Chapter 71: Wanna Pull Off A Heist?
In the early morning, sonorous and melodious trumpet calls sounded from outside the window.
Anse rolled over, and the warm sunlight shone right on his face, feeling cozy and a bit itchy.
He sat up, stretched lazily, and his body immediately came alive, feeling great, full of vitality, with the illusion that he would never tire.
“Dong dong dong…”
He got up and opened the door, and Brat stood outside, his face full of excitement: “Come quick and look, two warships have arrived at Silver Scale Bay!”
“Warships from where?”
Anse followed Brat to his room, and looking out the window, the anchorage at Silver Scale Bay indeed had several more sailing ships.
He picked up the telescope, scanned around, and focused his gaze on two medium-sized sailing ships, with rows of cannons lined up on both sides of the ship’s rail, covered by waterproof cloth but their outlines clearly visible.
At the top of the sterncastle, a huge blue crescent silver star flag fluttered in the wind.
“This is Waterdeep’s cruiser fleet, two or three ships forming a small fleet…” Anse’s tone carried a bit of excitement.
The cruiser fleet mainly patrols the Sword Coast, north to Neverwinter, south to Nelanther, striking against pirates and smuggling trade, ensuring the safety of passing merchant ships.
This small fleet should be here to support Baldur’s Gate. As an important ally of Baldur’s Gate, Waterdeep must take action.
The reason he was excited was that relations between Waterdeep and Amn were poor, due not only to commercial competition but also historical reasons.
Amn had once assassinated Waterdeep nobles, and the two sides had long-standing grudges. Moreover, Amn was profit-driven and would do anything for money, especially slave trade, with their hands reaching into Waterdeep’s Skullport.
Slave trade was classified as a first-degree felony by Waterdeep: first offense resulted in confiscation of all property and lifelong exile to the Troll Wasteland; repeat offenders were executed directly and their souls sealed in the magical prison of the “Anvil Tomb.”
With Waterdeep’s warships nearby, who would dare to openly engage in slave trade.
“As soon as they arrive, Silver Scale Bay seems a bit calmer.” Brat sighed.
Anse adjusted the telescope view and locked his gaze on the 【Sea Shark】 at the dock, where people were bustling about, seemingly loading goods or resupplying.
“They’re going to run.”
“Who?”
“【Sea Shark】, this is most likely a slave ship too.”
“Waterdeep wouldn’t target them at a time like this, right?” Brat asked doubtfully.
“Not necessarily.” Anse smiled faintly; the Waterdeep he knew wasn’t rigid.
At this moment, a series of light, brisk footsteps approached, and then Dara’s figure appeared at the door. Seeing the door open, she knocked on the doorframe twice.
“Have you packed your things? Hurry and eat breakfast, then come with me after.”
“Packed.” Brat quickly replied.
“Hurry up, we leave together at eight.” Dara gave Anse a playful smile and turned to go downstairs.
“Let’s go.” Anse waved his hand.
They didn’t have much stuff, just one large backpack each, and many things were procured by Brat just yesterday.
Nolnos was responsible for carrying the luggage, while the others only brought weapons and personal belongings.
There weren’t many people in the dining room; they ate a bit casually, and only when they went out did they discover everyone was at the garden entrance.
Six or seven elf waiters and two guests, one big and one small, all with luggage, though the elves mostly carried just one backpack each.
Little Clara stood beside Kafka, and upon seeing Anse, her eyes curved into crescents with a smile, but then her face turned serious, one hand on her hip, the other waving at Anse: “Come on, come on, we’re just waiting for you…”
The crowd burst into laughter, except Dara who covered her face with both hands; Anse didn’t need to guess to know who Little Clara was imitating.
“Coming, coming.” Anse checked the time; it wasn’t yet eight.
He picked up Clara and placed her on the saddle, while he walked with the others.
The group chatted and laughed as they headed to the dock, the atmosphere very relaxed.
“Where’s your sister… why isn’t she here?” Anse looked around and didn’t see Gweneth.
“She always stays here; this is our home. This time I’m mainly seeing Little Clara off…” Kalenno explained.
They all came from Paros city, which was why the slaver mentioning this city made Gweneth so concerned.
Paros city was located over a hundred kilometers north of Baldur’s Gate, dependent on Baldur’s Gate, a port city with mixed ethnicities where humans made up less than 20%.
