In the southern port area of the King's Castle, ships from the Mara Sea and the sea further west gathered here. There were even merchant ships and tourists from the Sand Land in the south.
The ships came from different cities and countries. As long as it was a country near the sea, one could find their flag flying high here.
Although most of the ships from the Sea of Darkness stopped at the northern port area, if there were ships that wanted to continue south, south, or west, they would choose to stop at the southern port area.
This was the place with the most flow of people and the busiest loading and unloading of goods. It was noisier than the busiest square in the city. However, there were no street performances by bards, no prayer bells, only the shouts and curses of workers. The horn of a ship entering the port could be heard throughout the entire port. When the ship entered the port, the bow of the ship lightly touched the dock, and the cast iron anchor fell into the water, causing the water to splash and the dull sound of the water.
The cries of livestock and rare beasts sounded from time to time, but they were all drowned out by the voices of the people.
Wooden boxes and barrels containing food, iron, or porcelain were pushed onto carts and pushed into the warehouse of the port.
Merchants and merchant ships from the East, South, West, and North all gathered here. They sold or bought goods and brought them back to their cities and countries to sell for profit.
Although the King's Castle had become a country within a country and no longer had its former glory, as long as it continued to exist, it would not be neglected. As the hub of two continents, the transportation center in all directions, as long as it did not turn into ruins, it could continue to maintain its prosperity, even if it was not as prosperous as before.
In this bustling port area, there was a place that only belonged to Jinbei, only belonged to the Jinbei Chamber of Commerce.
The dwarf Balik Jinbei, in this port, had a sense of existence and authority that no one could question.
He was a mighty dwarf, and he had lived for hundreds of years. Even among his own kind, he was a highly respected elder.
Although he was a dwarf with a rather strange behavior, he had a huge caravan that belonged only to him. He had dozens of well-armed merchant ships with a large cargo capacity.
His business could reach the east of the Yilan Continent, and he could also sail to the Frozen Sea in the north. Spices, food, weapons, handicrafts … Regardless of whether it was luxury goods or daily necessities, he was willing to dabble in them.
He was a Dwarf, but he didn't have much interest in blacksmithing. He was a Dwarf, but he wasn't crazy about gems. He just liked shiny things like most people.
He had no temper, was sophisticated, and even appeared to be a little humble … In the eyes of others, he was undoubtedly a strange dwarf, and even he himself thought so.
Now, Balik, the strange dwarf, was sitting in his office in the port district, holding a quill dipped in ink in one hand and a pipe in the other.
He got this pipe in Lulunaka's shop. This delicate little thing didn't cost him a penny. It was a gift from Lulunaka, and also one of his few choices. He didn't want to choose goods that gave people a strange and dangerous feeling. Whether it was a spinning top, a mask, or a sleeping baby grass, they weren't good things.
He sat in front of his desk, his quill moving across a thick account book. He held the pipe in his other hand, but he didn't put it in his mouth for a long time. It looked like he had forgotten that there was such a thing in his hand.
His office room was spacious and bright, without too many decorations. There were a lot of documents and account books on the bookshelves.
The window was opened, and the sea breeze blew in with the sun. There was also the sound of bustling outside.
He sat there, not responding to the noise outside. These sounds didn't seem to affect his work.
Outside the window was an area and dock that belonged only to him. Without his consent, other ships couldn't enter his little kingdom.
The door was tightly closed, and there were dwarf guards standing outside and inside the door.
The guards were wearing strong leather armor, with short axes hanging at their waists, or two-handed axes on their backs.
They were wearing hoods, and their expressions couldn't be seen, but they didn't need to be seen by others.
Every guard had the mark of the Golden Cup Chamber of Commerce on their clothes. The pattern of the Golden Cup was known by everyone in this port.
And the owner of this pattern didn't have this pattern on himself. This was because the Golden Cup was his surname.
The guards stood not far away, and didn't make any noise to disturb their boss.
