Chapter 227: Elland’s Reminder

Chapter 227: Elland’s Reminder

Looking at the bar, which had grown so quiet that some people’s breathing could be heard, Klein froze for two seconds before stepping inside. As though nothing had happened at all, he walked straight toward the bar counter.

Next time I come here, I need to change my appearance… he thought inwardly in frustration, nearly raising a hand to cover his face.

Earlier, Olkfa had not known that Gehrman Sparrow had successfully hunted Slaughterer Gilchies. This had made Klein believe that his latest situation had not yet spread to the City of Generosity, and so he had boldly and confidently come to the Seaweed Bar. Who would have known that the problem lay in Olkfa having distanced himself from the adventurer circle, making his information outdated? In truth, the crazy adventurer’s fearsome reputation had already spread among the pirates near the Rorsted Archipelago.

Silently sighing, Klein sat before the bar counter, bent a finger, and knocked against the wood.

“One Southville beer.”

“…Six pence.” The bartender swallowed with difficulty.

Klein took out a few copper pennies and placed them before him. Without any change in expression, he asked, “What has happened recently?”

The bartender accepted the pennies, carefully delivered the beer to Gehrman Sparrow, then forced out a smile.

“Admiral Emilius Levitt has been recalled to Backlund. Admiral Robert Davis has taken over his position, becoming the Kingdom’s highest naval commander in these waters. The situation across the whole archipelago is a little tense. Quite a few pirate crews have sent people to gather information.”

Admiral Emilius was ultimately implicated by his brother and lost his current post… But as long as he wasn’t directly involved, nothing worse should happen to him as a demigod. At minimum, he should keep an admiral’s treatment, and his family shouldn’t face any major problems. Once things calm down, perhaps he’ll even have the chance to continue holding a senior naval position… Klein gulped down a mouthful of beer and casually asked, “Which family is Robert Davis from?”

“No, he isn’t of noble birth. He is one of the rare people who climbed step by step from a low-ranking officer to the position of admiral. In the Berserk Sea, on Sonia Island, in East Balam, he has earned countless military merits.” The bartender recalled the recent newspaper praise of Admiral Robert Davis, then paused before saying, “But I heard he received sponsorship from several nobles.”

Mm. In the current Royal Navy, generals born into the royal family or nobility, or closely connected to the royal family and nobility, account for at least eighty percent. The remaining twenty percent are basically concentrated at the levels of rear admiral and vice admiral… Klein had long since learned this from the documents in Emilius Levitt’s possession.

By comparison, the army was much better.

Seeing that Gehrman Sparrow had no further questions and appeared to be focusing on his drink, the bartender changed the subject.

“In the past two or three months, the Resistance has been very active. They’ve constantly tried to sabotage railways or block roads, giving the Governor-General’s Office a huge headache. It has had no choice but to deploy large numbers of troops to protect traffic routes, while the Resistance rarely confronts them head-on.”

I know that. It’s all according to my plan… In a place where natives and mixed-bloods make up as much as eighty percent of the population, it isn’t particularly difficult for the Resistance to obtain accurate intelligence. With outside support, surviving in the short term shouldn’t be much of a problem. The reason their situation was so dangerous before was entirely because Kavituwa, that sea serpent, had no rationality and always made them attack cities and seize key points, fighting the Loen Kingdom’s navy and army head-on… Klein muttered silently and, in a rather good mood, drank another mouthful of beer.

He had also warned the Resistance not to be too active. If they pushed the Governor-General’s Office into too embarrassing a position, the Loen Kingdom might send a Sequence 5 expert skilled in tracking and searching—or even a demigod-level Beyonder—to assist. With the Resistance’s strength, they would have no chance of resisting that. The instruction Klein had issued in the name of Sea God was to maintain and slightly improve the current situation while waiting for the global situation to change.

That would not be too far away. Based on various reports from Miss Justice, The Hanged Man had reached a firm judgment: once the Loen Kingdom completed its internal bureaucratic reforms and its existing and newly added ironclad fleets formed combat capability, a war targeting the Southern Continent colonies would be unavoidable.

Klein quietly drank his beer and listened to the bartender’s account. Afterward, he put on his hat, rose from the bar counter, and returned all the way to the inn where he was staying.

Along the way, he again saw bronze-skinned children with slightly curled hair and native residents dressed in brown jackets and wide-legged trousers. Some shrank aside in fear, not daring to lift their heads; others retreated to the side and watched Klein with complicated eyes.

Klein helplessly curled the corner of his mouth and silently returned to his inn room.

He did not immediately change his appearance and go to the various bars to search for pirates, because those fellows would certainly all hide tonight and would not appear again.

Just as Klein was preparing to explore inside Travels of Groselle, his room door was suddenly knocked on with a series of thuds.

