Chapter 847: Chapter 10: Cutting Off the Competition (Part 3)

“Renie…”

Just as the islanders were about to take their midday nap and Fisher’s face began to darken, Renie burst into laughter. She took out a bag of Kado silver coins from her pocket, placed it in Fisher’s hand, and pulled Emhardt, who was giving Fisher a significant look, out of his arms.

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop. We’ll meet at the port later… Come on, Emhardt, do you want to buy something?”

“Anything, just hoping to find a book I haven’t read…”

Floating in the air, Emhardt glanced at Fisher and then at the smiling Renie beside him. After exchanging a look with Fisher, he resignedly followed Renie over, clearly understanding that Fisher wanted to take this time to meet Alagina.

Fisher gratefully looked at the brave Book Knight who sacrificed himself, then deliberately avoided taking the road from Old Jack’s tavern and instead headed towards the market they had visited before. He planned to loop back to Old Jack’s tavern.

…

…

Just like before, Alagina carried the fish Pahetz brought for Old Jack to his tavern. Naturally, a task like replenishing supplies wasn’t something the Iceberg Queen, as the captain, needed to do. She obviously had other matters to attend to.

She recalled receiving a message magic from Pirate Harbor in the Southern Ocean, informing her that Fisher was wanted overseas in Nali. However, such maritime messages typically concerned task assignments and major events. Even though Pirate Harbor had established an intelligence network for various countries, the information was often irrelevant to most pirates’ missions and couldn’t be routinely sent through message magic.

Therefore, to keep up with news from the Northern Realm, she’d often personally return to check Pirate Harbor’s latest intelligence, usually every two weeks.

Of course, she could write to Fisher, as she always carried the messenger he gave her, just like a talisman. But, since she wasn’t particularly articulate, each time she picked up the pen, she’d end up writing only “I miss you,” ignoring literary form, and worrying it might make her seem too “manly” or petty…

Ultimately, she chose to secretly observe the Northern Realm to gauge Fisher’s current situation. This time was no exception. She first brought a gift back for Old Jack on behalf of her Chief Officer Pahetz, who finally had a new experience.

“Old Jack, this is a gift from Pahetz, she sends her regards.”

Alagina pushed open the door to Old Jack’s tavern, greeted him with her usual stoic expression, but quickly noticed something felt off about today’s atmosphere.

“Ah… Captain Alagina, just leave it there… uh, how has your voyage to the Storm Sea been these days, still safe?”

Usually, Old Jack would just nod casually and move on, but today he peculiarly inquired about their search for the Storm Sea, while his gaze darted nervously and his expression was not quite natural…

Coming from Female Country’s military, Alagina quickly sensed something was amiss. She scanned Old Jack sharply while pondering internally, and replied,

“So far, so good…”

“Hmm, that’s good to hear.”

Alagina placed the fish on the table by the door. She didn’t see the usual rowdy Mouse Human Species trio but noticed a chair pushed out in front of another table instead… The tavern’s chairs were quite high, and Karma and her companions, being very short, disliked sitting on them. If they did sit, it surely wouldn’t be on just one chair, plus there were two opened bags of candy on the table and discarded wrappers on the floor…

“Karma… where are they?”

“Oh, they’re napping. They just fell asleep after getting tired of reading this morning.”

Alagina stared at the candy wrappers on the floor without replying, remaining silent for a moment before suddenly asking,

“Old Jack, have you received any news from Fisher?”

“…No, hasn’t he gone to the Northern Realm? If you’re worried about him, just write him a letter… I mean, later.”

“Alright, I will… I’m leaving.”

Appearing as if she hadn’t noticed anything, Alagina nodded to Old Jack and then slowly pushed the tavern door open to leave, allowing Old Jack, who was behind the counter and engaging in such mischief for the first time, to breathe a slight sigh of relief…

He’s just an observer, and just slightly covering for Fisher makes his heart race. He wonders how Fisher manages to remain calm amid the storm, relying solely on his courage, perhaps?

The uneasy Old Jack stood thinking, no longer polishing glasses, unaware that Alagina, who had just left the tavern, was standing at the street corner, pausing. She furrowed her brows slightly, scanning the streets on either side, speculating that someone very familiar with Old Jack must have been there recently; otherwise, he would never allow an outsider to give his most cherished Karma and her companions candy…

Old Jack came from Nali, and Alagina didn’t know much about his relationships. From Pahetz’s words, she learned that all his relatives were dead, and in Nali, he only knew Fisher. Thus, the identity of the visitor was likely already determined, and no one else would travel all the way to Pirate Harbor deep in the East Ocean.