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Chapter 147
“That’s right. Aurora, was from the Western Continent.”
“Yeah. And the Western Continent isn’t particularly on bad terms with the Archipelago.”
In other words, using the ships from Aurora’s rchant guild would make entering the Archipelago easier.
Besides, there wasn’t much of a difference in appearance between the people of the Archipelago and those from the Central Continent.
Of course, just getting there wouldn’t solve everything.
If the Angler Bird really ca from the Archipelago, where should the search begin?
Unfortunately, with the ans I had, there was no way to confirm where the Angler Bird had co from or how it was connected.
Of course, if it was intelligent enough to co directly to and deliver an item, it would probably know the way back as well…
But regrettably, after being treated, it behaved just like a wild Angler Bird, unable to understand a word I said.
Thankfully, lissa soon returned with news, seemingly having settled things well.
“There’s a ship preparing for a trade journey. You can take that one. I’d like to go too, but…”
“I’ll go.”
lissa was the lord of the territory.
She wasn’t in a position where she could just leave whenever sothing happened.
“This is an order from the head of the family. You must find and bring her back. Got it? And don’t you dare get hurt.”
“Understood.”
Once again, I was indebted to Aurora.
* * *
The ship prepared by Aurora’s Planetaria rchant Guild was headed to Remilish Island, the closest part of the Archipelago.
Most of the Archipelago was currently enforcing an isolationist policy, and that was the only island with an open port.
At this point, a thought crossed my mind.
Planetaria rchant Guild.
It was much larger than I had expected.
There were countless rchant guilds across the continent, but I had never heard much about Planetaria before.
The largest rchant network on the continent was undoubtedly that of the Lavren family, but Planetaria was not affiliated with them.
If it had only expanded due to recent deals, it would still be understandable, but the scale of Aurora’s business operations was far beyond what I had imagined.
“We will do our best to guide you to the Archipelago under Lady Aurora’s instructions. I will ensure that you are as comfortable as possible during the journey. My na is Vag Ensaile.”
“A pleasure to et you.”
Vag Ensaile?
Now that was a na that sounded like he’d be good at business.
“I have served the young lady for a long ti, so this is quite an emotional mont. She never had many close friends, so… Ahem! Please forgive my ramblings.”
He wore a neat rchant’s outfit and had a friendly, harmless smile, but upon closer inspection, he seed to have a cunning mind just like Aurora.
“For official diplomatic reasons, we cannot technically take you to the Archipelago.”
“I understand.”
“But that’s just what the agreent says. In reality, unofficial exchanges do happen. The strained relationship is mainly a problem at the higher levels of governnt. Most commoners in the Archipelago don’t actually like their ruling class.”
As the ship sailed, Vag Ensaile explained the structure of the Phainas Archipelago to us.
The Archipelago was a federation of islands ruled by different noble houses.
Though they called themselves a kingdom, they were too small to be one, yet too large and independent to be just noble houses.
In the past, the Archipelago had conducted piracy raids on several nations from the Central Continent, which eventually led to a full-scale conflict.
“I hesitate to say this, but… that place has a lot of lawless zones. There are certain islands with high danger ratings that even we wouldn’t dare to approach.”
Fortunately, the island we were headed to, Remilish, had a relatively stable law-and-order situation.
“In fact, even the Western Continent doesn’t really like dealing with the Archipelago. The ruling elite there are arrogant and oppressive toward rchants. But Remilish is one of the few places where at least so reasonable negotiation is possible.”
This special vessel was slower than the rmaid Ship from before, but it was still sailing at a fairly good speed.
Remilish Island had a large castle in its center and was ho to tens of thousands of residents.
Among the many islands in the Archipelago, it was considered mid-sized in scale.
Of course, its population alone wasn’t particularly threatening.
What made the Archipelago truly dangerous was their unity—if even one island was attacked, the entire federation would retaliate together.
In other words, attacking even a small island ant war with the entire Archipelago.
“But still, the Archipelago’s military strength wouldn’t be enough to challenge the Central Continent, would it?”
“Of course not. They’re simply betting that the Central Continent won’t bother sending a full-scale invasion. They’re looking to gain as much as possible while avoiding a war.”
I didn’t care about the history between the Archipelago and the Continent.
All that mattered was finding Arsha—quietly and without drawing attention.
* * *
Remilish Island’s atmosphere wasn’t bad.
The harbor was bustling with busy sailors and rchants, giving it a lively feel.
It didn’t seem like a dying island at all.
However, I did notice sothing unsettling—slaves.
