"What's so urgent, human?" Guerrerogen complained loudly. "We don't even know where we are going."

"That river," said Bai En, who felt a strange sense of urgency. The note stated that they did not have much time, and that their informant had never lied to them before. "A boat can only be reached by the river."

"I know, humans, but this is a big river. We can't search the whole river."

"This is a barge!" Bai En explained. "There are very few places where the barge can be docked, and it must travel along the navigation channel." Bai En considered various possibilities. Can he be sure that this ‘black ship’ will dock, not explode? In fact, it ca n’t; he just hopes this thing is true. Then he suddenly thought of it. The largest granary in the city is right next to the pier. The letter mentions the grain. At least, he hopes so.

"Granary." He muttered to himself. "The pier to the north is near the granary."

"The North Shore Pier seems to be the best option," Grerogan said, raising his axe. "Well, we need to start somewhere." They continued to jog. Bane eagerly hoped that the boy in the tavern had given his note to the Earl of Ostwald.

————

When the barge deviated again, Skage couldn't help but curse. This sailing boat is not a boat used by drones, and the helmsman encountered a lot of trouble in the process of going down the river. Skechi hopes that they will arrive soon, because if they cannot reach the human den in the night, the whole plan will be ruined. The barge, painted black, is less noticeable on this moonless night, and if it is daytime, it will stand out like a human baby lying in a nest of hamsters.

Well, at least he thinks this ship is necessary. There is no other way to transport such a large amount of experimental products from underground passages to human cities without causing suspicion. He knew that the last thing his master wanted to see was whether the prophet Tangul or humans had any knowledge of what was going on. It is a well-known fact that once the plans of Tanguer ’s opponents are discovered by him, they often fail. Skecher shuddered at the thought of what would happen to humans if they discovered what they were doing.

He shook his head and went back to check the experiment he was responsible for. They grabbed at the cage fence, hungry, hungry for freedom. "Almost! Almost!" He said to them, and he had a sense of closeness to these short-lived pests created with his great wisdom. He knew they were flawed, just like him. They can only live for a few days.

The ship continued to advance in the night, getting closer and closer to this sleeping city.

————

The pier at night is not a place to reassure, Bai En thought. Lights spilled from many dilapidated taverns, many red lights illuminated the alleys, and occasionally women dressed in quite 'conservative' leaned on the door frames and looked out. Fully armed night watchmen patrol the warehouses, but at the same time they are careful not to enter the area where the sailors like to go. They are more inclined to protect the employer ’s goods than to prevent crime. Despite this, Bai En was relieved because he knew that if the situation deteriorated seriously, at least there were armed personnel nearby at any time.

He stood on the edge of the pier, staring at the river outside. The Rake River is wide on this leg, perhaps a few miles wide, allowing the largest ocean-going vessel to sail. But not many of them are willing to come so far. Most merchants choose to put the goods in Fort Marion and then transport them upstream by barge.

From here he can see the lights of barges and boats that carry people to cross the river non-stop. He thought there would be many more ships than lights. Not all ships and passengers want people to know their business. Bai En thought that the black ship would be among them. However, it did not load illegal goods, but loaded some kind of terrible weapons. Bai En shuddered at the thought of what might happen. The Pot of Potions and the weapons of the Scree family are terrible enough for him.

The wind was cold, and he put the worn cloak tightly on his shoulder. What am I doing here? He thought to himself. I should stay in the room and try to reconcile with Eliza.

Maybe not. Perhaps this is the purpose of his coming here, in order to avoid Elisa.

He didn't know what the girl was doing, nor did he want to know. This is just the result of his choice to follow the crowd, not what he once imagined will be the future. He knew he would not love Elisa as much as the one in his memory. When Eliza hugged the country boy's head, he didn't even touch it in his heart, he knew it was almost over.

This sweet girl brought him happiness for a while, but he almost guessed the ending. Recently, he did not even want to say that their relationship is harmonious. He thought that for her, it was just a fleeting thing, something that had already happened. Maybe she would be better with her country boy. He shrugged and continued to look into the darkness, listening to the waves gently patting the wooden stand of the dock.

"Our little kids who love boating have chosen a good night for it." Guerrero mumbled and drank a gin of gin from the bottle.

Bai En studied the sky for a while. Then he understood what the dwarf meant. The sky was covered with clouds, and only a large moon shone with silver. The smaller moon cannot be seen at all.

"Smuggler's Moon," Bai En said.

