Zoe thought for a while and couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
“You’re saying… Blood Harbor is more dangerous than the pirates?”
“We’ll find out very soon, Miss Zoe,” Erwin replied, then turned away to direct the Holy Guard to take up all the strategic firing positions.
It wasn’t long before the ship from Blood Harbor sailed closer—and at that moment, even Zoe noticed something was off.
That wasn’t one ship—it was two.
The two vessels were arranged one behind the other, deliberately forming a straight line. From a distance, Zoe and her group could only see the front one. It wasn’t until they got closer that they realized there were two ships.
Why hide the presence of the second vessel?
Zoe’s heart grew tense.
As the ships drew nearer, the approaching vessel slowed slightly—it was clear Castel’s ship had caught them off guard.
First of all, there was no mast. Steamships did exist in this era, but they were still uncommon.Second, there were simply too many people on board.
Normally, cargo ships wouldn’t carry this many people. Castel’s steamship didn’t resemble a passenger ship either. The people on the other side hesitated for a while before someone stepped forward and began waving a flag at the bow.
“Mr. Erwin, what does that mean?”
“I don’t know either.”
“Huh?”
“I’ve only been here a few times—I’m not part of the crew,” Erwin shrugged.
Castel was just too remote—there wasn’t even a proper port. Islanders here had only ever seen fishing boats at most. Even the pirates recruited more often from Gem Bay. Though a few islanders occasionally became sailors, most of them had left for other regions.
Even the last group of seamen had sailed off with Jeremiah aboard the *Black Pearl*.
So now, among this group heading to Blood Harbor, there wasn’t a single sailor. If they’d been just a few days later and Jeremiah had returned, it might’ve been fine—but unfortunately, they missed that window.
As a result, they couldn’t recognize the flag signals from the other side at all.
With no better option, Zoe’s group had to move in closer and shout across the water.
This time, it was the other side’s turn to hesitate. From their perspective, this strange ship without sails had completely ignored their flag signals and was sailing straight toward them. That was typical pirate behavior.
But even pirates would fly the black flag openly if they planned to plunder. The Storm Ocean was the Pirate King’s private backyard—when had pirates ever needed to hide their intentions?
Still, they were backed by Blood Harbor, so even if they wanted to run, they couldn’t. Soon, the three ships were right next to each other.
“What business do you have?” someone on the Blood Harbor ship shouted.
“We are here under the order of the Frontier Count, Hughes Corsica Simmons Stuart, to visit Grand Duke of Tis at Blood Harbor. Please lead the way,” Erwin shouted back.
The Holy Guard on board Castel’s ship stepped into view. They stood tall with rifles slung across their backs, expressions stern.
Firearms had long since spread across the continent with the Imperial Army. While they didn’t recognize the bolt-action rifles the Holy Guard carried, the design clearly marked them as firearms.
Everyone armed with guns—this was elite even by the Empire’s Royal Army standards. Forget everything else, just the cost of supplying them with firearm powder alone was a huge expense. A less wealthy lord couldn’t sustain that. Even the vast Empire had to rely on constant expansion and plunder to keep up.
The two ships from Blood Harbor fell silent for a moment before someone shouted again, “We need to return and report to the port!”
Erwin grinned. “Be my guest.”
The smaller of the two ships turned back, leaving the other to stand guard over them in place. Even Zoe could sense the tension in the air.
Castel’s ship had more people, and their firepower was overwhelming. If they were really pirates preparing to act, by the time reinforcements from Blood Harbor arrived, the other ship’s crew would already be fish food.
After exchanging a few words with the nearby Holy Guard, Erwin attempted to make conversation with the opposing ship. “How’s Blood Harbor lately? Our lord, the Count, has a merchant fleet stationed there.”
There was no reply. Erwin shouted a few more times, then gave up and simply waited for word from the port.
Zoe was starting to feel nervous again. She quietly stepped closer to Erwin. “Do you think there’s something wrong with them?”
“Oh, there’s definitely something fishy going on, Miss Zoe,” Erwin said, pointing to the ship opposite. “I don’t know much about sailing, but it’s obvious they have way too many people on board. That’s not normal for a ship like that.”
“You mean they’re targeting us? Planning something bad?”
“Not necessarily us. The way they moved earlier—they were way too practiced, like they’ve done this many times before. I suspect Blood Harbor’s been seizing ships passing through.”
“Ah? Why would they do that?”
“Heh, that’s not hard to guess. Rumor has it the Crown Prince tried to assassinate the Empress. No way the Empire lets that go. There’s going to be a war. So who do you think will win?”
Zoe frowned. “The Empire, of course. The Principality of Tis can’t compare. It’s smaller in every way.”
“Exactly. The merchants probably think the same. So who would they support? If they weren’t backing the Principality, then they wouldn’t have helped the Crown Prince in the first place. So… might as well seize them and lock them up.”
“But… that doesn’t seem right.”
“No, it’s not. But the Empire doesn’t have any other major ports left. The Four Northern Territories are all allied with Tis. The Principality can effectively control the entire Storm Ocean. If they just arrest the merchants and replace them with their own people, problem solved.”
Erwin ground his teeth slightly. “Of course, now that Castel has arrived, that plan’s out the window.”
“You think they’ll try to fight us for control of the Storm Ocean?”
“That depends on whether the Crown Prince is smart enough. From what I know of Lord Hughes, if the other side is willing to talk properly, there probably won’t be a direct conflict. Castel doesn’t need war to prove itself. If we just sell our goods here, they’ll collapse on their own.”
Zoe looked at Erwin in surprise. This Holy Guard captain’s views were much deeper than she expected—not just limited to the military.
“I chose Economics for my advanced track—Lord Hughes said financial warfare is still warfare. So he transferred me from the mechanical engineering track to economics. These ideas were all proposed by Lord Hughes. I’m just repeating what he said.”
Zoe had heard of this before. Islanders were so obsessed with mechanics and chemical engineering (especially explosive studies) that the more obscure tracks didn’t even have enough students to form a class. In the end, the Lord himself had to reassign students.
Come to think of it, Lord Alexei’s deputy studied economics too. And Alexei was also in charge of paperwork…
“Ah, they’re coming back.”
Erwin pointed to the sea in the distance. The ship that had gone back to Blood Harbor was now sailing toward them again.