Chapter 14
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: How to Build a Great Shelter: First, Throw Money at the Problem
-----------------------------------------------------------------
3. How to Build a Great Shelter: First, Throw Money at the Problem.
17 days left until the end of the world.
The Kintne train station, in the town next to Brunel. I stood before it, gazing at its exterior.
It was a splendid station, with plaster filling the spaces between its timber frame, making it look just like a birdcage.
Though small and old, it was a Tudor-style building, just like the ones I'd seen in Chester, England.
Last time, all the telephones had been broken, so I couldn't make a call and had only sent a letter. This time, thankfully, the telephone seemed to be working.
Hoping the call would go through, I stepped inside the Kintne train station.
The interior was simple. A door leading to the train platform was on the opposite side, and a ticket booth was to the right.
Next to the booth were a newsstand and a telephone, and across from it, rows of chairs were lined up.
I first approached the ticket booth to find the station agent.
“I’d like to use the telephone.”
I paid the station agent the fee and stood before the telephone.
I held the receiver to my ear and dialed the number. The operator at the exchange answered and connected me straight to the Sinclair mansion in the capital.
Listening to the ringing, I brought the mouthpiece to my lips.
Rrrrr-
The ringing continued for a short while before someone picked up.
Click.
[This is the Sinclair residence.]
It was the voice of my personal maid, Susanna.
“Susanna! It’s me, Cherry.”
[Oh my goodness, Young Lady! I wanted to call you, too, but I had no idea how to reach you.]
“Is something wrong? You were supposed to come today, weren’t you?”
[Well, the head maid has fallen ill, so I think I’ll have to stay one more day before I leave.]
The thought of enduring another day alone without Susanna was dreadful. But I didn’t let it show.
“It’s all right. It can’t be helped. You must come tomorrow, though.”
Because there wasn’t much time left until the end.
I kept the rest to myself.
[Yes, yes. I’ve already bought my train ticket. I should arrive around tomorrow afternoon. Are you doing well, Young Lady? Is your health all right? You’re not hurt anywhere, are you? Are you eating properly?]
Susanna’s worried questions nearly brought tears to my eyes. The hardships I’d endured flashed before me like a panorama.
“Of course! Is everything all right in the capital?”
[It is. The mansion is so quiet without you, Young Lady.]
“No. It was always like that.”
Susanna hadn’t been employed by the Sinclair family for long, so she wouldn’t know, but our mansion had always been that way. Between my parents, busy with their business, and me, busy going out, the mansion was more often empty than not.
“What about Harrison?”
[Oh, dear. He’s not here.]
“Really? Did he say anything? I sent him a letter, but I never got a reply.”
[Oh, truly? But there haven’t been any letters from you, Young Lady…?]
“What?”
[Ah. Come to think of it, I heard that mailmen traveling to other regions have been going missing lately.]
Wait a minute, what was that?
“Mailmen are going missing? What do you mean?”