Without asking who it was, merely gripping the handle, an image of the visitor naturally surfaced in his mind:

Middle-aged, male, wearing a dark-red coat and white trousers, with a bicorne hat. Clear wrinkles marked the corners of his eyes, his forehead, and the sides of his mouth. It was the captain of the White Agate, a military man, the fair-minded Elland.

Impressive. News that I appeared in Bayam has only just started spreading, and he already found out which inn and which room I’m staying in… Of course, that’s also because I didn’t conceal it and directly registered with identification documents… Klein turned the handle, pulled the door open, and politely said, “Good evening.”

“Good evening. I’m very glad you’ve returned to Bayam,” Elland said, taking off his hat and entering the room without any restraint.

“Is there something?” Klein pulled over a chair and sat down.

Elland sat opposite him and chuckled.

“Is visiting a friend not the most important thing?”

What a way with words. Pity Anderson has already left. Otherwise, I’d have him come learn from this! Klein thought with inexplicable emotion.

Maintaining his usual attitude, he looked into Elland’s eyes.

“All right. You have visited.”

Elland seemed to have expected such an answer. He smiled.

“Do you remember Donna?”

Of course. She and her brother are both very adorable. I wonder whether they’ve recovered from the shadow of being ‘frightened’ by me, and whether they’ve since lost their curiosity toward the mysterious world… Klein calmly replied, “I don’t have amnesia.”

“Forgetting some unimportant things is good for the health of our hearts and minds. Heh, that sentence was not said by Emperor Roselle,” Elland briefly explained. “Didn’t you tell Donna’s father that if he needed help, he should place an advertisement in the Sonia Morning Post for three consecutive days, seeking to purchase Damir specialty cured meat? He did so recently. Unfortunately, you were not in Bayam, nor in nearby waters.”

“And then?” Seeing Elland’s relaxed posture, Klein intuitively believed Donna’s family had not encountered anything too serious.

Elland chuckled.

“I overheard your conversation back then. After discovering the advertisement, I followed the address and visited their family. You know, Donna is an adorable little girl. She always reminds me of my daughter.

“The matter itself was not complicated. Uldi—that is, Donna’s father—had a shipment of very valuable goods taken by the Mad Captain. This made his financial situation very poor. Although he wouldn’t go bankrupt because of it, his life would certainly become much harder. So he wanted to commission you to retrieve the goods.

“I knew you weren’t in Bayam at the time, so I used my own channels and helped Uldi retrieve the goods at a not-too-large cost.”

Mad Captain? At first, Klein felt that epithet was familiar. Then he remembered where he had heard it.

According to the red-haired Elaine, the slaves Vice Admiral Ailment Tracy had transported for the Demoness Sect had all been handed over to Mad Captain Connors Victor. The latter seemed to have close ties with many slave traders and human traffickers in the Loen Kingdom.

And this involved the case of disappearances in the colonies and the hidden truth behind Backlund’s Great Smog!

I’ve always wanted to investigate this matter. Back when I attacked Tracy, half my purpose lay in this. Unfortunately, I didn’t succeed. Later, I became busy acting and digesting, and searching for mermaids, so I temporarily gave up the investigation… Klein’s thoughts raced while he asked without any outward change, “Where is the Mad Captain now?”

“Uldi has already retrieved his goods.” Elland hissed softly, emphasizing that the matter had already been resolved.

Klein looked at him and repeated, “Where is Connors Victor now?”

Elland helplessly shook his head.

“I don’t know. But some of his subordinates are still in Bayam gathering information. You know, Admiral Emilius has returned to Backlund, and Admiral Davis has arrived. Many things will change, and pirates also need to grasp the latest situation.

“So I suspect Connors’s ship should be anchored in the shadow of some nearby island. But that is only a guess. There is no way to confirm it.”

Klein quietly listened with his hands clasped.

“Thank you.”

Elland exhaled, glanced outside the window, and his expression quickly turned serious.

“I came to see you today because I want to tell you that you have stood out too much. The higher-ups have begun paying special attention to you. A powerhouse capable of easily killing Gilchies will not be ignored!

“You’d best not use this identity to register lodging again. Otherwise, you may attract trouble that will be difficult to handle.”

Klein nodded seriously.

“All right.”

In his heart, he was very grateful for Captain Elland’s reminder, but he did not show it.

After Captain Elland left, Klein immediately changed his appearance and switched inns, ensuring that his whereabouts would not remain locked onto by the military.

Once all that was done, he began thinking about how to find Mad Captain Connors Victor.

For others, this would be extremely difficult, but Klein had a way to take a shortcut.

That was to use the Sea God Scepter to communicate with underwater creatures in the nearby waters!

As long as Connors Victor was within the Rorsted Archipelago’s seas, he would not escape Klein’s eyes!

Of course, the prerequisite was having enough time to search.