Water Magician

New arc!

Volume 3, Part 2, Free City

Editor: Tseirp

“I feel the wind of freedom!”

Ryo said, taking a deep breath on the deck of the Lone Dark.

“What’s this ‘wind of freedom’ supposed to be?”

The king, his companion, didn’t seem to feel the same.

A monarch of an absolute state would, of course, be an enemy of freedom!

Naturally, the Kingdom of Knightley has laws.

Even a king can’t ignore the laws, so technically, Abel is more of a constitutional monarch than an absolute ruler.

But Ryo didn’t care about such details.

Absolute monarchy had a more tyrannical image, so Ryo liked to picture Abel as an absolute monarch.

“Ryo, you’re scheming something again, aren’t you?”

“A-again with the false accusations, Abel! I was merely imagining a future where the citizens of the Kingdom of Knightley are happy.”

“Hmm...”

Abel, clearly not convinced by Ryo’s explanation.

“In my homeland, there’s a saying: ‘The city air makes one free’. If people spend a year and a day in a free city after escaping from a tyrannical lord, they can break free from their oppressor.”

“Interesting. So there are many different laws in the world.”

Ryo was referring to the knowledge he’d learned in high school world history.

Whether it applied in the Free City of Kwebasa was another matter entirely.

The Lone Dark, where the two stood on deck, was anchored about 300 meters off the coast of Kwebasa Freeport.

Awaiting permission to dock.

Being a warship of the Suje Kingdom, the entry procedures were different from a merchant vessel.

Of course, the Suje Kingdom embassy had submitted prior notice, so they expected to be allowed entry shortly, according to Captain Gorick.

“Flag signal spotted from port. ‘Wait where you are’. Repeating: ‘Wait where you are!’ ”

A crew member at the mast shouted.

Captain Gorick, who was at the bow, also confirmed it with his own eyes.

“Confirmed!”

Gorick turned to Ryo and Abel.

“It seems there’s some issue. You might have to sleep on the ship tonight.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

“Well, nothing we can do.”

Ryo and Abel said, accepting the situation.

They didn’t really have any other choice.

It was already 5 p.m.

And both of them suspected that they’d likely be delayed until the next day.

“It’s sad to be kept waiting right at the last minute.”

“Ryo-san, I’ll make you a delicious dinner tonight to cheer you up.”
The administrative port, located on Administration Island.

Primarily serves military and official vessels, including those of the Kwebasa Navy.

While there was some leeway, docking the flagship Franze might be manageable.

The problem was the accompanying fleet.

The Freeport is large.

As it should be for a nation that thrives on trade.

However...

“A fleet of 200 ships... If that many warships enter Freeport all at once, it’ll cause a massive disruption. How does the minister not understand that?”

Of course, there was space for 200 ships to dock.

But these were warships.

And the crews were military personnel.

With the neighboring nations of the Atinjo Grand Duchy and the Ghegish-Lu Federation being so tense... it was easy to imagine this sparking a conflict.

“In general, no more than ten warships are allowed to anchor in port at one time... right?”

“Yes, that’s correct. Although, it’s rare for even ten warships to come to this free city...”

Indeed, it rarely happened.

They would typically reject such requests through diplomatic channels.

But this time, various exceptions had been made.

“Their arrival is the day after tomorrow? There’s no helping it... accept them.”

“Understood.”

Deputy Minister Mishita gave the order, and his assistant Ronfan nodded.

“There’s another issue: the port functions have been disrupted, and...”

“Hm? At this time, there’s a request for a warship to dock?”

“Yes. It’s the Lone Dark of the Central Navy of the Suje Kingdom, requesting to dock.”

“Hmm. Wasn’t it originally scheduled to dock four days ago? Is there an issue with the embassy’s prior notice?”

“No issues. Of the 100 crew members, half are scheduled to stay at the embassy, while the other half will stay in the city... their entry applications have already been submitted.”

As Mishita flipped through the documents, Ronfan added further details.

“Hmm. Despite the rebellion, the queen’s ascension, and all the resulting chaos, they’ve sent a ship here... They must be stepping up their intelligence-gathering efforts. I wonder what their true goal is...”

Mishita let out a small sigh.

Frankly, he wasn’t good at handling these kinds of intrigues.

But with his superiors being unreliable, he had no choice.

He had resigned himself to this fate.

“Very well. Allow the Suje Kingdom’s ship to dock tomorrow morning. Inform Freeport.”
“Understood.”

And so, the Lone Dark, carrying Ryo and Abel, was granted permission to dock the following day.

That night, a luxurious last supper was served, putting the entire crew in high spirits.

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