Jasmine sat by the window, lost in her own world, never talking to anybody. She looked at the sunset, keeping to herself even as the others talked to each other.

“So, why are you guys going to Warfort? Two young men… is it a girl?” Penelope asked.

“No, it’s a boy,” Ning said with a cheeky little smile.

Penelope was a little taken aback. “Oh, umm… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

“Sir Ning, what are you saying?” Tim panicked a little. “No, no, we’re going to Airan, to see the pope.”

“Huh? Oh… oh! That’s what you meant,” the woman sighed a little, looking toward Ning. “You made me think of something else.”

Ning grinned. “I’m married already, so I was just playing with you,” he said.

“You’re married? To a… man?” she asked.

“I have a wife,” Ning answered. “Forget about my joke.”

“I see,” she said. “Why are you two going to the church?”

Tim was about to say something when Ning spoke up. “I’m a big believer of Zurinus, so I want to be the closest to him as I’ll ever be.”

“Oh!” the woman said softly. “Same here. I’m a big believer too.”

“Oh, you are?” Ning asked.

“Absolutely. Have been since my childhood,” the woman said. “My room was filled with stuff regarding Zurinus.”

“Really?” Ning asked, trying to discern if the woman was lying or just trying to get on his good side. It didn’t look like she was doing anything of the sort. She seemed to be devoted to Zurinus.

“Your parents were deep into the Zurinus church?” Ning asked

“Uhh… yeah, kind of,” the woman answered. “Everyone I know from my childhood was devoted to the Zurinus faith.”

“I see,” Ning said. “Speaking of which, what exactly do believers of Zurinus pray to? Are there pictures or a symbol of some sort?”

“Sir Ning,” Tim came in close from the side and whispered into his ear. “People of the Zurinus faith pray to any Zurin treasure.”

“Yeah,” the woman said, hearing Tim’s words. “Did you not know?”

Ning shrugged. “I’m a new believer,” he said. “Can you give me your horn for a second?”

Tim hesitated for a split second before handing Ning his horn. “Is that… a Zurin treasure?” Penelope asked with wide eyes, seemingly unable to believe that she was seeing a Zurin treasure in front of her.

“It is,” Ning said. “It belongs to him though,” he said and placed it in his palm. Can you show me how you pray to Zurinus?”

Penelope looked confused for a moment and nodded.

She stood up in the wobbling train and put her hands perpendicular in front of her, such that the two tips of her palms were touching both of her elbows.

Then she bowed, placing her forehead on top of the arm, remaining in that position for 2 seconds.

She went back to her seat. “That’s it,” she said. “Do you want to learn more about Zurinus and the church? You seem thirsty for knowledge.”

“Oh, I would absolutely love it,” Ning said.

The woman began telling Ning about what she knew about the church, about the religion based on Zurinus as their gods, and everything in between.

She told Ning about the Book of Zurin, a book that recorded what was considered the history of the world, how humans were created, how the Zurin treasures were created, and such.

It was said that back before humans were ever made, Zurinus first created beasts to run the world. However, after eons, he did find beauty in these mindless beasts and sought to create new ones, better ones.

The first group of humans was said to have been made from divine power, a perfect species. However, in a world of beasts and monsters, these new humans were weak and could not survive.

That was when Zurinus decided to give these new humans aid in their survival.

That was when the first Zurin treasure was created.

People debated on what the first Zurin treasure was, but in the Church of Zurinus, it was believed that the first treasure was a wooden stock that allowed one to create a sanctuary whenever they wanted to remain out of danger.

It was also said that the treasure, the Holy Staff, was something that was capable of repelling all evil and cleansing the body and soul of a person.

Nobody was sure how a single treasure could have so many different powers, but that was what was recorded in the text. Some people believed that the holy staff was a real thing and could still be found kept hidden in a vault in the Holy Church in Airan. Although that was only a belief, and not something real.

Penelope explained what she knew and it turned out that she knew a lot. She talked about Zurinus and his religion for nearly 2 hours before the conversation even went anywhere.

