Chapter 170 Hiring a Navigator
Chapter 170 – Hiring a Navigator
The crew of the South strolled from the docks to the city’s central square, feasting their eyes and marveling along the way.
Quake divided the crowd into four groups, “Gentlemen, I now announce a free-for-all, everyone must stay with their group, no one is allowed to be alone!”
The sailors had been waiting for this moment for a long time and chanted, “Long live the great Quake!”
Quake reminded them, “Try to walk only along the avenues, and don’t head into the alleys, lest you can’t find your way back. Meet back here in two hours, then head back to the ship to replace the other group and get them ashore for the opening as well.”
“Aye, Captain!”
The Hope didn’t intend to stay here for too long; the ultimate destination of this voyage was the Horned Bay Alliance, and after arriving there to meet up with the Fosters they would return to the Northwest Bay.
“We’re only staying in Asta for a day, so if you want to eat and drink, you can enjoy yourselves when we reach the Horned Bay Alliance. You guys don’t speak the local language, so just check out the scenery in this city and be careful not to get into trouble with the locals!”
“Aye, Captain!”
Quirk gestured, “Very well, now dismissed.”
He said to the alternates, “You kids follow my group.”
Lardy was in Quake’s group as well, and with her as a ready translator, the group was much more cozy.
They wandered around the square, from time to time delving into the various stores or stopping at the vendors’ stalls, some of them haggling for souvenirs through Laddie’s translation, luckily Aldo’s currency could be used here as well, but things were so expensive here.
In addition to the variety of goods, there was also a lot to see in the center square, such as minstrels who played and sang while holding musical instruments, circus troupes that performed juggling and taming of animals, voluptuous dancers who could twist their waists like water serpents, and boxing matches that made people feel excited to be there.
By the time they had strolled through the entire square, they realized that it was already time for the previously agreed upon meeting.
So Quake and the others went to the meeting place, only to find that none of the other groups had returned.
“Those assholes couldn’t have gone to a brothel! So undisciplined.”
Lardy reminded him, “Ahem …… Captain-sama, please be careful what you say in front of children.”
Quirk waved his fist, “I’m going to kick their asses when I get back.”
It took about another half hour of waiting before the other three groups returned to the rendezvous point one by one.
“Assholes! Where did you guys run off to fool around.”
The angry captain scolded them.
“I’ll leave the deck cleaning to you for the next month, and the toilets too.”
After announcing the punishment, Quirk led the men back to the Southern, the men who had stayed behind earlier had been looking over their shoulders, and as soon as the captain returned, they went off to head for shore, led by the first officer in a joyful manner.
Lardy came to Quirk and asked, “Captain, when do we set sail for the Horned Cove Confederacy?”
“I plan to rest here for the night and set sail again first thing in the morning.”
“I think it would be better for you to hire a navigator who is familiar with the waters of Horn Bay, to know the ports along the coast like the back of his hand, and can help you get straight to the capital of the alliance.”
“I have that in mind, and am planning to look for one later. Will Mr. Dirac come with me, and help me with the language problem.”
“Of course you can, but short-term employment like yours is rarely accepted by the usual professional navigators, so I suggest you check out the adventurer’s guild here, there are quite a few adventurers who specialize in the sea, they are equally familiar with sea routes as well as coastal ports, and will also take on this kind of guided quests.”
“Yes? That would be great. An adventurer’s guild? I’ve heard of it.”
“There’s one more thing to tell you.”
“Go ahead, Mr. Dirac.”
“This city is not far from my home town, and I would like to return home directly by land from here, if possible, so you will go ahead to the Horned Bay Alliance.” Quirk considered this for a moment.
“Uh …… well, you are a native of Horned Bay after all. Do you need me to send a few sailors with you? The Lord Earl had instructed us to make sure we help you pick up your family.”
Lardy said with a smile and a wave of her hand:
“That won’t be necessary, Captain. This is my home town! Even if there’s an accident on the way, I’m still confident in my skill, even though I’m a scholar, I’ve been an adventurer for a few years.”
“Really? I can’t really tell. In that case, if you come back first, find an inn here and wait for us first, we’ll come back to pick you and your family up right after we’re done.”
La Di, however, said, “Why don’t I bring my family to the capital of the Horned Bay Alliance to meet you, and you don’t have to rush back, you can’t let my personal matters delay your official business. Those few merchant representatives, I’m afraid, can’t wait to stay there for a few more days in order to have a good look around.”
Quirk hesitated slightly and agreed to Lardy’s plan, “Alright, tomorrow we’ll head straight for the Horned Bay Alliance, and if you need any help with anything, send a message to the Fosters to look for us, and we’ll go ahead and help right away.”
“Thank you, have a safe trip!”
“I wish you a safe journey as well.”
A short time later, Quake and Lardy arrived at the Adventurers’ Guild in Asta City, which was situated not far from the docks and was easy to find.
The halls of the guild were set up like a tavern, and adventurers gathered in twos and threes, drinking wine and talking to each other about their quests and experiences.
Not far from the entrance was a counter, and on the inside stood a few pretty-looking girls who looked like they should be receptionists.
Next to the counter stood a large wooden panel, which was covered with a sheet of published quests, at a closer look it was still made of parchment, although there was the Foster family who represented Alda’s merchandise for sale in the area of Horned Bay, but paper was obviously not as good as porcelain to make money fast, and there was a limited capacity for transportation, so Horned Bay had not yet popularized the new type of paper.
They came to the counter, and the receptionist lady revealed a sweet smile that made people feel like spring breeze.
“Welcome, may I ask what the guests need?”
Lardy stepped forward to engage her, “I would like to post a quest to hire a temporary navigator to the capital of the Horned Cove Alliance, in addition he would have to be fluent in the Aldo language and translate on the side.”
What a handsome person, the receptionist’s face blushed and asked slightly shyly:
“May I ask how long you need to hire?”
Lardy asked Quirk, and the Captain thought for a moment and said, “Let’s start with a week, who knows how many days we’ll be in Horn Bay. And the Fosters should help us once we get to the Horned Cove Alliance.”
“Miss Receptionist, we hire for two weeks.”
“Okay, please wait.”
The receptionist lady was very efficient and quickly finished composing the contract.
“The honorarium for this quest is 1 silver tani, which needs to be paid by you in advance, and the employer needs to be responsible for the food and lodging of the adventurers.”
“We only have Aldo’s currency on us, can we pay with that?”
The counter lady quickly recalled the several currencies she was familiar with.
“Of course, then you will pay two Aldo silver coins.”
Lardy relayed the counter lady’s offer to Quiller.
The captain of the Southern ship secretly smacked his lips at how high the labor rates were in Horn Bay, the honorarium for just a week’s employment was as much as a senior craftsman in the Earl’s factory would get for two months of hard work.
But he still did not show his face and paid the bill, he represented the face of Alda, the face of the Count, and could not let the people of Horned Bay look down on him.
After having Lardy confirm that the contract written in Horned Bay language was correct, Quirk signed it himself.
After the task was posted on the bulletin board, it took less than an hour for someone to pick it up, after all, it was a fairly easy task.
(End of chapter)