probably hitch a ride to the capital as well.
Stepping back out of the building we were both greeted by the masked man again but instead of him alone moving around like a person's shadow there was a young-looking human girl standing next to him wearing a shiny crest that matched the masked man.
"Hello, Ms. Norrin we will be your escorts for today. Your father asked us to bring you to the capital city right away so we will begin heading towards the railway to catch a train to the capital." Amelia spoke out sounding rather polite all of a sudden.
Staring at the back of the woman I could not help but shake my head at the sudden change of attitude as she had basically been either serious or joking with me. Looking past Amelia, I noticed the young girl was solely focused on Amelia as she stared at her crest stuck to her cloak.
"Shall we get going now?" Amelia walked past the pair beginning to head down the street not even looking back to see if I was even following her still but as she took a couple of steps she looked back to the masked man. "The boy is with us now." Still staring forward, she spoke out over her shoulder loud enough for him to understand.
As she said those words the masked man who was about to begin following behind her began looking towards me nodding his head as if acknowledging the words of the woman. Also hearing the words of the woman, the young girl gave me a look over as she saw my beginner clothing and seemed to become curious about me as usually only wealthy new players would be traveling with such an elite escort.
Seeing these two people looking at me I decided to just ignore them and began to walk quickly to join behind the woman who was now a ways ahead of us down the street. Making up the short distance I now just stood shoulder to shoulder with the woman.
As the four of us joined into a close-knit group we walked out of the small outer district of the city and began to head towards the more central area in the city where the train would most likely be waiting already as it was rather early still, and trains did not start moving until the sun came out.
Making our way through the narrow streets with our small group we began to draw a lot of attention as the others were all wearing their crests making those who saw us silently move out of our way as they had done earlier. After a couple of minutes of walking like this, we made our way to a large station that was marked [Fe'ilr Railway Station].
Not knowing the layout of the station, I just followed behind Amelia as she led us forward. Pointing her finger forward I saw the small checkpoint gate where more people in white armor uniforms were standing.
Looking at the gates I noticed a single line that was empty. Seeing as I was currently traveling with a ruby and two diamond-tiered players there was no way we would travel in the general seating and would probably be upgraded on the train.
Nodding my head to Amelia I moved to follow her to the VIP gateways as I expected. Behind me, I felt something tugging at the back of my shirt. Noticing this I turned my head to look at what was tugging at me only to see the young lady pulling at my shirt.
Seeing that she had my attention the girl stepped forward to whisper in my ear, "Hey you are a newbie too, right? How did you get to travel with these people? What's your last name?"
Hearing these words, I could not help but squint at the question I felt was dumb but the more I thought about it the more it made sense as no beginner such as myself would be traveling with these two freely without having some backing. Thus, in her eyes, I had to have some kind of backing and that was why I was traveling with them. That made sense to me. Thinking this far I looked directly into her eyes and said, "You wouldn't know." Only saying this much I turned back around and continued walking.
As we arrived in the separate empty line for special individuals the soldiers that stood guard in front of the gates slowly scanned our small group only to freeze as they saw the crest on Amelia's cloak. As we stood in place the soldiers did not know what to do with us as the highest military officer in this city was probably still only a diamond-tiered player which Amelia directly outranked.
'This will be interesting.' I thought to myself as I stood second in line watching the subtle panic of the surrounding soldiers.
Stepping forward a soldier with a golden crest stepped forward bowing his head to our group before speaking out, "Ma'am, what can we do you for?" After seeing the actions of their superior the rest of the soldiers at the small gateway all bowed their heads to our group before standing at attention and waiting for orders.
"We just need a private suit. In exchange, we will guarantee the safety of the train to the capital." Amelia spoke out to the head soldier.
Hearing this response, the soldier with the gold crest smiled widely as he looked toward Amelia. "Thank you, ma'am. We will prepare the best for you and your group. You may follow after me and I will bring you to meet the train captain." Bowing his head once more he stepped to the side to whisper to another person in uniform before he began to guide us forward.
'Thinking about the compensation Amelia asked for I could not help but be a little shocked as asking only for a single private suit was a rather low ask for the trade for the protection from a ruby-tiered player. It was no question the man would agree right away to such a thing.' I could not wrap my head around the reason she asked for so little as even if she said nothing chances are they would have had to give us the best either way.
