Chương 186: The Miserable Ferry

"A smuggling fishing boat full of orcs?"

Roland looked puzzled.

"Tell me roughly what happened."

Hedrian nodded immediately, took the towel handed to her by the maid, but didn't bother to wipe the water stains, and said seriously.

"Just now, we spotted two ships engaged in a chase on the sea."

"Among the more dilapidated fishing boats, we observed through binoculars that they were carrying a considerable number of orcs."

"An orange cat-eared orc at the stern was constantly using magic scrolls to defend against attacks and sending us maritime distress signals."

"Considering that it might involve the extraordinary forces of Hysenport, I came to you immediately."

Roland's expression changed.

"The orcs of Heisenport?"

She recalled the photos she had just seen and naturally connected them to the opening at seven o'clock.

"Did you escape at 7 AM when the store opened?"

"Um, I don't know about that."

Hedrian lowered her head, trying hard to recall what she had seen, and answered with pursed lips.

"Based on the footage I observed, most of the orcs on the fishing boats were rather short, and there were likely more women than men. They could indeed be orcs who start operating at seven o'clock..."

"But it's hard to say. Smugglers and illegal immigrants in the capital also have a penchant for women of other races. You know, the nobles of our empire are rather..."

Her tone was awkward, and she didn't dare to meet Roland's gaze, who was also a noblewoman.

Roland sighed.

The more I listen, the more complicated the situation becomes; it's better to go to the scene myself to see for myself.

Just in case, she simply called upon the Sisters of Thorn who remained in the group, fearing a potential battle.

Meanwhile, Roland also brought along a medical team composed of maids, ready to provide necessary medical assistance.

The group put on raincoats and set off from Newbeam Street, quickly heading towards the port docks under Hedrian's guidance.

……

Pier No. 2 in the old port area.

This is a semi-abandoned dock. As the old port area gradually declines, the surrounding area becomes sparsely populated and industries stagnate.

Municipal maintenance is even more problematic; after dark, the only source of light is the magic lamps from nearby shops.

Generally speaking, on such damp and cold spring rainy nights, people would stay at home, enjoying the warmth of the fireplace and sleeping soundly.

But today is different; the dock is unusually lively.

A dilapidated fishing boat crashed directly onto the shore, and the boat was as silent as death, with only the strong smell of rust emanating from it.

People stood around the boat with umbrellas, but no one dared to step forward to check what was inside.

When Roland arrived, this was the scene she saw.

"Hedrian, where are the warships? I can't see them!"

She frowned, directed the maids to disperse the crowd, and asked the blue-haired girl in charge of managing the dock.

Hedrian was also completely bewildered and called for her subordinates who were on duty.

Her subordinate who stayed behind at the dock to watch the battle was a fierce-looking sailor who answered in a gruff voice.

"Miss Hedrian, about three minutes ago, the fishing boat, seeing that we were not responding, simply accelerated and rushed into the dock."

"The large ships behind us had too deep a draft to enter our shallow harbor, so we gave up the pursuit."

"However, before they left, they unleashed some powerful magic that blew up the stern of the fishing boat. We were worried about the magic contamination, so we didn't dare to get close."

Upon hearing this, Roland craned her neck to look at the back of the fishing boat.

Sure enough, a huge hole was torn open at the back of the fishing boat, the deck had been evaporated, and the broken edges were stained with blood.

The strong smell of rust could be detected even from 20 or 30 meters away.

The nightingale standing next to Roland followed her gaze and saw the large hole in the fishing boat, exclaiming in surprise.

"This power should be the [Destruction Ray (Intermediate Magic)]. Is it possible to use such an exaggerated magic to deal with a fishing boat?"

"It seems that the orange-haired catgirl who defended herself from the attack is probably in grave danger."

Roland did not answer, but looked at the fishing boat with a serious expression.

For some reason, she started experiencing auditory hallucinations after getting within 100 meters of the fishing boat.

Strange whispers kept echoing in my ears, sounding like cries of pain or pleas.

It was not only jarring, but also made her feel inexplicably uncomfortable.

In the most common case, this is due to being under the spell of the illusion magic "Sorrowful Mantra".

It is a spell used to disrupt the enemy and induce a psychological vulnerability; it is a rather disgusting spell.

But Roland remembered that the radiant mark on her forehead should have made her immune to most mental magic.

Roland shook her head and simply cast a healing spell on herself.

The glow of the healing magic was very conspicuous in the rainy night, and the nightingale immediately noticed it and cast a worried look at it.

"Miss Roland, are you alright?"

"Why did you suddenly cast a healing spell on your forehead?"

"I'm fine, but something seems off."

"I'm answering," Roland replied, her little hand still resting on her head.

Her brows furrowed more and more deeply.

Damn it, after this treatment, the auditory hallucinations got even worse; the sounds got louder and clearer.

Roland simply closed her eyes and listened intently.

She should have kept quiet, because what she heard gave her a huge fright.

A torrent of desperate pleas flooded my mind.

"Lady Roland, please save us!"

"It hurts so much, my wound hurts so much, I don't want to die."

Roland frowned, then took a step and walked towards the fishing boat.

As the distance shortened, the sounds around me quickly became clearer, and yet another sound emerged in my mind.

"Sister Cat Mai Mai, wake up! We've arrived at the Old Port District. Lady Roland will be here to rescue us soon."

What?

Cat MaiMai?

Isn't that the name of Coco's younger sister?

Roland thought of a certain possibility, her face turned ugly, and she immediately quickened her pace, even jogging.

The nightingale quickly took off after her, calling out as she ran.

"Miss Roland, what are you doing? There might still be magic residue on the ship; it's very dangerous!"

The people in the church followed closely behind.

Meanwhile, Roland had already arrived at the fishing boat. With her magic enhanced in her feet, she leaped three feet high and entered the cabin through the large hole.

Inside the cabin was a scene of hell.

A large number of disabled beast girls were crowded in the ship's cabin.

Missing ears, broken tails, blind, teeth pulled out and only able to whimper, missing limbs...

These beast girls were crammed together in the ship's hold, much like the bottom deck of a trading ship during the triangular trade period on Earth.

Around the large hole, there were many more beast girls' corpses scattered around. These poor beast girls had fallen on the eve of dawn, their cold little faces filled with resentment and anger, their unfocused big eyes misty with tears falling from their eyes.

"brute……"

Looking at the scene before her, Roland thought of the necromancer's basement she had once seen, and she clenched her teeth tightly.

Without a doubt, these are all things that are done at 7 a. m.

That pursuing warship must also be connected to that damned Tiger Head.

"Coco the cat is right, the tiger-striped nobles are all a bunch of complete beasts."

Roland took a few breaths to calm herself down and turned to look at the survivors.

The surviving beast girls, seeing Roland jump in, retreated in panic, surrounding an orange-haired cat girl.

Roland took a closer look.

The catgirl surrounded in the middle had orange hair and was about 1. 6 meters tall. Her face was covered in blood, and her emerald eyes were wide open. She had long since lost her figure, and her pupils were dilated.

A large hole had been blasted in her chest by magic; her bones and internal organs were shattered, and blood was flowing everywhere on the ship's deck.

A scantily clad, pink-haired kitten girl held her head in her arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Sister Cat Mai Mai, we've arrived... Wake up."