Shura leaned closer toward the window.
"…Wait."
A few minutes later—
his brain stopped functioning.
Fields.
Actual fields.
Wide stretches of wheat rolled beside the rails like muted gold waves beneath the grey sky. Thin canals reflected pale light between uneven stone paths. Leafless trees stood scattered across the landscape beside old roads worn smooth by time.
Workers walked slowly through the fields carrying tools over their shoulders.
Nobody looked like they were seconds away from collapsing from pressure.
Shura pressed slightly closer to the glass.
"…What the hell?"
The outside world wasn't dark.
But it wasn't bright either.
Everything existed beneath a soft grey atmosphere that never fully became morning or evening.
Like the world had settled somewhere between both and forgotten to continue.
"How is there no darkness without a sun…?"
A pause.
"…And how are crops growing?"
"Badly."
Shura looked up immediately.
A man had somehow appeared across from him without warning.
Messy grey hair. Heavy coat. Holding an entire roasted potato in one hand like it was a weapon.
The man took another enormous bite.
"Hate Ossuarium," he muttered while chewing. "City feels like getting strangled politely."
Then he pointed the potato directly at Shura.
"You too?"
Shura stared for a second.
"…Not really."
The man blinked once.
Then burst into laughter.
"Oh, this is absolutely your first trip outside."
"Why would I tell you that?"
"Because I'm charming."
"You're eating a potato aggressively."
"That's unrelated."
The man leaned back comfortably.
"Vegos."
"…Shura."
Vegos pointed immediately.
"There! You answered that one!"
"You said yours first."
Vegos slapped his knee dramatically.
"He learns!"
Several nearby passengers glanced over.
Shura immediately regretted existing.
Vegos looked entirely too pleased about it.
"So where're you headed?"
"Second stop."
"…That's not a place."
"It stops there."
"Yes, but WHERE?"
Shura looked out the window calmly.
"…There."
Vegos stared at him for several long seconds.
"You don't know the name, do you?"
"I know it."
"Then say it."
Another pause.
"…Place."
Vegos froze mid-bite.
"…Excuse me?"
"That's the name."
"No it isn't."
"You haven't seen Ossuarium bureaucracy then."
Vegos slowly lowered the potato.
Then immediately started laughing hard enough to nearly choke.
"Oh, you're serious. That's incredible."
Shura already looked exhausted.
"…You're very loud."
"And you're suspicious."
"I'm sitting."
"Exactly. Suspiciously."
Outside, the scenery widened further.
Small villages appeared beside the rails. Smoke drifted lazily from chimneys. People pushed wooden carts across narrow roads between wheat fields and canals.
Everything looked slower here.
Less controlled.
Vegos suddenly spoke again.
"You know where I came from?"
Shura sighed internally.
"…You're going to tell me anyway."
"Grand Serephal Bastion."
Shura blinked once.
"That sounds fake."
"It's real."
"That somehow makes it sound more fake."
Vegos ignored him proudly.
"Built beside the Serephal River. Biggest flood barrier in the Athelgard territories."
That caught Shura's attention slightly.
Vegos noticed immediately.
"There it is," he said dramatically. "Interest."
Shura leaned back cautiously.
"I used to work there as a professional water-flow analyst."
"You?"
"Yes, me. Stop looking emotionally betrayed."
"You look like stairs would defeat you."
Vegos pointed at him aggressively.
"That happened once." Shura said.
"…What?"
"Not important."
Before Shura could respond, Vegos leaned forward again.
"One day, central floodgate fails."
Shura nodded slowly.
"Okay."
"Not 'okay.' Catastrophic."
Vegos stood halfway from his seat now, fully acting out the story.
"Warning bells screaming. Engineers panicking. One guy fainted directly into soup."
"…Into soup specifically?"
"Focus, Shura."
Passengers nearby had openly started listening now.
Vegos lowered his voice dramatically.
"The main floodgate weighed thousands of tons."
"…That sounds impossible."
"Exactly why this story is good."
"What happened?"
Vegos slapped his own chest proudly.
"Our captain grabbed the emergency chain."
Shura waited.
Vegos waited harder.
"…And?"
"He HELD IT."
"With what?"
"Viora."
Shura stared blankly.
"…That's stupid."
"That's what we said!"
Vegos spread his arms wide.
"The man was hanging over the river screaming at us while holding enough weight to flatten a district!"
"How long?"
"Thirty seconds."
"That's not very long."
"THOUSANDS OF TONS, SHURA."
"…Oh."
"RIGHT?"
Vegos looked personally offended by the earlier response.
"One engineer actually started writing the captain's final words instead of helping."
"What were they?"
Vegos answered instantly.
"'Tell my wife the gear won.'"
Shura made a sudden noise somewhere between a laugh and physical pain.
Vegos pointed triumphantly.
"There! I got one!"
"That wasn't laughter." Shura added.
"It absolutely was."
"That was suffering."
"Close enough."
Vegos settled back into his seat proudly.
"Anyway, we fixed the chain."
"And the captain?"
"Lost three teeth. Married the soup engineer later."
Shura rubbed his forehead slowly.
"I genuinely can't tell when you're joking."
"Neither can I anymore."
The train horn echoed softly through the compartment.
Ahead, the scenery shifted again.
The endless wheat fields slowly gave way to darker stone roads and structures.
First stop.
Passengers began standing throughout the compartment.
Some stretched. Others gathered bags or folded newspapers. Conversations continued half-finished while people moved naturally toward the exits.
Vegos glanced outside once.
Then a small voice nearby spoke up.
A little girl sitting on her father's shoulders pointed toward him.
"Uncle," she asked seriously, "what if the captain failed?"
Vegos immediately pointed at Shura.
"She's asking you."
Shura blinked once.
"Do I look old enough to be called uncle?"
Vegos nodded immediately.
"Exactly."
The little girl tilted her head thoughtfully.
"You kinda do."
Several nearby passengers laughed softly.
Shura looked around in mild disbelief.
Not mocking laughter. Not cruel.
Just people sharing a moment because they wanted to.
The sound felt unfamiliar outside Ossuarium.
Vegos gently patted the girl's head.
"Don't worry," he said. "We maintain things properly."
For once, Shura laughed without trying to hide it.
Vegos looked deeply satisfied with himself.
Then he grabbed his bag and stepped toward the exit.
Before leaving, he looked back one last time.
"The place you're heading to is beautiful, by the way."
Shura looked up slightly.
Vegos pointed at him seriously.
"And listen carefully."
"…What?"
"I'm not short."
Shura froze.
Vegos grinned victoriously and disappeared into the moving crowd as the train slowed into the station.
For a while, Shura simply watched through the window.
Workers. Families. Grey sky. Leafless trees swaying faintly beyond the rails.
Then he exhaled quietly.
The world outside Ossuarium felt unfinished.
But alive.