Hearing his words, the rest of the soldiers also stepped to the side allowing our group to pass without having to show our identities or items. Stepping past the gateway we were now alone in a tunnel as we moved together onto a large platform where the train was already waiting.
The army man led us directly to the front of the train where a group of people also in uniform were standing but these individuals were wearing uniforms that matched the color of the red train. As we were led to this group the soldier leading us spoke out, "This is the train staff for this trip to the capital. I will introduce you to them so they can take care of you on this trip properly."
The small group of train staff we were approaching noticed our group heading towards them and immediately halted all their previous conversations and began waiting for our arrival.
Standing before them now the soldier began to introduce us, "This group will be accompanying you to the capital. I guaranteed them a private suite and so I came to make sure your staff was able to make it happen for them. As they have been generous enough to guarantee the safety of this trip to the capital." The soldier was speaking with a rather commanding voice as he spoke to the staff.
After a couple of moments of silence, a woman wearing a cap with the golden insignia of the train stepped forward through the group. "We can make that happen for our distinguished guests. We would also like to thank you for your aid and hope we will not be needing it. Please follow me I will show you to your suit." The woman bowed her head and then motioned for us to follow after her.
Seeing that everything was settled the army man who had been guiding us smiled at our group before stepping off to the side along with the rest of the train's staff to let us follow the new woman guide.
Leading at the front of the group still, Amelia began to walk over to the woman who was now leading us not wasting any time. Passing by the soldier who guided us I gave him a slight nod in acknowledgment before our group left him behind to enter the train.
Stepping into the train we were met with a rather spacious area that held a small sitting area passing through this area we caught sight of a well-lit hallway. Stepping through the large hallway I watched as the woman who must have been the captain of the train begin to type on a small keypad beside a silver door. After typing a couple of numbers into it the silver door slid open for our group to see inside. As I looked into the room I could not help but feel a bit weird as I had never had such treatment before even if it was not directed toward me.
"This will be your own suite. It comes with a safety keypad which you just watched me use now and your code will be 3582. You may also order food and drinks using the train's order system on the center console if you would like and consider everything free of charge so just eat as you would like." The captain standing next to the suit door spoke with a faint smile as she spoke about the room.
"Thank you." Only saying this much Amelia entered the room heading directly to the right to sit down on the benches.
Seeing that Amelia who seemed to be our leader was content the woman nodded her head and then passed our group to head back outside to join her staff. No longer seeing the captain I tried to step into the room but before I could I felt the arm of the masked man fall on my shoulder. He stopped me in place.
Looking over my shoulder back at him I noticed his eyes were rather cold as he watched me in his grasp. With his eyes, he stared directly at mine then shifted them towards the young lady as if he was trying to tell me something. Using a split second, I understood what he meant by stopping me.
Stepping to the side I allowed the young lady to pass into the room. Seeing how quickly I picked up his meaning the masked man seemed to be rather content with my actions.
"Thank you." The young lady seeing my actions thanked me with a bright smile on her face as she slid past me into the room.
Rolling my nonexistent eyes, I stepped in right behind her after feeling the man release his grip on my shoulder. Noticing the young lady sitting next to Amelia I could not help but sigh as I knew I would be stuck sitting next to the masked man.
Sliding onto the bench placing myself near the window I looked outside to see the rest of the platform where we had just come from. Looking further down the platform I could now see all the people lining up to enter the train and all the train staff standing before all the lines of people scanning tickets.
* "Train to City Lenor set to depart in 10 minutes side doors may open for passengers. All passengers may begin entering Train 2637432. Nodes broadcast low chances of ashen skies. Arrival time set for 8 hours from departure." * A female's voice that must have been the woman captain from before began to speak over the intercom of the train.
Watching the people lined up outside the train begin to file in I watched as the many different kinds of races and classes of all the players enter. After a few minutes of silence in our room, the intercom came on once again.
* "Train 2637432 departing." * This time the voice was not the captain but a robotic male's voice.
Just like this, we departed the station and the city of Fe'ilr where I had spent most of my last life fighting in underground arenas trying my best to survive.