My Reincarnation Skills Are “Playing With Dolls” and “Playing With Clay”, but What Am I Supposed to Do With These? C201

Episode 201 Station

The morning after confronting the vampire Lilith, we visited the adventurer's guild again as dawn broke. 

The person himself (or rather, is it "real" because he's a monster?) said it had nothing to do with him, but we don't know the actual situation, and it's safe to say that vampires had appeared in the capital city before that, sucking people's blood and causing them to faint. It's a major incident, so I think we should at least report it, even if it's about another country. 

If someone told me, ``No, vampires are normal in my country, right?'' I would think it would be strange to live in another world, but based on the common sense I've cultivated over the past seven months, that shouldn't be the case. 

Also, the guild may have new information, and Kepte also said he would ask some of his fellow prostitutes about the situation of the missing women, so we exchanged that information as well. 

However, I talked to guild employee Thornton first and was waiting for Kepte, but he still didn't show up even after half an hour had passed. 

Just as I was starting to think this was strange, another prostitute-like woman came to the adventurer's guild, looking around. 

"Um, Mr. Thornton and Mr. Shiro..."

"Huh? Oh, I'm Thornton?"

“Ah, my name is Melone, Kepte-san, are you here?”

Apparently, Kepte had called out to some of her fellow prostitutes, but she didn't show up at the appointed time, nor was she even in her lair. So, I heard from Kepte that Melone was going directly to the adventurer's guild to make a request, so I thought he might be here, so I came to visit him. 

Thornton and I looked at each other. 

"No way..."

"That's bad."

　

I asked Melone to show me the place where I think Kepte was touting yesterday. 

Lucien and the others were just as they patrolled yesterday, but at that time they seemed to be taking customers as usual, and something happened after they sensed the vampire's presence and left. 

"!"

Did Carmilla look, or rather nose, at something that had fallen into the horizontal stripes? I stopped it. 

"This smells like a woman."

What I picked up was a blue-purple cloth with decorations that looked like a women's handkerchief. 

"I don't think this is Oren's flower or Kepte's hobby..."

Without waiting for Melone's words, Carmilla continued to trace her memories while scratching. 

"let's see···"

"You don't have to do it Shiro."

was stopped by Lucien. It would be fine if it was Carmilla, but why am I treated as a pervert when I try to do it? 

"I think this is that woman's."

“That woman?”

"Yesterday. He also told me where to eat."

“Eva is a prostitute!?”

It seems that in Carmilla, saving someone from being killed by a vampire is just as valuable as being able to tell them about a delicious seafood restaurant... 

"Eva? Is that the girl you don't like?"

"You know, we're fellow prostitutes."

"Maybe they're friends! They just pop up from somewhere, try to patronize me without even saying hello, and even like me just because I'm pretty..."

It seems that Eva is a newcomer who recently came to Gallipoli from outside, and is viewed as an enemy by the prostitutes who have been there before. 

Well, if she's that beautiful, she'll probably steal customers away. I can't say it though. 

Meanwhile, Carmilla was touching the ground around her and sniffing around. 

"Kepte? I smelled that woman too, here."

"Really?"

Lucien stops Melone from running towards him. 

"Wait, the mark will disappear so don't step on it."

Lucien crouches down and takes a closer look at the ground around him. 

"We didn't fight too hard here...but here, there are marks that look like scratches on the ground, I think they were left when someone fell down..."

I can't see it clearly with my eyesight, but I wonder if someone with an observant eye can see it. 

On the other hand, a few meters away, where Eva's handkerchief had fallen, the ground was so different from the surrounding area that even I could tell. There are also traces of heels and dirt splatters. However, strangely, there were no traces left that would allow us to guess what kind of person the other person was. 

In any case, it was fortunate that this alley was not paved and had a dirt floor, in the sense that a clue remained. 

However, could it ever happen that two prostitutes were abducted one after another so close to each other? 

“Maybe this way!”

Carmilla got on all fours, put her nose close to the ground, and started walking fast like a police dog. 

　It's amazing, it really has a sense of smell like that of a dog. 

Both Melone and Thornton were shocked and speechless. 

As I walked with Carmilla, I followed narrow alleys with no traffic or lights at night, and surprisingly headed towards the center of the city. 

Then, Carmilla's pursuit stopped in a corner where a market selling various products from vegetables to stones was gathered. 

I often find myself finding routes that are hard to see at first glance to get to the center of the city, and although they are narrow, they are flat and surprisingly easy to walk. 

Aside from that, by the time we got to this point, the smells of the crowd of people and the food from the various markets had combined to make it impossible to follow the smell of Kepte. 

"...No. There are a lot of other new smells overlapping each other. I think I would have noticed it during the night... I'm sorry."

