The Avars were also puzzled as to why none of the people who went to the M Continent ever returned. The fleet and dragons that were supposed to return were nowhere to be seen. It was said that there was a Demon Clan from the M Continent in Castile, claiming that the M Continent had already been conquered. They would return only after the situation there was completely under the control of the dragons and the Avars.
However, the Avars waited and waited but no one came back. Even if they were to take control of the situation, it shouldn’t mean not sending anyone back, right?
The Dragon Church of the Avars was already planning to ask the dragons to send a new batch for escort to the M Continent to see the situation. After all, there couldn’t possibly be no news at all, unless there were multiple maritime disasters while under the escort of the dragons, otherwise they should have reached Avar by now.
At this time, an Avar soldier was observing the nearby sea at the harbor. Although he was supposed to be on watch, the soldier had already begun to doze off. After such a long time without any Avar ships returning, and no sight of dragons, the Avar harbor had already entered a semi-operational state, only receiving a few trading ships sailing in the nearby sea of the Solun Continent. However, due to the high tolls, the passing ships were becoming fewer and fewer.
But just then, the drowsy observer suddenly spotted a fleet slowly sailing from the horizon. The observer immediately rang the small bell in the watchtower. Hearing the clanging of the bell, a professional quickly rushed up to the watchtower and asked the observer, “Has there been news from the fleet?”
The observer widened his eyes, staring at the fleet on the horizon and replied, “Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t.”
“What do you mean maybe it is, maybe it isn’t?”
The professional was evidently a bit anxious and immediately used a detection spell to take a closer look, but suddenly felt his vision blur. Among the fleet, several ships were indeed Avar vessels, but it didn’t look like an Avar fleet at all. After all, the blue-and-gold flag above looked nothing like an Avar flag. It resembled the North Cape flag mentioned in previous intelligence but was not exactly the same. If it was only this flag, it would be fine, but some of the ships also displayed the Castile flag.
The professional had never seen the Northern Wind Bear flag, but everyone was very familiar with the Castile flag.
“Sir, do you… do you see clearly? Is that our fleet?”
The cautious observer asked the professional beside him.
“Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t.”
The professional muttered quietly. In that instant, he thought of the so-called legitimate Castilians who were secretly in contact with the Avars, hoping to formally cease hostilities with the Avars and establish cooperative relations. But if those were indeed the Castilian fleet, why would they come from the open sea?
And what about that blue-and-gold flag? Could it be that the dragons and the other Avars were defeated on the M Continent? They came over from the North Cape? No, no, that seemed unlikely, after all, those were dragons.
“Send someone to make contact and let our soldiers board the ships for inspection.”
In the end, the professional decided that they needed to make contact first.
As for the inspection, the Avars were notoriously overbearing. All vessels passing through Avar ports had to be boarded and inspected by the Avars, and extortion had almost become commonplace. Since the Avars were already known for their fierce combat capabilities, coupled with artillery support, those trading ships sailing along the inner seas had also tacitly agreed to this behavior, and every passing ship was expected to prepare a “red envelope” for the Avar soldiers.
The Avar ships quickly set out, and a professional used amplification magic to shout at the fleet, “Stop! You have entered the port area of the Avar Kingdom. According to the rules, passing ships must be inspected by the Avar Kingdom to proceed!”
Among the fleet, hearing the loud voice of the Avar professional, Bernice frowned. The Sea of Instability was indeed very dangerous, and the fleet had encountered a storm during the journey. Without those Defensive Enchantments, several ships might have sunk halfway. Fortunately, Regas provided escort, and no one was injured, but they had lost their way.
The gray robe’s nautical chart indicated the general direction, but they unexpectedly crossed into Avar waters.
Bernice glanced at the trembling Avar prisoner beside her and said, “You go talk to them and clarify things.”
The Avar prisoner immediately stepped forward and shouted hoarsely from the stern, “We are here on the orders of Emperor Ror, coming to the Solun Continent to conduct trade by sea. Everyone, the Avars have already been defeated!”
The prisoner’s voice was conveyed through the gray robe’s magic to the other party.
Unexpectedly, the other side seemed even more confused. Emperor Ror? Who? From the tone of their voice, it sounded like they were also Avars. And how could they say they had been defeated? Who should they listen to?
Bernice expressed her dissatisfaction, saying, “What’s the point of reasoning with them? A bunch of Avars, just tell them to scram. We still need to go to Castile.”
The Avar prisoner immediately shivered and retreated.
The Avars shouted firmly, “I don’t care which emperor you are sent by, even if it’s a dragon, you must stop for inspection at our Avar port! You must stop your ships first!”
These Avars had grown accustomed to being overbearing. Even if they felt that the news of defeat from the M Continent might be true, seeing the fleet that clearly resembled merchant ships, they thought they could extort a profit first. After all, no matter how strong the opponent was, their combat strength would surely decrease significantly after crossing the sea.
Hearing this, Bernice turned to look at the eager Regas. Well, it seemed these Avars still had some backbone.
“Do you want me to go?”
Clearly, Regas was eager to see if these Avars really dared to come inspect the dragons, but Bernice shook her head, “No, although the Solun dragon group has mostly been captured or killed, there should still be quite a few dragons here. We still don’t know what their attitude toward your M Continent dragons is.”
Regas pouted, appearing somewhat disappointed. As an intelligent being, he had been repeatedly warned by Margaret before departure to listen to Bernice.
“Inform all the fleets to prepare for battle; if they dare to come over, just push them back. After all, we are in a state of war with the Avars and have no need for any consideration.”
Upon receiving the order, those merchant fleets quickly prepared. After all, trading with whom was not trade? The Avars and the Ror Empire were indeed in a state of war, and these Avars had the audacity to speak to the emperor’s envoy in such a manner?
Among the fleets, Bernice seemed relatively calm and modest, while these merchant seamen were mostly even more reckless than this envoy.
These merchants and adventurers were humble inside their homeland but showed no weakness against these Avars. Moreover, there were imperial soldiers and priests on board; the merchants even had little interest in Castile and wanted to directly seize a piece of imperial territory as a port for trade. Hmm, the Avar port seemed pretty good, but thinking that they would have to conquer the entire Avar Kingdom to take this port was a different story.
Seeing that the opposing fleet showed no intention of responding, the temper of the Avars flared, and they immediately notified the vessels in the harbor to prepare to intercept.
Hearing the commotion, Rosalind also stepped out of the cabin, grabbing the hem of her gray robe and looking a bit anxious.
“National Master, what are those priests doing?”
Rosalind found it strange that, according to protocol, the artillery should be handled by the soldiers and guards on the ship, but now it was the priests taking over the artillery.
“Oh, they are praying to the Goddess, asking for the artillery to operate smoothly without malfunctioning and to accurately hit the target.”
Rosalind, who had studied mechanical engineering and magical arrays, looked puzzled and asked, “Does the Goddess of the M Continent have this sort of business?”
“Not really,” but I heard that after His Majesty the Emperor went to the Divine Kingdom, talking with the Goddess, this business was established.”
“?”
