Chapter 411 The Feast of Strength

Chapter 411 – The Feast of Valor
It’s already nightfall, but the city hall inside Port Fullan is still lit up, where Count Paul Greiman, the lord of Arda, is feasting tonight.

The hall was packed with people, and from time to time, the crisp sound of wine glasses clinking against each other resounded.

Attending the banquet were the lords of the Northwest Bay territories, prestigious squires, as well as major merchants and workshop owners whose social status had risen dramatically in recent years.

This banquet was of great significance because by tomorrow, there would be three expeditions departing from the port of Fulan, sailing in the north, west and south directions respectively, so this was a feast to celebrate the journey.

The fleet that sailed to the north would travel north along the west coast of the continent, arriving at the area beyond the human world, because after the Rocky Mountains that stretched across the northern part of the Kingdom of Aldo, there was the vast prairie, which was the territory of the orcs. Almost all the trade exchanges between Aldo and the orc civilization are through the northeast side of the kingdom’s Inner Rhodan corridor, for the coastline north of the Northwest Bay is less people to go, the legend says that the ancient Bella empire once sent a fleet of fleets from the sea expedition to the orcs, but it’s only a legend, and even if it’s true, there is no informative information left behind.

The fleet sailing to the south will turn east after arriving at Horn Bay to replenish supplies, exploring the far east along the southern coastline of the continent. Even after Paul’s strong advocacy of maritime trade, the trade tentacles of the merchants of the Northwest Gulf only reached the area of Horned Bay, and then the merchants of Horned Bay acted as secondary traffickers to sell their goods to the East. However, the recent unstable situation in Horn Bay makes everyone’s heart drumming, once the war breaks out, so the role of Horn Bay as a transit point will be greatly reduced, so it is necessary to plan ahead.

As for the fleet sailing to the west, it was even more remarkable, they would try to cross the ocean to see if they could reach the other end of the continent. That’s right, to verify that the earth is not round beneath their feet.

The theory of the roundness of the earth has already appeared in this world, and was guessed by people through observation: for example, the tip of the mast appears first on a ship sailing in the distance, and the further north you go the higher the height of the horizon of the North Star becomes.

But most people just hear it as a novelty and have big question marks about its authenticity.

We live on a ball? Just thinking about it makes it seem like something’s not right.

Those who believe in the Earth Circle theory have come up with a scenario in which the sphere is so large that it makes a small part of it look flat, but only the top part is inhabited by living beings, and once the living beings cross the oceans and arrive at a certain point where the incline is large enough, they slide downward, eventually falling vertically into the void.

“Come, come, gentlemen, let me introduce the three heroic captains who will be sailing away.”

Paul introduced the guests in turn to the three captains, Commander Stanford of the Northern Exploration Team, Commander Glenn of the Western Exploration Team, and Commander Nigel of the Southern-Eastern Exploration Team, all of whom had been selected by the civilian population for their extensive seafaring experience, and who had been leading the team to and from Northwest Bay and Cape Horn for many years.

“Here’s to you, warriors. You are our eyes, seeing into the unknown for us.”

Myron Garnard led the toast to the three captains, and the others followed suit, still gathered together.

After finishing a glass of wine, Earl Winifred Heller, Lord of Potteries, stroked his white beard and said mysteriously, “Captain Stanford, in the extreme north of the continent, there exists the so-called ‘Hell’s Gate’, and behind the gate there is a seal of the evil demon race, so if you are unfortunate enough to come across it, you must be careful not to break the seal. If you are unfortunate enough to encounter it, you must be careful not to break the seal.”

“This …… Heller-sama, I will be extremely careful.” Captain Stanford immediately became nervous.

Count Maltz Count Kent, Count of Larnaca, said, “You old thing, talking about these strange stories at the bracing banquet, this kind of legend no one believed in the time when we were young, look at the young people scared.”

Hellebore glared at him, “Really, wasn’t I just trying to liven up the atmosphere.”

The crowd laughed at this, Captain Stanford’s face slightly reddened, so Earl Heller was teasing him.

Viscount Eugene Helsen from Emden asked with some concern, “Lord Greymane, are you really relieved to let the three captains’ fleet keep running like this?”

