Chapter 223 – Touring the city.

“Watch it, if ye drop that there you’re goin’ to ‘ave to pay fer it.”

“Stop shoutin’ an’ just ‘elp me!”

From the distance, Roland could see people dressed like sailors carrying large crates with various items in them. From what he could tell all the merchandise was divided by worth that could be measured by the way the packaging looked. If it was something cheap then regular wooden crates were enough.

On the other hand, if it was something worth a lot of coins, the crates were made from magical wood along with several paper seals that produced a magical barrier around it. Even if someone hit a crate like that with a sledgehammer it would not leave a dent in it. But this didn’t mean that the items inside couldn’t be damaged if the outer shell was handled without care.

‘So this is the shipyard…’

He had entered the large building filled with various seafaring ships. Besides them and the mass of people, he could see some that were under construction. This caught his interest as he could see some construction golems being utilized. Some of them were carrying heavy logs and parts of the ship, some of them were even working on this world’s version of a crane.

The golem itself was not the whole crane, instead, they were used to replace laborers to pull long ropes that were connected to various pulley systems. Roland recalled some history lessons that back in his world before mechanical cranes were created people had to actually pull them themselves or use livestock.

‘It might be cheaper to have the golems pull those ropes instead of making a large crane golem instead…’

Roland didn’t see a problem in creating a golem that could actually work as a regular crane. The runic structure wouldn’t be as hard and everything could be configured to allow an operator to move it with the help of some kind of console. The only problem would be the money required to procure materials that would last for years without deteriorating the runes.

‘The underground dwarven city was said to use something similar to heavy machinery, I guess for a human shipyard this is already plenty.’

The golems that were working here were slowly lumbering on four legs and were clearly mass-produced products. With their help, the construction efforts probably progressed a lot smoother and the costs weren’t that high. A large investment would be required to produce a better effect.

‘The Valerian crest is also here, if I remember correctly then one of Arthur’s siblings should be stationed in this city…’

After glancing at the crest Roland recalled his research that went into the Valerian household. With one of their members being within walking distance to his house, it was a given. They were a family known for their swordsmanship, apparently, many of them were at least spirit swordsmen.

‘I guess that’s why they have the nickname of the Kingdom’s sword. That’s ironic with how they are in the aristocrat faction and not with the royalists.’

The Valerian household had won their position by pitting their children against each other in hopes of gaining stronger and stronger sword masters. Their current position was won by bloody conquest in the past. It was a tough life that consisted of being compared to other siblings, duels were quite common with these kinds of nobles that wanted to prove themselves to their elders.

‘Sending Arthur out to a peaceful area like Albrook puts him in a tough spot…’

Arthur was still a son of a noble and what nobles lived for was rising up in the ranks. By being ordered to Albrook he wasn’t given much to work with. There weren’t any opportunities for him there, his brothers would probably be sent on most of the worthwhile expeditions to gain strength while he only had the dungeon to work with.

‘Times against him, unless he can produce some results or if the dungeon suddenly goes up a grade it will be hard…’

Roland was not sure what to think of the noble in the city. He had helped him with his work so he was somewhat indebted to the young man. But he could work that debt down by helping him gain more money. This would be achieved by selling various runic creations in the auction house. While this could pad out Arthur’s pockets with some extra cash it was not really something to bring attention to the city.

‘I should probably stop worrying about him and get out of here. It doesn’t seem that they will close the city for the time being…’

Not much time had passed since he came here as after getting his updated adventurer card he headed straight to the dock. Ships traveled around the sea on a set timetable and depending on it they could be a faster solution to his problem.

If he was unable to get a ship then the only way back would be through that wide forest. This was something that he wanted to avoid. Even if the caravans were blocked he could always buy himself a horse and travel alone. The only problem was the potential cult presence in the forest along with the church knights.

There was a possibility of running into both sides clashing with each other there which would put his life at risk. Even if he stayed to the outskirts some narrower passages had to be crossed. The cult could also come from the other side of the forest like on the bridge where they met the bandits.

If the cultists actually showed up to recover their large relic they would probably ignore the surrounding ships. The most troublesome area would be the forest area with the village that they had taken over. There was also another route by land that he could take, it went through a troublesome mountain path filled with various monsters.

‘I’ll make a decision after confirming it with the shipyard staff.’

After going through everything in his mind he finally found something that resembled a receptionist. It was another young lady that was similar to the ones he had come across in the adventurer guild. Next to the booth that she was sitting in was a large notice board with various scribbles that he didn’t understand.

“Excuse me, could you give me some information about the next ship leaving for the port close to Albrook.”

“Albrook? Please wait a moment sir.”

There was no line like in the adventurer guild so this time around he was given an answer quite fast. The girl pulled out a large book that looked like a ledger found in an accounting office. He could see many entries with various names, dates, and even longitudes. The woman flipped through the pages for some time which started to make him nervous but finally, he saw a positive reaction.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Ah, here it is… a merchant ship will be arriving tomorrow to unload its cargo, it will then leave towards Vita.”

“Vita…”

Roland strained his geographical memory and recalled that this medium-sized port was not the one that he had previously visited. It was further back into the island but the trip from it would be around three days on foot. While this was not the location that he was expecting it was enough for him to instantly ask for more information.

“Does the ship allow for passengers?”

“Of course, if you pay the coin they will surely allow you to come but…”

“But?”

“It will take a week before the ship leaves.”

“A week?”

“Yes, if you wish to buy a ticket please come tomorrow.”

After the quick exchange, he received the information and had an idea of what was happening. It wasn’t odd for the ships to stay for longer than a day after unloading the cargo. The sailors could have families here and be given some time to relax with them before sailing off once more. Even if he considered that he would need to remain here for a week, taking the ship would probably be the fastest and the safest mode of transportation.

Perhaps if he was a tier 3 class holder he could attempt a solo crossing through the mountain range. Yet he was not, his items were depleted and both of his golems had been destroyed during the scuffle. They had turned into scrap metal that he shoved into a replacement spatial bag for the time being.