Mage Manual-Chapter 1309 - 955: Travel

"The Canaan has a maximum speed of 400 km/h, an operating speed of 350 km/h, a train height of 4050 mm, and it ensures a noise-free and vibration-free ride with free internet throughout..."

In the underground passage, Igula repeated the information he found on his phone: "I remember the Blood Moon’s fastest maglev train could reach a superconducting speed of 600 km/h, but that was based on the miracle materials produced by countless Alchemists... I always thought steam trains were the limit for ordinary people."

"Even without Mages, ordinary people can still create miracles." Ash took back his suitcase from Vishi, "Don’t underestimate any civilization."

"Canaan," Harvey scratched his ear, "sounds familiar."

"The first Angel Hunt, the city that was swallowed by the white mist with millions of people was Canaan." Ash thought for a moment and said, "I wonder if it’s in memory or if the train was just named after that city."

"It’s to commemorate the Canaan City reconstruction plan." Filly glanced at Ash, "The Canaan railway you donated to assist seems to be nearing completion and opening. Railway transport is much faster than truck transport, and then aid can come from all over the country to help rebuild Canaan."

Ash was taken aback and then smiled slightly, "That’s great."

"Although I couldn’t use Heath’s leftover money to eliminate the other Demons, at least... it wasn’t wasted." He shrugged, "Thank goodness for Rose’s help, otherwise, I wouldn’t even know how to spend it. But speaking of which, the train tickets were booked by Rose, the hotel was found by Rose, all the random chores were settled by Rose, even my luggage was packed by Rose..."

"You’re already no different from a useless slacker." Igula teased, "I wonder if you’ll be able to take care of yourself once you part with Rose."

"Huh?" Ash was taken aback, "Isn’t there still you?"

"...The way you’re speaking so matter-of-factly makes me wonder for a moment if I owe you a favor." Igula raised an eyebrow, "But thinking about it, it seems like you owe me a favor, my dear cult leader."

"You still remember things from so long ago?"

"I usually only remember two kinds of people: those who offended me and those who owe me. You’re lucky because you rank high on both lists." Igula tilted his head, "How should I use my wish? At your wedding with the Sword Maiden, make you confess your fantasies about the Witch? Or vice versa at the Witch’s wedding, confess your fantasies about the Sword Maiden?"

Harvey: "There’s a loophole, what if they hold the wedding together?"

"No need to worry at all, the number of people he fantasizes about is so many, I refuse to believe they can fit into one wedding." The Swindler mused, "But this would embarrass the bride in front of everyone, which is not my intention... I’ll wish for him to confess how many people he has fantasized about on the wedding night."

"Hey!!!"

"You should reflect on why this even threatens you." Igula sneered, "But I’m still happy to take care of you, after all, I want to see whether your end will be rivers of blood or a complete demise."

"Master, I’m also here!" Vishi clung to Ash’s arm, gently saying, "I’ll take care of you forever!"

"Thank you, Vishi." Ash said gratefully, "Nothing can motivate me to be independent more than that curse of yours."

He suddenly remembered something, took out a fisherman’s hat from his backpack, slowed his pace to walk alongside the silent Nia at the back, and put the hat on her head.

"..." Nia gave him a glance, remaining silent.

"Although Rose has already forged your identity, I think it’s better to be cautious." Ash chuckled, "And it weirdly suits you, making your face look small and delicate."

As a wanted fugitive, Nia naturally couldn’t buy a train ticket, but forging identities is a thriving business in the underground world. Rose could handle any dirty work with ease; helping Nia forge an identity was a piece of cake.

"...If I’m recognized, I’ll just kill my way out."

Nia turned her head away, "I didn’t originally intend to save any world with you guys anyway."

"But I need you; you’re the strongest combat power aside from me and Vishi." Ash clasped his hands together, "Since you’re idle in the city anyway, just treat it as helping me. I really hope you can travel with us through the Allstars."

Nia lowered her head, speaking softly, "You clearly just don’t want me out of your sight."

"That’s one of the reasons too." Ash blinked, "Is there a problem with that?"

You’re actually doing it for the Sword Maiden; you just don’t want me to trouble her, you don’t really hope... Nia almost instinctively thought of rebuttals but, looking at Ash’s serious gaze, she slightly moved her lips but ultimately said nothing, silently pulling down the hat brim, her red hair almost completely covered by the hat.

Seeing Nia being so compliant, Ash got bolder and couldn’t resist reaching out to pat her head, but immediately realized he might get scratched and quickly dodged back.

However, Nia just gave him a sidelong glance and didn’t explode.

Ash breathed a sigh of relief, turned to meet Filly’s gaze. He blinked and just as he was about to reach over, Filly blocked him and then the little lamb stood on tiptoes to pat his head, as if it was some kind of competition.

The parking lot and the Canaan station were separated by a massive underground mall, already bustling with numerous stores and a cacophony of voices. As they walked, they found the path ahead blocked; they had to line up for security checks to enter the station, and detailed information needed to be registered on a website using their phones.

Filly found it strange, "I don’t remember needing security checks when I traveled last year..."

"The Allstars government classified the Canaan City and Golden Rain incidents as extraordinary weather and anti-social terrorist events, meaning terrorists used unusual climates for malignant social retribution." Rose said calmly, "Thus, apart from establishing a department for extraordinary weather countermeasures, the Allstars government is pushing for strict security checks to be implemented in major public places nationwide. Right now, it’s just traffic hubs; in the future, even large supermarkets might have to enforce such measures."

