Backlund and Meeting

*Choo-choo*

The train whistle sounded like a tsunami crashing against flimsy houses as it echoed through the station, and into the surroundings; which in this case was the city of Backlund. With a population of over 5 million people, this capital of the Leon kingdom was the most prosperous capital in the Southern and Northern continents combined.

The city itself was divided in two parts by the Tussock River flowing northwest to southeast. The two banks were connected by a large bridge called the Backlund bridge, and multiple ferries that took people through the river to the other side.

The colossus of machinery called the steam locomotive pulled itself into the station, spewing black smoke into the air behind it, into the 15 carriages it towed through the rails.

Dressed in his white three-piece suit, but with the white jacket folded neatly in his hand, Max got out of his second class carriage and looked up at the evening sky through the large window in the train station.

However, there was a moderately thick smog in the air, making everything seem slightly yellowish despite the lowering sun trying to change it to a tint of red. Visibility was bad, though not as bad as the novel had described it to be. Perhaps it was something that slowly got worse over the course of little more than a year, from now till when Klein arrived in Backlund.

However, Max was not here to waste time, so he got to walking. Making sure to look around him every now and then. As he recalled, there were a lot of pickpockets at the train station and metro stations. If he got robbed, he would have no way of actually recovering his money since he was not yet a Beyonder, and he did not even know what his Beyonder powers did exactly.

Although he did know their names and the potion ingredients for them, as well as the rituals, he did not know what exactly their powers could be. He could only guess from the names, but that in itself was vague. 

After all, his Bender Sequence might just allow him to bend physical objects temporarily, or it might give him powers like Avatar the Last Airbender. Or perhaps something better?

Swiftly avoiding any shady individuals or children, Made finally made it out of the train station. He looked over the divided circle known as Backlund and made his way to a particular house. On the way, however, he made sure to purchase a newspaper. Unfortunately, it did not have what he wanted, so he searched and bought a few newspapers until he found exactly what he was looking for.

Although he knew who he was looking for, Max did not remember his exact address, nor was he sure if it was his private residency or his workplace, so finding the address in the newspaper would be best, and he did.

Making his way through the various boroughs, Max discretely noticed how the houses changed from small apartment buildings to factories, to even smaller apartment buildings and sheds around the Backlund bridge. He continued to walk and the houses gradually became more and more homely, until he finally stopped at his destination.

Although he could have travelled through the metro, he preferred not to leave too much of an impression on the people around him for now, and staying in a closed compartment with multiple people staring right at him for many minutes on end was exactly what he was trying to avoid.

On the way here, Max had rented out a room in a motel on Aulka Street, the border between North Borough and his current location Hillston Borough. In the motel, Max had left his Beyonder Sword as well as a sum of money in case he got robbed and needed money. Having a backup was always important.

Currently, he was standing in front of a gloomy building where Detective Isengard Stanton worked. Yes, this was the office of the famous detective Isengard Stanton; who was also secretly a Beyonder who conducted a Beyonder gathering under the alias of Mr. Eye of Wisdom, which doubled as his home as well.

It was already evening, but it looked almost night from the darkness outside. Still, Max hoped that the detective was present here today. He did not mind waiting another day to find the man, but what he needed from him was vital for any of his future plans. So, securing it was of absolute importance.

Ringing the doorbell, Max patted down his white clothes and fixed his hair, before putting on a fake and slightly childish smile. After all, he was trying to give off the vibes of a child desperately trying for the world to treat him as an adult.

The wooden door opened with a strained click, as though the components inside the handle were rusted, but somehow managed to open without any issues, much to the discomfort of Max.

A middle-aged gentleman with white sideburns, a thin angular face, and a pristine temperament. He had blue eyes and had a black pipe sticking out from his mouth, but no smoke was coming from it. Clearly, it was not lit, and he had just used it out of habit, or perhaps an odd sense of fashion.

He was wearing a white shirt and blue vest but was not wearing proper footwear. Instead, he was wearing slippers on top of full socks.

"What can I do for you… Young lad?" Detective Isengard asked politely, halting for a moment to discern what to call Max.

Max also smiled a little more genuinely upon hearing himself being called a young lad and not a boy or child, before bowing slightly and speaking.

"Are you Detective Isengard? I have a request for you." Max said while pointing at the two-week-old newspaper with his name on the uncovering of the hideout of a murderer.

"Oh, a customer. Please do come in." The detective did not usually take on walk-in cases and generally worked with the Backlund police on cases, but the strange boy who wanted to be treated as a mature young man was an intriguing case, something he was willing to invest some time into.

As the two of them sat down, Isengard offered some water before speaking in a smooth voice.

"Let it be known, that I take a consultation fee of 1 pound for every 30 minutes. With that being said, would you still like to begin our conversation?"

"Yes. Mr. Isengard Stanton, I would like to commission your services to produce an official identity for me. Before you ask, no, I do not exist in the Leon empire, anywhere. I was originally from the Intis Republic, but my parents were killed and I was sold as a slave. Yes, but on the way, the slavers were stopped and killed by the church of Evernight Believers, who were later killed by people in red robes and superpowers."

"I was able to escape in the chaos and stumbled into Tingen, where I met a kind old man who took care of me. But only a week ago he went in search of an old friend from his work before he retired apparently, who went missing out of the blue. My old man did not return, so I followed his instructions took some money from him and escaped Tingen, heading straight to Backlund."

"However, he did not have the means to forge an identity for me, and so he told me if I was ever in Backlund, with a much larger population, it would be easier for me to create an identity. I assumed the most famous detective in Backlund should be able to help me with my situation, without ripping me off right? Can you help me, detective?"

The middle-aged gentleman took out a matchstick and lit his smoking pipe, taking a deep break of the freshly lit tobacco. He let out a puff of white smoke which slowly dissolved into the surrounding air, causing a strange smell to permeate the room.

"Alright young lad, I can help. But it will cost you."

"Also, Detective, could you make sure it is a somewhat respectable identity from a slightly rich background? I intend on starting up or at least investing in other businesses to make a living. So please make it something suitable."

"…" Isengard looked at the child in front of him and immediately felt as though his character was more interesting than he had initially thought.