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Chapter 165: A City by the Sea (4)

“Ugh.”

As he walked, Baker constantly fought the urge to vomit.

It had been quite some time since he’d eaten, but his stomach was still churning.

After finishing his fish stew, Ketal ordered various other fish dishes.

Baker managed to claim he was full and only sampled a few bites, but even that was enough to upset his stomach.

Ketal didn’t stop there.

He wandered around the village, entering shops and buying assorted foods from street vendors.

It looked like he was simply enjoying a tour of the city.

“What are you writing?”

Baker, glancing at Ketal now and then, cautiously asked.

“Is this really how you gather information?”

It seemed like they were wasting time.

But Ketal looked at him as if he was talking nonsense.

“I’ve already gathered plenty of information.”

“Wha- when?”

“I’ve been gathering it all along. What, didn’t you notice? I thought you came along because you understood.”

Ketal looked at Baker with a puzzled expression.

Baker felt a pang of irritation.

He didn’t want to admit that the barbarian had noticed something he, a magician, hadn’t.

Baker asked challengingly.

“Wha- what did you find out? Tell me.”

But his voice was meek.

“The fish stew we had at the tavern. The quality of the fish was very poor.”

“…What?”

“It was probably on the verge of spoiling.”

While fermenting and drying fish can extend its shelf life, it was still fish.

There were clear limits.

“They tried to mask it with a lot of fish sauce, but the quality was still too poor.”

“…You can tell that?”

Baker couldn’t believe it.

The fish stew was smothered in fish sauce.

The smell and taste were so overpowering that it was hard to even taste the fish.

And he could tell the freshness of the fish from that?

Was that really possible for a human tongue?

“I ordered other fish dishes to confirm. There was no significant difference.”

“Oh, so that’s why you ordered so many dishes at the tavern?”

“Exactly.”

Baker was speechless.

He had thought Ketal’s taste was so ruined that he genuinely enjoyed the dishes.

Although that guess wasn’t entirely wrong.

Ketal had indeed enjoyed the dishes.

It just wasn’t the only reason.

“The lord’s statement that the sea was blocked was true.”

The lord hadn’t lied.

The city’s sea was being controlled by something.

This was evident from the fish’s freshness.

“But the meat and vegetables, food from the land, were fresh.”

Ketal had eaten grilled meat and stir-fried vegetables from a street vendor.

The freshness wasn’t modern level, but it wasn’t to the point where it was inedible.

“The number of livestock raised in this city is very small. Vegetables, too, are hard to grow on the coastal soil. This means they import supplies from outside.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s true.”

“I saw cart tracks on the roads. The tracks were quite deep, indicating that they carried large amounts of goods at once. This city receives ample supplies from outside.”

“…What?”

He could deduce that just from cart tracks?

Baker’s eyes widened.

He quickly ran Ketal’s words through his mind to check their credibility.

As a result, he realized Ketal’s deductions were probably correct.

“You weren’t just sightseeing, huh.”

“That’s part of it, but I had to gather information too. I observed everything.”

‘Though it was also fun.’

It was wonderful when hobby and purpose aligned.

Ketal laughed cheerfully.

Baker looked at him in astonishment.

“…Are you a detective on the side?”

“Just simple observation. It’s not that hard.”

No.

Baker was a magician.

Someone who made intuitive judgments about things.

Because of this, he understood.

The ability to make these kinds of observations wasn’t common even among magicians.

Not just focusing on the visible phenomena but understanding why they happened, the environment causing them, and predicting the outcomes.

To judge and deduce all of that and be close to the right answer was extremely difficult.

Ordinary people focused only on the visible phenomena, without thinking beyond them.

Simply put, Baker was an exceptional magician.

Even he had been so distracted by Ketal’s presence that he hadn’t thought at all.

But this barbarian did it effortlessly.

‘…Why is someone like him a barbarian?’

If he looked normal, he could be called a sage without it being strange.

Baker stared at Ketal blankly.

Finally, snapping out of it, he asked.

“But what does this have to do with getting a ship?”

Their ultimate goal was a ship.

Ketal’s deductions were impressive, but they didn’t seem directly related to their objective.

Ketal spoke leisurely,

“The fact that they can receive many supplies from outside means they have the capital to do so. But how does a coastal city, with its sea blocked, afford such capital?”

The sea had been blocked for over a month now.

A typical coastal city should have been impoverished by now.

But aside from the poor quality of fish, this city was quite prosperous.

It was a very strange situation.

“Didn’t the lord say they had stocked up on supplies beforehand?”

“Are you saying a typical coastal city stocked enough supplies to remain prosperous for over a month?”

“…”

Baker fell silent.

Even he knew that made no sense.

Ketal laughed cheerfully.

“I don’t know the exact method… but it’s worth investigating. We might find a way to get a ship in the process.”

