Hastur opened the gifts from Sharon and Maric on the evening of the second day of the New Year.
Maric gave a pure silver pocket watch, while Sharon gave a mirror, a round mirror with various black patterns embedded along the rim, looking somewhat mysterious.
But this was not a Beyonder item, just more delicate than an ordinary mirror, with nothing special about it.
At the time, Hastur thought that Sharon simply didn't often give gifts, so when she did, she gave him a mirror she personally liked.
Now that he heard it again, was there some unusual implication behind that mirror? But he had indeed checked, that mirror was not a Beyonder item, nor a sealed artifact, just an ordinary mirror that looked nice and refined.
Unable to figure it out, Hastur could only answer honestly, "I opened it."
"Mm, do you like it?"
"I like it."
"You're lying."
"..." Hastur looked embarrassed. He couldn't possibly say he didn't like Sharon's gift, right? But what kind of grown man would like a mirror?
Even Maric knew to give something others would probably like.
Seeing this, Hastur could only bring up Emperor Roselle again, that famous plagiarist: "Emperor Roselle once said: Even a goose feather sent from a thousand miles away carries deep affection despite being a light gift."
"What I care about is the thought behind the gift, not its value."
These words made Maric secretly give him a thumbs-up. He really knew how to make things up, he clearly just didn't like Sharon's gift.
"Then take the goose feather and travel a thousand miles."
"I will. I'll keep this mirror in my room at all times."
Hastur seemed to understand a bit of Sharon's meaning, could it be that she wanted to visit him through this mirror in the future?
....
Early the next morning, Hastur finished his preparations. There were seven carriages in total, along with a guard unit sent by the King, twelve people.
To avoid attracting too much attention, Hastur had them change clothes in advance and wait inside the carriages first.
Then, under the watchful eyes of Glaint, Greg, Audrey, and the others, he boarded the steam train heading to Southville County.
In this day and age, he couldn't possibly ignore a more efficient and faster way of travel and choose to ride by carriage all the way to Southville County, could he?
After such a journey, his backside would surely suffer terribly from the bumps.
On the steam train, Hastur sat alone in a luxury compartment. Not only could he sleep there, but various foods were also provided, a small aristocratic privilege.
He didn't trust the guard unit sent by the King very much, but he couldn't refuse either, so he stayed alone in the compartment, counting the time needed to reach Southville County.
The distance from Backlund to Southville County was very long. They also had to pass through Eastern County before reaching the Southville County.
This trip would take at least five days, and after arriving in Southville County, it would still take some time to reach his territory, that part of the journey had no steam train available.
Bored, Hastur took out the mirror Sharon had given him and looked at it.
Gently stroking the smooth surface, he murmured, "Sharon should also be hiding in some mirror right now. If she were hiding in this mirror, what a surprise that would be."
Hastur placed the mirror directly in front of him, looked at himself in the reflection, and smiled.
How could that be? Sharon still needed to stay in Backlund to handle matters, she couldn't possibly dump everything on Maric.
The steam train sped forward, leaving the shrinking Backlund behind.
After admiring the scenery outside the window for a while, Hastur picked up a book to read. It was specially selected for him by Professor Wayne, said to be about the possible direction of the Loen Kingdom's laws.
By lunchtime, Hastur had already finished one third of it.
This book was definitely something Professor Wayne had inserted his own opinions into, the various laws inside looked like an advanced version of the Kingdom's current legal system.
The food on the steam train was far less refined than what his own chef prepared, so before departure, Hastur had offered a high salary to bring along two chefs willing to go to Southville County.
After tasting food similar to what he had at home, Hastur's gaze swept over the mirror on the table again. After pausing for a few seconds, he said in a low voice, "Wraiths are forbidden from remaining invisible here!"
Golden rules flickered, filling the compartment. On the previously smooth mirror surface, Sharon's figure appeared. She was still dressed in her black court gown, with azure eyes, looking at him from within the mirror.
The corners of Hastur's lips lifted slightly as he smiled. "Miss Sharon, are you here to see me off for the last time?"
"What do you think?"