It was said that it used to be a small fishing village, home to a group of slaves who survived a shipwreck. Fearing slavers would come for them again, they formed an organization called “Paros” for self-protection.
Then, in protecting themselves, Paros became a major power, and after being favored by Grand Duke Ravengard, it developed rapidly, attracting many surface races to settle.
But it wasn’t a good harbor, with only twenty thousand people, and trade not very developed; its advantage was very good public security.
A merchant ship 【Quesser】 affiliated with Paros came to Baldur’s Gate twice a month, stopping at Silver Scale Bay for a day each time.
Moon Shadow Kui Ling’s waiters would take this chance to rotate home.
Previously the schedule was irregular, so Kalenno couldn’t say much, because with the trouble in Baldur’s Gate, whether 【Quesser】 would still come and when was uncertain.
“When do we set sail?” Anse asked.
“Not sure.” Kalenno shrugged. “This is the first time 【Quesser】 has docked at Silver Scale Bay after the disaster, but don’t worry, my sister talked to them when they docked at dawn; they can take people.”
“My sister is one of the investors in 【Quesser】; she has some say in this.”
“Mm.” Anse nodded slightly; it seemed Gweneth had high status in Paros—such official ships weren’t for just anyone to invest in.
By the time they reached the dock, they could see a uniquely styled sailing ship from afar.
The ship was over forty meters long, slender in shape, with both ends sharply curved like a crescent, giving a light and agile feel.
It didn’t have the long continuous deck of a galleon, few cannons on the deck, below which were the cargo hold and crew quarters, no forecastle, only three levels of sterncastle.
【Quesser】’s berth was surrounded by many people, but all were stopped by the crew, not allowing anyone aboard.
As soon as Kalenno arrived, the crew quickly lowered the rope ladder and brought them aboard, without any questions or inspections, clearly very familiar with each other.
“Quesser” comes from Elvish, meaning elf, but the crew weren’t all elves—humans, halflings, half-elves, gnomes, dragonborn, a real goulash, truly unique style.
The rooms on the ship were very cramped, four per room, and even Kalenno was no exception.
According to him, these conditions already crushed nine out of ten merchant ships and warships; most warship sailors didn’t even have fixed bunks, sleeping on hammocks by the gun carriages or lower deck, stowed during the day.
Little Clara wanted to stay with Anse, but was forcibly carried off by Dara, crying and fussing for a while. It wasn’t convenient for a big man to care for a girl, and they weren’t father and daughter.
Nolnos’s size was too large, so he could only stay on deck, levitating around, mooching food and drink from the crew, wanting to nibble on anything delicious he saw—actually not hungry, just curious.
This was when the West Wind Horseshoes proved useful: gravity dispersed by the levitation field meant even Nolnos’s size and weight wouldn’t damage the deck.
Anse cautioned him a few words, then went alone to the stern, silently observing the 【Sea Shark】 hundreds of meters away.
Tap tap tap, unfamiliar light footsteps approached and stopped on the deck several meters behind him.
“That’s a slave ship.” The voice was low and husky, with a touch of world-weariness.
“I know, the Nahshival Family’s 【Sea Shark】.” Anse turned to look at the newcomer.
This was a male elf, half a head taller than him, sturdy but not bulky, with brown skin and light brown eyes, age indeterminate but clearly not young.
“I’m Salian, captain of 【Quesser】. Gweneth has mentioned you; you’re even more hot-blooded than I was at your age.” The male elf’s laugh was infectious, making one feel close.
“Really? I don’t start trouble on purpose.” Anse raised an eyebrow, not fully agreeing.
The dice spun slightly, popping out Salian’s information:
【Salian, Wood Elf, Level 6 Ranger（Hunter）】
“But there’s fire in your eyes.” Salian came to the ship’s rail, his large hand slapping heavily on the rail, eyes fixed on the distant 【Sea Shark】. “Want to… do a job?”
“Huh?” The sudden slang caught Anse off guard.
“Do you know what’s most important in naval battles?” Salian’s gaze was distant.
“Cannon range?” Anse recalled the shocking scenes from movies of sailing ships of the line bombarding in line, testing courage and decisiveness.
“Cannons aren’t as important as you think.” Salian wagged a finger slightly. “Naval battles… of course it’s about who can run fastest!”