"what?"

"A captain I knew before called the moon like this the" Smuggler's Moon. "Now I know why. It's too dark. On such nights, it's difficult for tax collectors to find your ship.

"The same is true for river patrols," Guerrero said disdainfully. "Anyway, humans can't see anything more valuable than Goblin's fart at night."

"I think so," said Bai En, who wanted to refute the dwarf, but he knew he was right in this matter.

"Hah, you should be very happy to have a dwarf here now, human? And he still has good eyesight."

"why?"

"Because that is the black ship you are looking for! Look!"

Bai En looked in the direction pointed by the dwarf, but saw nothing. "You drank too much gin," Bai En said angrily.

"Your people haven't been able to brew a drink that can pour dwarves," Guerrero said with a dismissive glance.

"Just drunk." Bai En muttered. "It may not be because of short legs."

"At least I'm not blind."

"Just drinking blindly."

"I tell you there is a boat there."

Bai En narrowed his eyes and looked at the darkness, beginning to think that the dwarf might be right. There was a big thing in the distance, and a vague shadow moved irregularly in the deep water.

"I believe you are right," Bai En said. "I sincerely apologize."

"Save it," Gray Logan said. "There is something to kill."

————

"Hurry up!" Said Bai En, standing on the bow of the ship, his eyes fixed on the dim shadow in front.

"I will row as soon as possible, sir," the boatman said as he tried his best to support the boat like a hedgehog with arthritis. He is a burly man, but he is slow and cumbersome.

"I guess a one-armed one can swipe faster," Grerogan said. "In fact, I bet you will move faster if I cut off one of your arms."

Suddenly, the boatman found a new force from somewhere, and they speeded up. Bai En didn't know if he should be happy. He was nervous about taking this boat to approach the barge that might be full of enemies. He really hoped that if they could call the night watchman, that would be great, but Grey Rogan had been stunned by the fighting enthusiasm, insisting that no time could be wasted. He assured Bain that the unrest they were about to cause would soon attract patrols on the river. Bai En did not doubt that he was right, especially from past experience.

When they got close, he could see that it was a black ship, a huge grain-carrying ship painted black, and was heading fast downstream. He didn't understand why those ratmen had to do this. Of course, black does make this boat unobtrusive at night, but during the day, the barge will be as eye-catching as a hearse in a wedding parade. Maybe it went downstream without paint, and just tonight, they disguised it. Perhaps they had a hidden base somewhere upstream overnight. Such a base may be quite a long distance, because a barge can navigate a large body of water at night, even if it just moves with the current like this one in front of you.

Bai En thinks all these guesses are meaningless. He knew that he did this only to keep his mind focused and not to worry about the upcoming encounter.

He wondered what they were doing on the barge now? If they were not ratmen, then they were the worst sailors he had ever seen. The barge now seems to be drifting around a large semicircle. He could hear the faint dull drum sound, and the crunching and collision of the oars ~ lightnovelpub.net ~ sounds like it is difficult to guide the ship.

"It's them, yes." Guerrerogan nodded affirmatively. "These ratmen are even worse than the worst sailor I have ever heard of."

Bai En can now hear the screams of those ratmen in the distance. He knows that the dwarf is right. Unfortunately, the boatman also heard his words.

"Are you talking about 'Mouseman'?" The boatman asked, his sweaty fat face engraved with superstition and fear.

"No," Bai En denied.

"Yes." It's a pity that Gray Logan and Bai En answered the boatman's question at the same time.

"If there is a group of monsters on the ship who are crazy to worship evil, I will not be close to the barge!" The boatman declared.

"My friends are just kidding," Bai En explained.

"No, I don't." Guerrerogan refused to lie.

The boatman stopped the boat. Guerrerogan stared at him the same.

"I hate boats, just like I hate trees," the dwarf said. "I hate trees, just like I hate elves. But what I hate most is some humans, who left me on the ship longer than I had to stay on the ship, especially because there are monsters to kill There is still time to fight. "

The boatman's face became very pale and motionless, and Bai En was almost certain that he could hear the boatman's teeth trembling.

Grey Logan continued to growl: "You must continue to support the boat until we reach the barge of the Ratman, otherwise I will tear your leg off and use it to kill you. Am I clear? "Ban had to admit that the huge threat this dwarf showed in his voice was impressive. Of course the boatman thinks so.

"Completely," the boatman said, and began to paddle at double speed.