"Of course I hope your action means you've agreed to travel with me to Southville County."
"Mm." Sharon in the mirror nodded gently, confirming his words.
"So you had already agreed to my invitation back when you gave me the New Year gift?"
"Mm."
In a cheerful mood, Hastur gently stroked the edge of the mirror and said, "Why not say it directly? Was this meant to give me a surprise?"
"I overestimated your intelligence."
"..." Upon thinking about it, Hastur felt that was true. On the night before leaving, Sharon had even reminded him to remember to take the "goose feather" and travel a thousand miles. If he were smarter, he would have realized the true meaning of those words long ago.
In the end, he simply didn't dare believe Sharon would agree to his invitation and accompany him to Southville County.
"What made you change your initial decision, Miss Sharon?" Hastur changed to a topic more favorable to himself.
"I need a demigod mummy to help me advance to Sequence 4."
"Only to advance to a higher sequence?"
"Isn't that reason enough?"
"..." Hastur sighed. "Do you need me to accompany you to the Southern Continent?"
"If necessary."
"So you handed all matters in Backlund to Maric?"
"Mm. He needs to learn restraint." Sharon glanced at Hastur again. "Would you prefer the person here to be Maric?"
"Of course not. I also think Maric should be given more chances to handle matters alone. Being overly eager for adventure isn't a good thing."
Hastur immediately denied it. If it were really Maric hiding inside this mirror, he would probably throw the mirror straight out the window.
"Miss Sharon, would you like to come out? Staying inside the mirror means you can't enjoy the scenery along the way."
"Mm." Sharon nodded.
Her body floated out of the mirror and gently landed in the seat opposite Hastur, sitting elegantly with her upper body slightly turned, gazing at the scenery flashing past the window.
Hastur leaned back slightly against the seat cushion, looking toward Sharon. This journey to Southville County would not be lonely.
After a long while, Sharon suddenly spoke, "Your New Year gift?"
"I hid it in my territory in Southville County. Only when we arrive there can I fulfill this gift."
After this brief exchange, the compartment became quiet again.
Sharon looked at the scenery outside the window, while Hastur treated her as the scenery.
Until an unusual sensation came from outside the compartment.
Sharon looked back at Hastur. He shook his head slightly, signaling that she could enter the mirror to hide first.
Without saying anything, Sharon directly entered the mirror in her wraith form.
After a while, Hastur fell asleep. In his dream there was only darkness, with no figures appearing.
Soon, the dream shattered.
It was a very brief dream, like a short nap taken when tired.
"People from the Church of the Evernight Goddess, probably a Sequence 4 Nighthawk."
Hastur murmured, letting Sharon inside the mirror know.
Just now was a large-scale dream intrusion ability, likely used to search for someone.
Probably some wanted fugitive had also boarded this steam train.
For a Sequence 4 Nighthawk to appear, could it be Ince Zangwill?
Hastur's heart skipped a beat, that was actually possible.
But had Ince Zangwill gone mad?
Daring to hitch a ride with him?
Or perhaps he knew nothing and just happened to board this train to Southville County?
Was his luck really that bad?
"Do you need me to investigate?"
"No need. I'll handle things here. Don't come out and take risks."
Hastur didn't want Sharon to take risks, even though her wraith abilities were very suitable for gathering information.
"Mm." Sharon's figure disappeared from within the mirror.
"Miss Sharon, you mustn't sneak away. They aren't targeting us."
"I won't." The mirror flickered with light.
...
In the third carriage of the steam train, the disguised Ince Zangwill looked expressionlessly at the scenery outside the window.
He was also a Sequence 4 Nighthawk, and with 008 concealing information, the large-scale dream intrusion ability couldn't track his whereabouts at all.
What surprised him was that many members of different organizations seemed to have mixed into this train.
Was it all because of the saying that a war in the Southern Continent would begin after the New Year?
He had heard this from members of the Demoness Sect. Back then, the Black Saintess had stopped him from leaving Backlund and told him to wait a while longer.
Perhaps it was also because of that statement.
At this moment, they too were on this train.