People dressed in rags with dead expressions were hauling cargo, a sight almost unheard of in the Central Continent.
Slavery still existed, but most places at least made an effort to acknowledge so level of human rights for them.
Vag Ensaile told us to visit the rchant guild’s camp if we needed anything before leaving.
“How are we going to search?”
“That’s the problem… We barely have any clues.”
The only lead was the Angler Bird.
Other than that, the only thing left was a single sheet of paper with a drawing on it.
Honestly, this must be what it feels like to find a needle in a haystack.
Unfortunately, in the current situation, gathering information using Heart of the Machine God wasn’t easy either.
For now, I decided to explore the information guild on Remilish Island to find people who were well-inford about this island.
Since the rchant Association at the docks had already arranged for Vag Ensaile to gather relevant information, it would be more efficient to search in a different direction.
“Where would an information guild be…?”
“The slums, probably.”
The slums—usually used to refer to impoverished areas, but in reality, such places often house criminals, informants, or organizations related to them.
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The problem was that simply barging into the slums would mostly lead to encounters with people only looking to swindle others.
There wouldn’t be many with useful information.
In fact, when Luna and I entered the slums of Remilish, we didn’t manage to obtain much of anything.
At first, beggars gathered around us, but at so point, they all vanished—probably due to the way we carried ourselves.
This atmosphere felt distinctly different from that of the central continent.
Luna, watching the now eerily quiet slums, seed to be thinking.
“Leon.”
“Yeah.”
“I have an idea.”
She gave a light push.
“Stay out of sight for a bit.”
Following her request, I hid myself.
Alright, what exactly are you planning?
Just as I was wondering, Luna removed the hood of her robe without hesitation.
Then, putting on a slightly frightened expression, she walked deeper into the slums.
A tasty prey never fails to attract predators.
With Luna’s striking appearance, she was bound to catch the attention of those who kidnapped people to sell as slaves.
—At least, that seed to be her plan…
But sotis, sothing can be too eye-catching, making others wary instead.
Luna seed confident that her plan would work, waiting boldly.
However, as ti passed with no one approaching, she began to show signs of unease.
Even after waiting for quite a while, there was no response.
It was clear Luna was growing irritated.
Most likely, the people here were on high alert because of us.
This was unusual.
The only reason for such behavior would be if soone had already stirred things up before we got here.
“Leon.”
Finally, Luna gave up, pulling her hood back on as she called for .
“Not working, huh?”
“Soone must have ssed things up earlier. No way there’d be no reaction otherwise.”
“So, what’s the plan now?”
In response, she pointed at a shabby bar deeper in the alleyway.
Just because this was a slum didn’t an every building was falling apart.
“We drag them out ourselves.”
With a confident stride, she threw open the door to the bar.
Imdiately, multiple gazes turned toward us, though most soon pretended not to care.
Soone definitely stirred things up here.
And judging by their reactions, they must have gotten burned pretty badly.
Otherwise, in a place like this—where slave traders flourished—this kind of reaction wouldn’t make sense.
Luna walked straight up to the counter and bluntly spoke to the bartender.
“I’m here to buy information. I’ll pay a lot.”
Though her tone was firm, her eyes glead with excitent—clearly, she’d wanted to try sothing like this for a while.
Thinking back, I recalled receiving reports in Cascadia’s information guild about mysterious figures in robes approaching informants and spouting nonsense before vanishing.
I’d always wondered what kind of lunatic was pulling stunts like that.
Turns out, it was her.
“What are you talking about? This is a cheap bar. If you’re not here to drink, get out…”
CRACK!!!
A sharp noise rang out as a crack ford on the table under Luna’s hand.
“I’m not here to joke around. Hurry up and show the way.”
Sliiiiide…
At her sudden demand, the bartender’s expression hardened.
“What the hell… the table…”
“Hurry.”
Luna had often listened to adventure stories I’d heard before, and she always seed eager to try things out herself.
Like a child experiencing the world for the first ti.
“…Crazy bitch. Hey, throw this girl out.”
It was the bartender who ended the conversation first.
At his command, a few hesitant n rose from their seats.
As they moved toward Luna—
A thin line was drawn at their feet.
A precise mark, cut cleanly with a blade.
The n flinched in surprise.
“Don’t step over that.”
“What the hell kind of nonsense is—”
Of course, not everyone would imdiately grasp the situation.
One of them stepped over the line—
The mont he did, a powerful gust of wind blasted through.
“Urgh…!”
“Step back. Now.”
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