Compartment they had booked for the trip was located just behind the locomotive. This choice was well-thought decision, made for the staff cooperating with their organization to have it easier when helping out. Owing to such setup, there was always someone nearby to take actions in case of any complications.
Conductors were often checking on them to see if they needed something or maybe someone was bothering them. Additionally, even if they were not getting inside the compartment, different people from the staff could be spotted walking by, as if patrolling the corridor.
Ken and the rest of Echo V were also using those people's presence to learn as much as possible about topics related to their mission, specificially the current state of affairs in Poland - they could not rely fully on information obtained from media, internet specifically, where many articles were simply fake news nowadays - it was common and really hard to tell apart truth from false, even more so when the government was intentionally keeping things secret.
During conversations with the staff, when they were asking about all the cases of suspicious events those people could have heard, especially connected to demons, Ken was recording for all the gathered data to be later compared between different sources, as well as for having an option to re-check in case he missed something.
Upon finally reaching their target station, they managed to gathered quite a bit of interesting rumors, including some bits about the town where they dropped off. However, before they moved anywhere, Ken instructed everyone:
"Let's input the code we got from Karl. We'll see how fast we can get a reaction."
No one expected any immediate response, therefore they went into the underground passage to leave the station. As they were walking through, surprisingly many people were passing them by - something they did not experience in such a an important city like Germany's capital, Berlin, felt like a casual occurrence for such a small town in Poland, which could not have more than several dozen thousands inhabitants.
"So many people around" Kyoko could not hide her astonishment "It looks as if we just entered some kind of a different world, compared to what we saw in Berlin. Somehow, the atmosphere here is much lighter."
"Karl mentioned this region is specific, separated from influence of our organization" Ada pointed out "so we don't really know that much about situation in this country. Of course, there are pieces of info from Karl, a bit from the internet plus all that people told us on the way here, but nothing shows you that much as your own eyes, right?"
"I must admit, based on all these talks we had, it doesn't seem they have a big problem with demons right now" said Kenichiro "Local hunters must be quite good to manage things that well, given they don't rely on bigger organizations. Or what we see here is just like keeping appearances, though I hope it's not the case."
"It's still an early hour" Stella pointed out "In Berlin it was cloudy and raining, while here we have sun and almost no clouds. I wonder what we would have seen here if it was a different hour and weather conditions were not so nice."
Ken started browsing through his personal interface device.
"Now, about the more pressing matters" he changed the subject "We have to decide which hotel we choose to stay night. To be honest, there is not much of selection..."
They started looking through potential options available for their group already back in the train, but it seemed none of the offers had everything that they considered a must. Whatever they would choose, they had to compromise. In the end, the final decision was to select a hotel that had the best route connection, while being located slightly farther from the town centre.
At a reception, they were welcomed by a youn lady - at first glance, she appeared to be less than twenty years old, meaning the youngest among Echo V, Stella, was slightly older than her. Most likely, that girl was a student on a part-time job.
"Good day" she welcomed them in Polish "How can I help you?" she asked looking at everyone in the group.
Kenichiro felt that specifically him is being checked out from feet to the head, not understanding what is this about. However, after a short while he remembered that people in the train pointed out how peculiar a group made of a single man with three women looked like. It was quite likely that receptionist misinterpreted this settings they were in, thus Ken kept his calm and composure as he said:
"We need four single rooms, ideally next to each other."
The young woman bit her lip, letting it show that his request is a bit problematic.
"Give me a second please, I need to check" she seemed abashed.
It was hard to say what she was trying to do as everyone in Echo V was pretty much sure this hotel cannot provide them with the rooms as they requested.
"Unfortunately, we only have two double rooms" they were told a moment later.
Ken had mixed feelings about this, therefore he turned to his companions to discuss.
"What do you think?"
"Oh, c'mon" Ada chuckled "There were so many situations where we had only one room and somehow managed. We will make it, if there are separate beds available, though."
"Yes, each room has two eparate beds" the receptionist confirmed.
"So be it then, two double rooms" Kenichiro agreed.
"For how long?"
"We don't know exactly yet. Let's say for two nights and then, we will see."
"I understand. Now, I still need your personal data to finalize."
Having taken care of the formal matters, supported by a bellboy, they delivered their luggage to respective rooms. After they gave a tip, everyone gathered in a room aimed to be used by Ken and Stella - before that happened, the girls decided through drawing who will end up staying with their captain, and Stella commented the result in short words "as usual, a short end of the stick for me", at which their commander only waived his hand.
"No news through the comms" Ken informed them as he sat in the armchair "It's quite comfy, I must say" he added.
"Who would have thought we can find a place like this in such a small town" Kyokow commented "I also checked my interface. I guess you too?" here she looked at other two and they immediately nodded "It seems like we have nothing for now. So what's the plan?"
Kenichiro was still browsing through his interface.
"We were supposed to get here in two days" he said "When Sousuke contacted me, it was just after midnight, and we areached Berlin the very same day, in the late afternooon. If we were to sum up the actual time to get here, it was about thirty two hours."
"If my father actually meant his words to be as precise" Kyoko pointed out "Nevertheless, we did what he wanted, all we have left for now is to wait patiently, unless any of you has other suggestions?"
"I can think of several things" Stella was the first one to react to Kyoko's words "But the most important one is the food. I do get we have something to eat over here, but maybe it would be good to find a local pub or restaurant? We can grab some food and maybe hear something useful, while we are at it?"
Other three looked at each other, slightly surprised, yet they all agreed on that with Stella.
"We should also look into the case of getting ourselves a stable base of operations" Ada suggested "We don't even know how's it here with purchasing a real estate."
Following this short discussion, everyone went to prepare for leaving and, several minutes later, they all were already outside, waiting for a taxi which was supposed to take them to the only pub they were able to find in the town via internet adverts.
Once the long awaited car appeared, communication interfaces of all Echo V members started vibrating, signaling each received a message. Everyone got exactly the same communication - set of digits accompanied by short text "Waiting".
"Looks like coordinates" while saying that, Kyoko was already searching something with her interface "Check this out" she showed the screen to everyone else "It points to a location in one of nearby towns, about twenty-something kilometers from here."
"It happened earlier than expected" Ken sighed "It seems we already have plans for today's evening, but after we all eat something."