"Do you know what you're talking about?" said Seengar, gritting his teeth. But Abrost, who was standing in front of him, ignored the hideous expression of the trade windsman master, and the dwarf investigator nodded and said calmly: "Of course, I have never talked nonsense. ”

"Isn't it nonsense to persuade me to intervene in a murder, not to mention that the target of the murder ......," Seengar paused, for he had just bitten his tongue out of inner unease...... It's all the merchant friends who came to see the Inventory Day celebration!"

"I'm just offering a piece of advice," Abrostet denied. "It's just the most intellectually feasible piece of advice. As for the object of operation, the choice of this range is not up to me...... It's all up to you. ”

Hearing this, Seengar took a deep breath. He turned his head to the door of the balcony of the audience room, and slammed the closed door open, not even damaging the latch on the door.

The young head of the family stepped out onto the balcony and looked out over the town of Seasea from the towering family castle. His eyes were fixed on the pier by the sea. Because of the distance, the place seemed to him like a wet leaf, sticking to the outskirts of the town.

"Murder, arson," Seengar's face twitched unnaturally, and Abrost stepped onto the balcony, "all sins cannot be borne by us trade winds alone. You'll have to do some work, Gnome Island didn't just send a few merchants to Seasea Town. ”

"Very clever suggestion," the gnome investigator replied after a few breaths, "but we'll first move out of what is left of that ship—while that Joms pirate has done a bit of abuse, I've brought much more than that." ”

......

A cold night heralds the dawn of winter. So, after a morning of fighting and an afternoon of tossing, Namen asked the first mate and the crew of Joms to distribute the warm clothes they found from the dwarf ships.

Nammon himself wore a long, thick coat over his shirt and trousers, which were tightly buttoned at the chest and neckline, long at the back and on both sides, down to the ankles, and dancing like a cloak under the waist.

"Maybe I should put on a half-body plate armor too," Namen couldn't help but think as he looked at his outfit, he didn't like this kind of skirt-like outfit very much. But in the end, he gave up on the idea. "Now is the time to go to war, not to think about fashion or tradition. The militants under Lord Quest wore uniforms to make them easy to recognize. ”

So Namen sat down under the mainmast on the top deck, and had a lighted windbreak lamp with blubber candles hanging over his head. A small dining table was set up in front of him, waiting for the crew to serve them up.

Thanks to the advanced cooktops on the Gnome Sea ships, they were able to change their food tonight in a lot of new ways. The crew member of the Joms, who had been a guest chef, figured out the purpose of the new stove and made a stew of steamed stapotatoes with salted meat for his companions - a stapotato is an earth-colored tuber that grows in a shallow pond - after it is fully steamed, the stagper potato is boiled by the water and then drizzled with thick and spicy brown bacon.

"You're a fucking genius," Namen complimented the chef who was serving him a plate of freshly cooked potatoes, who bowed in honor to the captain before turning away to feed the rest of the Joms crew.

The first mate walked over. "Captain," he lowered, indicating that he wanted to have a more intimate conversation, "we've held out long enough today. Although the ship has plenty of food, we can't fight the entire Trade Winds family in Seasea Town without manpower, weapons, and ammunition. Shouldn't we ......?"

“...... You know," Namen knew what the first mate was thinking, but he interrupted him with a topic he had not thought of at all, "There is money behind every war, and everything else is just an 'excuse' or a 'reason'. ”

"What's the difference between the two?" the first mate's train of thought was suddenly led astray. How could the Batto Nine Hells Contract Demon, let alone Namen or a graduate of Nessers' Academy, be able to guard against the skills of a mere mortal?

"Absolutely. What is said before doing it is called an excuse, and what is said after doing it is called a reason. The Trade Winds Chamber of Commerce had attacked us because they were worried that we would damage the reputation of the Xihai Town's safe docks, and this was the excuse. And by telling them and the gnomes widely about what they and the gnomes were doing, I gave them a reason to destroy all those in the know. ”

After listening to Namen's explanation, the first mate's jaw dropped in surprise. "Will they really do that? Kill all the people who are docked on the merchant ships docked at the wharf of Xihai Town! I'm afraid the Trade Wind Chamber of Commerce is going crazy!"

"They're crazy if they don't do that. Namen said lightly. "So, at first they had to deal with only about 20 of us, but now they have to exterminate hundreds of warriors who have been begging for a living at sea for a long time. You know, according to the rules of broadside battles, once you get on the deck of an enemy ship, there is no possibility of a draw. In the end, it must be a complete victory for one side and a complete defeat for the other. ”

Looking at the first mate, who was still a little blindfolded, Namen explained patiently and rarely. "So, stop saying that we don't have enough manpower, weapons, ammunition and so on. At least until all of those ships are burned, we have hundreds of allies and a dozen galleons to squander. Of course, the premise is that the people of the Trade Wind Chamber of Commerce hurry up and launch an attack......"

Sending away the thoughtful first mate, Namen continued to finish his own dinner. He slammed the plate upside down on the table, and soon the crew member of the Yoms, who was in charge of cooking, came running over to change the cutlery for the captain and remove the low table that served as the dining table.

The icy evening breeze blew, and many of the crew members who had also finished dinner and stayed on deck had goosebumps. Tonight, Xihai Town should be brightly lit, full of singing and dancing, and people gather together to celebrate the harvest of the year on the inventory day. But now, when they looked from the deck, Xihai Town in the distance was like a dormant beast, completely hidden in the dark night.

The tide had already begun to rise, surging towards the shore, lapping at the merchant ships docked at the berths. Accompanied by the sound of rushing water and wooden planks, some sharp-eyed fellows saw a large group of shadowy figures appear at the entrance of the dock.

"The captain is right," standing on the stern, the first mate could see this scene clearly, "I'm afraid that all the armed forces of the Trade Winds Chamber of Commerce are five or six times more than the people who attacked the ship in the morning, and it is impossible to take down our twenty or so men." ”