TL: Etude
Paul’s farewell dinner ended amidst high spirits and joy.
The next morning, as dawn broke, the dock area was almost overflowing with people. It wasn’t just the residents of Port Fran; even people from nearby villages and towns had co to join in the excitent and see off the three exploration fleets.
The Mayor of Port Fran, Theodore, had specially hired a band to play at the docks, adding to the lively atmosphere.
Stanford, Gran, and Nigel, the three commanders, solemnly bid farewell to Paul and his group before boarding their respective ships via the gangways.
Then, their ships set sail and weighed anchor, moving out of their berths amidst rounds of cheers from the shore, heading towards the open sea.
Each of the three exploration teams had three ships, all of which were the latest three-masted sailing ships, manned by over 150 crew mbers each.
Indeed, with technological improvents, an influx of private capital, and the introduction of skilled craftsn from Horn Bay, shipbuilding technology in the Northwest Bay was advancing rapidly. A type of ship similar to the Galen ship, with three masts, longer bodies, and greater cargo capacity, had begun to dominate sea trade.
In terms of appearance, the three-masted ships equipped for the exploration teams were bigger and sturdier than Columbus’s Santa Maria or Magellan’s Victoria.
However, while European ships were developed gradually with steady technical improvents, those in Alda were sowhat ‘hastened’ by Paul. Whether they were sturdy enough to cross oceans remained unknown, as was the actual size of the oceans in this world.
“Wish them luck!” Paul silently prayed before patting Quik, the sullen commander of the First Naval Fleet, preparing to leave the dock.
“You should have entrusted such a dangerous mission to the navy, not to those rookies,” Quik complained to Paul, recalling his own glorious feat of sailing to Horn Bay in 1990 and opening a sea trade route. He had been visibly upset during yesterday’s banquet.
Ah, how he yearned to lead a fleet into uncharted waters once again, to earn great glory!
Paul understood Quik’s feelings and tried to console him: “Quik, we need to give opportunities to the young ones.”
“What? Lord Grayman, are you saying I’m old? I’m only just over thirty!”
“Er… that’s not what I ant…”
As Paul was pondering what to say to comfort Quik, a servant rushed through the crowd and approached him.
“Lord Grayman, Miss Sertia has sothing important to discuss with you.”
“Oh? Where is she?”
“Right there, look!”
Paul followed the servant’s direction and saw a figure standing on the balcony of a two-story tavern, gently waving at him.
He quickly found Ladi and was surprised to see her.
“What happened? You look like you haven’t slept all night.”
“This isn’t the place to talk, Lord Grayman. Let’s find a private spot in the city hall, and I’ll explain everything.”
…
“What… What?”
This ti, Paul was truly shocked!
“Another wizard… uh, another mage has co to my territory?”
Seeing Paul’s reaction, Ladi felt a twinge in her heart but still confird, “Yes, and they even made contact with yesterday evening.”
Ladi carefully recounted the events of the previous evening, though she omitted the ‘conspiracy’ involving Seviya.
“Hmm…”
Paul, with his eyes closed, arms crossed, and sitting in a chair, was deep in thought.
“Lord Grayman, what do you plan… how do you plan to deal with them?” Ladi asked cautiously.
“Exile? Or… imprison them, or… or hand them over to the church?”
“No!”
Paul answered without hesitation.
“They are just new immigrants! They haven’t committed any cris, at least not since coming to the Northwest Bay. Rember what I said? I will welco the ‘good’ ones among them and capture all the ‘bad’ ones. So, let’s see how they behave in the future.”
“Lord Grayman…”
Looking into Paul’s sincere eyes, Ladi felt a surge of indescribable emotion, warming her entire being.
She had almost decided that if Paul chose to imprison or hand Seviya and the others over to the church, she would imdiately go and warn the mages to flee, and then present herself before Paul to confess.
Now, all her worries had dissipated.
“Why are you blushing?”
“Er… No, it’s nothing.”
Ladi replied evasively, turning her face away, avoiding Paul’s gaze, though it was sowhat impolite.
“Lord Grayman.” She steadied herself and continued, “Even so, we can’t guarantee that there aren’t any unstable elents among them who could pose a threat to your territory or even your safety. Rember, the thods of a caster can be unpredictable and mysterious, even to another caster. Have you forgotten about that roadblock assassin?”
Ladi’s words reminded Paul of the mysterious assailant from four years ago, who was seemingly impervious to blades and bullets and possessed imnse strength, able to kill with his bare hands. Fortunately, he couldn’t withstand bullets, or else Paul and his entire team would have been defeated.
“What do you think we should do?”
“Please allow Lord Cecil to assign people to monitor their residence. They should not disturb them on regular days, but take imdiate action if they notice anything unusual. And … no matter how busy I am, please allow to et with you every day.”
“This is not a long-term solution.”
Paul waved his hand, “According to them, they fled from Horn Bay, so they must be very sensitive to everything around them. What if they think we’re going to harm them and react violently?”
“That’s true…” Ladi was conflicted, wondering whether she should reveal Seviya’s ‘conspiracy’ to Paul.
“Lord Grayman, I’m very sorry, I just…”
Just as Ladi was about to reveal everything, Paul suddenly slamd his hand on the table.
“Let’s go et them.”
“What?”
“Let’s et them and clear everything up.”
Paul explained, “Currently, they can’t determine if we will harm them, and we can’t tell if they will harm us. And then they can’t determine if we can determine… Ah, I’ve confused myself. In short, it has ford a… well, let’s call it a ‘chain of suspicion’. Luckily, we’re all humans, speak a language we can understand each other, and we’re not separated by millions of light-years. Ha, if we were millions of light-years apart, I wouldn’t be worried.”
Ladi was sowhat baffled by Paul’s later words, not quite grasping what he ant by a ‘chain of suspicion’ or ‘light-years’.
But the earlier part was clear.
eting face to face and talking things through indeed seed like the simplest and most effective thod.
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