Translator: Cinder Translations
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"Captured some people?"
Paul felt a sense of unease stir within him.
With a look of apology, Gran lowered his voice, "We visited a port in the southern continent of the Sheep People, and there we resupplied. At first, the port officials were very friendly and provided us with much convenience."
"However, just as we finished resupplying and were leaving the port, they suddenly attacked us with their oar-sailing ships. We responded with cannon fire and managed to shake them off, but unfortunately, one of our tugboats, which we hadn't been able to retrieve, was captured by the Sheep People. In total, eight of our crew were taken as prisoners."
Gran paused his narrative. The hall fell into a heavy silence. No one expected the welcoming banquet for the adventurers to take such a depressing turn.
It was Paul who finally broke the silence, maintaining his composure. "Great endeavors are always accompanied by sacrifice. This is inevitable. Even Stanford's northern exploration team faced similar losses due to disease in the far north. As long as they sacrificed for a noble cause, they will always be remembered by us."
"Lord Grayman!" Gran interjected, "I think it's premature to speak of their sacrifice. My crew might just be captured by the Sheep People to be enslaved. According to the information I gathered from the Minotaur tribes of the northern continent, the Sheep People from the south have recently been very active in capturing slaves from the north."
"Ah, they're still alive?" Paul's eyebrows raised. "Well, that's good news."
"Lord Grayman, if they are still alive, I believe it's my duty to rescue them. I hope that, once properly prepared, I can once again lead the fleet to that new continent."
Paul was silent for a while before responding, "What do you need?"
Before Gran could answer, Paul quickly added, "If you need a large armed fleet, I cannot provide that. The distance is too far, and we cannot risk sending a fleet there. But if it's a gunboat for your own protection, that can be arranged."
Gran seemed to release a heavy weight from his heart. "Lord Grayman, I am truly grateful that you have not completely given up on them. I don't need a large fleet, just a few crates of gold coins. The Sheep People, like us, use precious metals as currency, so if we offer gold in exchange for our crew, they should agree."
"I imagine no one would refuse shiny gold coins," Paul said. "But you must ensure your own safety."
Gran nodded. "If we return there, we will anchor our ships off the coast and send people to negotiate with them."
"One more thing…" Gran's expression grew serious, his gaze fixed on Paul. "We discovered something else— the Sheep People can… use magic!"
A clattering sound rang out as Paul's hand accidentally knocked over a dish.
"This… this is unbelievable!" He instinctively glanced over at Ladia Setia, who sat nearby. The witch sat upright, but her face revealed a look of curiosity.
"Are you sure they can use… magic?" Paul asked.
"Specifically…" Gran recalled the scene. "They call this ability 'Divine Power.' The descriptions from the Minotaur tribes of the northern continent and their actions during the attack on us were entirely consistent with the characteristics of magic. You should have seen it. From a distance, I watched as the Sheep People made strange gestures, and flames appeared out of nowhere, shooting toward us." Gran then proceeded to recount the ancient myths he had heard from the priest Egbert of the Great Stream Tribe.
"Interesting!" Paul rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
Two arms, four legs, and steel claws? A demon-like creature? A legendary centaur? What were these steel claws about?
Wait… Paul's mind suddenly sparked with an image of a human knight riding a large horse, holding a metal lance.
Uh… perhaps just a coincidence.
The revelation of magic sparked an intense discussion among those present.
"Since they openly used magic at the port, it seems that magic is a legally recognized power there."
"If the Horn Bay Church knew about this continent, they'd be thrilled! There's no shortage of evil witches there, and they could certainly capture a few."
"Anyone who can use magic and randomly capture people must be an evil race."
After the conversation in the hall died down, Gran continued to share the story of their adventures after escaping the Sheep People's port.
"We circumnavigated this continent, and on the other side, we encountered a vast ocean. We continued westward, and this transoceanic journey was much shorter than our previous one. In less than a month, we arrived at another continent. Upon landing and investigating, we were met with a huge surprise."
"This time, we encountered a human kingdom. The kingdoms here are the easternmost nations of the continent we now stand on. From that moment on, we confirmed beyond a doubt that this continent is indeed round. We set out from the western end of the continent, traveled westward, and arrived at the eastern end. Could there be clearer evidence?"
"Meeting other humans again brought us to tears. We were filled with longing for our homeland. After resupplying, we immediately set sail, trying to navigate along the southern edge of the continent to return to Aldor. We continued south until we encountered an isthmus that connected to a smaller landmass. According to the locals, there were elves living there."
"Yes, Lord Grayman, just as you asked, we did encounter the elven race that the Eastern Exploration Team met. But the painful experience at the Sheep People's port made us reluctant to interact with other races. So we continued south, bypassing the landmass. We only stopped briefly to resupply with fresh water and food, but we never engaged with the locals. We sailed around it and returned to the southern edge of our continent. As we followed the coastline, the scenery became increasingly familiar, meaning we were getting closer to Aldor."
"Finally, we arrived at Horn Bay, where a fierce war was raging between the coastal and inland nations. Oh, did you know about this?"
Paul nodded. "Yes, I know. We've been selling quite a bit of goods to the northwest bay."
"Well," Gran continued, "we set sail from Horn Bay and arrived at the long-lost Frand Port yesterday."
(End of the Chapter)
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