North Shore of Conquest, Varna.
As the sun gradually set, Varna entered the night, and due to the sudden arrival of the Church's escort fleet, today was an unusual day for this ordinary coastal town.
Although Varna is not too far from the main shipping lanes, because the southern coast of Castile has many other port cities with better locational advantages than Castile itself, Navaja, with its awkward location and poor conditions, is not very eye-catching, and the flow of outsiders here is not very high during normal times.
Because a large number of warships suddenly docked in the port today, followed by a flood of foreign visitors, the small town immediately became lively. While the merchants smiled and welcomed the travelers, the residents of the town also eagerly discussed this strange phenomenon. At dinnertime, the topic at most dinner tables in the town was the pile of Church warships that almost filled the entire port, and the foreigners who disembarked from the warships. The residents of the small town discussed and speculated about the sudden event before them.
At night, aboard the large cruiser docked in Navaja port, Jode, the commander of the escort fleet, sat in his Captain's cabin wearing his uniform. Standing before him was a slightly short and stout middle-aged man in a suit with a fawning expression. He stood before Jode's desk and reported to Jode using not-so-fluent Iweig.
"Respected Knight, Captain, I am currently arranging the supplies you need. All materials will be delivered by around tomorrow afternoon. Additionally, I have sent people specifically to find suitable accommodation for the passengers who could not find lodging. No one will be sleeping on the streets tonight."
"It's been hard on you, Mayor. The fleet's supplies weren't originally supposed to be here. Our sudden visit has troubled you."
After listening to the man's words, Jode responded simply. The man before him was none other than the Mayor of Navaja. Upon learning that a suddenly arrived Church fleet had almost filled the entire port, he immediately rushed over with a group of municipal officials, very actively cooperating with Jode's work and getting a grasp of the situation.
"Not hard at all, not hard at all... This is what I should do. Assisting Captain, the Knight, in performing the act of salvation that manifests the Holy Mother's grace, is my honor. How could I say it's hard?"
After listening to Jode's words, the Mayor quickly spoke, and then Jode chuckled lightly and spoke again.
"Heh, really? It seems Mayor is also a loyal and faithful person. Rare, indeed. I will remember your full cooperation today. Mayor, you've been busy all day. Go back and rest now."
"Ah... Of course... But before I leave, may I ask Captain a question? When is Captain's fleet planning to set sail again?"
The Mayor asked Jode this. After listening to the Mayor's words, Jode glanced at him, then slowly spoke.
"Mayor, you seem to have some concerns about us being here. Actually, you don't need to worry too much. I have reported the situation here to higher authorities. Holy Mountain has already notified the Castile government about our temporary stop. Regarding the cost of supplies and the compensation fee for the prolonged interference with your port's normal use, someone will pay for it later. You don't need to worry excessively."
Jode said this. In his opinion, it was normal for his pile of warships to be parked in this small town's port and cause others uneasiness, so he gave this explanation. After hearing Jode's explanation, the Mayor immediately continued to speak.
"No, no, no... Knight, I have no concerns about Captain's arrival at all! I just wanted to slightly confirm how long Captain will be staying here so I can arrange some upcoming municipal matters."
"I see... Our original plan for coming here was just a temporary stop, intending to leave after disembarking the people and getting some supplies. However, a slight situation has arisen now, which might cause a delay of about one or two days, but it won't be for a very long time."
Jode responded like this, and after hearing Jode's words, the Mayor continued to speak.
"Some situation? Hmm... Did Captain encounter something? I noticed there were some loud noises by the port this afternoon. When I came over, I saw that many areas here were quite severely damaged. Did something happen?"
"That is not something you need to be concerned about, Mayor. You just need to know that we will leave after staying here for at most one or two days."
In a slightly stern tone, Jode spoke to the Mayor, and after hearing him, the Mayor also stepped back a couple of steps in some trepidation and spoke.
"Oh... If that's the case, then I won't ask any more questions, Knight. I will take my leave now."
After finishing his words, the Mayor bowed to Jode, then turned and left the Captain's cabin. After watching the Mayor leave, Jode immediately began reviewing the documents on his desk. Not long after he started reviewing, there was a sudden knock on his cabin door. Jode responded, telling them to enter. After the door opened, a Vice Captain entered the cabin. After walking into the cabin, he reported to Jode.
"Captain, we have searched the coast around Navaja with our men, but we haven't found anything particularly unusual. I'm sorry, we weren't able to find the cultist who escaped."
