Chapter 345: The Fleet Has Arrived


    TL: Etude


    Lady Knight Leah was escorted home by her parents, leaving only the royal family in the living room, sharing their heartfelt thoughts.


    However, the family was not yetplete.


    “It’s a pity that my sister is in the south at such a time. Father, how is the situation in the south?” Eileen sighed and couldn’t help but worry about her sister Catherine.


    “Don’t worry,” Rodney reassured her with a smile, “The royal army will surely defeat the rebels, and then your sister will be able to return.”


    The king didn’t borate on the specific situation, and Eileen didn’t ask further. While in the Northwest Bay, she had learned from discussions between the Administration Council and the army that the royal troops and the rebels were at a stalemate, with neither side able to gain the upper hand.


    Rodney then asked, “By the way, Eileen, what kind of person is Count Paul Grayman?”


    After Catherine led troops south, information about Eileen’s activities in the Northwest Bay was regrly submitted to the king. Although Rodney had a general understanding from the intelligence reports, he still wanted to hear his daughter’s own description.


    “Paul… uh… Count Grayman, how should I put it?” Eileen tilted her head, thinking.“He’s quite a dull person in everyday life. Unlike other nobles who indulge in socializing, parties, or knightly tournaments, he either stares at piles of charts or buries himself in his office drawing and writing. He has a bit of a reclusive schr’s air about him. His knowledge is diverse and broad, not specialized in one area but often with surprising insights.”


    “He also has many interesting and practical inventions. Paper, porcin – these have already be popr in Crystal Shine, right? And canned food, which, as I know, has already begun to be supplied inrge quantities to the royal army. There’s also a mirror that allows you to see tiny organisms, and…”


    She was about to mention firearms and cannons but remembering Paul’s repeated instructions not to discuss new weapons with others, Eileen stopped.


    “Oh? He sounds like a talented individual,” the kingmented, stroking his beard.


    He then asked, “What wasst year’s war in the Northwest Bay all about?”


    Eileen pouted, “It’s all because of someone named Kent. He used to take advantage of the trust of the previous Duke of the Northwest to do wrongs, and the lords of the Northwest were angry but dared not speak out. Before the war broke out, he even sent people to extort Alda. I was on the battlefield when his envoy came; you should have seen how arrogant that envoy was.”


    “Later, the Duke of the Northwest died mysteriously, and the title unusually passed to this outsider, Count Kent. It all looked like a conspiracy. The Duke’s own brother came forward to reveal that Count Kent used witchcraft to murder the Duke, and then the war broke out.”


    Is that so? The king nodded, as his daughter’s ount matched what he had learned through royalmissioners.


    …


    After meeting with the king, Hansel rode on horseback the next day to the west coast with documents, and two dayster, he encountered the royal army led by his brother Harrison, marching to eradicate pirates.


    Hansel ryed the n for joining forces and the king’s orders to his brother, asking him to choose a stationing location close to Port Kiel after reaching the war zone. Harrison agreed, being a pragmatic man and weing any additional support. This was his first time being assigned to lead independently, and he felt a bit unsure.


    Although the brothers had not seen each other for a long time, due to the urgency of the military situation, they had a meal together and then Hansel departed for Port Kiel.


    Upon arriving at the port city, Hansel first visited the local city hall and presented the king’s orders, negotiating for the Northwest Fleet to enter the port. He then arranged for many people to go to various coastal cities to watch for the fleet’s arrival. ording to the original n, the fleet was supposed to depart four days after he left Lakeheart Town. If there were no idents along the way, they should have already reached this area and be wandering near the coastline. The fleet would often send people ashore to purchase supplies and leave messages, making it easier for Hansel to find them. Although they dered themselves as the loyalist fleet from the Northwest Bay, they refused to allow port officials to board for inspection, and thus, no port dared to allow them to dock until they received clear instructions from Crystal Shine.


    Two dayster, a pigeon brought news that the lookout personnel had made contact with the fleet, and they were now heading towards Port Kiel.


    On the evening of January 25th, 1992 of the Holy Calendar, Port Kiel in the Kingdom of Ordo weed a fleet of 12 ships, flying red dragon banners. Due to rumors of pirates, few ships were entering or leaving Port Kiel, and the sudden appearance of such arge fleet attracted many onlookers.


    The first to enter the port were six galleons, followed by six full-sail ships. Since the rise of maritime trade in the Northwest Bay, residents of major ports in the south had be familiar with these new types of ships that did not require rowers.


    People felt a sense of solemnity from the ck metal tubes protruding from the sides of the ships. Although they didn’t know what these were, their intuition told them that these vessels were probably not here for transporting goods.


    Alda, for the first time, was projecting her power beyond the Northwest Bay.


    Hansel stood on the dock, waving a handkerchief towards the fleet, nked by his brother Harrison and the Mayor of Port Kiel.


    Harrisonmented, “Is this the fleet from the Northwest Bay? Such strange ships.”


    The Mayor added, “I’ve seen a few of these merchant ships over the year, but these are warships, right? What are those ck tubes?”


    Listening to their discussion, Hansel felt a sense of superiority: Haha, they have never seen such a thing before, that’s a cannon, capable of sting a group of people into pieces with a single shot.


    “Hey! Baron Abbott!” called a man from the closest berth, an Aldan naval officer who walked over the gangnk to the dock, waving at Hansel.


    “Colonel Tirpitz!” Hansel stepped forward to shake his hand, “Are youmanding the fleet this time?”


    “Haha, out of the three fleets, mine has the most operational ships, so I was appointed tomand this operation.”


    “Let me introduce you, this is my brother…”


    After the introductions, Tirpitz asked the question he was most concerned about: “Lord Harrison, what is the current situation with the pirates?”


    Harrison replied, “We have scouts monitoring the routes in and out of the Port West. Recent signs indicate they are less active than before, seemingly holed up in the city doing who knows what.”


    Tirpitz thought to himself that Harrison was quite cautious. Others at his age might have alreadyunched an assault on the city.


    “Lord Harrison, I have brought you a generous gift.”


    “Oh?”


    “We recently encountered a pirate ship at sea and captured some of them. Perhaps we can extract some useful information from them.”


    Harrison was overjoyed, “That’s excellent news, let’s organize an interrogation immediately!”