Edo Station...
Edo Station was the great crossroads where every means of travel converged: horses, naturally, and the Great Roc Mail bound for the floating cities above.
Down below ran the waterways, where the Kussie Mail carried travelers on to the cities beneath the sea.
As for the building itself, it was an elegant structure of red brick, said to have been designed by engineers from Doitsu Domain, far across the Yamato continent.
It stood directly across from Edo Castle, which put it right in front of the Shogunate Inn where Mani and the others were staying.
Because of that, Yasutaka was able to meet up with Mōha right away.
"Hey. That was rough, huh?"
"Tell me about it.........."
Yasutaka said this while stumbling along unsteadily, but Mōha simply hefted his bags onto his back and started walking.
"This way. I already got us a night dragon that's about to leave."
"Really?"
At that, the two of them headed into Edo Station together.
Inside, the station was enormous, so vast that a man could lose himself completely. There were signboards, sure, but they didn't help one bit.
The two of them pressed on through this labyrinth of a station.
Lanterns lit the interior, casting the place in a rather fantastical glow.
Despite the late hour, crowds of people were still bustling about, and Yasutaka found himself struck anew by just how formidable the great city of Edo truly was.
Mōha, without a moment's hesitation, headed straight for the stairs down..........
Once underground, the crowd shifted, more and more Fish-folk appearing, likely travelers bound to or from the cities beneath the sea.
And joining them in growing numbers were the residents of the Underground City.
Rat-folk, Snake-folk, Ant-folk, all manner of underground dwellers filled the passage, and it turned out the platform Mōha was leading them to served the lines bound for the Underground City.
"Here it is."
What he pointed to was the Night Ground Dragon, the tunnel-bound cousin of the Night Dragon.
Atop the long, serpentine ground dragon sat a simple boxlike car, rows of seats lined up inside beneath a roof that seemed to exist only as a formality.
A placard hung from the car reading, 'Bound for Maihama.'
"Maihama... So we're running off to Miki Domain?"
"Works out pretty well, doesn't it? We can wait for things to cool down and head back to Edo, or just keep running from there."
"Makes sense..."
Yasutaka nodded, satisfied with the explanation.
But Mōha had a small question of his own.
"But is it really okay, running out on your fiancée like this? From what I saw, she didn't seem like a bad girl. You could've just married her and been done with it."
Yasutaka just grinned at him.
"My road to becoming the Breeding King has barely even started! I'll be fine, I'm gonna knock up every woman in the world before I ever go back!"
"Yeah, sure..."
Mōha gave a wry laugh, but Yasutaka turned the question right back on him.
"What about you, though? Is it really fine, traveling with me? Weren't you supposed to be out seeing the world or something?"
"Nah, if anything that's exactly why it's better to travel with you. It's not like I've got anywhere in particular I need to go."
"Guess that's true..."
As far as Mōha was concerned, seeing the world was the job, and who he happened to be traveling with hardly mattered.
(Besides, this whole thing would probably end with Yasutaka getting caught somewhere along the way anyway... going home around then would suit him just fine.)
Mōha didn't believe for one second that Yasutaka would ever actually become the Breeding King.
He loaded their bags onto the Night Ground Dragon.
"Alright, let's go."
"Right!"
With that, the two of them boarded the Night Ground Dragon.
It was then that Yasutaka noticed something.
"Huh?"
"What's up?"
"There's like... a red mark here?"
He held up his left hand, showing Mōha his ring finger.
A thin red line encircled it, as though a ring had been pressed into the skin.
"Wonder what this is."
"No idea. Probably just a mark from when you got tied up, right?"
Mōha answered without much interest..........
Gooong...
"The Night Ground Dragon bound for Maihama will be departing shortly..."
A bell tolled, and a magically amplified voice rang out across the platform.
Clank... clank...
The doors of the Night Ground Dragon car were locked shut.
Station attendants dressed as samurai called out.
"All clear for departure!"
Grrrraaaaawww...
With a tremendous roar, the Night Ground Dragon began to lurch slowly forward.
"Farewell, great city of Edo! My quest for the Breeding King starts now!"
"I told you, that whole thing's already over.......... though I guess it was over before it even started, so never mind."
Yasutaka chose to pretend he hadn't heard Mōha's muttering.
And with that, the ground dragon slipped into the tunnel and vanished from sight...