Thinking and pondering, Bai Ci eventually drifted off to sleep, until the patter of drizzling rain woke her the next morning.
When she opened her eyes, the carriage was dim, lit only by the hazy daylight filtering through the window.
The rain outside wasn't heavy, but it was dense. Mist swirled through the mountain forests, reducing the view to a blurry expanse of deep green.
Carriage One was very quiet. Violita was still fast asleep, and Marg stood guard by his wheelchair, resting his eyes against the wall with steady, even breathing.
Bai Ci sat up, smoothed her skirt, and stood up quietly.
As the equivalent of business class for this instance's era, Carriage One had its own private washroom. It had a small supply of hot water, though more would have to be requested from the attendants.
This was something Bai Ci couldn't be more grateful for.
After a quick wash, Bai Ci returned to her seat, draped a shawl over her shoulders, grabbed her small handbag, and headed toward Carriage Four.
She had agreed to meet with Arbiter today, but since it was still early and they probably weren't awake yet, she decided to head to the dining car first.
On one hand, she wanted to grab a bite to eat. On the other hand, she wanted to see if she could pry some clues about the train from the dining car attendant, who was quite obviously anomalous.
The air in the corridor was cooler than inside the carriage, damp with rain. Her footsteps on the solid wood floorboards produced distinct, creaking sounds.
Perhaps because it was still early, only a few lamps were lit in the dining car. The warm light illuminated a small area, making the rest of the space seem even more desolate.
What was more, the attendant who should have been on duty was nowhere to be seen.
Bai Ci walked up to the counter. The ordering area behind it was tidy, with only a small wooden desk tucked in the corner. An open hardcover notebook and a fountain pen lay upon it.
Driven by curiosity and intuition, she stepped forward and gently picked up the notebook.
The cover of the notebook was slightly worn, showing signs of long use. Opening the first page, she was greeted by rows of neat numbers and symbols, alongside some simple, hand-drawn charts.
Dates, times, and corresponding weather parameters were noted alongside them, with every single entry recorded with meticulous clarity.
Bai Ci had no idea what the standard format for a professional surveyor's logbook looked like in this era.
However, it was easy to tell that whoever had written these entries was certainly no amateur.
In the recorder column of every single entry, a name was written: Vigi.
Vigi?
Bai Ci repeated the name in her head. This was likely the name of the dining car attendant.
But this was strange. Was recording professional weather data part of a dining car attendant's duties?
If it wasn't a duty, then it could only be a hobby or an aspiration.
This was an attendant with grand ambitions, unwilling to live an ordinary life bound to the tedious work of serving passengers and taking food orders, but instead aspiring to be a surveyor or a meteorological observer.
After mentally giving the dining car attendant a bit more backstory, Bai Ci suppressed her thoughts and continued flipping through the notebook.
She flipped back a few pages, looking through them one by one. They were all weather logs in the exact same format, with dates stretching from over half a year ago up to the present. The location was the very route the Mary was currently traveling.
It was clear that this log was not a passing whim, but something that had been maintained for a very long time.
A few entries were recorded in the dead of night, with brief remarks added after the parameters—mostly warnings about road conditions and train operations.
Things like “Heavy rain, low visibility, suggest slowing down” or “Strong winds, watch the safety of the carriage connections.”
The notebook was quickly flipped through. Bai Ci wasn't a professional, so she couldn't glean much from the recorded data itself; she could only summarize the clues visible to the naked eye.
The more she read, the more puzzled she became. Why would a dining car attendant spend so much time and effort recording weather data completely unrelated to his job?
Furthermore, the recording style was highly mature and consistent throughout.
It didn't look like the practice of a novice or a beginner, but rather the work of an experienced hand.
If it were practice, there would typically be a sense of progression in the content over time, noticeable even to a layman.
Having finished reading, Bai Ci placed the notebook back where it belonged.
She didn't make a conscious effort to restore the notebook to the exact state she had found it in.
For one, restoring it perfectly was impossible anyway. Being overly cautious would only make her look guilty, as if she had pried into some secret; it was better to openly admit that it was simply the result of curiosity.
Secondly, this would leave an opening for her to strike up a conversation with the attendant, which was her primary objective.
Bai Ci sat for a while longer, waiting for the attendant, Vigi, to appear.
As her gaze swept around, she noticed a uniformed figure in the corridor connecting the dining car and Carriage Three.
After a moment's thought, Bai Ci stood up and walked toward the figure.
The figure had his back to her, a small brown braid hanging down his neck. He was tall and straight, the profile of his face appearing exceptionally cold and sharp in the hazy morning light.
It was Wisteria.
Looking closer, he held a hardcover notebook in his hand, similar to the one she had just seen.
His purple eyes were focused intently on the rain and mist outside the window, his expression calm and concentrated. Without looking down, his fountain pen glided smoothly across the paper, recording something.
After a moment of hesitation, Bai Ci took the initiative to step forward and greeted him softly, her tone warm and slightly rising at the end, “Good morning, Mr. Wisteria.”
To be honest, she hadn't actually memorized such a long name; her brief hesitation just now was because she was busy looking it up on the Rain's Message panel.
Hearing her voice, Wisteria slowly turned around, a polite smile instantly returning to his face.
He capped his fountain pen, gently closed the notebook, and held it in his hand. His gaze landed on Bai Ci, openly observing her.
“Good morning, Miss Lora. So early—are you already heading back from the dining car?”
“Yes,” Bai Ci nodded, taking the opportunity to glance at the notebook in his hand, her face displaying just the right amount of curiosity.
“I didn't see the attendant on duty in the dining car, so I was planning to head back. Then I happened to see you here, Mr. Wisteria. May I ask what you're busy with?”
Wisteria looked down at the notebook in his hand, the corners of his mouth curving upward as he spoke in a natural tone, “It's nothing. Just recording the current weather conditions.”
“This is one of the trainmaster's duties. After all, this route goes through many mountainous forests, and the weather is highly volatile. Keeping timely records of weather data is necessary to ensure the safe operation of the train.”
Wisteria, the trainmaster, was also recording the weather. And from his demeanor, it seemed to be a routine task for his role.
Maintaining her curious expression, Bai Ci said tentatively, “I see. I had no idea that a trainmaster was also responsible for recording the weather. This is the first time I've heard of such a thing.”
“Would it be possible for me to take a look at your records? I'm actually quite curious about this kind of data.”
Rate on N.U.
