Hoorn, the Mountain City

It was a new morning, on Saturday, 28 September that Graham was ready to leave Sloten for Hoorn. He was dragging a large suitcase behind him with his left hand while his right hand was carrying his briefcase. The dark brown trench coat and trilby that he was wearing gave him an air of professionalism while the two similar colored gloves covering his hands kept him warm-- although he didn't really need them for that reason. It was for safety reasons that he was wearing them at all times.

The brown suitcase that he was dragging looked heavy like it had been stuffed with more things than it could handle. It was done on purpose because Graham didn't want to carry two large suitcases on his trip, so he loaded one of them with as much stuff as he could and left the other one with Luuk for safekeeping.

"I wonder how the couple is doing now," he muttered quietly as he was walking down the corridor and then down the stairs.

The previous night, Egon had dropped off the couple at the nearest hospital once they reached the city and after dropping Graham off at the hotel, he left. The little accident with the tiger-like beast had been remembered as a heroic action by a normal man by Egon, instead of a supernatural event involving scary powers.

"Are you leaving now, Mr. Müller?" asked Stefan the receptionist once he saw Graham, who was using his disguise, came down carrying his stuff. The young man was standing up straight in a professional way as his guest approached him.

"Yes, Stefan. Something just came up so I need to leave now. Thanks for the service and, especially, the breakfast," said Graham, using the martial arts instructor's deep voice. He had just eaten breakfast there before leaving and he was yet again amazed by the food.

Stefan nodded joyfully. There was a genuine smile on his face that usually looked somewhat confused even though he wasn't. He proceeded to scratch the back of his head awkwardly because of the compliment.

"Thank you for your praise, Mr. Müller. I'll tell the chef that you liked his food. I hope you'll stay again with us in the future," said Stefan, "But if you're staying here, I won't be around anymore," he added with a tinge of regret in his voice.

Out of curiosity, Graham asked, "Why is that?" as he fixed his shirt a little. His muscles were bulging under the tight white shirt that he was wearing, hidden away by his coat.

"Because my father-- the manager has decided to move me again to another branch that has just opened. I don't know where, but I'm actually kind of nervous," he said timidly.

Graham was actually impressed by the young man. At his age, he had already been put in charge of a big hotel like that-- although, he was most often seen behind the reception desk. On top of that, Stefan seemed to have moved around a lot, so his experience must be vast.

"Don't you worry. You're doing a great job," said Graham, consoling the young naive man whose blue eyes reflected his doubt.

Hearing his guest's words, Stefan's eyes lit up and his expression became brighter. A wide smile then surfaced on his young face that could be said good-looking if not for his constantly confused expression.

"Really?? Thank you, Mr. Müller! That meant a lot to me," he said merrily.

Graham responded to the young man's smile with a smile and then nodded.

"Well, then, I need to go now. I'll see you around, Stefan" he said as he waved his right hand along with his briefcase that he was carrying.

"Bye, Mr. Müller! See you soon!" he shouted from behind the reception desk because Graham had walked away.

The detective exited the hotel called 'The Hotel' through the wooden double doors and quickly made his way to a secluded alley, where he returned to his original appearance.

"I order myself to return to my original appearance!"

Once his Order was out, the bulky muscles on his body shrunk, leaving behind only a toned body with not-so-big muscles. Fat also returned to the spots where there had been none before, like around his waist and under his upper arms. Although he was not fat, he was not perfectly lean either.

"It's nice to return to myself, Val," said Graham, "It's not really my cup of tea to have that kind of bulky body. I felt somehow heavy. Maybe because we got the body not through hard training."

Once his transformation process was done, Graham left the alley with much lighter steps than before. He walked quickly north, where the Bushalte, where he could catch the coach going to Hoorn, was located. Not all Bushaltes were passed by that specific coach, so he had to go to the right one.

'The Hotel' was located on Bloemstraat, south of Grotemarktstraat, and the closest Bushalte that the coach would stop at was on Paleisstraat, north of the busy commercial street. Graham looked at the watch on his left wrist and it showed a little past seven in the morning. Although he had a lot of time, the suitcase that he was dragging was heavy and inconvenient. He was put in a dilemma.

"Val, should we walk while carrying this heavy stuff or should we just pay for a public motor carriage? I don't really want to spend money unnecessarily, but I also don't like walking with heavy objects," said Graham, pondering what he should do.

He was torn between choosing convenience or money.

"Let's just pay. Maybe we can ask for a discount," he muttered.

The bustling morning street was already packed with vehicles driving on the road, so it wasn't hard for Graham to get a public motor carriage to pull over for him. Seeing the potential passenger's large suitcase, the driver got off and offered him his service.

"Do you need my help to carry it?" he said in a professional tone.

Graham shook his head.

"No need. Just open the door for me, please," he asked politely.

Although it was large, it was in no way heavy for Graham, especially with his status as a President-rank Contractbound. It was just very troublesome to drag around. He lifted the large suitcase with ease and put it inside the back of the metal vehicle, on the right side of the passenger's seat. After that, he got in and sat next to his brown suitcase.

"Where to, Mr?" asked the driver with a polite tone.

"Take me to the Bushalte on Paleisstraat, please. And can I get a discount for lifting my own stuff?" replied Graham with a very confident voice.

"Sorry, sir, there is no such a thing," answered the driver kindly, although he sounded like he just heard the strangest thing in his life.

Graham's expression sank as he sat in silence while the driver began driving smoothly to his destination. Since the road was quite busy, it took them longer than usual to arrive.

"Thank you," said Graham with manners. He carried his large brown suitcase down after paying the driver seven pennings through the gap in the separator.

