After unloading some cargo, the Hippopotamus set sail again.
Once night had fully fallen, Wayne stopped Shier from adding more coal. By around nine in the evening, the steamship was basically moving forward on momentum alone.
Wayne and his nephew were noticeably more deferential toward Hobart. Perhaps it was because they knew he was a Noble, perhaps because the bishop had taken the initiative to invite Hobart for a conversation, or perhaps both.
Although there were no more Earth Mother churches in the mountains, the people here seemed even more devout in their faith in the Earth Mother.
Those people at the docks preparing to collect taxes were not actually tax collectors from the county government, but local bandits.
They clearly knew Hobart was a passenger, yet they did not charge him any extra fees. According to Wayne, under normal circumstances, every passenger had to pay five Silver Suo in "taxes."
In Hobart's view, that was simply robbery.
Now, whenever Hobart asked about Jeffrey Town, Wayne answered honestly.
First, Hobart learned that although it was now the depths of winter, the vegetation on both shores of Full Moon Lake remained lush and vibrant. Flowers bloomed there in every season, fruit bore in every season, and crops grew far faster than elsewhere. Even in winter, the crops continued to grow.
Furthermore, there truly were monsters in Full Moon Lake with fish heads and four limbs. No one dared live by the lakeshore anymore. People had to stand watch by the shore every day, and the moment a monster appeared, they would ring the alarm bell. The knights would lead the villagers into battle against the monsters, and much of the fertile farmland on both shores of Full Moon Lake had been abandoned because of this.
People were often injured or bitten