### Chapter 95: Ship Searching (Part 1)
In the stretch of the Sabel River, at the Tingsha Lock.
The Bluestone water gate stands sturdy like a city wall, located a kilometer south of the Northern City Water Gate.
From atop the city battlements, one can clearly see those towering wing walls, resembling a solid Bluestone bridge, spanning across the Sabel River and cutting through the waterways connecting the northern and southern city districts.
On one side, there’s a large watermill with turning windmills and docks busy with merchant ships; on the other side, an immense water city gate connected to the city walls, where countless merchant and fishing boats patiently await to leave the city.
The Order Royal City has two water gates: the Shak Gate in the south and the Weir Gate in the north. Each gate has its own lock to interrupt the flow of the Sabel Canal running from north to south.
However, the Sabel River flows into the Silent Moon Lake, where the water stops abruptly. The canal has yet to be dredged to connect to the sea, so the water gate leading south is usually tightly closed, occasionally letting out a few fishing boats at designated times.
North of the city, however, the river meets the Wisteria River outside the city. These two long rivers nearly slice through a good chunk of the Ethanbel Kingdom, ultimately pouring into the Eastern Sea through the Champs-Élysées Bay. All the trading ships from various cities, as well as trade ships from the Eastern Continent of Nuawei, must pass through these rivers and enter the royal city via the northern water gate.
Thus, the Tingsha Lock to the north is frequently open—back when the “Eggshell” was still around, the Northern City Water Gate and the Tingsha Lock were practically never quite closed.
After the “Eggshell” was destroyed by Teresa, lookout towers were added to the gate and wing walls, and the inspection processes at the gate became much tighter. Any ships trying to enter or leave must have the relevant documentation approved, and this holds especially true for merchant ships, which usually require both parties to stamp the documents before passing through the city.
However, creating fake stamps isn’t exactly rocket science; it just takes a little guts.
In the many black markets of the royal city, the business of forging stamps runs rampant, and there’s really no way to put a stop to it—catch one group, and another pops up in no time.
Adding to this chaos are a few shifty staff members in the arbitration bureau, leading the bureau’s administration to eventually decide to install a “black market boss” to manage the royal city’s commercial mess and indirectly stabilize the order of the entire trade market.
“See those boats that have passed through the gate, waiting in the exit segment of the river?”
On the western riverbank, with people coming and going, a magnificent royal palace War Chariot sat parked by the dock. I was walking not far from it when Rect pointed at the large cargo and fishing boats docked in front of the tightly shut massive Bluestone water city gate and said, “The Northern City Water Gate opens once every hour, at irregular times. All ships leaving the city must first pass through the lock’s inspection and then wait in the exit segment until the gate opens.”
He said this while pulling out his pocket watch to check, “There are still eighteen minutes until the next opening.”
“So, why are you following me and waiting here like a lost puppy?” I shot back, glancing towards the sparkling river, “Everyone else seems busy; are you seriously not feeling a tad anxious?”
Over at the dock and along the gate’s side walls, staff members from the arbitration bureau wearing berets were sword-checking the departing ships, and occasionally, I could see figures from the Sword of Kanli and the guards.
There were also folks in small boats gliding across the river, getting closer to the cargo ships waiting in the exit segment. Not too far from here, I could make out that most of them were dressed in bachelor robes from the Royal Academy.
Due to the unexpected incident, the academy was delayed quite a bit. As of now, at least four or five batches of ships had already left the city since the relic was stolen.
The arbitration bureau had thoroughly checked one batch, while the others were let go if they had paperwork. The academy folks had only just arrived not long ago, and they were now about to check the next batch of ships leaving the city.
Trailing right behind were the ships that hadn’t passed through the lock. The Sword of Kanli was overseeing the inspections, with the arbitration bureau collaborating to perform detailed checks. There was a real possibility that the Choir of Saints had already smuggled the relic out, which made things a bit grim, yet Rect seemed unfazed.
“What’s the point of getting anxious?”
He said, “There are too many boats; the arbitration bureau just doesn’t have enough hands. They can’t check all of them one by one. Before we can access the black market through the bureau’s administration and contact their big shot, we just need to ensure no ships slip by here.”
“Don’t worry, with us from the Sword of Kanli watching, if that guy’s still in the city, he won’t escape. You just need to cooperate with us and help catch him.”
Though he said that, after a while, Rect was indeed called away to inspect some ships. However, it didn’t seem like there were any leads; most likely, some stuck merchant ships were causing trouble, making it his problem to handle.
After waiting a bit longer and feeling bored standing by the riverbank, I turned around and went back into the War Chariot, asking the driver to get me a bag of candy and a warm glass of Acri juice, sitting in the carriage leisurely snacking.
After about two hours, I suddenly heard the noise from the direction of the gate growing louder. I pulled back the carriage curtain to peek outside and caught sight of Rect coming from the riverbank towards the dock with a few people.
So, I hopped out of the carriage.
“Let’s go, go, go!”
“Stand in a line by the bank and tie their hands!”
“They said if we let anyone slip away today, we’d be losing our arbitration uniforms when we get back!”
Voices from the direction of the gate were in a ruckus, with arbitration bureau enforcement tying up some cargo crew members and bringing them to kneel in a line by the riverbank. This scene caught the attention of the boats floating on the water, and many people started hollering from a distance, even tossing things towards the shore.
There were also some scuffles between people on the gate’s end and the arbitration bureau, feeling like a brawl could break out at any moment.
“What’s going on here?”
I asked Rect in a hurry as he approached with furrowed brows.
“It’s nothing.”
He shook his head, signaling his companions to disperse while he stepped in front of me, pulling a few candies out from my leather pouch and popping them in his mouth: “Two hours without boat traffic; some folks are just getting impatient. It’s not a big deal.”
“Hey, you’re quite the freeloader.” I shot him a glare.
Rect didn’t bat an eye at my look.
“Honestly, the bigger the uproar, the better. If the relic hasn’t left the city yet, it might be on one of those boats. If the Choir of Saints and that tulip guy, Chris, hear the commotion… well, they’ll start considering if the water route isn’t a dead end. Panic sets in, and they might try to make a run for the shore.”
He crunched the candy in his mouth, continuing with a glint of mischief in his eyes, “You think he’ll swim to shore, or leap out? He can’t just loiter on a boat and wait to d*e. So my guys are already on lookout in the tower, waiting for him to pop his head out… By the way, do you want to hang out up in the tower? The view is quite nice; you can see the cityscape.”
“No, thanks, not interested.” I rolled my eyes at him, “Hurry up and find that guy.”
“Yes, yes, your highness…”
Rect’s plan seemed solid.
If it were just a regular Joe, they might have already slipped away, but Birdbeak Doctor is a Pope Knight, and I had no idea if he had any special tricks up his sleeve. I didn’t even know what his Power of Order was…
Wait a minute.
Suddenly, I recalled something.
I knew the Birdbeak Doctor’s Power of Order; that guy had gotten physical with me back in Woodward Forest.
Even if it was just a fleeting glimpse, I saw him radiate a clear, watery light.
Water Order!
“Forgiveness Head.”
I hurriedly called out to the man who was about to turn away: “How long do you think a Pope Knight-level Water Order can stay at the bottom of this river?”
