Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei Returns from Japan

"Why?" Aki asked.

“Because November is the rainy season in Portugal,” Mans said without turning his head.

“Actually…” Selma muttered, head down.

Her voice wasn't actually very loud, and with the heavy rain covering it, it should have been inaudible by now, but Mans still managed to pick up Selma's voice.

“Do you have anything to report, Selma?” Mans asked.

“Actually, there are many beautiful women in our Kassel College,” Selma said.

Mans paused for a moment, then burst into laughter. "You're right, Selma," Mans said with a smile. "You're right, there's nowhere in the world with more beautiful girls than our Kassel College."

Mans' laughter stopped after a while. He stopped walking, and Ye Sheng and the others behind him also stopped. Mans took out his phone from his pocket.

"We should be almost there. Please wait a moment while I call the person who is supposed to pick us up."

Mans found the name in the phone book, dialed it, and the phone rang for a few seconds amidst the white noise of the downpour.

A few seconds later, the call was rejected, but two glaring white lights lit up in the rain. A Bentley Arnage suddenly turned out of the parking space at the end of the road, its engine roaring loudly in the rain. After splashing water everywhere, it slowed down and stopped in front of Mans and his group.

The driver's side window rolled down, and Mans glanced at the car, then leaned against the roof with a smile and said, "What's wrong, Louis? Has your car become less classy?"

Sitting in the driver's seat, the middle-aged man called Louis shrugged. "There's nothing we can do. Our family isn't what it used to be a few decades ago, so we have to keep a low profile in all aspects."

"Keep it down." Mans snorted and waved to the others. "You guys sit in the back, I'll sit in the passenger seat."

"Yes."

The group put their suitcases in the trunk and sat in the back in the order of Ye Sheng, Selma, and Yaji, while Mans sat in the front passenger seat.

"Students, the seat heating has been turned on for you."

Louis turned around and greeted Ye Sheng and the others, then raised an eyebrow at Mans: "Your students are all pretty good, aren't they?"

“Go ahead and drive,” Mans said. “By the way, do you have any cigars on you? Give me one.”

"There's something in the passenger-side storage compartment; it's all prepared for you."

"Where's the fire?"

"Inside too."

Mans rummaged through the glove compartment, pulled out a cigar, and lit it. Louis slammed on the gas, and with a powerful surge of acceleration, the tires roared, kicking up sprays of rainwater that burst behind them. Raindrops shattered against the car body, and the sedan swayed slightly in the downpour.

The red ring of fire receded from the mouthpiece of the cigar as Mans inhaled, a satisfied expression appearing on his face as he placed his hand on the open car window.

Louis glanced at Mans from the side.

"What bloodline?"

“One A, two Bs,” Mans said.

"The academy is making quite a fuss. It's just a small matter of exceeding the import limit for antimony. Does the academy really need to make such a big deal out of it?"

"Antimony exceeding the standard is no small matter, as you should know, Louis. Whether it's the Academy or hybrid organizations around the world, they all have strict control over the reserves of antimony. This is because antimony is an essential ingredient for refining the Philosopher's Stone. For hybrids, the danger of this stuff is no less than that of uranium."

"That's true, but why did the academy send you to handle this matter?"

"Because I am the most suitable person to come."

Mans took a puff of his cigar and exhaled a smoke ring. "The Night Watchmen are the most knowledgeable about alchemy in the academy, followed by me, the professor of magical mechanics, who is also the bishop. Magical mechanics is essentially applying alchemy to modern weapons. And 'antimony' is closely related to alchemy, which is probably why the headmaster sent me here."

Mans flicked the ash from his cigar out the window and looked at Louis.

"Of course, you would be more suitable to investigate this matter than I am."

Louis shrugged. "I only studied at your Kassel College for four years. Although I'm a student there, you know, I'm not really a member of the college."

"That's true. However, I think this matter may be more complicated than we imagine. Although you want to stay out of it, in my opinion, you will eventually be drawn into this incident, after all, Portugal is your family's territory."

“I just want to ride my bike, fish, brew wine, and live a peaceful retirement. Why is that so difficult?” Louis sighed.

Mans exhaled a puff of smoke and suddenly switched to Portuguese to speak with Luis.

“By the way, isn’t Gloria’s death anniversary coming up soon?” Mans asked.

“Yes, it will be in the next few days,” Louis said.

Mans finished the last puff of his cigar and stubbed out the remaining bit in the ashtray in the armrest box.