There were seven other people standing under the shelter of the Bushalte. They wouldn't necessarily be waiting for the same coach as Graham because there were buses going to other routes stopping there as well.

Dragging his suitcase behind him, he stood just in the periphery of the Bushalte and stood there patiently. Occasionally, he would check his watch to see the time.

An orange bus then came not long after, stopping right in front of the spot that the people had been waiting. Two people got off the big vehicle while only one person among those waiting there got on. After that, the bus closed its door and drove off to the distance.

It wasn't long until Graham's coach arrived. He checked his watch and it showed exactly seven-twenty. Once the gray vehicle that was bigger than the bus just now made a complete stop and opened its door, Graham and two other people got on. He was greeted by the smell of the air fresheners that were hung on the ceiling fans of the coach. A strange, citrusy smell that could be described as somewhat pungent penetrated his nose as he walked down the aisle to find an empty seat with his large suitcase being dragged behind him.

The coach was not very full of people, luckily for him. He sat at the left back row near the back door with the suitcase placed on the foot space of the seat next to him.

"I hope this coach won't be full so I don't have to move my stuff, Val," muttered Graham as he placed his briefcase on the seat on his left. He was sitting near the aisle so it would be easy to get out any time he needed to, while at the same time, keeping his belongings safe.

The coach began driving away and headed straight north towards Noordeinde where it made another stop to lift even more passengers. There were more people now but several seats were still empty, so no one was aiming for the one next to him.

"Luckily it's a cold day. Otherwise, this place will smell like sweat mixed with lime," he muttered gladly with a sigh.

The coach kept driving north until it went past the ring road surrounding Sloten. Once out of the city, the scenery began changing gradually; from buildings to farmhouses to fields. The farther north they went, the colder it got and the more mountainous areas they could see through the windows.

At the Bushalte with trees and the tall mountains in the background, the coach stopped once again. A person got off the vehicle while no one got on, so it drove away once the door was closed.

Beyond that point, the road began going uphill as they went up the foot of the mountains. All around them were tall trees whose leaves were mostly still green, while those at the back had their leaves turn orangish already. It was like an explosion of colors happening outside the window, which reminded people how beautiful the world outside was.

After hours of driving, the road became steeper and steeper until they could see the view below them. It was also getting very cold, so the fans were no longer necessary-- the driver's assistant turned them off promptly to save energy.

Graham decided to take a nap on the way because they wouldn't arrive in at least another three hours. The total amount of time needed to reach Hoorn from Sloten was usually five hours.

Once his eyes were closed and his consciousness began wandering, a faint sound of snoring came out of his mouth. It seemed that Valentine also decided to fall asleep.

"Ahem!! Our esteemed passengers, we are now closing in on Hoorn, the Mountain City," said a loud voice suddenly, which woke Graham up. It seemed that they almost reached their destination.

Graham looked out of the window and saw the amazing view of a valley that had a big blue river running across it. He then looked at his front and saw the person who was speaking with a majestic mountain view behind her. She was the driver's assistant who seemed to also become the tour guide for the coach.

"If you see behind me, you can already see Hoorn. It's a big city that was built on the foot of De Vaalserberg, although calling it the foot is an understatement because currently, we are more than one thousand meters above sea level!" she said enthusiastically, "And as you can see, Hoorn is a mining and industrial city, so you can see the smoke of human progress rising up high in the sky!"

The female tour guide wearing a dark orange blouse with a bright orange scarf made a gesture with her hands to allow the passengers to see what she meant. From the coach now, Graham could see the smoke rising from the numerous chimneys located in the city. He could also hear the bustling of activities coming from the city ahead of him.

"The main industry here in Hoorn is gold and gemstones, but it is also famous for its exotic mountain snake liquor which will surely keep you warm in this freezing temperature! Brrr!!" said the guide with a wide smile while pretending to feel cold and shiver. The breeze that came from the opened upper parts of the windows was indeed cold.

A smile surfaced on Graham's face.

"I must admit she's good, Val. And also, that snake liquor sounds interesting. We should definitely try it," he muttered with an approving nod.

The tour guide continued her explanation of the city with her loud voice that could reach all the way to the back row with ease.

"Now, if you're wondering about the history of Hoorn, it was founded by none other than Richard Hoorn, who first discovered, more than two hundred years ago, the vast natural resources that the mountains were hiding! Thanks to our founding father, this city is now bustling commerce that can support hundreds of thousands of families! The total population count of this glorious city as per last week's statistics was 843,058 people! That's almost a million!" she said with a tone that could lift anyone's spirit. Her body language was also emitted all the bouncy energy she had.

"When you're in Hoorn, it's not complete if you haven't visited our various tourist attractions! Yes, you heard that right! Although it's a giant industrial city, it also has many beautiful places you can visit. We have a very tall waterfall whose water comes directly from a spring high on top of De Vaalserberg! There is also a hunting ground for those of you who want some challenge. If you like water sports, just visit Blauwemeer, a lake with magnificent blue water where you can go kayaking or canoeing!" she kept explaining with the same vigor even though she had spoken for a long time.

The coach they were riding passed a gate with a giant word that read 'Hoorn' on top of the arch, which meant that they had officially entered the city. The busy noises of the city filled the air right away with the sounds of engines and heavy machinery being dominant. However, despite the bustle and the clouds of smoke, the air in the city was still fresh, which perplexed Graham.

"This city is amazing. I wonder why Cadhla and Rafferty hate this place to the bone," muttered Graham thoughtfully.

"We've now entered Hoorn. Esteemed passengers, the coach will soon stop at our final destination, so you can prepare to get off. Please don't forget your belongings and enjoy your stay at Hoorn!!" she shouted merrily.