Chapter 560 - 559: Revisiting an Old Place

Chapter 560: Chapter 559: Revisiting an Old Place

Colin deliberately wore his Field Staff Seal Ring where it would be easily noticed, then walked over to a cargo ship that looked ready to set sail.

The ship had three masts, making it a medium-sized merchant vessel.

"Hey, sirs! We’re looking for passage to Holy Tear City. Are you headed that way?" Colin shouted up to the deck.

A few sailors, busy loosening the mooring ropes, saw him and loudly called for their captain.

The ship’s captain was a large, dark-skinned man with southern features, wearing a trench coat and a leather hat. He glanced at Colin and asked, "How many of you are there?"

"Five people and a horse." Colin gestured to the others behind him.

The moment the captain saw the rest of the group, he fell silent and swallowed hard. He was clearly reluctant.

"We’re Field Staff for the City Watchers. You know the City Watchers, right? The military force in Thousand Masts City responsible for the mountain passes and watchtowers," Colin said, holding out his hand to display his Seal Ring.

Just then, a young man on deck took a closer look at Colin’s group and shouted excitedly to the captain, "Sir, that’s the Foreigner Squad!"

"’They certainly don’t look like locals...’" the captain muttered.

"They’re the squad that helped the Elves slay a White Dragon not long ago, sir!" another sailor said urgently. "And now they want to board our ship!"

"’Is that so? You slew a dragon?’ the captain mused."

"Yes. We’re just looking to hitch a ride," Colin said. "We can pay the fare, if necessary."

"There’s no need for that! Come on up," the captain said quickly. "If you agree to provide protection for the ship, you won’t need to pay any fare. Hurry up, gentlemen."

"Thank you, Captain." Colin then led his group across the gangplank and onto the merchant ship.

"The first-class cabins are already booked, ah... Mr. Colin?" the captain said, approaching the group. Then he yelled at a sailor who was busy with the ropes, "Get over here and help these gentlemen stow this horse in the hold! A bunch of damn lazy-asses! Keep dawdling and you’ll taste the whip!"

A sailor quickly came over and took Big Hoof Treasure’s reins.

"There should be space in the second-class cabins, then," Colin said. "I know the rules. You usually have to pay a deposit to bring a horse on board, so we..."

Stabling a horse on a ship was a very troublesome affair. A skittish horse could be frightened by the waves and damage cargo, so apart from dedicated horse transports, most merchant ships were reluctant to let them aboard.

"To hell with the deposit! Just consider yourselves the ship’s guards," the captain said briskly. "If you don’t mind me asking, is that Armor on you made from a White Dragon? What’s that white mist coming off it?"

"It’s made from a White Dragon’s bone plates. As for the white mist, it’s just cold air. You don’t feel the chill when you’re wearing it, though."

The captain glanced cautiously at the other members of the squad. "Are you all members of the City Watchers? You do some damn fine work."

"I’m just Field Staff. We’re an Adventurer squad hired by the City Watchers."

"Is that so? Doesn’t seem like much of a difference to me."

As Colin spoke with the talkative captain, the sailors who were supposed to be busy on deck pretended to work as they edged closer. All of them were staring wide-eyed at the mist-wreathed Half-plate Armor, whispering to each other from time to time.

"’I bet that Plate Armor is worth at least ten thousand Gold Coins. It could probably buy our entire ship...’"

One of the sailors muttered a little too loudly.

"Get back to work!" the captain immediately whirled around and bellowed.

The onlookers scattered immediately.

After exchanging a few more words with the captain, a sailor led Colin and the others to their second-class cabin.

The room was much like the one on the Super Long-Distance Explorer—a small cabin with six bunks and a table, just enough to accommodate an Adventurer squad.

After a short wait, a few merchants dressed in silk robes boarded and made their way to the first-class cabins on the top deck.

Soon after, the merchant ship departed from the docks of Thousand Masts City and sailed north.

Colin took a walk around the ship.

This merchant ship was slightly larger than the Super Long-Distance Explorer they had taken before. On board were over twenty sailors and seven armed guards, in addition to more than a dozen other passengers.

As for the ship’s cargo, it consisted mainly of foodstuffs like wheat, bread, and beer, along with some southern spices.

All of these were hot commodities at the moment.

The merchant ship traveled along the coastline, so they wouldn’t be reduced to drinking foul water and eating hardtack; they could resupply at the fishing villages they passed.

The sea voyage was rather uneventful, with no major incidents.

Colin had expected to encounter monsters like Bird Demons or Sahuagin during their trip along the coast, but in the end, they met none.

Although the sailors and passengers were quite interested in the Dragon Slayer Squad, they still only dared to approach Colin, as usual. Kase and the others didn’t seem to mind; they were content talking amongst themselves.

「Three days later.」

Colin was sitting on a wooden barrel in a corner of the deck, reviewing things he had previously studied to ensure he could recall the information quickly when it mattered.

One hand supported his chin while the other held a notebook.

The little owl stood obediently on the book’s spine, dipping its head to turn a page every so often at its master’s command.

’I have to admit, having this little guy around is pretty convenient. At least I don’t have to turn the pages myself, and I can occasionally let it fly around like a little drone for fun.’

At that moment, a bird’s cry—SQUAWK SQUAWK—sounded in his ears.

A white seagull flapped its wings and landed on the ship’s railing. When Colin looked up, Holy Tear City appeared not far off, with the Witch’s Hammer Volcano visible in the distance.

The city was still enveloped in a grayish-white fog, looking exactly as it did the first time he saw it.

A sudden curiosity struck Colin, and he couldn’t resist taking the Fragmented Historical Lens from his coin purse to look at the distant Holy Tear City.

As he focused his energy, text appeared on the lens.

[This place is a ruin of the Ancient Empire. The Underground passages and ancient mechanical devices left behind by the Imperial People are now buried deep within the city’s underground Rift Valley. Only the Gnomes know their secrets.]

’So I can get information just by looking at random places? This kind of info doesn’t seem particularly useful, though. It’s a shame the function can only be used once a day. I can’t afford to waste it by looking around randomly anymore.’

As he had this thought, Colin slipped the lens back into his coin purse.