The university despises the Heavenly Martial Body. Just as the Christianism Academy shuns the saints.

–Ralph Waldo Emerson1

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An unexpected remark. Watson’s lips curled as she struggled to suppress a smile.

‘I can’t beat this friend.’

To notice so ghostly what she was thinking.

He was the one and only consulting detective in London.

“…Just this time.”

Watson slowly reached out to Holmes’s face and lifted his firm chin.

Then, she looked straight into Holmes’s eyes and spoke.

“I don’t like that you don’t share what you’re thinking, but I’ll trust and follow your plan.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

“Nothing else matters, just don’t get hurt.”

“Since it’s the valuable advice of the great physician Dr. Watson, I, Holmes, shall humbly accept it.”

“…How rude.”

Watson unintentionally uttered a word relatively unfit to describe the man named Sherlock Holmes.

“I must have misheard just now. Care to repeat that?”

Holmes looked wide-eyed, as if he had heard a word that should not exist.

Why is it, that Watson felt both a sense of guilt and pleasure watching Holmes like that.

And finally, there was a small sense of satisfaction in having succeeded in unsettling this shameless apostle of reason.

“This is advice as a friend, not as a physician.”

Watson continued with a gentle smile.

“I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“Watson—”

“Go on, the case is waiting, isn’t it.”

-Bang!

Holmes tried to say something, but Watson quickly shut the carriage door, and within seconds, the Yun-Qi Locomotive began to move.

“…Watson, indeed.”

The detective left on the platform watched the receding train and smiled bitterly.

“One would hardly doubt that they are twins.”

Holmes recalled the time before his regression, when his assistant, specifically, the twin brother of the Watson who had just departed on the train, had stirred his heart.

The feat John accomplished only after being shot, his sister managed with just a few words.

‘This isn’t the time for this. I should start moving too.’

And he thought.

The culprit will soon realize what kind of warrior they have faced.

“Send a telegram to the personnel on standby, Gregson. It’s time to disrupt the tracks.”

“Understood.”

It was no lie that Watson would play a crucial role in solving this case.

There was no need to wait for three days.

The mask of the Phantom Fist will be unveiled tonight.

In Cambridge.

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The train carrying Watson, Lestrade, and Sir Fawcett began heading north.

After passing Hatfield and reaching Hitchin, it would veer eastward.

Even considering the locomotivemen’s break time, they could arrive in Cambridge by 3 p.m.

However, the train had to stop for an unexpected reason.

“It seems the ground has sunken, causing the tracks to warp.”

The passengers were alarmed by the train’s halt, but the conductor rushed to the first class to discreetly inform them of the situation.

Watson and Lestrade leaned out the window to check the condition of the tracks.

They didn’t know what happened, but there was a large hole under the tracks, causing the railroad to bend and sag down.

“Um, this has become troublesome.”

There are a total of two lines of rails.

To move to the adjacent track, a Railroad Switch is necessary.

In fact, there wasn’t a lack of switches.

It’s just that it’s located past that big hole over there.

“It’s okay. This happens quite often.”

Unexpectedly, the conductor was calming the passengers with a calm expression.

“If we move and install the switch, we can use the adjacent track. But there’s no helping that the arrival will be a bit delayed.”

After finishing the explanation, the conductor went past the first-class carriage to explain the situation to the passengers in the next car.

“The ground seems to have collapsed. It’s a relief there’s one more track intact.”

Sir Fawcett said with a leisurely face.

Watson nodded silently and then remembered belatedly that Sir Fawcett was blind, and replied with a short “Yes”.

When she stuck her head out the window again to look forward, she saw the locomotivemen dismantling the switch with tools in the distance.

If the train is pushed back along the way it came and the switch is installed nearby, they will be able to switch to the safe rail.

However, a delay in arrival is unavoidable.

“It’s not like something big will happen if we’re a little late.”

“Exactly.”

Watson and the other first-class passengers generally wore relaxed expressions.

Originally, train travel always comes with its share of incidents and accidents, big or small.

Sometimes, the locomotive has to stop briefly because a flock of sheep crosses the track, or train robbers might attack.

Even if the arrival at Cambridge is delayed, nothing changes.

It’s not like the Phantom Fist is chasing this way at a terrifying speed.

Moreover, this is a comfortable and spacious first-class carriage, not a cramped and smelly third-class one.

It’s simply a matter of thinking of it as resting a little longer in first class instead of at the hotel.

“In the meantime, how about catching up on some sleep or having a snack, everyone?”

While the conductor went to inform the others about the damaged track, a young director from Bell Telephone Company suggested to the rest.

“That sounds good.”

People took turns closing their seat partitions and either lay down for a nap or headed to the dining car.