“Yeah, I see.”

“Let’s keep exploring. We’ll find something.”

“Alright…”

Ketal didn’t seem to have any intention of returning to the castle.

Baker, who was starting to want to head back, followed him with a gloomy expression.

As they walked through the city, Ketal suddenly stopped.

He was quietly observing the cityscape.

“Something’s odd.”

“Huh? What is?”

“The buildings on this side and that side are different.”

Following Ketal’s lead, Baker began to observe as well.

His eyes widened.

“You’re right.”

The buildings on the side they had been walking on were well-maintained and clean, just like the rest of the city.

But the buildings on the other side were different.

They looked strangely dilapidated.

The construction methods seemed different, and the buildings had a different style.

There was garbage on the streets, and a faint unpleasant odor wafted from that direction. The people on that side of the road looked somewhat unsavory.

It felt like the city was divided into different districts.

Ketal narrowed his eyes.

“…That side is closer to the sea.”

“Isn’t it just that buildings closer to the sea are less well-maintained because they can’t use the sea?”

“That could be it, but we should check.”

Just as Ketal was about to cross the road to investigate, he stopped.

Baker, following behind, bumped into his back.

“Why did you stop suddenly?”

“A commotion.”

“Huh?”

Ketal was looking into the distance.

Baker focused his ears.

He could hear it too now.

It sounded like a quarrel.

Baker looked at Ketal to ask if he understood what was happening.

At that moment, Baker felt a chill.

Ketal was smiling.

He looked genuinely pleased, as if he had been waiting for this conflict.

Baker realized.

Ketal could never be a sage.

His nature was closer to that of a barbarian.

“Let’s go check it out.”

Ketal cheerfully started walking.

* * *

“Hoo.”

Aquaz was wandering the city alone.

She had made considerable efforts to gather information but had come up empty-handed. Naturally, she hadn’t found any solutions either.

She steadied herself.

If a few hours of wandering the city could provide a solution, they wouldn’t have sought outside help in the first place.

From the start, she had anticipated a long journey.

She was prepared for a long-term endeavor.

She took a short breath and steeled herself.

With her mind calmed, the city came into focus.

‘Anyway… this place is really clean.’

The roads were well-maintained, and there were no vagrants or beggars to be seen.

The people’s expressions weren’t grim.

It was hard to believe this was a city with a blocked sea.

Though it was strange, Aquaz found the city’s appearance pleasing.

Before this journey, she had always acted under the orders of the church.

She had traveled the world through controlled environments and restricted routes, and thus had never faced the harsh realities of the world directly.

But this journey was her own.

She had seen the brutal and harsh realities up close.

Although not as shocked as Baker, she too was quite taken aback.

She was overcoming it with strong willpower, but she couldn’t help but feel a growing weariness inside.

Thus, a happy village like this was a very welcome sight.

She looked at the city warmly.

And people were glancing at her.

Her silver, flowing hair and red eyes were like jewels.

She was extremely beautiful.

She looked like a fairy straight out of a fairy tale.

Her appearance was impossible to ignore in such a small town.

And such beauty often caused trouble.

“Hey.”

A thug, clearly up to no good, approached her.

“You seem to be a stranger here. Need someone to show you around?”

The thug grinned, showing his yellow teeth.

Aquaz gave a wry smile.

She was dressed in the uniform of the Sun God Church.

Specifically, the attire of an Inquisitor.

Those who recognized it would never approach her.

But occasionally, thugs who lacked such knowledge would be lured by her appearance.

“I’m sorry, but I must decline. I appreciate the offer, though.”

She declined politely, but a rejection was still a rejection.

The thug’s face twisted with anger.

“Hey! Do you know who I am? How dare you refuse me! I’m an important person around here!”

He yanked on his collar, emphasizing the embroidered insignia of a sword and cannon.

“I’m not sure, but….”

“Hah. What a joke. Coming to this town and not knowing this insignia. You better remember it from now on.”

The thug proudly declared,

“I’m a member of the Valkran pirate gang!”

“…What?”

Aquaz’s face hardened.

Thinking she was scared, the thug grinned.

“Come on, follow me! Just pour me a drink or something. Don’t worry, I won’t get violent. I’m a gentleman.”

“…I see. So, you’re a pirate.”

“Now you understand, hurry up and….”

The thug trailed off.

Red eyes were glaring at him.

The emotion in those eyes was ice-cold.

He felt a chill run down his spine.

His instincts screamed that he had made a mistake.

Stammering, he said,

“Uh, no. Never mind. I’ve changed my mind, so you don’t need to….”

He couldn’t finish his sentence.

Aquaz grabbed his head and slammed it down.

A pained groan escaped him.

Aquaz whispered,

“No, I can’t refuse your offer. I’d be really grateful if you could show me around the city.”

She smiled coldly.