Chapter 67: Sampo, Your Great Fortune Has Arrived!
Sampo had long noticed the silhouette of the Astral Express piercing through the starry sky.
Since yesterday, he had carefully piled up a modest snowdrift, hollowing out the center to serve as his personal stakeout blind. He crouched inside, shivering but determined, fully prepared to stage a "chance encounter" according to his brilliant script.
Who would have thought he'd end up waiting an entire night without a single blip of movement?
This morning, however, his patience finally paid off. Seeing the sleek train carriage detaching and descending toward the planet's frozen surface, Sampo immediately burrowed deeper into his icy camouflage, ready to act.
As soon as the Astral Express crew landed, he would "coincidentally" stumble out onto the only path leading to Belobog.
'This seamless plan...'Sampo grinned, rubbing his gloved hands together.'...is simply perfect.'Then, the whistling wind grew deafening.'Wait, no. Why is this carriage heading straight for me?!'
Sampo, who had everything perfectly arranged, suddenly sensed a shadow blotting out the sun. He looked up.
He discovered that the massive section of the carriage was charging directly toward his specific snowdrift, hurtling through the atmosphere as if someone had locked onto him with a sniper scope.
'Holy crap, this is bad! It's coming right for me!''Who could have ever expected this?!'
Before he could even string together a proper curse, Sampo threw himself to the side, diving into the deep powder and narrowly avoiding the carriage's catastrophic descent trajectory.
Inside the carriage, however, the atmosphere was an entirely different brand of chaos.
"Aaaaaah! Leon, drive a little slower!"
March 7th gripped the overhead handrail so tightly her knuckles turned white, her voice trembling over the roar of atmospheric reentry.
A bead of cold sweat broke out on Welt's forehead. The seasoned Trailblazer already had his hand hovering near his cane, fully prepared to step in and manipulate gravity to stabilize the carriage at a moment's notice.
A heavy sigh of regret echoed in his heart.
Why on earth did he hand over the manual controls of the landing carriage to Leon?
It was, without a doubt, a colossal miscalculation.
Beside him, Dan Heng also gripped his handrail with white-knuckled intensity, his usually calm expression replaced by solemn dread.
He had originally thought little March was outrageous enough behind the wheel. During their last Trailblaze, March 7th had commandeered a snowmobile and accidentally smashed a massive hole straight through the dome of the Tychon Stadium.
But this time, with Leon at the helm... Dan Heng simply didn't dare to imagine what this landing pod would eventually obliterate.
"Woo! Go, go, go! Let's go!"
Stelle and Caelus, however, were an entirely different story. The two Trailblazers practically vibrated with excitement. Far from being afraid, they leaned against the front viewport, loudly mimicking Leon's earlier battle cry.
"Leon, you can actually slow down appropriately. Even though this landing pod was manifested using your Power of Trailblaze..." Welt pushed up his glasses, trying to maintain his calm, mentor-like facade. "...a violent impact could still severely damage the carriage."
Welt's glasses didn't actually have a prescription. He had originally started wearing them purely for the aesthetic, but over time, the habit had stuck.
"Don't worry! You can put a hundred percent of your trust in my driving. I guarantee the carriage will be perfectly intact!"
Leon flashed a confident "OK" gesture over his shoulder. Instead of pulling back on the thrusters, he slammed the throttle forward, accelerating the pod directly toward the tiny, unassuming snowdrift where a certain blue-haired merchant was hiding.
Hidden within the unseen folds of the cosmos, Aha was already prepared to burst into uproarious laughter.
What? Did someone say Sampo was one of His devoted followers?
Didn't that just make the impending crash even more hilarious?
Lately, the Aeon of Elation would occasionally peek in on Leon's movements, eager to see if this anomalous fun-seeker had stirred up any fresh entertainment. Of course, there were times when Leon activated his "anti-peeping" mode, leaving the Aeon staring at a blank void. Those moments often left Aha feeling like He had lost face.
Aha has no face. Aha has no face.
Meanwhile, in another corner of the universe, Fuli silently raised a crystalline recording device, carefully preparing to document this brilliant, historical moment of impact.
"Aaaaah, watch out! There's someone in that snowdrift!"
March 7th finally spotted the lump of snow at their exact landing coordinates. She shrieked, her face draining of color until her art style almost shifted into a chaotic doodle.
"Don't worry, I've already aimed for him!" Leon cheerfully flashed the "OK" gesture a second time.
"What?! You actually aimed for him?!" March 7th's eyes widened to the size of saucers.
Welt, however, fell into deep thought.
After spending all this time together, the older man knew Leon wasn't a bloodthirsty maniac. On the contrary, aside from his relentless pursuit of amusement, Welt genuinely believed the young man had a strong moral compass.
In that case... the person hiding in that snowdrift probably wasn't anyone good.
Boom!
With an devastating crash, the landing pod slammed into the frozen wasteland. Sampo threw himself out of the way at the absolute last possible millisecond, but the sheer kinetic shockwave caught him, sending his lanky frame tumbling through the air like a ragdoll.