"Couldn't find him? That's a bit of a shame, but it was within expectations. Once an Extraordinary of the Wave Path enters the sea, they are very difficult to catch. I asked you to try and search, also because he was quite injured and might not be able to swim too far. It seems we underestimated him."
"Although you didn't find him, you don't need to blame yourselves. After all, investigation is not our specialty; we were just doing it incidentally."
After listening to the Vice Captain's words, Jode said this, and the Vice Captain nodded in response.
"Thank you for Captain's understanding... The main reason is that this incident happened too suddenly. No one expected those two guys to be cultists worshipping the Abyssal Serpent, so we were unprepared. That's why one died and one escaped. If we had noticed earlier, both of them could have been caught!"
The Vice Captain said with a hint of regret in his tone, while Jode put down the pen he was using to review documents and sighed, then spoke.
"Yes... Who would have thought that these two guys were fine before, and then suddenly displayed traces of Spirituality and were exposed? The situation this afternoon was not only unexpected for us, but also for those two guys... They suddenly exposed themselves after all the passengers had left. This was too timely and coincidental... If you ask me, the reason you couldn't find that guy might not just be that he escaped, but also that he might have been taken care of by someone else..."
Listening to the subtle meaning in Jode's tone, the Vice Captain paused slightly, then continued to speak.
"Does Captain mean... these two cultists were deliberately exposed? And the one who escaped... might have already been taken care of?"
"Otherwise? They were hiding perfectly fine, so why suddenly couldn't they hide anymore? It wouldn't be because the'Shadow' on them wasn't handled well before hiding. The design traces of this exposure are too obvious. Clearly, they were being watched by someone else involved in secrets. This person is hostile to the Sea Abyss Church, and is very likely among the passengers of the Shining White Pearl. Perhaps they are even connected to the so-called Thief K. In any case... this time, we were used as a tool."
Jode spoke like this, with clear displeasure in his tone. After seeing the situation where Costa and Massimo were exposed, he realized that there might be very deep hidden problems on the Shining White Pearl, and possibly two hidden forces were engaged in some struggle on the ship. The theft incident on the Shining White Pearl and the inexplicable sinking of the Shining White Pearl might both have extremely deep connections with secrets. At this moment, Jode was blaming himself for not discovering the problem in time.
"Captain, your meaning is... among the passengers on the shining white pearl, there might also be dangerous heretical society members? Sir, should we go and search?"
After hearing Jode's words, the Vice Captain spoke with some unease, while Jode responded directly.
"It's already late... Now everyone on the shining white pearl has already entered Varna, and some who were quick have even left Varna overnight. We don't have the manpower to find all of them one by one, so let's just forget it... After all, searching and investigating are not our main job."
While speaking, Jode stood up from his seat, then came to the window of the Captain's cabin. Through the glass, Jode looked towards the quiet Varna port at night.
"I've already reported the situation here to the higher-ups. Now there are specialists rushing over from Truva. We just need to wait here for a day or two. Once they arrive, we'll transfer all the existing clues we have to them. This kind of matter needs to be handled by specialists. Our mission is just to escort.
"However... before the people from Truva arrive, we also need to do the preliminary work of preserving evidence and clues. Taking this opportunity, everyone can also get some good rest."
Jode said this. As a soldier of the Church, he clearly didn't intend to get deeply involved in this matter, but he planned to use this opportunity to stay on shore for a couple more days and give himself and his sailors a small break. After all, it was an Extraordinary event involving two Chalk level cultists; he could completely use the reason of treating it cautiously to take the entire fleet's officers and men to slack off for two days. After all, life at sea is very boring and hard. When sailing for a long time, the atmosphere on the ship is very oppressive and gloomy. Therefore, whether for sailors or officers, the more time they can spend on shore, the better. If there's a legitimate reason to slack off, they naturally will.
And the Vice Captain, who saw Jode's meaning, couldn't help but scratch his chin and reveal a knowing smile. Then he also turned his head to look out the window and said with a smile.
"Yes, doing the preliminary preparations and preserving the evidence well will make it easier for others to start their work when they arrive. It seems our arrival time in Iweig will be delayed by another day or two, but that's fine. This time, the pilgrimage schedule is quite flexible."
...
Time flew by. Soon, the night gradually passed, and Varna welcomed the morning of a new day. Amidst the calls of the seabirds circling in the sky, Varna gradually awoke from its silence.
