It was raining in Cassell when Lu Mingfei received the ticket.
It was old, its corners bleached white by seawater, but the departure time was midnight tonight.
Passenger: Lu Mingfei.
Person waiting: Erii.
Destination: Tokyo Old Station.
He thought it was one of Fingel’s long-overdue pranks, until a line of red text slowly appeared on the back of the ticket:
She has been waiting for seven years. Passenger, please board as soon as possible.
Zero stood outside the dormitory with orders to keep him away from the ticket gate.
Fingel rushed in clutching a smoking old server. For once, he wasn’t joking. “Junior, Tokyo Old Station isn’t a place. It’s an old file the Academy has deleted three times.”
At midnight, a train that didn’t exist stopped at the end of the dormitory hallway.
The doors opened. Inside was an empty window seat.
Lu Mingfei heard a gentle announcement:
This train does not guarantee a return journey.