……

Chapter 202 The Train to Santa Ren (Part 1)

The train journey to Santarém proceeded without any major incidents. The only minor mishap was that after the train passed through the Aveiro district and entered the Coimbra district, it started raining heavily.

When Lu Mingfei and his group arrived at Porto train station, it was not yet six o'clock, and they took the earliest train.

Portugal has a small population, and trains usually have only three or four carriages. The carriage where Lu Mingfei was was only half full, mostly young or middle-aged people.

Although there weren't many people on the train, it was clear that every passenger noticed the strange pair sitting in the corner of the carriage, glancing in their direction with pointing and whispering glances.

This is normal, though. In those days, not many Chinese people traveled or studied in Europe, and in places like Portugal, it was even rarer to see East Asian faces. The passengers on the bus looked at Lu Mingfei just like people in China in the same era would glance back at foreigners on the street.

What's more, it's even more unusual that this young man with East Asian features is communicating in Chinese with a beautiful blonde, green-eyed Central European girl.

However, despite their supposed interaction, Lu Mingfei and the girl didn't actually exchange more than a few words. The girl would only speak to him briefly when the train conductor came to check his ID, or when he opened a bag of cookies and asked if she wanted some. But these were mostly simple words like "okay," "no need," or "thank you."

It's unclear whether the girl was wary of Lu Mingfei or simply had severe social anxiety.

Even the girl's name was something Lu Mingfei accidentally saw when he was buying her train ticket with her passport; the name field read "Charlotte goettinge".

Lu Mingfei doesn't know German phonetics, which is the official language of Austria. He does know how to pronounce the name mentioned earlier; in English it's pronounced "Charlotte," but in German or French it's closer to "Charlotte." There was a famous female assassin in the history of the French Revolution named Charlotte Corday, who killed Marat, the subject of the famous painting "The Death of Marat."

However, Lu Mingfei didn't know how to pronounce the second word in German, and could only barely pronounce "Göttingen" using English phonetics.

Looking into the girl's emerald-green eyes, Lu Mingfei thought the name Charlotte was quite fitting.

The torrential rain that had been slanting down outside the train window turned into a straight line again. The train stopped at the Brancourt train station, and groups of people got on and off. Three tall, middle-aged men dressed as shepherds sat down next to Lu Mingfei and his group, their long-handled umbrellas propped up against the seats.

They wore traditional Portuguese short jackets with fur collars and brightly colored sock hats, humming enthusiastic Portuguese songs. Inspired by a few, the other passengers in the carriage also joined in, and the once quiet carriage instantly became lively.

Lu Mingfei stared blankly at the chaotic scene before him, resembling an Indian musical, completely bewildered as to why the people on the bus had suddenly started singing.

“They’re singing fandango songs, which are often sung during Portuguese parades, feasts, Bible performances, or carnivals,” Charlotte, sitting opposite Lu Mingfei, suddenly spoke up, her sweet, still-developing voice flat and emotionless.

She had been looking out the window, and it was unclear when she had turned her head back. Looking at the singing and dancing scene inside the car, she explained to Lu Mingfei:

"November is the month with the most celebrations in Portugal. November 1st is All Saints' Day... also known as Halloween, November 2nd is All Spirits' Day, and then November 11th is St. Martin's Day. They must be celebrating these holidays, so they are singing celebratory songs."

"I see." Lu Mingfei nodded as if he had just realized something.

Everyone says Europeans are open-minded, whether that's true or not, he doesn't know, but Charlotte is definitely a social butterfly—she spontaneously started singing on the train. It seems that socially awkward European girls like Charlotte are still a minority.

Although singing like that might disturb the peace, the festive atmosphere was indeed very strong. Even Lu Mingfei, an outsider, could hear the enthusiasm and joy in their songs.

Just then, several middle-aged men next to him stood up and started dancing in the aisle. One of them even took off his hat to greet Lu Mingfei's group. In the instant he looked down, Lu Mingfei saw a bald patch of baldness in the middle of the man's hair.

“Aúcar?” the Mediterranean man asked with a smile.

"Huh?" Lu Mingfei was taken aback, then quickly waved his hands and said, "Eu no falo português. (I don't speak Portuguese)"

To Lu Mingfei's surprise, after hearing his answer, the Mediterranean man immediately switched to English and asked him, "Are you going to eat sugar?"

As he spoke, he spread his broad palm in front of Lu Mingfei, revealing several colorful candies lying in his hand, which seemed to be local Portuguese candies.

Lu Mingfei was slightly surprised, not expecting that the man had struck up a conversation with him just to offer him candy.

