The Fleet Has Arrived

Translator: Cinder Translations

...

Lady Knight Lydia has been taken back home by her parents, leaving only the royal family in the living room, sharing their heartfelt concerns.

However, it can't yet be called a complete family.

"It's really unfortunate that my sister is fighting in the south at a time like this. Father, how is the situation in the south?"

After sighing, Eileen couldn't help but worry about Catherine.

"Don't worry," Rodney said with a comforting smile, "The royal army will surely defeat the rebels, and then your sister will be able to return."

The king didn't elaborate on the specific situation, and Eileen didn't press for more details. She had learned from discussions among the government and military while she was at the Northwest Bay that the royal army and the rebels were at a stalemate, with neither side able to gain the upper hand.

Rodney asked, "By the way, Eileen, what kind of person is Earl Paul Grayman?"

Although Rodney had a general idea from the intelligence reports about Catherine leading troops south, he still wanted to hear his youngest daughter's description.

"Well… Earl Paul Grayman, how should I put it?" Eileen tilted her head and thought for a moment.

"He is quite uninteresting in his daily life. Unlike other nobles, he doesn't care much for socializing, banquets, or knight tournaments. He's either staring at a bunch of charts or staying in his office writing and drawing, with a bit of the air of a reclusive scholar. But his knowledge is vast and diverse, not specializing in one field but often providing astonishing insights."

"He also has many interesting and practical inventions. Paper and porcelain have already become popular in Crystal Glare, haven't they? Canned food is also starting to be supplied in large quantities to the royal army. And there's a kind of mirror that can see tiny creatures, and…"

She initially wanted to mention firearms and cannons but remembered Paul's repeated instructions not to discuss new weapons in front of others, so she stopped.

"Oh? So he is quite a talent," the king remarked, stroking his beard.

He then asked, "What about the war that happened at the Northwest Bay last year?"

Eileen pouted, "It's all that guy Kent's fault. He used to bully people by relying on the trust of the previous Duke of Northwest, and the lords of Northwest could only vent their anger but dared not speak out. Before the war broke out, he sent people to extort Alden. I was on the battlefield when the emissary came, and you should have seen how arrogant that emissary was."

"Later, the Duke of Northwest died mysteriously, and the title was unusually passed to Earl Kent, who was an outsider. It looked like there was a conspiracy. The Duke's younger brother came out and exposed that Earl Kent had used witchcraft to murder the Duke, and then the war started."

"Is that so?", The king nodded, confirming that what his daughter said matched what he had learned from the royal commissioners.

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The next day after meeting with the king, Hansel rode a fast horse with documents to the west coast and encountered the royal army commanded by his brother Harrison, who was leading the troops to eliminate pirates.

Hansel conveyed the plan for the combined forces and the king's orders to his brother, asking him to choose a location for deployment as close to Kiel Harbor as possible. Harrison agreed; he was a pragmatic person and welcomed the extra support. Moreover, this was his first time being assigned to take full command, so he felt a bit insecure.

Although the brothers hadn't seen each other for a long time, due to the urgent military situation, they had a meal together, and then Hansel took his leave to proceed to Kiel Harbor.

Upon arriving at the port city, Hansel first visited the city hall and presented the king's orders to discuss the matter of allowing the Northwest fleet to dock. He then arranged for many people to keep watch in coastal cities. According to the initial plan, the fleet was set to depart within four days after his departure from the Alden town. If there were no accidents along the way, they should have already reached the nearby sea area and be roaming along the coastline by now. The fleet would frequently send people ashore to buy supplies and leave information to help Hansel find them. Although they declared themselves as the loyal fleet from Northwest Bay, no port was willing to let them dock without an inspection due to clear instructions from Crystal Glare.

Two days later, a message from homing pigeons reported that the scouts had made contact with the fleet, and they were heading towards Kiel Harbor.

On the evening of January 25, 1992 of the Holy Calendar, Kiel Harbor of the Aldor Kingdom welcomed a fleet flying the red dragon banner, consisting of 12 ships. Due to rumors of pirates, there had been few ships entering or leaving Kiel Harbor recently, so the sudden appearance of such a large fleet attracted many spectators.

First to dock were 6 paddle sailboats, followed by 6 full sailboats. Since the rise of maritime trade in Northwest Bay, residents of the southern ports had become familiar with these new types of ships that didn't require rowers.

People sensed a chilling aura from the dark metal tubes on the sides of the ships. Although they didn't know what these things were, their instincts told them that these ships were probably not here to transport goods.

Alden projected her power to areas outside the Northwest Bay for the first time.

Hansel stood on the dock, waving a handkerchief towards the fleet. Behind him stood his brother Harrison and the mayor of Kiel Harbor.

Harrison said, "So this is the Northwest Bay fleet? Such strange ships."

The mayor commented, "I've seen similar merchant ships a few times this year, but these must be warships, right? What are those dark tubes?"

Listening to their discussions, Hansel felt a surge of superiority: Ha, haven't seen this before? Those things are called cannons. One shot can turn a bunch of living people into minced meat.

"Hey! Baron Abbott!" At the nearest docking point, a naval officer from Alden walked down the gangway onto the dock and waved at Hansel.

"Colonel Tirpitz!" Hansel stepped forward to shake hands with him, "Are you the one commanding the fleet this time?"

"Haha, my fleet has the most operational ships among the three fleets, so they let me take command of this operation."

"Let me introduce you to my brother…"

After introductions, Tirpitz asked the most pressing question, "Harrison, how is the situation with the pirates?"

Harrison replied, "We have placed scouts on the roads entering and leaving the West Harbor. Recent signs indicate that they seem less active than before and are holed up in the city, not sure what they are doing."

Tirpitz thought to himself that Harrison, being so cautious at his age, was impressive. Most people would have already started attacking the city.

"Sir Harrison, I have a present for you."

"Oh?"

"We just encountered a pirate ship at sea and captured some prisoners. Perhaps we can extract some useful information from them."

Harrison was delighted, "That's wonderful! Let's organize the interrogation immediately!"

(End of the Chapter)

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