23 News of the rebellion

On the morning of May 29, the weather improved, and the sun finally stopped stinging with her rays, and gave a few rays of sunlight through the cracks of the thick dark clouds and sprinkled them on the hideous rocks of the halfway island.

The four of them, who had not been out of the cave for a long time, hurried to the beach to rejuvenate their muscles and enjoy this rare good time. Parrett drew a sketch of the sand with wooden strips, marking the location of Maruyama Island, a small isolated island in the territorial waters of the United Kingdom to the south of the mainland.

"From here to Maruyama Island, it will take five or six days if it goes well, or ten or so days if it is slow," Parrett explained, with the help of a simple diagram, "but now Spreett's navy should be blockading this sea area to prevent the United Kingdom from receiving support from other countries from the sea, especially from Dragon." ”

"This is much more clear," Milo drew the contents of the sketch into his notebook, marked the location and name of Maruyama Island, and recorded the date of the day, "Once the Otter approaches Maruyama Island, it is likely to run into the Spreet Navy, and a fierce battle will definitely be inevitable." ”

"If you're lucky enough to run into a steamboat, it's a one-sided slaughter." Parrett half-jokingly, but it wasn't funny at all.

Kolan straightened his hair, which had been blown away by the sea breeze, and joined them in the conversation: "Rest assured, we will not take this risk, and besides, I have no authority to mobilize the Otter." ”

"Oh yes, that katana was given to Umi......" Erin remembered that Klan had given Umi a wooden white cane, proof of the royal status of the Dragon.

"Well, but we can take the Otter back to Dragon and change again...... Huh? Look over there—" said Kolan, pointing abruptly to the northern sea, "a boat has come to pick us up." "The previous agreement with the Otter was three days, and it was almost time.

"Pack up and get ready to board......" Milo checked her gear and bags, only to find that Erin's face was not quite right, "What's wrong?" ”

Erin's eyesight was good, she stared at the approaching dinghy, and said with a solemn face: "That boat is not from the Otter, and the crew is not the Dragon sailors or warriors!" ”

"Are you sure?" Melo immediately became alert, and looked far away, trying to see the dinghy clearly.

"Erin is right," Parrett said, "it's not Dragon's ship...... Are we being stalked by someone? ”

Kelan was about to say something, but Erin suddenly showed a look of surprise: "I know the person on the boat!" Yes, yes, the captain of the Union!! ”

"Union?!" Milo remembered: Captain Finn and his Union hadn't seen each other for more than half a year since they had last separated. Erin shouldn't be mistaken, but—even though she knew someone, Milo didn't let her guard down, "But what are they doing here?" Let's not take it lightly. ”

"Don't worry, a few sailors can't make it difficult for us." Parrett disdainfully said that with his ability, a shipwload of sailors was no match for him.

Worries were unnecessary, and as soon as the dinghy landed, Captain Finn's familiar hearty laugh dissolved the doubts in Milo's heart—sadness and anger were easy to imitate, but heartfelt joy was hard to disguise.

"Milo, my old friend, long time no see! Hahaha - oh, and this seasick beauty! After a brief greeting, the captain got to know each other with Kolan and Parrett.

Milo wondered, "You have come here——? ”

"Come and pick you up," replied the captain, his face suddenly becoming slightly serious, "someone knows you're here, and knows where you want to go, so I'll pick you up—oh, don't worry about the Otter, we've met them before, we've already agreed with them, and your baggage has been brought to the Union......

The four of them looked at each other, and Erin asked, "Captain, do you know where we're going?" ”

"Maruyama Island, right. Hahaha-" the captain replied with a smile, confidently correct, "get on the boat, and I'll talk about it when I get to the ship." The four of them couldn't ask anything, Kelan nodded, and Parrett shook off the burden on his body and patted the weapon on his back, which was a reassuring pill for the people next to him. The four of them boarded the dinghy, and Captain Finn ordered rowing out to sea. Where the sea and the sky meet, the Union quietly awaits the arrival of everyone, and at noon, everyone boarded the big ship. After a brief lunch, Captain Fein gave the order to sail west at full speed.

Erin went back to her room early to rest due to seasickness, and Parrett was in charge of protecting her in the next room. On the other side, Milo and Koran go to the captain's room and ask Captain Finn what he means by "detailing".

"First of all, I was also entrusted by someone: someone gave me a lot of money to pick you up at halfway to the island, and then take you to Maruyama Island." Captain Finn began to narrate, "I must keep the identity of the client a secret, but he is definitely not a bad guy, and he probably knows you. ”

"Know ......" Kelan whispered to herself, Milo on the side was very curious, but he didn't ask anything, even if he did, the answer must be "I'll know when I get there."

The captain continued, "There's one more thing you may not know yet: there's something going on over there in Splitter......"

"Mess?" Milo and Koran spoke in unison.

"Yes, big mess! The Imperial Army in Wall City has mutinied. ”

"W-What?!" Milo didn't believe his ears, how could the usually disciplined Imperial Army of Splett mutiny, or a whole city and corresponding military port, "What the hell happened?" ”

"You know that Spellet and the United Kingdom are at war, right, the Emperor wants peace talks to end the war, and he has to negotiate it himself......"