Balik didn't seem to be a person who could be easily disturbed. The noise outside couldn't distract him from his work.
Maybe for him, the noise couldn't affect him, and it was actually part of his work.
Balik's hand suddenly stopped writing. He put the quill back in the ink bottle and shouted to the guards at the door, "If Maurice is here, call her over."
One of the guards nodded, opened the door, and left.
Not long after, the sound of hurried footsteps came from outside. The door was opened, and a tall and thin elf came in.
This was a male elf with tattoos on his face since he was young.
The three green tattoos from his forehead to his chin seemed to divide his face into two halves.
His face was thin, but his complexion was very healthy. There was no sign of illness, which made him look good. His handsome and slender face easily made him look like a woman — in the eyes of other people of the same race, perhaps that was the case.
The wide robe covered his body, and this gender-neutral dress made it even harder to see his gender.
When he came in, he was holding a thick notebook under his arm. There were all kinds of notes stuck between the pages.
"Good morning, Maurice," Balik said to the elf who came in.
"It's not early now, Mr. Balik." The elf called Maurice opened the notebook under his arm. "It's almost noon.
If you're done, then your afternoon schedule can be more relaxed. There are seven big merchants from caravans who want to see you. Four from the East, one from the North, two from the West, and one from the Sand Land in the South … There's also a banquet at the nobles' place in the evening. Maybe you also need a set of decent clothes, not what you're wearing now. "
Balik tugged at his collar. He was indeed not wearing any luxurious clothes, but in a place like the port, only a fool would show off — the smell brought by the sea breeze would not be removed even after washing the clothes for a few days.
"What banquet? It's just some greedy and incompetent guys who want me to sell their ridiculous ideas."
"Mr. Balik, you can say this here. Don't say this in public."
Maurice kindly reminded him. "The nobles can give up everything, but they won't lose their face."
"You can't say this outside, or I'm worried that you'll be abducted and sold at night."
Balik laughed. "I think you know that you're very popular with many ladies and gentlemen."
Maurice sighed. "That's because of you, Mr. Balik.
If I'm not your secretary, no one will care about me. In some places, there are elves and women who are better looking than me. "
Balik stroked his beard and continued to speak, but he changed the topic. "Just now, I heard a very unpleasant sound that I couldn't stand.
It was the sound of the hull being slightly torn.
It's not that the keel is finished, but it's like a piece of skin on my body was torn off by a hook. Although it's not fatal, it's very painful, so painful that I can't ignore it. "
"I don't think you need to feel so uncomfortable, Mr. Balik."
Maurice said, flipping through the notebook in his hand. "That's not our ship. We're just borrowing the port."
"Oh, then I don't feel uncomfortable."
Balik smiled, put the pipe in his mouth, took a deep breath, and then exhaled a mouthful of smoke.
The bowl at the front of the pipe was not burning, but a small stream of water was spraying out. Balik had the foresight to aim the pipe in the direction of the window. The small stream of water from the pipe flew out of the window, perhaps falling on the head of some unlucky person.
"You seem to like this prank pipe," Maurice said.
"It's very interesting, and the taste is not bad."
Balik turned to look at Maurice. "One more thing … In fact, the sound outside is just a small matter. Since it's not our ship, there's no need to worry about it.
I want to know the current movements of our ship. "
"Now?" Maurice was a little surprised. "That's going to take some time."
"Now is the time," Balik said. "After noon, you and I won't have the time."
"But, why now?"
Balik did not answer immediately, but looked out of the window. "As a businessman, it's impossible to not have a sense of smell …"
There were some words that Balik would not say before getting the exact information to disturb others. It was not a good thing for the operation of the Chamber of Commerce.
Some vague information and details, as well as his intuition, mixed together to form a rather terrifying thing.
That thing might not come, or it might already be brewing; it might happen in the next moment, or it might be a long time later.
It was an ominous smell from the east of the strait.
Winter was coming.