"Is this it?"

Lukas didn’t know what expression to place on his face as he stared at the mask. Inside, his confusion threatened to burst out, while he buried his displeasure at what he was looking at.

He was sure his wife wouldn’t like that look on his face.

"Do you like it?" Akira grinned, gesturing to the mask she’d created.

"It’s... full of character," Lukas said.

The mask sat on the table. It had been made out of the leg of a trouser, which had been cut off to the length of a person’s head.

Then six holes had been cut into it. Two for the eyes, one for the nose, one for the mouth, and two for each ear. It was exactly the kind of mask that a particularly lazy thief would make before robbing a gas station.

"I know, right?" Akira grinned. "I think I might be good at this."

Lukas stared at her from the side of his eyes. "I think your talent is the one best kept under wraps, so others won’t go greedy for it. If they see your talent, they’d surely be pestering you. So I’ll advise that you should never show them what you can do, okay?"

Akira stared down at the mask she’d made again, looking back up at Lukas, puzzled. "Are you sure?"

"Trust me on this, alright?" Lukas said, patting her on the shoulder.

Melody chuckled as she stood from the bottom bunk, heading towards them. "My sewing skills might not be the best there is, but this was the best I could do given the limited time."

The moment he saw the mask in her hands, a huge sigh of relief left him.

He took the mask from her, holding it up before his eyes, examining it.

Unlike Akira’s mask, Melody had cut out a square piece of cloth before folding it in half from one point down to the other, creating a triangular shape.

She’d sewn it in place like that, then attached what looked like ropes made of cloth to each end of the triangle, which one would use to tie the cloth mask in place over the bottom half of his face.

In one word, it was magnificent.

It didn’t cover his eyes, but white hair wasn’t exactly a rarity or anything in this world, so it didn’t matter. All he needed it for was to protect his identity, so it should work pretty fine.

"This is good," he glanced at Melody, smiling widely. "I guess your sewing is definitely better than your cooking."

Melody laughed at the joke. "I can cook up something good for you if you want."

"Definitely not." Akira interjected from where she sat. "I’m not ready to die yet."

"Are you saying my cooking is poisonous?" Melody raised a brow.

"Poisonous is an understatement." Akira scrunched up her face. "I’ve only eaten your cooking once, and I swear, I can still taste it in my mouth every now and then."

Lukas chuckled at that.

When they’d been camping out in the Green Forest, Melody had tried cooking once, and it had been a bit of a disaster. The pot she’d used was still unusable, and couldn’t be cleaned no matter how long they tried washing it. So they gave up trying and simply threw the pot away.

"It’s almost midnight." Akira said, looking through the window at the darkness outside. "When are you going?"

Though it was a full moon, it was currently overhead, so they couldn’t see it, but it lit up the world outside, allowing them to see the landscape as it passed.

"I’m going now, don’t worry." Lukas said, placing Melody’s cloth mask on his face and tying it in place. With this, his identity was secure. Or as secured as it could be with a cloth mask.

With a nod at each wife and a whispered "see you," he left the room, silently closing the door shut behind him.

He moved through the connecting passage and into the next carriage, keeping his footsteps light.

Then he saw the patrol officer.

The man was making his way into the carriage from the far end, doing his rounds.

Of course, Lukas knew the rule. Passengers weren’t permitted to roam the corridors after a certain hour without reason.

And as he was currently masked and moving alone through the train at midnight, it would generate questions he didn’t want to answer.

It wasn’t as if he could just say he was going for a secret meeting and be allowed on his way.

He scrambled for where to hide, looking up immediately.

The ceiling panel above him had a design that left a small bulge running along the middle. And in the bulge was a groove. It should be wide enough for what he wanted to do.

He jumped into the air, catching the edge of the groove and pulling himself up.

He pressed himself flat against the roof of the carriage, fingers straining as he held on to the grooves, his legs trying to hold on.

The patrol officer entered the carriage passage and began his slow walk down the corridor.

And when the officer was directly beneath him, the man stopped.

Lukas froze where he was, even holding his breath, waiting.

The officer stood there for a second, then bent down. The man tied his shoe before standing and continued walking. His footsteps moved into the next carriage and faded.

Lukas held himself there for another ten seconds before dropping to the floor.

He continued on his way, and this time, he didn’t meet any patrol officers.

That was a bit strange, but it was no less strange than a secret game taking place while others slept.

He finally reached the entrance of carriage 123, but two men stood on either side of the door, their faces hidden behind their cloaks.

They said nothing as Lukas approached, but once he was close enough, one of them extended a hand, palm up.

Lukas frowned, wondering what the man wanted before he realized.

He reached into his spatial ring and produced the Joker card. He placed it in the outstretched palm.

The man examined it briefly, then stepped aside and gestured to the door.

Lukas pushed it open and entered.

The carriage was large, holding more space than a normal carriage. Either it had been designed like this or there was some kind of spatial enchantment in the room.

He couldn’t tell which it was.

However, there were several people in the room with him. He counted no less than thirty people.

Some wore masks, while others had their face visible but looked unconcerned about it.

Lukas was quietly congratulating himself on his mask when a voice came from directly behind him.

"Lukas?"