Chapter 155: Chapter 113: Going to the Brothel

The steam train chugged slowly along the tracks. Steam billowed from the exhaust ports at the front of the engine, looking from a distance like a plume of white smoke falling from the sky.

It was Fude City’s special slow train, designed for tourists to take in the city’s streetscape. The carriages were bustling, the drone of incessant chatter filling the air.

The weather was hot, but the train cars had cooling arrays specially inscribed by Alchemists. They worked by absorbing heat as ice within the arrays melted. Meanwhile, another array on the ceiling of each car generated new ice, creating a self-sustaining cycle.

From a distance, they looked like a row of shimmering silver scales, which is why this special slow train was named after the Pure-blood Dragon Race and known as the "Snow Dragon."

With the Hunting Competition underway, the Snow Dragon was much more crowded than usual.

Most were tourists who had read the news and come to Fude City to watch the event. They were mainly wealthy people in extravagant clothes, and a dedicated tour guide followed the Snow Dragon’s route, telling them of Fude City’s past and present glories.

As they neared the Dongcheng District, he tactfully changed the subject to the Hunting Competition.

The guide was mainly bragging about how Baron had made a Sun Knight kneel three times that day, followed by his glorious feat of taking on six opponents at once.

"That Allen is supposedly a playwright from Feinan. Not only is he a powerful martial artist, but he also solved the case in Mundra Town involving the Blue Blood Sect and the Sisterhood of the Blood of the Lamb..."

"And he’s just an Intern Demon Hunter, isn’t he? It’s unbelievable..."

"I was there and saw him in person. He’s very young, tall, with black hair. Lots of noble wives and young ladies were shouting his name... I hear that Baron Valen is asking about him everywhere, hoping to marry his daughter off to him."

"You mean the three-hundred-pound daughter?"

"She’s lost weight, I hear. Only a little over two hundred pounds now... But if you ask me, the best match for Allen would have to be Miss Remedios."

"Remedios?"

"Mayor Lewis’s daughter, the greatest beauty in Fude City. I hear Zhan Jiale, the deputy commander of the Glorious Knight Order, has been pursuing her for nearly ten years, but he’s gotten nowhere."

’Gotten nowhere? Isn’t she just stringing him along?’

Baron, sitting not far away, snarked inwardly.

Baron and his companions were sitting in a corner of the car, the four of them sharing a long bench. They were on their way to the place Morey had mentioned, where Baron could sell his medicine.

Listening to the surrounding passengers praise Baron, Maguire felt a twinge of jealousy but still turned to Baron excitedly.

"Hey, L! Everyone’s talking about you taking on six Glorious Knights by yourself today!"

Baron just smiled and said nothing.

Maguire laughed too.

Having been through several incidents together, Maguire had more or less figured out L’s temperament and personality.

At first, he’d resented Baron. Baron had recklessly accepted a bounty, which led to Andre isolating both him and Zod.

Though their later conversations on the train had gradually improved his impression of Baron, he had still thought of the man from Feinan as, at best, a half-assed Demon Hunter.

But Baron’s performance during the Divine Punishment Fire incident and in solving the Blood Demon case changed things. More importantly, when Baron stood up for him and Zod against the uncompromising Andre, Maguire began to see Baron as one of his own.

He remembered the night they spent at the Blood Church.

When Maguire found out Andre and his group had to cram into the town’s inn for the night, the sense of smug satisfaction he felt was simply indescribable.

And the time the three of them beat the hell out of Savi was what made Maguire fully accept Baron.

He started to see him as a brother, on the same level as Zod.

That was why, when he later heard Baron had returned from the brink of death, he had wept with joy in the middle of the night and become willing to draw his sword for him.

Maguire might be a hothead, but his feelings were genuine.

’Hmm, I’m down to my last sheet of paper. Until my "Spear Sword" is ready, I’ve only got one shot left if we run into trouble.’

Baron watched the steam drift past the window as he reviewed his recent actions.

His fight with Gray had been different; he had controlled his own blood, mixing it into Gray’s wounds before detonating it. But with Feilan, he had used a sheet from his Secret Notes, [Damage Storage]. When his flying kick missed, he had used the opening to stick the paper to his opponent, then activated it at the perfect moment to kill him.

Baron had actually planned to wait.

But when Feilan charged at him with his blade, Baron saw the killing intent in his eyes and knew the man was trying to put him in the ground.

So, no more holding back. He decided to give the man a quick end.

’Even if everyone was watching, as long as they didn’t see exactly *how* he killed Feilan, it didn’t count as witnessing. They would just have to remain clueless.’

...

The Snow Dragon continued to RUMBLE along the tracks, advancing as if toward no destination in particular. Looking out the window, they could see the Dongcheng District, its electrical wires tangled like spiderwebs and steam shrouding it like a cloud of mist.

The ground was paved with a new type of asphalt. Instead of trees, the roads were lined with massive pillars similar to the utility poles from Baron’s past life. Wires hung from these pillars as well, the lines stretching toward a colossal, sixty-foot-tall metal spire in the district’s center.

Esoteric and mysterious Alchemy Array Patterns were chiseled into its surface, which flickered with arcs of electricity and sparks.

From deep within the district came the occasional high-pitched roar. According to the tour guide, it was likely the sound of alchemy experiments from members of the Mechanical School, which was based here.

The Mechanical School was an Alchemy School that had swept through the Prole Empire in recent years, becoming wildly popular.

It didn’t originate in the west, in the open-minded Church Country Haiwede, but rather in the Wizard Country Palmer, located to Haiwede’s north.

Palmer faced the sea to the west, bordered the Far North Suluka to the north, had the Church Country Haiwede to its south, and shared its eastern border with both the Knight’s Kingdom of Amel and the Prole Empire.

The country’s terrain was flat, with many plains and abundant rainfall, earning it the name "the Rain Country."