Chapter 424

Chapter 47 The Beginning of the Turmoil Part 1

As dusk fell and night approached, dozens of ships sailed steadily across the calm sea, heading toward the crimson sunset in the Ipsus Sea, about eighty nautical miles northwest of the Meit Islands, beyond the territorial waters of the Silgaya Republic.

In the scattered afterglow, Anasileis held her sword and sat cross-legged at the bow of the three-masted ship, gazing ahead at the golden ripples that formed waves, like silver edges woven with silk, retreating to either side along the gunwale, creating white, rippling patterns layer upon layer.

“Damn heathens…”

Someone cursed softly behind her.

Anasileis didn’t need to turn around to know that it was the first mate who was once again in a foul mood.

The first mate belonged to the Holy Church’s Sixth Knight Order, but he wasn’t actually a knight. He was just someone responsible for assisting the captain and ensuring the safety of the sailing ship—there were many like him in the Sixth Knight Order because they were the Church’s “navy,” so there were quite a few crew members. Of course, the crew members couldn’t be knights; knights wouldn’t do the work of sailors. Their only duty was to fight for glory.

Anasileis also knew why the first mate was complaining.

About five or six days ago, before the fleet had set sail, he had planned to go home on leave to visit his family—this was something he would mention several times every day. The first mate’s hometown was in the north of Silgaya, not too far from the Mosley coast, but the man hadn’t been back in a long time.

This time, it seemed someone in his family had fallen ill. Eager to return home after winning a battle, he immediately applied to the captain for leave to go home. Originally, the captain had approved it, but just as he was packing his things and preparing to leave, an urgent mission suddenly came up.

So he had to put down his luggage and get back on board.

Naturally, he was unhappy about this.

These past few days, he often scolded his subordinates over trivial matters.

Anasileis actually didn’t care much about this. She had “involuntarily” learned about the first mate’s situation because she always liked to stay on deck to observe enemy movements. The nearly forty-year-old man, who smelled strongly of the sea, was busy with deck affairs and would often loiter near her, occasionally chatting about how he had been running around for years and still hadn’t married.

Anasileis ignored him.

But the first mate was very enthusiastic towards her and gradually got used to her quiet nature. During his free time, he would talk to her by herself, sometimes even offering her dried meat and beer. Anasileis never refused food, so she would take everything and eat it, storing what she couldn’t finish in her small bag—she naturally refused the beer since she didn’t drink alcohol.

He told her many stories.

He said his father had been seriously ill since he was young and had been bedridden ever since. His mother had a lame leg from being hit by a rich family’s carriage when she was young. There was never enough food at home, and he had a sister who, like her, didn’t like to talk. Eight years ago, she died from hunger after eating mushrooms she found in the forest… His monthly salary wasn’t much, but it was enough. After buying alcohol, he sent the rest back to his mother… Everyone in the village thought he had made it big by joining the knight order… and so on, these were all trivial matters.

But after hearing such trivial matters repeatedly, Anasileis felt that he wasn’t as vicious as he appeared. He was actually a family-oriented person, always talking about family matters.

So she didn’t want to drive him away.

In fact, on this ship, the only one willing or brave enough to speak with her was the first mate. Others had heard the “reputation” of the Sword Ghost, knowing she was a papal knight who specialized in killing apostate papal knights—even if those knights had done evil deeds—such a reputation always made people wary.

Although for Anasileis, as long as she could earn money and have enough to eat, she didn’t care about anything else.

But in such an environment, where she heard nothing but the sound of the waves every day, having someone who wasn’t bad and willing to talk to her like this wasn’t unpleasant.

Not long after, as the sun was about to set, the first mate finished scolding his men and walked over.

“Miss Anasileis, are you hungry?”

The man stood to one side with a beer, leaning against the railing, casually asking.

Anasileis frowned but didn’t respond—she was really not good at these things, finding social interactions unbearable, and she was never able to get used to it.

In Anasileis’ mind, the way people interacted was through who was more ruthless, who was more willing to risk their life, and who could survive—this was what her father had taught her since childhood, deeply ingrained in her bones.

But she wasn’t used to it, while the first mate had already gotten used to her attitude. As long as Anasileis didn’t refuse him, he would continue talking tirelessly: “It’ll be dark soon… tonight’s dinner will be fish again, but we’ll have bread too. I remember my sister loved bread, hard enough to use as a club, she used to chew on it when she was little…”

The man chattered for a bit and then asked her, “Miss Anasileis, do you think we’ll catch those heathens this time… Is the source of the information reliable…”

“…Don’t call me Miss.”

“Oh.”

The man nodded and took a few large gulps of beer.

“Miss Anasileis, don’t look at me like that. My swordsmanship isn’t bad either. Years ago, I even killed a few pirates. Compared to those knights, I’m not far behind… I have a sharp sword stored in the cabin, and I gave it a name, ‘Brown Bear’… If we really encounter those heathens, I’ll tear them apart like a bear… Haha, a bunch of wild dogs from the East…”

Anasileis closed her eyes and remained silent.

She knew that the man thought this time would be the same as last time—if they really intercepted the heathens, they would simply kill them.

But in reality, the situation was much more complicated.

How complicated, Anasileis wasn’t entirely clear.

She only knew the reasons for this voyage and the enemies they were facing.

She remembered that day, when most people thought the war with the heathens had ended, the Sixth Knight Order suddenly rescued someone from the sea—a person who had supposedly been hiding there for almost two years.

That man was in his thirties, emaciated and barely recognizable, with pus-filled wounds that stank horribly. Even approaching him could make one smell the foul odor.

When the man was carried into the command tent, Anasileis happened to be there and heard his intermittent reports.

The northern defenses responsible for intercepting the heathens fleeing from Isembel and set up along the North Sea shore had been breached.

A highly respected archbishop was missing and unaccounted for.

And the batch of captives they had originally taken prisoner were merely a diversion; the earlier intelligence was false. They had been captured long ago, and the heathens’ true target was to rescue an old heretic named “Pierre” first, because he possessed the stolen divine relic from the royal city.

The man cried and spoke, saying he had disgraced the honor of the knights and had escaped by killing his comrades. The enemy forced him to spread false information, making him release the message that the heathens intended to leave, but they were actually preparing to attack.

His remaining comrades, risking their lives, deliberately wounded themselves in combat to fool the enemy and let him escape, allowing him to return alive and inform the two knight orders stationed at the Mosley coast that they were facing.

“It’s… the clown…”

“That… clown!”

Anasileis remembered the expression on the man’s face when he shouted out that name.

She also remembered the stern and pale faces of everyone in the camp, including团长威廉姆斯，听到这个名字后的严肃和铁青。