"We have no choice. A lot of people gather at the market before dawn, and it's amazing that we were able to narrow it down this far, Carmilla."

Even in Japan's central market, people and goods are moving from early in the morning, so the smell must have been overwritten. 

However, if you came here between midnight and morning, it would be easy to get noticed... 

Other things nearby... 

It's natural that there are several large shops and a wagon yard since it's a market. And that. 

"station?"

Yes, I just noticed that there is a railway line running a little far away. 

And Garis' specialty? There is something that looks like a steam locomotive station. Unfortunately, I don't have SL at the moment. 

“Sonton, that’s the station, right? It’s in a place like this.”

"Oh, it's used to transport heavy loads like lumber and stone from the countryside to the market here."

Thornton explains in an emotionless voice. A freight line connects the capital Gallipoli with several manufacturing regions and the largest port city, Terzante. It seems that locomotives are not currently being used to transport people, perhaps due to the comfort of the ride or the soot. 

And it is said that a train loaded with clothing, crafts, etc. departs from the royal capital every morning after dawn. 

This is... 

“It stinks.”

It seems that Lucien thought the same thing. 

"Let's go."

"Hey, where are you going?"

Thornton and Melone rush after him. 

Most of the flow of people is in the market district, and less here. Especially if it's the middle of the night. 

It looked like a coal-burning steam locomotive, so the stone station building and warehouse-like buildings were quite sooty, even though they must have been built many years ago. 

Carmilla, who had followed while enduring the smell of exhaust smoke, was startled. 

“Master, it might smell like Kepte again.”

It's a jackpot! 

With Carmilla leading the way again, we searched through the many rails and warehouses. 

"Hey, you're not allowed to enter here."

I guess he's a station employee, but he's carrying a weapon. It's not a national army uniform, but it looks like a guard. 

As expected, it wasn't a gun, but a soldier with a sword strapped to his waist came towards me at a fast pace. So far? 

"Excuse me, I heard that the railroad in Garis is really cool, and I was wondering if I could take a tour, so..."

He plays the role of a wandering tourist in his most amiable manner. 

Right now, the weapon is in the item box, and it's in civilian clothes without any armor, so it looks like it could pass for a young male or female tourist. 

Thornton and Melone, who were a little far away, were looking at each other from afar, wondering what to do. 

"Hey, the train is big and dangerous, so no one other than those involved can enter the grounds. Also, if you want to see the train, it's only here from dusk until morning."

The soldier was relatively old and looked like an old man from a security company. 

It was like he was preaching to an ignorant young monk. 

"Huh? You're not there during the day, what a shame."

``Normally, the downbound flight departs from here at dawn and heads towards Huth territory and Terzante, and the upbound flight takes over and arrives in the evening.If you really want to see it, it leaves again half an hour before dusk. However, please do not enter the grounds. Tourists often watch from the dining room on the second floor of the public hall over there or from the observation deck on the top floor. 

The old man was surprisingly kind. 

"Thank you. It's on top of the public hall in the evening. I'll definitely come and see it."

I bowed my head amiably. 

However, instead of taking the shortest distance on purpose, I pretended to be looking around at the station building, passing through the premises as long as possible before getting out. 

Of course, it was to let Carmilla get familiar with the place. The smell will probably go away as time passes. 

The old guard looked helpless and saw me off without saying anything. 

"You were also able to speak politely."

“It was a good read though.”

Both Thornton and Lucien are too rude, they are kids who can do it if they try. 

It's more like Carmilla. 

"Well, the smell disappeared halfway through. There was also a woman's smell, and I could tell that much..."

I wonder if what Carmilla pointed at while leaving the station was a turntable? 

It was around the area where the rails were lined up in a radial pattern, allowing the locomotive to change direction. 

There's no doubt that multiple prostitutes were transported on a freight car. 

"Carmilla, I hear something that is difficult to hear, but..."

I'm careful because it's in front of Melone, but I have to ask. 

"That...smell of a dead body."

"No, there's no dead body. There's a lot of female smell, and then there's a slightly strange smell?"

Does that mean he's not dead? Melone's expression suddenly brightened. 

But what I was concerned about was something else. 

"The strange smell isn't iron and coal?"

"Coal, that black soot? There's that too, but there's another smell I know, but I don't understand...Is it similar to the smell of Magi's luggage?"

What do you mean, Maggie? What do you mean... 

"Shiro, maybe it's a medicinal herb or something?"

“That’s it.”

Lucien, that's nice. After stopping at the edge of a deserted street, I searched the item box for the medicine I was looking for from Maggie. 

“Carmilla, do any of these smell similar?”

"···this"

Without hesitation, I pointed to what I was expecting. 

It's a sleeping pill.