Chapter 13

I will translate the provided text into English, maintaining the original structure and formatting:

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Chapter 13

"Station Master"

"What is it?"

The person who was called was the station master of White Rose, the largest station in Istarika. For those who work in the railway, becoming the station master of White Rose was a dream.

"The signal for the fifth platform has arrived."

"No application has been received. Is there a possibility of an error?"

The fifth platform only has one train that stops there. Therefore, the station staff had to contact the station master, and the station master had to investigate.

"There is no mistake. It appears to have officially departed from the port."

"...I will contact the palace. What is the expected arrival time?"

"About 10 minutes."

"Continue with the preparations."

Normally, before a train departs from the port, a dedicated radio is used to communicate in case of any emergencies. In this case, there was no such communication, which made the station master suspicious.

"Excuse me. This is the station master of White Rose... I would like to request information regarding the use of the royal family's dedicated train, as I believe you are aware."

Using a similar dedicated radio, he contacted the palace's butler's office.

"There is no information to provide regarding this matter. Please treat the arrival of the 'royal family' at White Rose station as usual. There is no unauthorized use; it is operating under official approval."

"Wha... Wait, that's all?"

The butler's office, which often deals with external matters, is usually handled by maids. The response given to the station master was too simple and lacked content, and the communication was abruptly cut off.

"What does that mean... But if I'm told to treat the 'royal family' as usual, I can't do otherwise."

The response to the royal family involves ensuring the safety of the public at the station, cleaning and preparing the path to the dedicated carriage, and answering any questions that may arise. Since the royal family usually travels with several knights and attendants, the station's duties are more like routine tasks. The only special task would be to communicate with the driver for the royal family's dedicated train to enter the garage.

Even as the station master of the largest station, he felt the sad nature of being an employee.

---

The station they arrived at... White Rose was a very large station.

"How many platforms are there?"

The royal family's dedicated train stopped at a level higher than the other trains. There were about 10 platforms on the lower level.

But it didn't end there. The platform where the royal family's train stopped was on the fifth floor. So, if each level had 10 platforms, it would be 40 in total.

"Eh, why are there so many people? It's almost noon, right!?" Aine's thoughts were understandable. Compared to the capital of her previous country, where the "incomplete station" was often mentioned and had the highest number of users, this place was no different.

"...We're being watched from below."

"Normally, we would receive some notice. This time, there was no information, and the royal family's train is moving. It's inevitable that it would attract the interest of the public."

"Aine, it's fine. It's okay to be seen by many people; I'm only looking at you."

"(That's a bit of a problem, Princess. But I love you, Mom.)"

"Then, Lady Olivia, Lady Aine. I will guide you. The knights ahead will secure the area... As I mentioned earlier, this has attracted a lot of public interest."

"Yes, that's true."

Olivia's response was as expected, showing no signs of fear or panic.

(She's really used to it, Mom.)

Aine thought that she must be used to being seen by people.

"Therefore, we will have to proceed through a considerable amount of noise. Of course, we will protect you no matter what, and we will not let anyone get too close."

"I trust you, so it's fine."

"It's an honor. Lady Aine, we will proceed to the dedicated carriage, of course, through a path that only we can use."

Dedicated, special... Aine was starting to feel a bit less special about these terms that she had been hearing since yesterday.

"Understood. Please lead the way."

"Understood. Let's go."

With that, they followed Chris to the exit. The luxury of the area near the exit and the entrance was impressive. Aine didn't mind the attention to detail.

Chris opened the door and led them out.

What Aine heard was much louder than she had imagined, with many voices and people trying to identify who had used the royal family's train.

"Please this way. Lady Olivia, I apologize, but a proper appearance to the public is..."

"Yes, it's better not to for now. Aine, I'm sorry, but we'll go straight to the carriage."

"Y-Yes, please."

This was Aine's first experience being seen by so many people, thousands, maybe even tens of thousands. She felt a mix of tension and confusion.

There was a staircase next to the open door, allowing them to quickly escape from the many eyes and voices, which helped Aine calm down a bit.

"I never thought it would be this crowded."

"I apologize, Lady Aine. Although the peak time has passed... White Rose is always this crowded, and the only less crowded times are late at night and early in the morning."

"Is it always this crowded... Wait, is this considered less crowded?"

"The peak time is about an hour ago from now. It gradually becomes less crowded from there."

(Around 10:00 AM is the busiest, I thought it would be earlier, like 7:00 AM.)

Aine thought it would be crowded with people going to work or school, but the start times must be different.

"I see. By the way, I was surprised that it became quiet just by going down the stairs."

"That's good to hear. Although it's not as powerful as the devices on the train, we have strong spatial control devices installed to reduce noise."

Aine thought to herself.

They have those mysterious devices here too, how impressive, the royal family of Istarika.

---

After going down the stairs and walking a bit, they could see the exit. Finally, they were going outside, it had been a while.

"Lady Olivia. Considering the situation, the carriage gate is closed. We will open the gate and depart after you both board."

Carriage gate?

"Chris, what is the carriage gate?"

"White Rose has several entrances. However, these are for the public... general users. For Lady Olivia and her party, there is a dedicated area for the royal family's carriage at the central entrance. The carriage gate is the gate installed there."

Another royal family exclusive, these bourgeois people.

"Even though your presence has been quickly noticed, it's inevitable that people will gather near the carriage gate... However, by keeping the gate closed, it won't be clear who has boarded the carriage, which can help reduce the commotion."

Chris added, "Although it will only be a slight reduction."