“What?”

“That ……” Viscount Helsen stammered a bit, “What if the earth is a circle, no matter which direction, and they run and fall …… What if they fall off? Captain Glenn can’t get to the other side of the continent at all.”

Here we go again, Paul was speechless, he’d had more than a few moments in which he’d struggled with this concern of those around him.

“Well, let me illustrate my speculation. Gentlemen, look this way!”

Paul spoke loudly to get the people in the hall to speak and turn their attention to himself.

He was seen picking up an apple from the table next to him and tossing it gently into the air, which quickly snapped to the floor. Paul asked, “See?”

“Huh? What?” The crowd muttered.

“The apple fell to the ground.”

“Isn’t that crap?”

Except for people like Myron, who had already heard Paul’s “speculation”, everyone else was in an uproar, and if Paul hadn’t been the head of the collar, he’d have been spitting in his mouth.

Paul spoke eloquently: “Have you never wondered why the apple fell to earth instead of ‘falling’ to heaven? I suspect that the earth has a force that ‘tugs’ the objects above her, so that even if the earth is a sphere, and even if we are on the other side of the sphere, we don’t fall into the void.”

Duke Ferdinand was perplexed, “How can this be the way you say it is, isn’t it because above is above and below is below, and isn’t it common knowledge in this world that objects fall downward? This is a law laid down by our Heavenly Father, the Lord of Light, at the creation of the world.”

“Oh!” Paul tapped his head and rolled his eyes, “Well, let’s let Captain Glenn bring us the answer to everything.”

Duke Ferdinand muttered in a small voice, “Even if the earth is round and there is a force tugging at us, it is the greatness of the Father.”

Captain Glenn swore with great excitement, “Lord Graiman, please rest assured that I will find out if the earth is round and verify your speculations.”

The members of the Western Exploration Team, up and down the line, harbored a sad realization – the realization of arriving at the end of heaven and earth and then accidentally falling spectacularly.

Paul patted him on the shoulder, “Whether or not you can reach the other end, as soon as you exhaust half of your supplies, you have to return to me immediately. I don’t want any of you to starve or die of thirst at sea. For the vastness of the ocean, we can take our time to explore it, there is no need to rush.”

“Yes, Lord Gleeman.” Captain Glenn was very touched by Paul’s words.

“Captain Glenn! I’m counting on you for my little apprentice.” Glenn’s hand was suddenly held tightly.

The person who came was Benjamin, a veteran shipwright from the shipyards of Port Fullan, and as the person in charge of the construction of the ships dedicated to the exploration team, Benjamin was among the invited guests.

Benjamin and his apprentice, Vito, were among the first group of talents Alda recruited from Horn Bay. But Vito’s dream was not to spend his whole life in the shipyard, but to yearn for a life of adventure, so when he heard that the lord was forming an exploratory team, he actively and enthusiastically signed up, and was finally honored to become a member of the Western Exploratory Team, in charge of the repair work of the ships.

The old shipwright was teary-eyed, he had always regarded Vito as his own child, although the boy had been clamoring for adventure when he was young, but which boy didn’t have some outrageous wishes when he was a child, and he didn’t expect to really fly when he grew up.

Benjamin held Glenn’s hand while carefully instructing him.

“Master, it’s almost enough.”

Behind Gran, Vito’s face turned red, so embarrassing, as if he hadn’t grown up yet.

Paul, on the other hand, came to a young man dressed in naval attire, “Alan, are you all ready.”

Former Officer Candidate, now Navy Ensign Allen immediately straightened up and saluted him, “Yes, Lord Lord, my comrades and I are all ready.”

Each exploration team’s ship was followed by three to four military personnel, most of them were equipped with mapping or scouting skills, and in addition to the task of recording the sea conditions and landforms along the way and evaluating the military strength of the countries or powers they passed through, they also had the important responsibility of managing the ship’s firearms.

In order to enhance the ability to cope with dangers, such as piracy, Paul prepared a small number of firearms for each exploration team – grenades, fire rope guns, but can only be used as a last resort, the decision is in the hands of the military representatives accompanying the ship.

(End of chapter)