The next day, Imperial Main City, harbor.
This place was usually rather quiet. Aside from people coming and going from Silver Pine Island, only a few nearby villages that found water routes faster would use this path. There were usually only two or three large and small ships, with hardly any visitors.
But today was different. Early in the morning, the place was packed with a sea of people. Calling it a city emptied of ten thousand households would not have been an exaggeration.
Everyone had come to see off their families—never mind the Royal Knights, even the Church's doctrine had never forbidden marriage. Most of those going into battle had wives, children, and elderly relatives.
This was also everyone's first time facing something like an "expedition." In the past, the royal family established knight orders while the Church established priests and clerics. No matter how much they improved their military strength, it was ultimately just open and covert conflict between two political forces—an internal struggle.
Now, however, they were resisting foreign enemies. The nature of it was completely different—many people had never even left the Imperial Main City for the surrounding counties, let alone gone out to sea. No matter how thoroughly they prepared, they could not help feeling anxious and nervous.
"Ah Da, you have to stay safe. Mother will wait for you to come back..."
"Mother..."
"Xiaomei, once I return from subjugating the Sea God, we'll get married!"
"Mm, I'll wait for you..."
Don't say things like that carelessly, don't say things like that carelessly... Standing on the ship and listening to the people below raise flags like crazy, Xu Shi broke out in cold sweat. Was that really something they could say?
But he suddenly felt a little sentimental too. This was the Hualan Empire's first