The princess who had been sent to another continent was returning without any prior notice... It was natural for there to be a commotion.

(I heard that people from Istarika sometimes come to the port town of Roundheart. Then, wouldn't information about Mom... that she was a princess of Istarika, have spread quickly?)

Aine wondered how the public was informed about her mother.

"By the way, Chris. What kind of explanation was given while I was in Haim?"

"Some information was withheld. Surveillance and silence were imposed on those who could cross the sea. The public was told that you were sent to Istarika as a bride."

Hearing about surveillance and silence, Aine was curious about what it entailed. The air was thick with the smell of conspiracy, making her want to turn on an air purifier.

However, it was natural for a commotion to occur when a princess who had been sent to another country returned suddenly without any notice.

"Was there any information leakage due to people from Roundheart coming to Istarika or vice versa? Haim kept Mom's identity hidden, right?"

This was a concern.

Information leakage due to the movement of people between the two regions.

If Olivia's identity had been revealed in Haim, it could have caused significant issues.

"It was handled with force. I believe we can discuss this on the way to the castle, in the carriage. Please, this way."

If it was handled with force, there was nothing to be done about it.

Since they were already at the carriage, they decided to board. They entered a large carriage, about 10 tatami mats in size, pulled by two large white horses.

"I will accompany you as a guard and attendant. The other knights will provide security, so please rest assured."

Inside the carriage, there was a large king-sized bed, a sofa that could seat three people, and a single-person sofa. There was also a small room in the corner, probably for the attendant to prepare tea.

Please continue the story.

"Although we didn't use new force this time, Lady Aine, do you know how much money is needed to travel between the port town of Roundheart and Istarika?"

"I never thought about it."

"There are many strong monsters in the sea. Therefore, the cost of guards and defense... the necessary expenses for survival are endless."

That's true, not everyone can ride a monster-like ship like Princess Olivia's.

"Because of this, trade between the two countries is rare, as it is not profitable."

"Yes, that makes sense."

"To give you an idea, the one-way cost... to put it simply, if you were to travel back and forth, it would cost about a quarter of the mansion in Roundheart."

"That's a significant amount. I understand."

The Roundheart mansion was a large and luxurious residence, though it was nothing compared to the Duke's mansion.

To think that so much money would be spent just for a round trip.

"I heard that a regular ship takes 2-3 days... Even in that short period, it costs a lot."

"Lady Aine, most of the travel expenses are for guards. Near Haim... on land, the monsters are not a big problem. Fishermen can handle them easily."

What are those, just common monsters?

Can they be eaten?

"But as the sea gets deeper, it becomes the habitat of large monsters. Only humans with powerful combat skills, especially those with magic, can prevent the ship from being attacked from the bottom."

"Ah, I see. That means hiring strong adventurers is expensive."

"Exactly. The cost of intermediaries through the guild, the preparation of specially processed long-distance ships. Considering this, only nobles of a certain level can even consider it, and even then, few actually do it."

"Few means there were some before, right?"

Such strong people existed in Haim.

How wealthy were they?

"Recently, it was the son of the August Duke's family. He came for a short-term study, but he saw many places. Of course, he was accompanied by a supervisor... I mean, a guide, so there were no problems."

With a supervisor, it should be fine, but still, that family was in a league of its own.

"Chris, how many applications for travel from Istarika to Roundheart have there been in the past 10 years?"

"Four. But all were denied."

They used force, didn't they?

"The reasons for denial were: one was a simple denial... no specific reason was given, just a mild harassment. Another was that we arranged a forced marriage for the family that applied, and then the new marriage was used as an excuse to cancel the application. The remaining two applications were handled by the king, who assigned them to a new business project, making it as if the application never existed."

They only used force.

Some poor nobles must have been harassed.

"By the way, how did you silence the adventurers?"

"For those with the ability to cross continents, there are not many. But it's difficult for individuals to prepare their own ships. Therefore, we imposed a gag order by not collecting taxes from them for a while."

(Powerful adventurers must make a lot of money, so not paying taxes is a big benefit.)

"...I should have prepared drinks first... We have a short journey ahead, but I hope you can relax with some tea at the end of the explanation. Please wait a moment."

Aine was just getting thirsty, so Chris's offer was welcome.

(Istarika Castle... White Knight, I need to prepare myself.)

Aine, who had never been to a castle before, despite being from a high-ranking noble family, felt a bit of tension and anxiety as she waited for the tea Chris would prepare.

---

"This is the station master of White Rose, requesting instructions from the driver."

"...This is the driver. According to regulations, I request the summoning of a maintenance engineer."

The station master arrived at the train after Olivia and her party had left. They needed to perform post-use checks.

Although not frequent, maintenance engineers are sometimes called for safety checks, separate from cleaning tasks.

"Understood. Please provide an explanation of the issues you suspect."

"There is a possibility of a malfunction in the water tank's heating layer. The magic stone conversion efficiency is about 20% lower than usual... It's not an emergency, but I request an inspection and maintenance for safety reasons."

"Understood. We will proceed with the inspection after the train is moved to the garage."

The driver was puzzled.

Today's water train did not perform well in generating steam.

He had a strange feeling that an additional pipe had been added, and something was being sucked out. He thought it might be due to a mix of defective magic stones, but the first step should be an inspection. If there is no issue with the mechanical parts, he would investigate the source of the magic stones.

The number of bookmarks increased by 8 times compared to the day before yesterday, and I almost burst into tears, but I managed to hold it in.

Thank you all for reading. I hope you continue to enjoy the story.

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