Part 3 The Traveler Chapter 97 Academic Issues
As she spoke, Elaine’s eyes rolled upward slightly and she seemed to fall into a memory:
”I first resold steel and coal shipped from the west coast of the Interoceanic Sea to Feneport, and then brought back tobacco, coffee, cocoa, and other specialties from there to Intis; it was a littoral route that was relatively safe, and the competition was very fierce; I was trying to get out of it as quickly as possible, saving up my capital and working on upgrading my sequences in hopes of making a colonial trade.
”Unfortunately, I had just familiarized myself with the shipping lanes and made a profit when, on my second trip to West Byron, I ran into the plundering of Tracy, who was then still a ‘Disease Maiden’ rather than a ‘Disease Lieutenant General’, and who at the time had only one ship, but was herself strong very strong, and my partner and I fought desperately, but could not recover.
”She was not in the habit of indiscriminate killing, but merely robbed the cargo, as well as, I ……”
Not to be outdone by the alternative among magical girls …… Klein listened quietly, used his clowning ability to suppress his embarrassment, and asked with an expressionless face:
”How far have you progressed?”
”No!” Elaine instinctively denied, “It was all because she forced me! I, I didn’t want to die, I had to, had to choose to suffer, and, and, and, she’s a woman!”
Ma’am, there’s no need to react so violently, if I asked if you’ve been in a super-friendship relationship, you’d have to jump out of here? It’s just that I’m kind enough to not be so direct, considering your shame …… Hey, underneath the crazy Germaine Sparrow mask is the gentlemanly me …… This is the truest me… …Klein, his expression unchanged, turned to ask:
”What cuisine do you favor? Any particular favorite dishes? On the sweet side, or the salty side, or in the middle?
”What foods do you hate? What are you allergic to?
”Do you have a taste fetish? If so, what is it?
”……”
This one question sounded like a dream to Elaine, not real enough.
She never thought the other woman would ask similar questions, like a suitor inquiring about what preferences the object of her desire had.
No, no suitor would ever inquire like that! It was all brought out indirectly in one conversation or inquired from another source! No woman would like to be grilled like that! This, this is more like a questionnaire invented by Russell the Great …… him, what does he want to do? He asks these questions without a single expression, and I’m scared …… Elaine was silent for a few seconds, and answered each of them in Klein’s straight, unmoving, icy eyes.
Klein kept his forward leaning sitting position unchanged and continued to ask:
”How do you usually sit? Any habitual movements ……”
The more Elaine answered, the more panicked and uneasy she became, with the inexplicable feeling that she would disappear as a result.
By the time this puzzling and frightening “questionnaire” was finished, her heart became heavy, always suspecting that she would end up in a bad situation.
Should she try her best to jump out of the carriage when he wasn’t looking? Elaine seriously considered this possibility.
However, the other party showed absolutely no signs of making a move, causing her to never make up her mind that there was hope for a peaceful resolution to the matter.
After grasping Elaine’s character, habits and hobbies, Klein brought the topic back to the “Disease Lieutenant General”:
”What do you know about Tracy?”
Elaine fell silent, opening and closing her mouth several times, but was not able to speak.
The carriage traveled for a while before she finally smiled bitterly:
”She possesses excellent fighting abilities, specializes in sneaking and cursing, and is capable of stealth and lightening.
”She has mastered the mirror and wand substitution method, mastered black flame and frost, and is able to make enemies within a certain range suddenly fall ill, including colds, pneumonia, gastroenteritis, and so on, and the longer one fights with her, the more serious the illnesses one acquires, and some extraordinary people have even died suddenly directly from heart disease.
”She is also, also able to create invisible threads that can be used to control her enemies, and she knows the human body’s, the human body so well that she can very easily make people pleasurable, that, that way, through contact.
”She has the ability to actively seduce, and many pirates have even given up resisting in order to get close to her.
”She is usually, usually fairly friendly, but is cruel to her enemies, and likes to destroy the goodness that the other person is trying to protect, leaving them to suffer in extreme mental anguish ……”
Elaine didn’t go into specifics about how Trixie destroyed the good in others, there were many stories of cruelty and hilarious mishaps, this “Disease Maiden” had caused enemies to kill fathers and sons, and had instigated the wife of one of his enemies to betray him, causing him to crash right into the scene.
Sure enough, it’s a magical girl, a Sequence 5 “Witch of Pain” that’s one level higher than “Delight”…… Klein roughly grasped Tressie’s fighting style, and calmly and without a ripple, he asked again:
”Does she have any magical items?”
”…… Yes, a diamond encrusted bracelet, as long as it is worn, it is very difficult for Tressie to be harmed.” Elaine hesitantly told the secret of the Disease Lieutenant General.
Klein asked a few more questions in detail and straightened his forward leaning body a bit:
”Tracy is assisting the Witch Cult in human trafficking?”
This was a question that had been on his mind ever since he heard about it from “Iceberg Lieutenant General” Edwina.
