Story Reader / Main Story / 10 Eternal Engine / Story
Engine "Asslam" is moving smoothly as usual.
Inside the first carriage, also known as the royal carriage.
...Emergency repair of the 11 functional carriages is complete. Train operation is back to normal. All damage is within the expected level.
A scan of the remains of Rail Heterozygote has been done. We found a higher than expected Punishing reaction level, but no trace of He-4.
Increase the demand for He-4 in our proposed contract with Babylonia.
Understood.
Is Sophia "guarding" the goods?
Yes. She's with the real one.
Holding a scale in her hand, the leader of Akdilek pauses a while before she speaks again.
A merchant seeks not a fair deal but maximum profit.
The credo for merchants. That's what you have always taught Sophia.
I also taught her to be honest in trade.
Yes. All I can say is, you have always been right.
All that business talk... You know how boring it is, Aston.
So you reward sincerity with sincerity and repay trickery with trickery. Everything's under your control, at least before the real trade.
"Pick the fine goods and get rid of the bad ones." This is the order you have given.
This "trade" has completely separated those aristocrats behind Ashlar from the rest.
They are probably hiding in one of the carriages with their treasures.
As you expected, only when on the cusp of death will this group of hereditary slicks shows their true face and attitude.
All the aristocrats who stayed to help trust you, Aston.
..."Trust." It was all part of Amir's plan, to leave the "kids" and "merchants" behind.
Kids and merchants are similar in a way. Sincerity is a very rare quality, Aston.
"Every problem can be talked through." Kids believe in this, and so do merchants.
You are always right.
This is a show, but with genuine supporters. Sincerity begets sincerity. A merchant should have a keen perception. Sophia's a smart kid, she's been growing.
She's mastered everything that she couldn't learn in this carriage.
You and Sophia...
Pardon me, Amir, but you don't have to pay for your predecessor's mistake...
It's not a "mistake." Aston, you should know what you can and cannot say.
You were only favored by fate.
The God of Fate never favors... Aston, so-called eternity does not exist.
Eternal Engine "Asslam", the Eternal Throne. APUS has no end.
A slender hand gently drops a weight on the higher side of the tipping scale.
As long as the world keeps turning, everything will eventually return to where it started.
If one can't see the end, it's only because the road is under their feet.
The real destination in Sophia's heart... will be her new starting point.
Time to deliver the goods. The false trade is completed. Time for the real one, Aston.
Let's welcome the real trader who came on behalf of Babylonia... Or "agent," as that Ascendant claimed to be.