Milo snatched the words: "This undoubtedly hurts the hearts of those front-line soldiers. ”

"That's right!" The captain continued, "At first it was just a bit of a stir in the barracks, but then Sevia Anseson, as you told me before, the former fiancé of Miss Seasickness, who spearheaded the rebellion, and because of his high prestige in the army, almost immediately responded, the Imperial army of Wall City declared its independence from the Empire. Belch...... This was probably ten days ago...... "Ten days ago, on May 19th, Milo and his party were still in the Duchy of Komet, so naturally they had no way of knowing about it.

Milo looked at Klan, hoping to hear her opinion, Kran thought for a moment and said, "This is indeed Sevia's style of acting, he must have the confidence to deal with the Spoplet Imperial Army ...... who came to quell the rebellion."

"Well, he did," Captain Fein remembered something, "I got the news before I set sail that Sevia had promised the nobles of several large cities that if the rebellion was successful, they would get several times the amount of territory and benefits they have now, so the Imperial forces in the neighboring cities were also watching...... I don't know how it's going......"

"It's hard to imagine what Sevia's purpose is, he doesn't look like a power-obsessed person......" Kolan said.

"Maybe it's not for power, although I don't know or see this person, I always feel that he is very similar to us." "He's always challenging the impossible, maybe he's doing what he thinks is right, isn't he also concerned about the 'curse of the stars'?" ”

"Well, I have similar thoughts." Kelan agreed with Milo's opinion, "If only we could ask him face to face......

"It's going to be difficult, you have to break through his fleet of steamships first." Captain Finn's sudden remark said, "Oh, the steamship is a new type of warship......"

Milo waved his hand and said, "We know and have seen this. But why say 'to break through his fleet of steamships'? ”

"Well, do you think that Sevia didn't care about his own strength when he started a rebellion? When he was in charge of transporting the missing villagers from Overwatch Island (as we remember, it was the wind chimes that teleported them), he planted his own men on each steamship, and then when the rebellion began, most of the steamships of Spellet followed him to Wal Harbor, about ten......"

Milo and Koran glanced at each other, they both knew the horror of steamships, and ten steamships could be called the Array of Annihilation.

"Will we be able to get to Maruyama Island without any problems?" Still worried, Milo asked, "You won't encounter a steamship, will you?" ”

"Don't worry about that," said Captain Finn confidently, "there will be a boat to meet us halfway, and we will have time to deal with any accidents." Although there were still a hundred worries, Milo still chose to trust the captain, after all, he was also a veteran of the sea, and had helped them get out of danger many times.

"And," Milo suddenly remembered something, "Pete Akay, the lord of the territory on the outskirts of Wall City, is there any news about him after the rebellion?" ”

"I've never heard of that name." The captain's response was direct.

The three of them said something else, and the captain knew only about the rebellion.

……

The Union sailed westward, with the foul waves and dark clouds accompanying the storm for two more days, and then the blue sea and blue skies, and finally the Union sailed away from the terrible, abominable waters of Midway Island.

Before entering the territorial waters of the United Kingdom, the receiving ship was encountered, a British naval warship, and with it new news, both good and bad: for the rebellion within Spellet, the United Kingdom did not cooperate with the actions of Sevia, which made the counterinsurgent Imperial army have no worries, and easily surrounded the city of Wall, except at sea; The rebels of Seville held the city, especially the steam ships in the harbor, which made the defense impregnable, and even had the strength to fight out, so that the rebel imperial army was in a dilemma, and the only way to do it was to continue the siege; Since Wall City became the center of the Empire's conflicts, neither the Imperial Army nor the rebels could draw their strength to the United Kingdom's side, so the route to Maruyama Island was unimpeded. The last one is definitely good news!

Erin, who learned of the rebellion, was also very concerned about the safety of her brother Pete, but there was still no news of him.

On June 6, 1806, the Union successfully anchored next to Maruyama Island, lowered the dinghy, and prepared to land on the island. As Parrett said, Maruyama Island is indeed not big, and the most conspicuous thing on the island is a high mountain called Maruyama.

"Let's go, I'll take you to meet my clients, and I'm the one who asked me to bring you here." Captain Finn rowed in a dinghy carrying Milo, Kolan, Parrett, and a pale-faced Erin to the fishing village of the island, "He should be in the inn, and he will be seen in a moment." ”

After landing, the group couldn't wait to get to the inn, curiosity prompting Milo and the others to hurry up and meet the mysterious man who knew their itinerary inside out - but Kelan was an exception, her slightly furrowed brow indicated that she had guessed who this mysterious person was.

Captain Finn led them to a guest room, knocked politely, and pushed the door in—there was a man sitting in the room, quietly reading.

"I brought them here." The captain said respectfully.

The reader raised his head - this face Milo recognized! Not only Milo, but Parrett also had a surprised look on her old acquaintance.

"Yes, it's you!" Milo's eyes widened in surprise and said that maybe he had expected it, but it still surprised him.

——

However, another voice also shook those present:

"Long time no see, maybe I should call you another name-"

It was Koran who spoke—

—Dumenique Dutwid.