Chapter 173: Allied Capitals
Chapter 173 – Allied Capital
After continuing to stay in the Messiah for another day, Lardy and her family packed their bags and prepared to head to the Horned Bay Alliance.
The store had been transferred to someone else before she returned home, and since it was a long way to travel and take a boat north, the large pieces of furniture were transferred as well.
The family left Messiah with only coins, jewelry, clothing, and other light items, and hired a carriage.
Lisa seemed excited to be going to an unfamiliar environment, and gathered around Lardy to ask about the customs of the Northwest Bay.
“Uh …… you’ll know when you get there.”
Lardy felt a little guilty and wondered if the child would be able to adapt to the environment there.
They had just left the city gates when they saw the crowd of Lichtman Adventure Group waving continuously by the roadside.
They had already said their goodbyes yesterday, did these old friends still want to see her?
The energetic female leader jumped into the car.
“Hey! Lardy, we just happened to pick up a mission that’s going over to the Alliance!”
“So hurry along!”
“Uh …… great!”
The female counselor responded happily, it was certainly nice to have the company of these friends on the road, and to spend some more time together.
The carriage continued to drive up, the group talking the whole way.
“What commission have you taken on this time?”
“This time it’s a great commission! It’s definitely going to make a ton of money!”
“Oh?”
“There’s been a major incident in the Duchy of Eton!”
“The Duchy of Eaton? That duchy next to the Horned Bay Alliance? What happened?”
“The Grand Duke’s sister-in-law – the Grand Duchess’s own sister – has disappeared in the Horned Bay Alliance.”
“What?”
A very shocked expression appeared on Lardy’s face, and this reaction of hers was a bit unexpected from Meru.
Seemingly noticing that she was reacting a bit allergic, the female advisor instantly returned to her normal expression and asked indifferently, “In other words, the Duchy of Eaton has issued a commission in the Adventurer’s Guild?”
“Hmph! The Grand Duke of Eaton and the allied side naturally couldn’t pull this face at first, but their police officers seemed to be a bunch of boozehounds who couldn’t even find a little girl. As the days passed by with no information at all, they had no choice but to issue commissions in the adventurer guilds of the major cities.”
A look of deep concern appeared on Lardy’s face, “The Grand Duchess must be anxious, her sister should be the only person close to her.”
“Alas? Lardy, do you know the Grand Duchess that well? Do you know her well?”
“Ah? No, no. But the Grand Duchess has always been well-liked in the Duchy of Eton, and her virtuous name is widely spread, so I’ve learned quite a bit about her from others.”
“It looks like you’re quite worried about her.”
“It’s natural for me to deeply sympathize with a ruler like her who is sympathetic to the people’s plight when she encounters something like this.”
……
After two more days of sailing, the Southern ship finally arrived at Fort Ness, the capital of the Horned Bay Confederacy and also the largest port of the Confederacy.
The crowd entered the harbor and was approached just as they boarded the pier.
The visitor spoke fluent Aldorian, “You are the honored guests from Arda, right?”
Quirk asked suspiciously, “And you are?”
“I am a deacon of House Foster and have been instructed to wait for you at the docks.”
It turned out that ever since a recent merchant caravan had brought back the news that Greiman was about to send a ship south, the Foster family had sent people to keep an eye on the docks every day. According to the description of the family’s second youngest master, Quiller, the ship from Arda was easily recognizable – not a single oar, standing with a thick and tall mast with a huge sail propped on top, that must be it.
The deacon explained the situation, and Quirk shook his hand gratefully and said, “The Fosters are quite hospitable! Thanks!”
“No, no, we always treat our partners with plenty of hospitality.”
On behalf of his family’s second young master, the Foster family’s deacon extended an invitation to Quake to come up to the mansion for a temporary stay.
“Thank you, but the others on board ……”
“I’ve brought a few others, let them act as guides to lead the other guests around the city, and we’ll cover all expenses during that time.”
“How can this be a good idea!”
“It should be, guest.”
“Please stay a moment.”
Quirk immediately returned to the ship and called a brief meeting of the entire ship’s officers and men, eventually deciding that he would lead two of the sailors to the Fosters’ mansion, while the rest of the men would split up into groups for shore excursions as arranged by the first mate.
He emphasized that each batch of people going ashore must have an officer to lead the group, and emphatically affirmed the confidentiality regulations, for anything on board the ship, no matter how the other party inquires, shall not disclose a word.
Just as Quirk was about to leave after the deacon of the Fosters, several representatives of the merchants came up, and with tears in their eyes they asked Quirk to take them with him.
Quake agreed after some consideration, and after the deacon’s permission, they rode together on the two carriages sent by the Foster family.
The carriages finally stopped in front of an opulent mansion after galloping for nearly an hour.
The grandeur and splendor of this mansion once again shocked the bumpkins from the Northwest Bay.
“I heard that the head of the Foster family is a member of the Horned Bay Alliance Convocation, the place where he lives is really extraordinary.”
“Yes, this area can catch up to five or six lord’s mansions, right?”
“Look at this decoration, look at this marble, it’s much better than a castle built with stones.”
The crowd whispered to each other, although they tried to lower their voices as much as possible, but there were still words that reached the ears of the deacon of Foster’s house.
The deacon puffed out his chest, a proud look on his face.
However, he still used a gentle and respectful voice to introduce to the crowd, “Noble guests, we have arrived, and this is the Foster family’s mansion.”
He took the lead to step down from the carriage and stood at the doorway, bowing slightly and making a “please” gesture.
The crowd squirmed uneasily, honestly, this was the first time they had enjoyed this kind of treatment, both Quake and the several merchant representatives were commoners, and no one had ever made this kind of seemingly elegant ceremonial gesture to them.
They inwardly guessed, “This should be the legendary noble etiquette, right?”
Then came the doubt, “But I’ve never seen Earl Gleeman being so polite.”
“Uh-huh! Brother several, let’s get off the carriage.”
Quirk reacted and reminded the others to get out of the carriage, at which point Mr. Deacon still maintained his invitation posture and didn’t move a muscle, but he almost couldn’t hold back a laugh when he heard Quirk’s such rough words.
“Oh! Well well well.”
The crowd straightened their posture before getting up and slowly stepping out of the carriage with stiff smiles on their faces and with a single motion.
The deacon closed the door for them, and with a wave of the whip from the horseman, the two carriages left the gate.
“Gentlemen, please follow me inside.”
The crowd followed the deacon’s lead with trepidation, sweating profusely.
Today they had already put on what they thought were the most decent clothes, but compared to this servant of the Foster family in front of them, they were simply dirt-cheap, would it be too much of a fall.
(End of chapter)