Watson hesitated for a moment but soon followed them to the dining car.

Having gotten up at dawn and not eaten anything yet, she was starting to feel a chill.

At this rate, she wouldn’t be able to sleep properly due to hunger.

Since she had to take on guard duty with Lestrade while others slept in the hotel, she needed to get sufficient nutrition and rest during this time.

“Let’s see…”

Sitting by the window in the dining car and looking at the menu, the hearty Full English Yun-Qi Breakfast photo caught her eye first.

Perhaps because it was sold on the train, the price was quite high, but since someone else was covering the accommodation and travel expenses anyway,

Watson decided to splurge and order breakfast.

“I’ll go with this.”

After a while, the dining car attendant brought a teapot filled with milk tea and a plate with the Full English Yun-Qi Breakfast to Watson’s table.

The Full English Yun-Qi Breakfast was as luxurious as its name suggested.

The blood and lean meat of pigs fed with fleeceflower root were made into black pudding and sausage.

There were also baked beans stewed with Ten Year Jiangnan Beans, and more.

The milk tea brewed with blended elixir-infused tea leaves, along with the food made from incredibly valuable ingredients, made both the stomach and the elixir field feel unusually fortified.

Watson looked out the window at the idyllic countryside scenery and diligently moved her fork and knife.

After finishing the meal, she lay down on the first-class bed and took a nap.

She later woke up startled by the vibration of the train, and it seemed that in the meantime, the switch installation was completed, and the locomotive began to move again.

Nothing significant happened while on the train.

At most, the only thing of note was that a train, which had departed later than Watson’s car, managed to overtake them by running along the adjacent track during the meal.

It was somewhat unnerving that a dozen passengers on the overtaking train opened their windows and were staring at the carriage Watson was on, but Watson lay down in the sleeping car and slept again.

Four hours later, Watson and the legal party arrived safely in Cambridge.

A new murder case has occurred there.

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Five sixteen p.m.

The train Watson boarded arrived in Cambridge, a quiet small town fifty-six miles northeast of London.

Watson and Lestrade, who left the train station far from the city center, began moving to the hotel with about a dozen people.

As its name derived from the bridge over the River Cam, Cambridge had prospered as a crossroads for going north from London since long ago.

However, the past Cambridge, a commercial hub with numerous people and goods passing by, had changed significantly from the present Cambridge.

-Haa!!

-Taa!

-Take this, Dragon Claw!

-I’ll deflect it with Cotton Hand!

The sound of youths shouting echoed everywhere.

Even though evening was approaching, duels were still taking place in various parts of the city.

“It’s great that Cambridge is lively.”

Following Lestrade, Sir Fawcett, walking through the streets lined with old buildings, laughed pleasantly.

Although he was blind, he was using Kung-Fu Echolocation, which allowed him to walk with a more lively rhythm than Watson, who used a cane.

‘He’s still vigorous at that age…’

Watson looked at the back of the Postmaster General with envious eyes.

She had already confirmed that he was sensitive to sound.

However, rather than disliking noisy sounds as Watson had thought, he seemed to particularly enjoy certain types of noises.

Earlier, while on the train, Sir Fawcett had burst into laughter several times as if he were amused.

This was mostly when the locomotivemen driving the Yun-Qi Locomotive made shouts or blew the essence whistle loudly.

Even without knowing, it was clear that despite his considerable age, his passion for martial skills was still great.

‘That’s why he could become an Alcanzador of Kunlun, I suppose.’

Watching Sir Fawcett, who showed that neither age nor disability could prevent the pursuit of martial skills, Watson felt a determination for training rise in her chest.

Before she knew it, a goal to freely perform lightness skills on both legs had begun to take root in her mind.

The enthusiasm for martial skills filling this city surely ignited her desire for improvement.

Watson thought once again that it was good they had come to Cambridge.

“It seems the hotel is located far from the station.”

That was when the eldest judge in the group wiped the sweat from his forehead and expressed his dissatisfaction.

It seemed not everyone was in high spirits.

“Please bear with it a little longer. We’ll arrive in about five more minutes.”

Watson, who was in charge of guiding and security, judged that it was necessary to soothe such complaints and gave a gentle smile to the elderly gentleman.

There was no helping the fact that the train station in Cambridge was far from the city center.

Due to the peculiar nature of this city, train stations were restricted to being built only on the outskirts.

‘I wonder if Holmes trained here as well…’

Thinking of her absent roommate, Watson smiled slightly and took in the scenery of Cambridge.

And she imagined.

Her detective emerging from a sparring arena beyond the wall.

His school days.

1. TL/N: A possible original quote—Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. ️