Although Lu Mingfei wasn't a big fan of sweets, he wasn't sure if this was a local Portuguese holiday custom. He worried that if the candy was a blessing or something similar, it wouldn't be appropriate to refuse. So, he thanked the person in English while reaching out to accept the candy.

However, just as he reached out, a cane blocked his way.

Lu Mingfei was taken aback. He saw Charlotte, sitting opposite him, pick up her cane, the tip of which was inlaid with an emerald, and use it to block Lu Mingfei's hand. After pushing his hand back a short distance, she tapped the back of his hand with her cane, then lifted his palm and said:

“Thank you for your kindness, but sorry, we don’t need it,” Charlotte said, her voice soft but carrying an undeniable authority.

Upon hearing Charlotte's answer, the Mediterranean man's expression suddenly froze, then he laughed awkwardly, put away the candy, put on his hat, and returned to his seat.

"Why won't you let me take their candy?" Lu Mingfei asked in Chinese.

"Didn't your parents teach you not to eat food given to you by strangers when you're out and about?" Charlotte asked.

Lu Mingfei thought for a moment, and realized that he didn't know if his parents had ever taught him this. His parents hadn't been back for many years, and he couldn't remember anything about them anymore.

"I've never seen my parents as far back as I can remember..."

Charlotte was taken aback, and an apologetic expression immediately appeared on her adorable, slightly chubby face. "I'm sorry, I didn't know your parents had already..."

Seeing Charlotte's expression, Lu Mingfei knew she had probably misunderstood, so he quickly explained, "They're not dead! They just traveled all over the world on business when I was very young and never came home, which is why I haven't seen them much."

"I see. Then I take back my apology."

"By the way, you just said not to eat anything given to you by strangers, but I'm not a stranger, am I?"

"So you see, I just ate the cookie you handed me?"

Lu Mingfei choked for a moment, thinking to himself that no wonder she said no to anything he asked her; it turned out she was wary of him. He had even kindly taken her on the train to Santa Réun.

However, he then thought that if he were like Charlotte, thirteen or fourteen years old, beautiful, wealthy, and traveling alone, he might be even more wary than her.

In this light, Charlotte's extra caution was not a mistake.

Just then, the train's announcement came on, announcing that the train had arrived at Novo Idaña station. The train conductor made the announcement in Portuguese. Lu Mingfei couldn't understand what the announcement was saying, but he saw people getting off the train one after another, and the carriage was soon empty, leaving only the three middle-aged men in the carriage.

Seeing that the carriage was empty, the middle-aged men stopped singing and dancing and returned to their seats, quickly dissipating the lively atmosphere. The white noise of raindrops once again filled the carriage.

As the train started moving again, its wheels clanged against the rails, speeding forward in the rain, just as before. Only, something seemed to have changed in the air; the change wasn't obvious, but something had definitely been altered.

Lu Mingfei remained seated. His senses were now far more acute than those of an average person, so he could perceive the unusual situation in the carriage. In that brief moment, the airflow suddenly accelerated, and the carriage became stuffy, as if the concentration of carbon dioxide had abruptly increased.

Lu Mingfei vaguely sensed that danger was approaching him, but before he could find the cause of this abnormal phenomenon, Charlotte opposite him suddenly changed her sitting posture, from crossing her legs to sitting upright with her legs together, her cane placed horizontally on her lap, like a knife lying horizontally.

"Who sent you?" Charlotte asked softly, her pale red lips parting slightly.

“It’s definitely not the Solomon Temple; they wouldn’t lay a hand on me. Which organization do you belong to?” Charlotte asked. “By the way, you should understand Chinese, right?”

Not only were the middle-aged men taken aback, but even Lu Mingfei was surprised. This remark sounded exactly like a teenage girl obsessed with Japanese anime, with something like "Solomon's Temple," which sounded like a dark organization like the "Assassin's Creed Brotherhood."

Several middle-aged men looked at each other with puzzled expressions, chattering in Portuguese as if they didn't understand Charlotte's Chinese.

Then, the Mediterranean man who had previously struck up a conversation with Lu Mingfei and his group stood up, spread his hands, as if trying to explain something to them. Looking at the man's face as he approached, Lu Mingfei suddenly realized why he had felt something was off.

It's breathing!

Lu Mingfei looked at the man's bulging nostrils and his noticeably rising and falling chest. For some reason, the man's breathing was noticeably heavier, and these sudden heavy breathing sounds were the reason for the increased carbon dioxide concentration in the carriage.