"In a way, the Allstars government’s speculation is very close to the truth." Ash asked, "Did any of you bring any prohibited items?"

Vishi thought for a moment, then dismantled the folding long gun’s muzzle from her backpack: "As a maid, carrying a clothes-drying rod around makes perfect sense, right?"

Igula thought for a moment, then disassembled all the hand cannons in his pocket into parts, "A rifled steel pipe is just a craft, not contraband."

Harvey shook his head very calmly, "I didn’t bring any contraband."

Everyone stared at his extra-large suitcase, which was 1.5 meters tall and could fit several people, and fell into a long silence. How should I put this? If we really want to nitpick, the items in Harvey’s suitcase are indeed not as prohibited as rifles and hand cannons...

"I’m not going to abandon my sword." Nia clutched her sword bag tightly, "Absolutely not!"

When Ash instinctively looked at Rose, he suddenly felt that he really had a talent for being a useless cheerleader.

Rose nodded knowingly, made a few phone calls, and then said, "All clear, I bribed three security checkpoints on the left side, everyone just go through, but we still need to log into the website to register personal information."

"You’ve helped us again," Ash said with a wry smile, "and I’m sure this journey will keep troubling us."

"It’s part of an assistant’s duties," Rose said, "and my dolls contain contraband materials. If we can’t pass, I’ll still need to bribe the security staff."

"I’ve actually been wanting to ask for a long time." Ash glanced at Rose’s backpack, his mouth twitching, "Why do you bring these four... such unique dolls on your travels?"

Attached to Rose’s backpack are four large dolls. One golden doll is entirely made of wings, with eyes all over the feathers; the blue doll is composed of four concentric rings of varying sizes forming a unique structure, with eyeballs scattered all over the rings; the light green doll resembles a heart, covered with eyes of different sizes; the most normal-looking one is the pink doll, which looks like an Ouroboros snake, but upon closer inspection, its scales are made of hands, each hand’s palm hiding an eyeball...

As Rose walked along the way, she didn’t know how many kids she frightened into tears.

"Is it not allowed?" Rose retorted, "If you’re not happy, I can throw them away."

"I didn’t mean that, it’s just... do you really like these dolls?"

Ash wasn’t just now discovering Rose’s peculiar hobby; although he hadn’t seen Rose’s collection, sometimes when he couldn’t sleep and went to the study to read, Rose would always yawn and hug her bizarre dolls, asking him what he wanted for a midnight snack.

"I don’t like them." Rose’s response surprised Ash, "I hate them."

"What? But don’t you sleep hugging them?"

"I usually sleep hugging Mr. Fish and Miss Cow, these four are normally on the ground for stepping on."

Ash was somewhat bewildered, "Then why didn’t you bring Mr. Fish and Miss Cow?"

"Why should I bring them?" Rose countered, "I don’t want to step on them."

Ash blinked; the Kingdom of Allstars, rich in consciousness, still hadn’t birthed an alien capable of following Rose’s train of thought.

"If only you could become a mage, Rose," he laughed, "you’d surely add a lot of wonderful colors to this world."

"Huh?" Rose seemed not to understand his meaning, tilting her head in confusion. But she didn’t mind, lowering her head to open her phone and log in her information.

When passing through security, Ash turned back and saw Nia at the end of the line, still fiddling with her phone with her head down. He leaned over and said, "Just put our home for the address, and for emergency contact, use my number... you remember my number, right?"

Nia glanced at him, entered the information, and finally made it through the first layer of security.

Inside, there was another security check before entering the waiting lounge, and Rose once again utilized her ’cash power,’ and they finally managed to bring all sorts of contraband into the VIP lounge to rest.

Ash was just about to play with his phone when he noticed Filly looking around, so he stood up and said, "I passed by and saw the restroom. Who wants to go with me?"

"I do!" Vishi stood up lazily, "Master always needs me to help him at the restroom—"

Ash noticed the subtle gazes of others in the VIP lounge and his mouth twitched, "Luckily, I’ve already planned to leave this city, so feel free to misrepresent me."

"I just said I’ll help by holding your shoulder, Master, what were you thinking?" Vishi, with enchanting eyes, tilted her head and chuckled, "Why do you always interpret everything in that way? Master, that kind of thinking isn’t good for your health."

"Your very presence isn’t good for my health." Ash said irritably, "I wouldn’t be at all surprised if I ended up dead at your hands in the future."

"Sometimes I wonder if you’re intentionally flirting with me," Vishi pondered, "But I have to retort, the likelihood of you dying at the hands of the Sword Maiden Witch Meiwa is much higher than at mine—in every sense."

"I’ll go too." Filly said weakly, following along behind them.

"Filly, did you inform the school and your friends about this trip?" Ash laughed, "I don’t want to be accused of kidnapping a college girl."

"I told them." Filly nodded, smiling, "My senior sister was so envious of my Allstars tour that she nagged me for an entire night."

In fact, it wasn’t just nagging. Senior Sister Lea was convinced Ash was seizing this opportunity to win over Filly, so she taught Filly how to win Ash over—the line between prey and hunter is really quite blurry!

"Isn’t anyone worried?" Ash asked, "After all, it’s a long-term, out-of-town trip with us, who could be considered societal idle hands. I even feel like I’m kidnapping a college girl."

"Not really..." Filly hesitated but still shook her head, "No."