Dorothy was woken up early in the morning by the seabirds constantly calling in front of her window. She rubbed her sleepy eyes. Just as she was about to doze off again, she was kept awake by the seabirds' calls. With a cold gaze, Dorothy took out her magic box, created an eagle Corpse Puppet, and threw it out the window, causing chaos outside. After taking fierce revenge on these guys who disturbed her peaceful sleep, Dorothy, no longer sleepy, got out of bed.
After getting up, Dorothy slowly finished washing up. After putting on her black leather boots and a plain gray dress, she went downstairs and out of the hotel. After casually eating a few potato pancakes for breakfast, Dorothy began to stroll leisurely around Varna.
Dorothy's goal today was to look for a White Stone Craftsmen's Guild stronghold in this city and buy some things there. With this goal in mind, Dorothy manipulated several Corpse Puppets to scatter and start wandering the streets of Varna, preparing to look for key traces in places like banks and workshops. Her main body, however, was primarily strolling on the streets with a parent Corpse Puppet, truly appreciating the exotic charm of this small city with a tourist attitude.
While strolling the streets, Dorothy sampled snacks and enjoyed the scenery. During this time, she saw many passengers from the original shining white pearl also traveling and shopping, truly treating this temporary stop as a tourist destination. In between, Dorothy also saw Neff. She was touring around with some of her classmates and their Mentor. According to Neff, they decided to tour the city briefly first, and then figure out how to continue to Iweig.
Since they had come this far, they might as well have a good time before leaving. This was the thought of many shining white pearl passengers at this moment.
Also with the idea of sightseeing, Dorothy strolled all the way. After walking and resting for over two hours, Dorothy found herself gradually moving away from the City and arriving at the northern suburban area of Varna.
From the hilltop here, Dorothy overlooked the entire Varna and found that the city's scale was much smaller than she had imagined. The entire Varna was far from being as large as Igwinte; it was a bona fide small city. After seeing the scale of Varna, Dorothy directly doubted whether there was a White Stone Craftsmen's Guild stronghold in such a small city.
No, let alone the White Stone Craftsmen's Guild, it's hard to say if there's even an official Extraordinary institution here.
'Igwinte is at least a county capital, which is why it can have the An Yin Bureau. This place looks much smaller than Igwinte. It seems there are no Extraordinary institutions here...'
Overlooking the panoramic view of Varna from the hilltop, Dorothy thought this in her heart. At this moment, she already believed that this city probably didn't have the White Stone Craftsmen's Guild.
After finishing her observation, Dorothy prepared to go down the mountain and return to the City. On her way down, she passed by a courtyard located at the foot of the hill. This courtyard had extremely tall walls.
As she passed by the tall wall, Dorothy couldn't help but cast a curious glance towards the courtyard entrance. She saw an empty arched iron frame standing above the closed iron gate. This iron frame immediately caught Dorothy's attention.
'This kind of iron frame on a door... it seems to be specifically for hanging signs, right? Does that mean there was originally a sign on this door? Why is there only the frame left now, and the sign is gone? Was it not hung up?'
Looking at the empty iron frame, Dorothy thought to herself, and at the same time, a hint of curiosity arose in her mind.
Under Dorothy's control, a bird corpse puppet that had been circling in the sky flew down and landed on the slightly rusted iron frame. It began to carefully observe the situation on it. As a result, Dorothy discovered an interesting phenomenon.
This phenomenon was the screw holes. On this iron frame, there were many screw holes preset for fixing advertising letters or signs. Dorothy discovered through the bird corpse puppet that although most parts of the iron frame were dusty, somewhat rusted and dirty, the insides of the screw holes were relatively clean. Not only were they not dirty or dusty, but there was also very little rust.
This means that not long ago, there were screws screwed onto this iron frame. Because the screws filled the screw holes, they were less susceptible to dust and dirt.
And if these screws were still screwed in not long ago, it means that there should have been a sign hanging on it not long ago, but for some unknown reason, it was suddenly taken down. Because the time it was taken down was too short, the screw holes where the screws were removed were still very clean.
'Was some sign temporarily taken down? Interesting... Are they preparing to change the sign? Or is there some other reason?'
Dorothy thought this in her heart. Then, she controlled the bird corpse puppet to fly into the courtyard, wanting to see what was inside.
Dorothy controlled the bird corpse puppet to fly into a building. As a result, she saw a noun written in letters on a pillar inside the building.
"North Gang Mental Hospital"
After seeing this noun, Dorothy was slightly startled, and then she thought.
'Another mental hospital? This small place actually has two mental hospitals?'