Crewmen

Crewmen

(Thanks to Canghai Yizhi Miao 1 for the Silver Grand Alliance. Let me explain the reward system: every 10,000 points of rewards still gets an extra chapter, but updates will be limited during the new-book period, so those chapters will have to wait until after release. I owe you these hundred extra chapters for now. I write slowly, so I'll add one chapter a day and make them up bit by bit. One more addition: a thousand monthly tickets will also earn an extra chapter.) Only when he reached the Great Sea Ship did Roy truly understand how enormous it was.

The ship was docked lengthwise along the pier, its bronze ram nearly touching the stone steps. It stood more than four metres taller than the dock. The Main Sail had long since been lowered, but countless ropes and pulleys hung from the forty-metre-tall Main Mast.

Compared with the elegant merchant ships of the elves, this vessel looked crude in both design and equipment. Yet it was the largest ship Roy had ever seen in Castleton Harbour. The hull alone was probably over forty metres long.

Setting down his bucket, Roy carefully examined the deep-draft ship. It looked as though it carried quite a lot of cargo.

The Elf Rangers on the dock had rushed over at once. By now, they had climbed aboard using ladders and were likely inspecting dangerous items on the ship, such as its armed personnel and weapons.

The sailors were still arranging Wooden Boxes on the deck, apparently filled with cheap cargo.

As long as the cargo was not unloaded from the ship, Silver Moon Elf regulations stated that no taxes needed to be paid.

That was why Roy did not see the Tax Official aboard.

As Roy stood before the dock, staring blankly at the Great Sea Ship by himself, several well-dressed crewmen came down the ladder.

It was clear that the Elf Rangers' safety inspection had gone smoothly. They had not forbidden the crewmen from disembarking. Nearly all of them wore leather vests, white shirts, riding trousers, and boots, with no weapons at their waists.

Roy had seen that the sailors on the bow deck all carried swords at their waists.

The crewmen's hair seemed not to have been tended for a long time. Many wore braids, while others let it hang loose, turning messy in the sea breeze.

Their hair came in all colours, though blond, red, and dark brown were the most common. Every one of them looked very strong—at least stronger than the Elf Rangers.

Perhaps because Roy was the only person on the dock who looked somewhat like them.

After disembarking, the crewmen did not wander around. Instead, they walked straight over to Roy. The burly crewman at their head curiously looked him over as well.

"Do you need a guide?" Roy asked first.

It was not that he liked being a guide.

In fact, this was his first time doing it.

He mainly wanted to learn something about the outside world from these well-travelled crewmen.

Castleton Harbour was a fishing port. Most of the merchant ships that docked here dealt in fish, and even if Roy tried to ask around, no one was willing to pay him any attention.

"￥#...!" The burly crewman rattled off a string of words at Roy.

Roy was completely baffled. He could not understand a single word.

Looks like there's no way to communicate!

Roy spread his hands and shook his head slightly, indicating his helplessness and that he could not understand.

"You don't speak Imperial Language?"

A frail young man in a black robe emerged from behind the burly crewman. He had fair skin, glasses perched on his nose, and a book with a copper-covered binding in his hands. He asked Roy in extremely stiff Elven Language.

His grammar and pronunciation were both poor. No elf would arrange words in that order.

Roy nodded.

"I only speak Elven Language. Do you need a guide?" he asked the robed young man again.

Only then did he notice faint patterns on the black robe, which looked like magical lines.

Roy guessed that the other party was probably a mage.

The mage waited for Roy to slow down, listened carefully twice more, and then said, "Take us to an inn. Once we've settled in, take us to a tavern with local character. All of us need to relax a little."

He spoke in measured pauses with a strong rhythm, making it sound as though he were reciting a spell.

"No problem," Roy answered readily.

The young mage discussed it with the burly crewman before turning back and asking, "How much should we pay you?"

"If possible, just tell me about some interesting things you encountered during your journey."

"You want information about the outside world? Then let's exchange information. We also want to learn about this Elf City," the young mage quickly said.

"This is Castleton Harbour in the Silver Moon Elf Kingdom," Roy said frankly. It was no secret; anyone could find out with a little asking. Then he asked, "Where are you from?"

"Qiyan City in the Grimm Empire. It's the largest southern city in the Grimm Empire. If you ever get the chance to visit the Grimm Empire, you must take a look around Qiyan City." The young mage answered without hesitation, then asked, "Is Buenos City far from here?"

"Not too far. What are you doing here?" Roy asked curiously, without pointing out Buenos's exact location.

The young mage immediately said, "Of course, for trade. We plan to get goods from the Silver Moon Elf Kingdom..."

"Cough, cough..." Before he could finish, the burly crewman beside him interrupted him.

Clearly, he had not understood the conversation between the mage and Roy, so the mage could only patiently translate it for him.

Then the burly crewman rapidly said a few more words to the mage.

The mage hesitated, carefully put his words together, and then said to Roy with an awkward smile, "We just plan to buy some Elf Biscuits, high-grade swords and shields, and similar goods."

Roy knew they were not telling the truth, but he could not be bothered to pursue it.

After all, they didn't know each other...

Seeing that the crewmen were still wary of him, Roy fell silent.

Since he had agreed to help them find an inn, Roy said nothing more and merely explained that the inns in the city were roughly divided into three grades.

There were two inns on Brown Street, where Roy lived. However, Brown Street was a commoner's district, so the inns there were the lowest grade. Merchants who came to the dock to purchase Sea Fish usually stayed there for a night or two.

Still, they had their advantages: they were cheap and close to the harbour docks.

After hearing Roy's introduction, the crewmen readily agreed.

Roy carried the bucket and led the way. After leaving the docks, he took the initiative to explain what every shop they passed sold.

At the very least, he had to help them tell shops apart from restaurants.

Brown Street was truly close to the docks. As Roy led more than twenty crewmen past the Goddess of Freedom Temple, they were all surprised to see a temple of modest size built on the hillside.

Some crewmen immediately wanted to go over and take a look. However, a crowd had gathered at the temple entrance. Through the crowd, they could see Priests in ceremonial robes inside the temple, chattering endlessly with several Elf Rangers.

It looked as though something had happened at the temple.

When Roy had passed by that morning, the Goddess Temple had still been so quiet...

The group passed the entrance of the Goddess of Freedom Temple. No one was foolish enough to look over with open curiosity.

After passing the Goddess of Freedom Temple, Roy remembered something. He took a Kole from his pocket, holding the thin shell between his thumb and forefinger as he introduced it to the crewmen behind him. "The currency used here is Kole, polished from shells like this."

"Gold coins won't work?" the young mage asked in surprise.

Roy glanced at the mage with some envy. He truly did not know what would happen if someone used gold coins in the local shops, because he had never had gold coins himself and had never seen anyone use them.

So Roy told the mage, "You can try it. I think some elves would like them."

Roy led them to an inn, and sure enough, it did not accept gold coins.

However, the young mage took a pale green crystal from his pocket. The young female elf at the front desk was sweet-looking, and upon seeing the crystal, she immediately called for the innkeeper. The innkeeper enthusiastically arranged ten rooms for them and even exchanged a large bag of Kole for the young mage.

The young mage casually counted out fifty Kole and handed them to Roy.

Roy hesitated and did not take them. That was a large sum of money to him.

"Take it. We'll still need to trouble you later to help us find a reliable tavern."

The young mage forcibly stuffed the stack of Kole into Roy's hand and smiled.