"Mysterious Realms are places even the gods cannot watch." / "Excuse , with which great being are you associated?"
They both turned to the conductor simultaneously. He remained placid, as if he hadn't just spoken.
"I am a believer in the Legacy Sage."
"My apologies. While that being is great, they are not qualified to make change the train's direction."
Jenkins paused. The conductor's words implied that certain gods might indeed have that authority.
"I am a follower of the Unlit Moon."
The woman was trying as well.
"My apologies. While that being is also great, they are still not qualified to make change the train's direction."
It was the sa reply.
"Then which being can make you change the train's direction?"
The woman pressed on, but she received no answer.
Looking dejected, she removed her hat and veil, revealing a delicate face.
"Kid, you got any other backers?"
"Do I count as my own?"
"No." / "No."
The words ca from both of them at almost the sa ti. The woman looked at the conductor in surprise, then back at Jenkins. Jenkins just gave a sheepish smile.
"Wait, I've also heard of the Lord of Blossoms!"
It took Jenkins a long mont of thought to recall the na.
Before the words had even left his mouth, the conductor finally spoke.
"Pardon , esteed guest. May I ask, are you a follower of the great Ninth Sovereign—the Lord of Blossoms?"
His face, which had been placid from the start, now wore an expression of deliberate deference. Even his posture, once ramrod straight, was now slightly bowed.
"Well..."
Jenkins rubbed his cheek and answered sheepishly, "I've only heard of him."
The conductor imdiately straightened up, his face returning to its emotionless mask.
"Who is the Lord of Blossoms?"
the woman asked, confused.
"I don't know either. I heard it from a Cursed Item."
Disappointnt once again settled over the woman's face.
The train continued its journey, though the living passengers felt as if they hadn't moved at all. Jenkins and the still-naless woman tried many other keywords, but nothing could make the conductor speak again. Ɽ𝘢NՕ฿Èș
"Forget it."
The woman stood up, grabbing her wide-brimd red hat with a sigh. "I have a divination ability, but it's not always accurate. Want to try our luck?"
"I don't think we have any better ideas right now,"
Jenkins replied.
The woman stood, felt around her waist for a mont, then held out her right hand to Jenkins.
"Lend a coin."
"You don't carry money with you?"
Jenkins reached down, pulled a wallet from one of the corpses on the floor, and tossed it to her.
"Why would I need to carry money?"
she asked with an amused expression. She first pulled out a copper penny, tossed it aside in disgust, and then found a gold pound.
"Watch this!"
As she spoke, she clenched her right fist, placed her thumb over her index knuckle, and balanced the coin flat on her thumbnail.
A yellow mote of light—the sign of an ability—flared to life. The woman muttered sothing under her breath, then flicked the gold pound into the air.
Pop!
The gold coin exploded in mid-air. Jenkins, being far enough away and quick to duck, wasn't hurt. The woman seed fine as well.
Furious, she stomped her foot, the sharp taps echoing in the car. She turned to Jenkins and declared, "Just my luck. Last ti... I didn't even get caught. Now I take one trip out of town and run into this. I give up. Good luck to you. I'm leaving."
"You're going to try your luck at the next stop?"
"No."
The woman shook her head gently. She fumbled inside her hat for a mont and pulled out a small slip of paper.
"A-11-5-2071, Mr. Prankster's Toy Ticket. I hope this spatial transfer doesn't run into anything weird... I hope the destination isn't sowhere strange... and I hope this doesn't attract Mr. Prankster's attention."
She gave Jenkins an apologetic smile, tore the slip of paper in her hand, and vanished from the train car.
"Huh?"
Jenkins threw up his hands, unable to believe he was the only unlucky one left. The train had already stopped seven tis. Jenkins didn't know how much farther it was to the final station, but he certainly didn't dare waste any more ti here.
"Guest."
"Hm?"
The mont the woman disappeared, the conductor actually spoke of his own accord.
"Are you talking to ?"
He pointed to himself in confusion. Why now? Did a path forward only appear when there was just one living person left?
"Seeing as you know of the great Ninth Sovereign, I can offer you a hint."
"What is it?"
"You can try bribing . I accept Soul Gold, Blood Coins, Gluttony's Mark, the Core of White Bones, Blasphemy Seeds, Filth Runes, Lust Gems, and many other currencies. Of course, I usually just call them Sin Coins."
"But I don't have any of those."
"No, you do."
With that, he pointed to the two corpses on the floor.
Jenkins froze, then quickly knelt and began to search them. On the man's body, he found only a single round, white coin. One side was stamped with a vicious-looking skull, the other with two crossed bones.
"This is not enough. But..."
A hint of cunning entered the conductor's placid voice. "But this single Core of White Bones is enough of a bribe for to give you the thod for extracting one of the other currencies."
Jenkins felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He seed to have fallen into so kind of trap.
"Where do I extract this currency from?"
"From intelligent life forms, though the efficiency is sowhat lower when extracting from the dead. A friendly reminder, guest: the greatest amount of currency you can extract from these two corpses is Blood Coins—about one-hundredth of a full coin in total. But that is still not enough. Perhaps you might consider... yourself."
"Did you deliberately wait until those two were gone to tell this? What is it you want from ?"
Jenkins narrowed his eyes.
"I don't understand what you're talking about."
The train arrived at another station. The doors opened to reveal an endless expanse of white light, then closed again a few minutes later.
"What can be extracted from ? And what will I lose after it's extracted?"
"Soul Gold is drawn from the soul. Blood Coins permanently consu blood volu. The Core of White Bones is the essence of extraordinary bones. Gluttony's Mark is the physical manifestation of the sin of gluttony. Blasphemy Seeds co from the sin of blasphemy. Filth Runes..."
He went on to list seventeen different currencies. A few of them caused permanent harm to the body. The vast majority, however—like Gluttony's Mark or Blasphemy Seeds—corresponded to certain innate traits of a living being. They could only be extracted once in a very long while, and only from the living.
"Which currency do I have the most of?"
"My apologies, guest. I can only judge the value of the dead. The living are protected by their spirit. But... your soul seems to be exceptionally special."
Jenkins ignored the malicious reply.
"Heh. So it's my soul you're after. How much currency do you need to help get back to my own world?"
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