Chapter 53: Incitement

Watching Ernest board the carriage and leave, the bounty hunters hidden nearby immediately sprang out. Some did not begrudge the early expenses and directly stopped a passing hired carriage. Others memorized the target carriage’s features and tried to cut ahead through remote, narrow alleys. Still others mounted bicycles they had prepared in advance and, amid a series of jingling sounds, passed through the gaps between carriages and crowds, following with great ease.

Among them, only Xio remained unhurried. She stayed where she was, watching Ernest and several colleagues leave one after another.

This form of transportation, also called a bicycle, is more useful than I imagined. No wonder so many bounty hunters save up to buy one. It can save the cost of taking carriages, or the time spent walking… If one often has similar tracking missions, the money saved would be enough to buy a new bicycle… The only problem is that there are still very few styles right now, and all of them are high-seated types… Xio felt increasingly tempted as she watched.

At that moment, a public tramcar drove over from the crossroads and stopped before her.

The place where Xio stood happened to be a station.

After glancing at the double-decker carriage resting on its iron rails, Xio took out several one-penny copper coins, boarded, and found a window seat.

This kind of public carriage could carry nearly fifty people across its upper and lower levels. At that moment, it was not crowded, allowing Xio to look smoothly at the scenery outside the window.

But she was not admiring the view. In her mind, she rapidly sketched the target’s specific appearance:

Brown hair, scarlet eyes, deeply carved facial lines, a nose bridge so high that it looked somewhat deformed, and an oil-painting album in his hands.

With the extraordinary senses of a Sheriff in this regard, and with the distance between the two sides not yet widened too far, Xio vaguely grasped the target’s current position and intended direction.

Thus, she was very calm. She even used the window glass as a mirror, removed her newsboy cap, and tidied her somewhat rough and stubborn blond hair.

After passing an unknown number of stops, Xio suddenly rose when the public carriage stopped again and stepped down.

This was the Backlund Bridge area. The target she sensed had already changed direction and was preparing to head for the bridge.

Xio immediately quickened her steps, planning to enter another street from the corner ahead and board a public carriage bound for the south bank of the Tussock River.

Her luck was decent. The moment she reached the stop, that public carriage arrived.

Xio silently breathed out in relief, took out the other pennies she had prepared, and wanted even more to buy a bicycle.

This public tramcar was very crowded, but relying on the dignity of an Arbiter, Xio still passed through the crowd relatively easily, climbed to the upper level, and found a seat.

The carriage slowly began moving. Xio casually glanced out the window, and her gaze suddenly froze.

She saw Sherman, whom she had searched for everywhere without success!

The young man who believed himself to be female was holding a paper bag containing several long loaves of bread and a stack of newspapers, entering a narrow alley.

His shoulder-length brown hair had grown somewhat longer, and his gray striped trousers were a little tight.

Although his figure vanished in a flash, making him impossible for an ordinary person to confirm, Xio, as a Sheriff, easily made a definite judgment.

Sherman canceled the room he rented in the East Borough and moved here? Seeing that nothing seemed wrong with him, and that she herself was still following the target, Xio restrained the impulse to leap out of the carriage, chase him, and ask about his recent circumstances.

…

Holding a paper bag filled with several long loaves of bread and a stack of newspapers, Sherman passed through alleys and streets, taking a wide detour…