"Whoosh..."
The howling wind roared, and with the wind at their backs, it billowed the sails, making the ship speed forward rapidly—twice as fast as usual.
"Hurry up, everyone, keep an eye on the sails!" Aiden shouted at the top of his lungs. The biting cold wind slammed against their faces, making their skin feel as though it were being pricked with needles.
He didn't want to hurry so much, but they had brought very little food, and to save time, they only had two small cargo ships. The worst part was, one of the ships had capsized due to poor handling, slamming into a large rock by the shore and sinking immediately.
In reality, all of this could have been endured, but the dark sky was clearly signaling a snowstorm. The snow had just stopped last night, and this morning, the weather was dark and gloomy with a particularly strong wind.
"Everyone, work harder, keep a close eye. Sedona City is almost in sight!" Aiden bellowed.
"Yes!" The response echoed around them.
In the corner of the ship's cabin, Amelia sat quietly with her knees pulled to her chest, her eyes blankly staring at the floor, draped in a fur cloak.
She listened intently to the sounds from outside. For her, the meaning of her existence seemed to be tied to being needed by others. She didn't even know why she was alive; perhaps, deep in her heart, she just longed to see her older sister once more.
Time passed quickly. An hour later, the footsteps running on the deck became more frequent, a sign that they were nearing their destination.
"Reel in the sails, quickly!" Aiden's loud voice rang out.
Only a minute later, those aboard could feel the ship slowing down, and the usual hum of the hull had disappeared.
Another ten minutes passed, and Aiden's booming voice called out again, "We've arrived at Sedona City! Everyone, get off the ship!"
Amelia was the first to stand up. After resting for two days and nights, her strength had mostly recovered, and she walked steadily. She quickly made her way outside the cabin, her eyes scanning the deck until she found Aiden's figure.
"Come with me, I'll take you to see the city lord." Aiden waved at Amelia. After the ship docked, he relaxed his entire body, knowing the next steps would be handled by the clerk, Max.
Amelia didn't speak, standing silently next to Aiden, her cold green eyes staring at him. This made Aiden frown and sigh, "Can't you change your expression? Maybe a smile?"
"..." Amelia tilted her head, using her fingers to tug at the corners of her mouth, forming a smile that was more painful than a frown.
"Enough!" Aiden turned and started walking forward, muttering irritably, "Just pretend I never said anything."
Aiden led the cold Amelia off the ship and waved to the others to escort the slaves toward Sedona City. The alleyway was eerily quiet, with only a few wooden houses that served as guard posts for the soldiers.
As they walked down the road, Aiden suddenly spoke, "Whether the city lord decides to keep you here will depend on your own skills."
"Kill people?" Amelia rested her right hand on her left arm, her voice cold. "That's all I know how to do."
"Uh..." Aiden suddenly felt a bit overwhelmed. He wasn't sure if bringing this troublesome girl to see the young master was the right decision.
But, if he didn't hand her over to the young master, with someone like Amelia, who only knew how to kill, she would definitely be a dangerous thorn in Sedona City.
Along the way, everyone fell silent. The slaves looked on with hopeful eyes, wishing that the promises they had heard on the ship were true—that if they worked hard for a few years, they could earn their freedom, or perhaps work diligently and be rewarded with the status of a free person.
Compared to the previous desperate situation where they faced the threat of starvation and freezing to death, the notion of working for a few years or just helping out was nothing short of a blessing from the heavens.
At the city gates, Aiden saw Max waiting with a group of people.
"Deputy Director Aiden, welcome back triumphantly." Max greeted them warmly, his tone friendly.
"Thank you!" Aiden nodded in return, raising his voice, "Old Man, these people are all yours to take care of now."
"No problem, the houses and everything else are already prepared." Max replied confidently. He was no stranger to handling such matters.
"Good, then I'll go report to the city lord about the progress." Aiden said with a light smile.
"Go ahead!" Max waved his hand and then called out to the slaves, "Follow me!"
"Let's go!" Aiden led the way into Sedona City, his smile lingering on his face as he gazed at the streets. His wife at home was probably anxious by now.
Amelia's green eyes scanned her surroundings. She showed no surprise at the neatly arranged buildings. To her, it was just another city, with nothing remarkable to stir her emotions.
"..." Aiden quietly observed Amelia, and the more he watched, the more his head ached. What others found surprising or extraordinary seemed completely ordinary to the girl before him.
Twenty minutes later, Aiden led Amelia into the castle. After explaining the situation, they were directed to the study room.
When they arrived at the door, Aiden stopped and looked at Amelia with a serious expression. "Take that off your arm."
"Oh," Amelia responded coldly, swiftly removing the special weapon from her left arm.
"Bang, bang, bang!" Aiden took the chain weapon from her and knocked on the door.
"Come in!"
Creek!
Aiden pushed the door open and saw Lucas bent over the desk, writing something. Standing behind him were Annie and Helen.
"Thank you for your hard work." Lucas put down his pen. He had been writing the scene from Journey to the West where Sun Wukong fights the White Bone Demon for the third time. He looked up warmly at Aiden. "There weren't any major issues, right?"
"There was one small supply ship that crashed into a rock and sank." Aiden said, his eyes lowering.
"And the people? No one was hurt, right?" Lucas straightened his back, his tone serious. "Were there any casualties?"
"No, only some soldiers got minor bruises from accidents." Aiden replied, a hint of relief flashing in his eyes.
"Good. How many slaves did you bring back?" Lucas's black eyes lingered on Aiden, his focus now sharp. The slaves were one of the main objectives of this mission.
"Eight hundred and fifty-seven." Aiden's expression darkened slightly. He had heard from the soldiers that over eight hundred slaves had frozen to death outside of Blade Edge City.
"Over eight hundred?" Lucas nodded thoughtfully, noting the discrepancy with the numbers Freya had given him. It seemed that more had died from the cold over the past few days.
Lucas's gaze then shifted to the grey-haired girl standing next to Aiden. "Who is this girl?"
He studied her for a moment. The coldness in her eyes was unsettlingly familiar—she reminded him of someone from his past, someone he had known in the orphanage.
The grey-haired girl gave off an impression of being a "three-no" girl—silent, expressionless, and emotionally closed off, just like those hard-to-read, withdrawn girls.
.
.
.
.
You can read advance chapters and view R-18 images of the characters on pat reon page.
pat reon.com/GreenBlue17
250 Power Stones for 1 extra chapter.
5 New reviews for 1 extra chapter.