"Sedona City is here!!"
"Lower the sails! Lower the sails!!!"
With the loud calls, the sails were pulled in, and the ship's speed suddenly slowed down, using inertia to glide toward the dock.
Dahlia's eyes lit up with joy as she held onto the table to steady herself, preventing from being thrown off balance by the rocking. She moved quickly to the bedside and looked at Catherine's pale face. Softly, she said, "Catherine, we've arrived at Sedona City. Your illness will be healed soon."
She immediately went out to arrange for the maids to prepare a stretcher, laying thick beast fur blankets on it. Then, carefully, they moved Catherine onto the stretcher, covering her with two layers of blankets, before they started disembarking.
"Whoo whoo…"
Dahlia tightened her beast fur coat as she looked out at the vast, snowy land. It was much colder here than in the capital. No wonder Catherine had fallen ill.
She turned back to look at the stretcher, scanning the people who had come along, especially the young man named Kevin, the viscount. His face was full of anxiety. After all, he had been sent by the Fourth Prince to accompany Catherine, with the intention of supervising and protecting her.
"Heh~" Dahlia curled her lips into a cold smile. These people must be regretting coming along now. With Catherine's condition worsening, everyone was in danger. Even those noble young men who had been so attentive to her hadn't shown up these past few days, probably afraid of being implicated by her. After all, Dahlia was the main person in charge.
"Let's go, be careful." Dahlia instructed the six maids who were carrying the stretcher.
The maids were all brought by Catherine, and they wouldn't let anyone unfamiliar approach. They were also surrounded by knights, all sent by the Duke to protect his daughter.
"Clop, clop, clop..."
As they disembarked, the group noticed about ten fully armed knights approaching, each holding longbows. This made Dahlia and the others nervous.
"Who are you? Where are you from?" Shouted the captain of the dock guards.
"We're from the capital. One of my companions is ill. Can you tell me if there's a healer here?" Dahlia called out anxiously.
"The capital? Merchants?" The captain of the guards didn't relax his guard.
"Yes, we are merchants." Dahlia quickly replied.
"Damn it, are you trying to die? The sick person is the Duke's daughter!" Kevin shouted angrily, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.
"Whoosh!"
This movement immediately made everyone tense. The soldiers aimed their bows at Kevin, prepared to shoot an arrow at him at the slightest movement. They didn't care about the Duke's daughter or any titles—here, they followed their own rules.
Recently, they had caught a few merchants pretending to be nobles, and they were now in the guardhouse's small black room.
"Stop, don't shoot!" Dahlia was in a panic, quickly stepping in front of Catherine. "My father is Joe, and he is in Sedona City right now. Also, my good friend Catherine is sick. She really is the Duke's daughter."
The captain of the soldiers furrowed his brow, stepping forward to look at the stretcher, scanning everyone around. He coldly ordered, "Leave your knights' longspears and bows behind. Only carry long swords."
The two-meter-long knight spears and large quantities of bows and arrows were prohibited in Sedona City. Even now, there were a dozen or so knight spears and bows on hand.
"This..." The knights were anxious; the spears and bows were their weapons of defense.
"Put them down." Dahlia ordered coldly. She was in a hurry to get to Sedona City, so she would agree to reasonable demands.
"You'll put the knight spears and bows in that building over there. When you leave, you can come back and retrieve them," The soldier captain pointed to a nearby metal shed and instructed the soldiers to take the knights there. Under Dahlia's stern gaze, the knights reluctantly complied.
This was a directive from Lucas, who had specifically requested that large destructive weapons be prohibited in Sedona City. As the city grew stronger, even more restrictions would be placed on bringing weapons into the city.
"Follow me. You need to be registered." The soldier captain instructed as he led the group toward a small house by the dock. When the soldiers had noticed these ships earlier, someone had already gone to report to Sedona City.
Arriving at the wooden house, the soldier captain immediately provided pens and paper. Dahlia and the others quickly began writing. Time was running out, and if it were a normal situation, Kevin would have caused a scene with his knights.
"May I ask, who is the healer in Sedona City? Can you take us to them?" Dahlia secretly slid a silver coin toward the captain. She knew the unwritten rules in some cities—like how guards at city gates often accepted small bribes.
"Healer?" The captain waved his hand coldly, refusing to take the coin. He had become numb to these small acts of bribery. Many merchants tried to bribe him in hopes of getting a smuggling route, but he had always turned them down. The one before him got caught taking bribes and was missing since the next morning. Nobody knew about what happened to him, but he believed the city lord was behind it as he didn't like people breaking rules.
His good life was thanks to the city lord, and accepting bribes to let others smuggle goods would be dereliction of duty. Furthermore, accepting bribes was a criminal offense punishable by being sent to the black mines—a place where even money couldn't save you.
The guards assigned to watch the dock were all thoroughly vetted, and their postings were short-term, with people being rotated out after just a few months.
"Yes, we need the healer to treat my friend." Dahlia said, a little stunned. The captain had refused the silver coin—was it too little? That seemed overly greedy. Typically, those accepting bribes would take just a few copper coins. If she weren't in such a hurry to get to Sedona City, she wouldn't have offered a silver coin.
Dahlia suppressed her anger and slipped a few more silver coins to the captain in secret. Afterward, she wouldn't let this greedy knight off the hook. She was also greatly disappointed in Sedona City—if the knights here were so greedy, the city lord and the city itself must not be much better.
"Stop offering, I won't accept." The captain said coldly. He had figured out that these people really did have someone sick.
"Huh?" Dahlia was stunned. He wouldn't accept it? These were five silver coins!
"There are no healers in Sedona City, only doctors." The captain shook his head and explained.
"Doctors? Can they treat sickness?" Dahlia asked anxiously.
"Yes, anyone who's sick goes to see them." The captain replied honestly, his gaze scanning those who were writing.
"Then who is the best doctor?" Dahlia asked excitedly.
"Of course, it's the city lord. One of my comrades, he was a dead man, but the city lord saved him." The captain said passionately.
"A dead man saved?" Dahlia wondered if she had heard that correctly.
"Yes! My comrade's name is Bruce. He had a gash as long as a palm on his belly, and everyone thought he was done for. But our city lord came, and in no time, saved him. He even gave Bruce a blood transfusion." The captain said with such excitement that he gestured wildly, as though he had witnessed it himself, even though it was something he had only heard about.
Dahlia stared with her eyes, feeling as if she were hearing nonsense. It sounded even more absurd than the bloodletting treatment.
.
.
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.