"What is this?" Lukas looked at the officers surrounding them. "What’s going on?"

The lead officer, a broad-shouldered man with an expression on his face that said he found this whole thing tedious, held up a small ledger. "You are under arrest for failing to settle payment before leaving the cafeteria. Dash and dine is a serious offense on this train."

"Someone paid for us," Lukas said. "Boaz Connifer. He sent his guard to handle the bill before we’d even finished eating."

"We have no record of that payment," the officer said flatly. "If you’d like to contest it, you’re welcome to do so. But you’ll be doing it from a cell while we verify the claim."

Lukas looked at the ring of officers. Two of them were S-ranks, but the rest were A-rank.

But that didn’t matter. What mattered was if it was worth it to resist arrest. He had the money, so that wasn’t a problem.

It would be better to settle this amicably.

"If you resist or attack any of my officers," the lead man said as if he was reciting from memory, "the charge becomes more serious than just dine and dash."

"The train is under no city’s jurisdiction, so you’re subject to our laws and rules."

"Of course." Lukas placed a polite smile. "We’re willing to cooperate."

"Good." The lead officer nodded.

The officers led them through two carriages and into a narrow section of the train where there were several empty cells waiting.

A cell door was opened, the three of them were ushered inside, and the lock turned behind them.

Then the officers left, leaving one behind a desk.

Akira looked at the bars, then at Lukas. "Did Boaz set us up?"

"I don’t think so," Melody said before Lukas could answer. She sat down on the narrow bench along the wall. "His gratitude was genuine. You could see it in his eyes. So this is either someone intercepted the payment, there’s an actual honest mistake, or someone is deliberately targeting us and used this as an excuse."

Lukas leaned against the wall and looked at the locked door.

"Either way," he said, "we need to get out of here before tonight."

They stayed there for a few more minutes before the door to the room finally opened.

Lukas looked up from where he had been sitting against the wall, then his eyes narrowed in recognition.

His eyes moved over the scraggly beard, the haphazardly buttoned uniform, and that same nameplate.

This was the assistant conductor that had clashed with him when he’d gone to upgrade their tickets. The man had done this on purpose.

The assistant conductor entered with a wide smile on his face.

"Well, well, well." He looked at the three of them with undisguised pleasure. "Look who we have here."

He spread his hands towards the cell with a flourish. "How do you like the upgrade? It should be better than your bunk beds, right?"

Lukas stood from where he’d been sitting, holding the man’s gaze. "Are you really this childish?" he asked.

The man laughed. "Childish? Sure. Call me whatever you want."

He crossed his arms, enjoying the moment. "I’ll be called childish all day long if it means I get to watch you spend the rest of this trip in a cell. The satisfaction is worth it."

Lukas’ voice dropped to something flat and dangerous. "I’ll advise you to release us now."

"Or what?" The man tilted his head, the smile widening. "What exactly are you going to do about it from in there?"

Lukas turned his head slightly. "Akira."

Akira reached into her spatial ring and [Temptation] came out.

The Adept aura of the [Item] filled the cell and the surrounding room instantly, pressing against the walls, the ceiling, and the air itself.

It was not exactly subtle or restrained, and the aura hit the assistant conductor like a physical thing.

He stepped back and his eyes went wide.

Behind his eyes, he began calculating just how much trouble he was in. Had he made an enemy he couldn’t afford to keep?

Just the fact that they had an Adept ranked weapon with them meant Lukas truly did have the necessary connections and backing he projected.

Lukas held his gaze.

"All it would take is one command," he said quietly, "and Akira walks through that door and through you. It would take her less than a second to cut you down where you stand."

He took a step forward. "Whatever punishment I receive after killing you, I want you to understand that I would consider it a reasonable price."

"Is— is that a threat?" The man’s voice had shed its confidence entirely.

"Yes," Lukas said. "It is a threat."

The assistant conductor took another step back. His eyes moved to [Temptation], then to Akira’s expression, then back to Lukas.

Whatever he found in Lukas’s face completed the calculation.

He turned to the officer sitting at the desk in the corner. "Release them," he said. "Immediately."

The officer stood without saying anything, his own expression suggesting he had never been fully comfortable with the situation to begin with, and moved to the cell door.

The lock turned and a second later, Lukas, Melody, and Akira walked out.

Lukas paused beside the assistant conductor and placed one hand briefly on the man’s shoulder.

"Good choice," he said.

Then he walked out.

The assistant conductor stood there, listening to their footsteps fading away.

When he couldn’t hear it again, his legs shook and he put a hand on the desk beside him to stop himself from falling.

The weapon’s aura had dissipated the moment they left, but he could still feel it as if it was in front of him.

He had felt Adept auras before in his years on this train, but that didn’t make the feeling any less scary.

But to see a weapon of this caliber in the hands of an Awakener, this meant Lukas was far above his little position as assistant conductor. It wasn’t as if he was the only one who held this position.

He sat down heavily in the chair.

And in that moment, he understood just how close he’d come to losing his life.