The Wisteria Train 3

Violita?

Bai Ci was momentarily taken aback when she heard the name.

No matter how she looked at it, it sounded like a woman's name. She remembered that the heroine of the opera La Traviata had a similar name, which was derived from the violet flower.

It was inevitably a bit strange for a young man to have a woman's name.

She didn't make any effort to hide her surprise. In Bai Ci's estimation, this wasn't something that needed to be concealed.

“I am Lora.”

Noticing this, Violita explained softly, “Miss Lora must find my name quite strange, yes? It is indeed a woman's name.”

“When I was born, my parents gave me this name. They said that by giving me a female name, they could hide me so that the Grim Reaper wouldn't find me, allowing me to grow up safe and sound.”

Hearing this and seeing how visibly frail Violita looked, Bai Ci understood instantly.

This was just like how parents in certain parts of the real world would give their children very common, even crude nicknames—like 'Goudan' or 'Tieniu'—believing that such inconspicuous names would ward off misfortune and allow them to grow up safely.

She nodded and said in a gentle tone, “I see. Your parents must love you very much.”

“Yes, they love their child very much,” Violita replied with a faint smile, lowering his head to take another sip of the warm water.

They love their child very much, rather than they love me.

Bai Ci keenly picked up on this nuance in his phrasing. Had she unwittingly touched a sore spot?

Yet, this contradicted Violita's previous explanation and his calm, open attitude toward his own name.

A very contradictory person.

She didn't press further, simply nodding slightly. “Please rest well. I won't disturb you any longer.”

With that, she turned and returned to her seat.

Now that there were finally no outsiders disturbing her and no sudden emergencies to interrupt, Bai Ci could at last open her Rain's Message panel in peace.

She turned her head to look out the window. This way, even if the expression in her eyes changed, anyone watching would only assume she was focused on the scenery outside.

【Rain's Message NPC: Wisteria

Appearance: Brown hair in a small braid, purple eyes

Identity: “Trainmaster”

Relationship with Player: The first human toward whom he has not harbored hostility

Attributes: Strength ?, Spirit ?, Agility ?

Special Skill: Grudge Hunt (Blindly drinking the vital energy of the mortal world, leaving only the fire of jealousy to consume eternally.)

Life State: False State】

???

The contents displayed on the panel surprised Bai Ci slightly. Yet another non-human Rain's Message NPC.

And judging by the description and skill set, he didn't seem to be the type like Fu Liu who still retained their humanity; he leaned much more toward a completely non-human species.

This applied not only to his physical form, but also to his cognition and worldview.

The 'False State' went without saying; it was easy to understand. It meant this person was not human and was currently masquerading in human form.

Bai Ci recalled the trainmaster's behavior. Aside from his slightly too-consistent expression, there had been no obvious flaws.

Even that constant, polite smile could easily be explained away as a professional customer-service mask.

Grudge Hunt—a skill that sounded highly aggressive just from its name.

Combined with the line in their relationship status describing Bai Ci as the 'first human toward whom he has not harbored hostility,' the translation was clear: he had always harbored hostility toward humans.

Could the 'hunt' in Grudge Hunt refer to hunting humans?

Furthermore, Bai Ci was well aware that the only reason she was the exception was because the Ghost Bride's class skill code took priority over his hostility-generation code.

Then there was the mention of the 'fire of jealousy' in the skill description. This might be connected to the events behind this instance, but she didn't have enough clues to pursue that lead yet.

It seemed highly likely that the core setting of this instance would be aboard this steam train, the Mary.

As Bai Ci thought, she looked down at the itinerary printed on the back of her ticket. She calculated that the entire journey from the current station to her destination would take seven days.

Seven days was neither too long nor too short, but it was more than enough time for unexpected things to happen on an enclosed train.

In that case, she had to gather more information about the Mary.

However, there were only three people in Carriage One right now: herself, the frail Violita, and his servant, Marg.

Violita looked to be in terrible condition. Now that his coughing fit had subsided, he was resting with his eyes closed, likely lacking the energy to converse.

As for Marg, he didn't seem like the type who enjoyed idle chit-chat, making him an unlikely source of information.

Trying to obtain useful information in a carriage with only these three people was virtually impossible.

If Carriage One was a dead end, what about the other carriages?

Carriages Two and Three were first class; there might be more passengers there.

But most of them would be people of status who kept their distance from one another. They wouldn't easily open up to a sudden approach from a stranger.

Carriage Four was the dining car. Normally, people let their guard down while eating, making it the easiest place to strike up a casual conversation.

Perhaps she could overhear some useful clues from the passengers' chatter.

Having made up her mind, Bai Ci stood up, smoothed down her skirt, picked up her fan and her small handbag containing some loose change, and walked toward the connecting door.

She deliberately softened her footsteps to avoid disturbing Violita, who was resting with his eyes closed.

Marg cast a wary glance at her when she stood up, but upon noticing her careful movements, he quickly withdrew his gaze.

At this point, Bai Ci realized another strange detail about Violita. While taking care of a frail master required caution, such high vigilance seemed more like they were hiding from or guarding against something.

With so many secrets, it seemed this person was also an important NPC.

Why did she say 'also'?

Because Bai Ci firmly believed that she herself was an important NPC. When it came to deception, one had to fool oneself first.

Between the carriages of the Mary was a narrow gangway made of dark solid wood, which creaked softly underfoot.

Bai Ci passed through Carriages Two and Three. Neither carriage was very crowded; most of the passengers had boarded at previous stations and were currently resting with their eyes shut.

Without a good excuse to initiate a conversation, trying to dig for information here was quite unrealistic.

Walking further ahead, she reached the Carriage Four dining car.

Unlike the exquisite and elegant Carriage One, the layout of Carriage Four was relatively simple, divided into a kitchen and a dining area.

The interior of the kitchen was currently out of sight.

In the dining area, neat wooden tables and chairs were arranged on one side, while the other side featured an ordering counter staffed by an attendant, which also sold some prepared, non-perishable food.

There weren't many people in the dining car, leaving it feeling somewhat empty.

At the two tables nearest the carriage door sat two passengers, a man and a woman, both silently eating their food with their heads lowered.

In addition, there was a young woman dressed in a gray cleaning uniform.

She was dressed practically, wearing a cleaner's apron instead of the standard attendant's uniform, and was currently wiping down the floor with a rag.