She is not an investigator.

As she said, this was just a reminder, not a warning.

But this also shows that not everything is safe in this dream, especially outside this carriage.

"The next three carriages are empty. There will be no passengers or seats... but maybe something else will appear, but in any case, they will not come to this carriage."

Cecilia shrugged and patted the seat beneath her.

"So, you probably don't need to stay in this tense state anymore. It's exhausting. Besides... you're still very safe here."

Igris hesitated for a moment, then sat back down in her chair, but did not put away the weapon in her hand.

This wasn't because she was overly cautious; it was simply because she felt slightly better and safer when holding a weapon.

She seems to lack a sense of security right now.

as well as…

"I'm a little hungry..."

Hunger crept back up Igris's spine without her even realizing it, a rather unpleasant situation.

However, it's very likely that Igris simply needs to eat, since she didn't eat breakfast or lunch.

This desire to eat is limited to relatively normal foods and does not include anything abnormal.

For example, blood.

After all, Igris isn't a real vampire.

However, Cecilia, as the train conductor, was powerless to help Igris with this request.

"You know, this is just a dream. If you feel hungry, it probably means that your body in reality needs to eat. So naturally... anything you eat in the dream will not have any effect on you in reality."

In other words, eating in a dream doesn't count as eating.

"..."

"Also, I don't know if you've tried the food on the train. In the last carriage, you can buy some expensive food."

Cecilia casually uttered the words "expensive," completely ignoring the fact that she was the train conductor and that she herself set the prices for the food on the train.

“I went to see it… but I didn’t buy anything.”

"I knew it, those prices were outrageous enough, right? Of course, even if they're expensive, the taste will definitely disappoint you."

"...?"

Igris's large eyes flickered with doubt, and Cecilia seemed to know that Igris might have misheard, so she repeated it again.

"Yes, they will definitely disappoint you. That's why I set the prices so outrageously that unless people are really starving, no one will go there to eat. Naturally, if you're starving, the taste of the food itself doesn't matter."

She's simply a genius.

When Igris first heard of this method, she even thought it was very reasonable. It not only perfectly covered up the defects of the food itself, but also prevented her from not making money because it was difficult to sell the food.

After all, those food items are generally quite expensive.

"But...why can't you hire a better chef?"

Igris's doubts also highlight the biggest problem with the matter itself.

The reason Cecilia went to such lengths was simply because their chef's skills were really not good. But if that's the case, why not just get a better chef?

Wouldn't that make everyone happy?

"Because he doesn't want a salary."

"?"

Igris blinked, not quite understanding Cecilia's words yet, and repeated them again.

"Because this chef doesn't need a salary, I don't need to share my already meager earnings with him. All I have to do is find him a place to eat and sleep, that's all."

It's a very common reason.

So ordinary that even Igris's impression of her began to change somewhat.

After all this time, Igris has finally found someone who values ​​money.

Having grown accustomed to extravagant young ladies, Igris surprisingly felt a sense of kinship with this train conductor who chose to oppress employees and passengers for his own benefit.

This is how a normal person should behave, although it's not exactly something to be praised.

"Besides, as you know, this train is quite special, and we often encounter minor problems that we are forced to solve."

"...Like now?"

Cecilia shook her head.

"No, of course not. This is nothing to worry about. We've encountered train hijackings before. Yes, you heard right. Those guys strapped several kilograms of explosives to the tracks and set up a huge, very conspicuous roadblock a long way off, warning us that they'd blow up the tracks if we didn't stop."

"..."

What an outrageous experience.

"Faced with this situation, I had no choice but to stop the car. Then the group smashed open the car door, rushed onto the car, and planned to rob all the passengers on board."

"And then...?"

"Fourteen of them came up, and two and a half went down."

"..."

Igris didn't want to ask where the other half came from, nor did she want to pity these robbers who didn't seem to be very bright. She was just curious... could this kind of thing really be considered troublesome?

"It was after that that it took me almost three days to clean all the blood off the car."

So that's where the trouble lies...

The Gods' Fool - The Northern Train: Chapter Twelve, Past Experiences

"That's why my chef is very capable when dealing with these kinds of problems."