The Cult of the Witch had cooperated with Ince Zangwill, had connections with the royal family, and was involved in an underground relic that was located in an unknown place;
Tracy is helping them with human trafficking;
Baron, who is credited by the Hanged Man with directing the disappearance of slaves and the vaporization of primitive tribes in the Southern Continent, is present on the upper floors of the underground ruins;
The extraordinary guards around the biggest trafficker in Bekrand, Karpin, belong to the “Arbiter” path, which is controlled by the royal family of Ruen, the royal family of Feniport and the military of both countries. ……
These things that Klein had in his possession formed a thread, but he had no way of knowing exactly what would be revealed, and “Disease Lieutenant General” Tracy was a breakthrough.
”What Witch Cult?” Elaine asked back, confused.
”You don’t need to know.” Klein responded calmly.
If you understand what a witch is, and suspect that the extremely attractive “Lieutenant General of Disease” who gave you pleasure was once a dirty, savage man, I’m afraid you’ll lose it on the spot. …… You’re welcome, I’m a nice guy… …Klein mentally spat.
Elaine pushed down her doubts and recalled:
”She did help transport a few shipments of slaves in the last year, and the other party to the deal was ‘Mad Captain’ Connors Victor, who is said to have deep cooperation with many traffickers and slave traders in Ruen.”
”Captain Mad” Connors Victor …… Crane memorized the nickname and the name.
He nodded, his voice no longer so low, but rather rather soft as he asked:
”Have you ever been involved in anything like that? Ever moonlighted as a pirate?”
The very polite and cordial tone made the driving Danez shiver inexplicably, only to realize that a Gelman Sparrow in a similar state was scarier than cold and expressionless.
”No.” Elaine shook her head, “I bleed House Sauron, I won’t dishonor the family, and, besides, Tracy always said that I wouldn’t be allowed to get my hands on blood and see the darkness, and that it was up to her to face it.”
She romance novels read too much …… Klein pulled out a gold coin and let it roll around between his fingers as if it were dancing.
He didn’t avoid Elaine and did a divination in front of her to make sure she hadn’t lied.
The answer was that the other was fairly honest.
This is also because I didn t ask her specifically about her emotional entanglement with Tracy, otherwise she couldn t have been that honest …… Klein secretly sighed and put away the gold coins.
At this time, the carriage also circled around to the harbor, but it was no longer where the ship Elaine had booked was located.
Klein looked out the window and took out a metal vial, handing it to Elaine and said:
”Use the liquid inside to remove the makeup from your face.”
”Why?” Elaine subconsciously asked back.
”That’s not a question you should ask.” Klein leaned forward again and said expressionlessly.
Elaine was a bit stifled and angry, but not wanting to intensify the conflict with the other party at this critical moment, she could only unscrew the cap, smell the flavor, and test for toxicity.
”Use it directly?” She inquired.
Klein gave a simple “hmm”.
Elaine took out a white handkerchief and poured the liquid inside the metal vial onto it, then wiped up her face, quickly removing her previous disguise.
The neutral beauty disappeared, and the lines of her face became softer, as Elaine’s original appearance was presented to Klein’s eyes.
After looking closely for a while, Klein voiced flatly:
”Remove the hat and let down your hair.”
Elaine’s brow furrowed in a haughty frown, always feeling that the next order would be one she couldn’t accept, such as removing her clothes.
She took a deep breath and removed her bowler hat, letting down her coiled red hair, which instantly looked very soft.
Klein straightened up and leaned back against the compartment wall, commanding in his usual tone:
”You may redo the disguise you just made.”
This is crazy, isn’t it? After all this tossing and turning, it’s back to the beginning? Elaine dared to be angry, fearing that the other party would make a bad request, she hurriedly opened her suitcase, took out a mirror, and looked at herself.
Unloaded so clean …… She froze for a moment, then quickly made up and coiled her hair.
When the carriage came to a halt, she had changed back into a handsome young male.
Klein nodded imperceptibly, glanced sideways at the window, and slowly retracted:
”One last question.”
”What?” Elaine asked nervously.
Klein lifted his eyes up a little, his face muscles twitching:
”How big are your breasts really?”
”……” Elaine started, then flushed.
It wasn’t a shyness-like reddening, but the kind of reddening that made you want to swing your fist at the other man’s jaw.
Without averting his gaze, Klein calmly added:
”It’s an academic question.”
”……” Seeing the lack of color in the other man’s eyes, Elaine sucked in a breath and closed her eyes to answer the question she’d just asked.
Klein breathed a quiet sigh of relief and pulled out a ship’s ticket and a stack of papers:
”New identification, boat ticket to Tijuana Harbor.
”Once you get there, buy another one to Puerto Prizzi.”
Elaine gave him a wary look, took the ticket and the information, and, carrying her suitcase, carefully stepped out of the carriage and saw the ship she would be traveling on.