She then asked Ning and Tim about their past, trying to learn more. The woman in her late 20s seemed very interested in Ning’s profession for whatever reason but had to deal with the fact that Ning didn’t have any job.

That only made her more curious.

The train stopped finally around 8 in the evening, arriving on the first of the platforms after leaving Oriman, arriving in Warfort.

“Oh, I should sleep,” Penelope said. “I need to wake up around 5 to depart from the train.”

She brought out a small mechanical watch from her pouch and tinkered with its dials on the outside. “I hope you boys won’t mind if I set up an alarm for tomorrow morning,” she said. “I need to wake up in time.”

“No, please. Go ahead,” Ning said.

“I don’t mind,” Tim said as well. “Maybe sister…” He turned to look at Jasmine to ask if she minded, but it seemed the young woman was long asleep.

“Thank you,” Penelope said and placed the watch back in her pocket and leaned against the door side wall of their compartment getting ready to fall asleep.

Ning closed his eyes as well, and Tim placed his head on his bag, sleeping on top of it.

As the train silently rattled in the night, everyone on the train drifted to sleep.

.

.

.

“AARGH!”

Ning woke up with a start, looking around at the source of the horrifying scream. He saw the young girl Jasmine frantically patting herself all over her body, as though looking for something.

“What? What?” Tim woke up as well, failing to open his eyes all the way through.

“They’re gone!” Jasmine said loudly. “They’re gone. I can’t find them.”

“What? What’s gone?” Ning asked.

“My necklaces,” she said, touching her neck. She opened her neckline a little more to show a flawless fair neck with no jewelry on it.

She looked at her hand and she seemed to be missing some rings there as well. “Where are my necklaces and rings?” she shouted.

Ning turned around and immediately noticed Penelope absent. The door to the compartment had a small slit open on the side and cold night air blew through the compartment.

“Where’s Miss Penelope?” Tim asked. “Did she leave already?”

Ning frowned and looked at the sky outside. Even before Tim could fiddle around with his watch in his pocket, he could already see that it was more so closer to midnight than 5 in the morning.

“NO!” Tim suddenly shouted, patting himself all over. He quickly dropped to the train floor, looking underneath the seats, searching for something.

“What?” Ning asked. “What’s wrong?” “My Horn. It is gone too,” Tim answered frantically, searching for them. “I can’t tell where they are.”

Ning turned his head to the empty seat. “Where is that woman?” Jasmine asked. “Where did she go? Did any one of you see?”

Both Ning and Tim were forced to shake their head.

“Did she… take our items?” Tim asked.

“Did she steal my necklace?” the young woman asked, looking all around with a worried look. “I’m sorry, I must find her. She must be on the train somewhere.”

She stopped by the door and looked back. “Would any of you mind giving me a hand? I want to go to look through the train.”

“Tim, go with her to the front,” Ning said. “I’ll head toward the back.”

“What if we find her?” Tim asked. “I… I can’t do anything.”

“Just scream,” Ning said and patted him away.

Tim ran with the young girl, moving toward the upper compartments, while Ning went toward the back compartments, looking for the brown-haired woman in her late 20s.

Ning went through each door, searching all around, but he found no signs of her. He thought for a moment, wondering if he should just ask the system.

‘If she truly stole and ran away, then she would’ve already left the train. There is no way she is still on the train,’ he thought.

There wasn’t anywhere he could find her. It was time to get help from the system.

Ning returned to their compartment and sat on his seat, thinking about anything he had missed before resorting to the System for answers.

A single possibility came to his mind.

He had to check that before conferring with the system. He waited for Tim and the young woman to return to the compartment.

“Any luck?” Tim asked.

“None,” Ning said. “If she stole from us, she’s long since gone.”

“What… do we do?” Tim asked with a pale face.

“Sit first, and relax,” Ning said. “I have a way.”

He looked toward the young woman too. “You too sit. I will be done quickly.”