As for the passengers inside the carriage... they remained perfectly safe, the inertial dampeners absorbing the impact to ensure a buttery-smooth landing.
"Eh? It was actually this stable?"
March 7th blinked, patting herself down. She hadn't felt much of a jolt at all. Her incredulous gaze shifted to the pilot's seat.
"Of course! I told you to trust my driving!" Leon declared, patting his chest with exaggerated pride.
"Exactly! March, how could you not believe in the Bro!" Stelle nodded vigorously, backing him up without hesitation.
"Let's not talk about that for now. Quickly, check how that person outside is doing!"
The kind-hearted March 7th was the first to scramble toward the exit, slamming the hatch release.
The interior of the pod was pristine, but the outside world was a chaotic cloud of kicked-up snow, smoke, and pulverized ice.
"Cough, cough... um, are you okay?" March 7th called out, waving the freezing dust away from her face.
"He wasn't smashed into a meat patty, was he..." Caelus whispered, leaning out the door with morbid curiosity.
"Aaaaah, don't say such scary things!" March 7th roared, swatting his arm. She absolutely did not want to start their new adventure as a murderer!
A few yards away, playing dead in a fresh crater, the corner of Sampo's mouth twitched violently.
Good heavens, what kind of twisted situation was this?
Shouldn't the Astral Express Crew be a group of upright, kind-hearted, goody-two-shoes?
Why did he suddenly feel like he had walked straight back into the Tavern of the Masked Fools?
Who exactly was the real fun-seeker here?!
Despite his frantic internal complaining, Sampo's survival instincts kicked in. The show had to go on. He decided to stick to the script.
"I say, buddy... I just burrowed into a snowdrift to stay warm. That's not a capital offense, right?"
He groaned, slowly sitting up and brushing the snow off his flamboyant coat. He shot a wary glance at the massive landing pod, his mouth twitching again as he desperately revised his lines on the fly.
"There's no need to use... a whole train carriage to hit me, right?"
He had originally assumed that, at worst, someone might poke him with a weapon when they found him. He never expected that a literal 'Great Fortune' would fall from the sky and try to crush him flat.
Could this count as him successfully dodging a direct hit from the Astral Express?
That was incredibly impressive! It was a feat worth bragging about for a lifetime!
Somewhere in the cosmos, Aha chuckled. 'Oh yes, that's very impressive. You know, back then, even the Amber Lord's wall had a massive hole smashed into it by the Express.'
"Oh dear, I'm really sorry." March 7th quickly bowed her head in apology.
"Oh dear, I'm really sorry." Stelle immediately followed suit, mimicking her tone perfectly.
"Oh dear, I'm really sorry." Caelus repeated, deadpan.
"You guys are like broken records!" March 7th couldn't help but complain, glaring at the two gray-haired troublemakers.
Meanwhile, Dan Heng, Welt, and Leon said absolutely nothing. They simply stood by the hatch, staring quietly at the man in the snow.
Welt wasn't as inexperienced as March, Stelle, or Caelus. He instantly picked up on the anomaly of Sampo's presence. Combined with Leon's suspiciously precise strike just moments ago, the seasoned Trailblazer easily concluded that this flamboyant stranger was no simple character.
Looking at the man's eccentric, theatrical outfit... Welt had every reason to suspect he was dealing with a Masked Fool.
"Uh, but this can't be blamed on you heroes!"
Sensing the shifting atmosphere, Sampo immediately plastered on a fawning, overly enthusiastic smile. His words flowed with practiced smoothness.
"Haha, it's all my fault for appearing so suddenly! Taking this hit was worth it, proper, and absolutely necessary!"
He dusted off his pants and struck a welcoming pose. "How else could I get to know such good friends! Hahahaha!"
"Ah, right... is Officer Gepard here? I'm quite familiar with him."
In just a few short sentences, Sampo vividly portrayed the shrewd, slick nature of a street-smart hustler.
However, beneath his cheerful facade, he acutely felt the scrutinizing gazes of the three silent men. Especially the gaze of that handsome young man who had been driving—those eyes seemed capable of piercing right through his act, projecting an invisible, suffocating pressure.
"Who?" March 7th tilted her head, genuinely confused. She didn't know any Gepard.
"Oh?!" Sampo gasped in exaggerated shock. "You aren't Silvermane Guards?"
He patted his chest, letting out a heavy sigh of relief. "Phew! You should've said so earlier. We almost had a misunderstanding among our own! It's like friendly fire washing away the local shrine!"
He offered a grand, sweeping bow. "Sampo Koski, at your service. A pleasure to meet you all~"
Yet, even as the words left his mouth, Sampo realized something was horribly wrong.
'Wait, no!'he screamed internally.'I literally just watched them fall from the sky in a spaceship, yet I'm still asking if they're local guards?! Isn't that a bit too stupid?!'
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