"...For example, he's very good at cleaning?"

Cecilia shook her head and gestured a few times with her hands on her neck.

"His knife skills are very good."

Seeing her strange behavior, Igris wisely refrained from asking any further questions.

While excellent knife skills are certainly an advantage for a chef, Iglesias guessed that Cecilia probably wasn't referring to cooking.

Iglesias somewhat hoped that the reason his food tasted bad was simply because his cooking skills were poor, rather than because the ingredients were special.

"...Are these the only people on your train? A cook, a train conductor...and you?"

The train wasn't very big, but with only three staff members, it seemed rather pitiful.

However, Cecilia didn't seem to care.

“Of course, it used to be more dangerous than that. When I first took over this train, it had eight carriages and a dozen or so employees. Back then, the line wasn’t as dangerous as it is now.”

Cecilia seemed quite willing to talk to Igris about the past, probably because there was nothing else to do at the moment.

"There were many more passengers back then than now. Aside from being tiring, this line of work was quite lucrative. Not only could you carry people, but you could also carry goods to sell around... However, since three years ago, such good things have become rare."

"Three years ago?"

Three years ago at this time, Igris was most likely still in the sea.

"Yes, this road started to become more and more dangerous, and the tracks were almost abandoned. Many employees also resigned. Even so, most people still had hope for this industry until the blizzard two years ago."

Cecilia's voice lost its previous ease and relaxed tone, and she touched her chin with a heavy expression.

"The blizzard was huge and sudden. We got stuck on the road and encountered some troublemakers."

For steam trains, a sudden blizzard is unlikely to have a significant direct impact on the tracks. As long as they quickly move away from the area covered by the blizzard before being completely covered by ice and snow, they will be fine.

So compared to Blizzard alone, what Cecilia is more noteworthy about are those troublemakers.

What kind of guys would be interested in a steam train that might be moving in the middle of a snow-covered wilderness?

The answer is simple.

"During that blizzard, I saw many strange creatures that I had never seen before. If the situation hadn't been so critical, I probably would have been very interested in them."

As she spoke, she raised her left arm and, under Igris' quiet gaze, slowly removed her glove.

The next moment, a coppery hue appeared in Igris's eyes, shimmering in the light of the lantern.

"As a result, I lost an arm, and four carriages, along with five of the six train crew members on board, died."

She spoke these words calmly, seemingly without any extra emotion, but the cold numbers she spoke of represented one real human life after another.

"Then we rushed out, reached the nearest city, and called in the army to clear the area. Eventually, this route became what it is today."

"But you're still here driving instead of giving up this dangerous job to do something else."

Cecilia should have more options, but there's absolutely no need for her to continue driving this old steam train in this place, carrying hardly any passengers, running on the tracks every day, and constantly worrying about potential dangers.

But Cecilia simply waved her hand dismissively.

"I've been asked those same questions by others, but what can I do in this state? In fact, this is a job that suits me better. In any case, this line cannot be completely abandoned. As for danger... well, someone like me with a worthless life, if I die, I die."

As she spoke, she smiled and looked at Igris.

"Besides, it's precisely because there are people like you who need this car that I can continue working. Otherwise, if there really weren't a single passenger, even if I wanted to keep driving, I wouldn't be able to, would I?"

"I really don't know whether to call you great or stupid."

Igris sighed softly and silently shifted her gaze to her arm.

"Can I touch it?"

"You're interested in this thing? It's just a big block of iron."

Despite saying that, Cecilia did not refuse and handed her prosthetic limb to Igris.

Unlike the prosthetic limbs Igris had imagined, it didn't have any special functions; it seemed to be just an arm and hand made of different materials.

The prosthetic arm was attached to her forearm and had a groove on it, which seemed to be for holding other tools or something similar.

However, one could use their imagination to add weapons or something similar to it.

Igris couldn't feel the material of the prosthetic limb, but it didn't feel too cold to the touch. It was close to the normal body surface temperature of an ordinary person, and even slightly higher than Igris's body temperature.

Of course, it would be very impolite to hold onto someone's arm for too long, so Igris quickly let go of Cecilia and began to think about another problem.