Chapter 348: You Don’t Want To Get Lost
Lancet boarded a train.
Rosenblum was a city that was exceptionally different from State X, and exceptionally far away. The only way he could get there fast enough apart from kidnapping a Portal Mage was to use a train.
The long vehicle was black and huge. It had metal ribs in the color of shiny obsidian which curved over the long body of the train, framing narrow windows of reinforced glass.
At the front, a pointed steel nose carried a glowing crest beneath a row of vents that breathed pale vapor onto the platform. Nothing about it looked delicate, but it moved almost without sound when Lancet boarded with the other passengers.
His ticket was checked at the entrance before he was directed farther inside.
The passenger cabin was much warmer than the exterior suggested. High-backed seats lined both sides of a wide aisle, their dark leather broken by small brass tables and crystal panels built into the walls.
Merchants spoke quietly over projected documents. A family settled around several bags near the rear. Two men in expensive coats were already discussing cargo prices before the train had even left the station.
Lancet found a good enough seat beside the window and sat down.
The doors sealed and he felt a low vibration pass beneath his feet.
Then the platform began sliding away.
Lancet rested one arm against the window while buildings disappeared behind them and the train gathered speed.
His mind wandered quickly to Rosenblum.
He had more than one reason for going there.
The first was Spectra.
Ever since what happened to her in Deathrock — almost dying when the excessive Gloom overwhelmed her — he knew she needed to return to her full strength.
So far, she had fought Demons, Purgatory Demons, Baal’s influence and the Demon Head while operating without the thing that had once made her the most feared Demon Binder of her era.
Her original catalyst.
Lancet already knew what it was. A necklace.
Spectra had used it to bind her Demons, store them and maintain control over forces that should have been impossible for one person to command. The bracelet she used now was enough for ordinary binding, but it was only a temporary replacement.
The necklace was different. Her strongest Demons were bound to it, and that included Baphomet.
Lancet looked out at the countryside rushing beyond the glass.
A Demon Lord.
If Lancet found the necklace and returned it to her, he would not only be fulfilling part of what he had promised her when he created her.
He would be restoring one of his strongest Heroines to her full power. And with Operation Citadel coming, that mattered quite a bit.
Humanity was preparing to invade Gehenna and with a Demon Lord on their side, it increased their chances of victory rather than reducing it.
He smiled slightly at the thought.
There was still one problem. The catalyst could be anywhere.
Spectra had died long ago. Her possessions had been scattered across history, taken as trophies, buried, stolen, inherited, sold or forgotten. Something as valuable as the necklace might have passed through dozens of hands before the present era.
Lancet had to search for it, and Rosenblum was the best place to begin.
The city had been called many things in the novel, but the title that appeared most often was:
The Trade Capital of the World.
Almost anything valuable eventually passed through Rosenblum.
Weapons from old eras. Beast materials. Divine relics. recovered Dungeon artifacts. Noble collections. Bloodline treasures. historical weapons whose original owners had been dead for centuries.
And, occasionally, objects whose sellers had no idea what they actually possessed.
The Grand Auction was one of the biggest reasons for that reputation.
If Spectra’s catalyst had resurfaced anywhere near the legitimate artifact market, then the Grand Auction was one of the most likely places it could appear.
That was why Lancet had gotten Renan to give it to him. There was no way he would get into the Auction without an event.
Lancet reached into his coat and touched the invitation. This was why he was on his way to Rosenblum.
Well... mostly.
His fingers remained there for another moment. He was also going there for something else.
Someone else.
Lancet leaned back in his seat and the train carried him onward.
By the time the city finally appeared beyond the window, several passengers had already started gathering their things.
Lancet looked up.
Even from a distance, Rosenblum did not resemble the other cities he had seen since coming to this world.
It spread outward around several enormous trade towers, with bridges crossing between them at different heights.
Long transport rails entered from every direction. Airships hung over distant loading districts while cargo platforms moved beneath them.
The outer walls were lined with wide gates instead of narrow military entrances, each large enough to handle constant streams of wagons, riders and freight carriers.
The train began slowing and buildings rose around it.
Lancet stood with the other passengers and moved toward the exit before the doors opened.
The station immediately swallowed them into noise.
Workers pushed cargo carts between platforms. Merchants called assistants over. Travelers checked maps and argued over transport. Crystal boards above the concourse changed constantly, listing arriving trains, trade routes and district information.
Lancet followed the crowd toward the city entrance.
Security there was heavy, but it felt different from Golden Barracks. There was less military and all the Brigadiers present only cared about who was bringing what through the gates.
Lancet reached the front of the line and handed over his student identification.
The officer checked the information against a crystal reader and handed the identification back.
"Enjoy Rosenblum."
Lancet passed through the gates. Just a few steps in, he stopped and gazed at the place.
What a city!
There was barely any space that wasn’t occupied.
Shops filled the lower levels of almost every major building. Markets spread beneath covered streets. Huge glass displays showed enchanted weapons turning slowly in the air beside jewelry, Beast cores and luxury clothing. Traders moved between towers on enclosed bridges while freight lifts carried sealed crates overhead.
There were people everywhere.
Nobles, Awakeners, foreign merchants, porters and couriers.
Buyers dressed plainly enough to disappear into a crowd and others dressed specifically to make sure nobody could ignore how much money they had.
Lancet walked farther in.
One street sold mostly weapons. Another opened into a district filled with food stalls and imported ingredients. Farther ahead, a tower displayed the symbols of several major merchant houses across its face.
He wondered how he would find the Grand Auction in the midst of all this madness.
Then, a vehicle slowed beside him.
It looked like this world’s version of tricycles he used to see in Mexican and Indian movies.
"Hey, kid. Can I take you anywhere?" The driver said with a smile and gestured toward the city ahead. "It’s a big city. You don’t want to get lost."