Chapter 70: Interaction

Chapter 70: Interaction

Backlund Steam Train Station, Platform Three.

After Alfred conversed for a while with his parents and younger sister, he seized the gap before departure, left the train, came onto the platform, and said to an attendant,

“Give me an East Balam cigarette.”

If his experiences over the years had left him with any negative effects, then apart from some mental torment and pain, only a few bad habits remained.

After smoking too many “East Balam cigarettes,” which were made by directly wrapping spices and herbs in roasted tobacco leaves, Alfred had become completely unable to adapt to the paper cigarettes popular on the Northern Continent. He considered them thin and tasteless, like strong alcohol mixed with water.

As for cigars, he believed those required a good environment in which to slowly savor them, and that was unsuitable right now.

Of course, his addiction to smoking was not great. A Retribution Knight possessed enough physical and mental strength to resist that kind of influence. The reason Alfred had come to the platform to smoke was that he felt the carriage was too stuffy, and his mother kept bringing up the matter of his marriage.

After his attendant took out an East Balam cigarette and lit it, Alfred brought the nearly black, burnt-yellow object to his mouth and deeply inhaled.

The strong flavor seeped into his body, making his mind suddenly sharpen.

At that moment, he saw a blond man like a classical sculpture walking over with a personal valet.

Alfred hesitated, then smiled, raised his right hand, and said,

“Hibbert, I thought you would not return to East Chester.”

The newcomer was none other than Earl Hall’s eldest son, Alfred’s brother, Lord Hibbert Hall.

Hibbert outlined a smile that perfectly conformed to etiquette.

“I am only a cabinet secretary, not the chief cabinet secretary. I am not busy enough to have no weekends at all.”

In truth, he would not become chief cabinet secretary either. His main goal was to accumulate experience in different positions across multiple government departments, build up his own network of connections, and prepare to enter the House of Lords in the future.

Alfred took another drag from his East Balam cigarette and said with a smile,

“Have a pleasant weekend.”

After watching Hibbert enter the carriage, Alfred vaguely sensed someone looking in his direction and talking:

“Why are no passengers waiting for that train?”

“It doesn’t seem full.”

“Haha, that is a private train. A major figure spent quite a few gold pounds to book it in advance. I know, you may not have seen anything like it before, but remember this. In Backlund and Constant and other large cities, this happens from time to time. When those major figures travel with their families, they are certainly followed by hundreds of servants, perhaps even pets. How could they squeeze into a train with ordinary people…”

“So that’s how it is…”

“I wonder which major figure it is.”

Alfred turned his head and looked over. On Platform Two, he saw several dozen people in grayish-blue uniforms quietly observing this side across the tracks where no train was currently parked.

The distance between the two sides was actually not small. Had Alfred’s hearing not been exceptional, he would certainly have been unable to understand what those people were discussing.

“Who are they?” Alfred turned his head and asked his adjutant.

He could only recognize that the uniforms those people wore belonged to the railway company.

The adjutant immediately turned around, found the staff member responsible for this platform, and asked some questions.

Soon, he trotted back and said quietly to Alfred,

“General, they are train dispatchers from across the kingdom. They are undergoing short-term training in Backlund.”

Alfred nodded slightly and looked again at Platform Two.

Among those train dispatchers, the oldest already had graying hair, while the youngest seemed only in his early twenties. Most were…