"Little brother, is the shipyard far from here? How long will it take to get there?"
Raiden Ei asked the Marine leading the way. She wanted to go back to the inn to extend her room fee; her bed was still at the inn. She was afraid that by the time she returned, her room would have already been sublet, and someone else would be sleeping in her newly bought bed. If that happened, she would surely cry her eyes out.
"Um, it's quite far from here, probably taking an hour or two!" the Marine replied cautiously.
Raiden Ei said, "Then I need to go to the inn first. Please accompany me. I will give you a Reward."
The Marine agreed to Raiden Ei, and even righteously refused the Reward: "Alright! But you don't need to give me a Reward. This is a mission arranged by the Major."
"Okay! Then let's go this way." Raiden Ei didn't insist. She would just find an excuse later; even if he refused, he would have to accept it eventually.
Because returning to the inn was Raiden Ei's priority, and she didn't want to waste the Marine little brother's time too much, she sped up her walking pace considerably. For the same distance, it took nearly half an hour to reach the port, but returning to the inn took less than ten minutes. The Marine little brother had to jog to keep up with her walking speed.
Raiden Ei slowed down her steps at the entrance of the inn, waiting for the Marine little brother to arrive. Soon, the Marine jogged up to her, panting, with sweat still visible on his body. "We're here. Go in and rest for a bit! We'll set off later."
The Marine didn't have the energy to speak. He followed Raiden Ei into the inn. The front desk boss, Della, was still engrossed in reading a book, completely unaware that she had entered. I really don't know how she runs this business; is she sure no one is going to empty the inn?
Raiden Ei tapped the counter. Only when Della looked up and noticed her did she say, "Boss, please extend the fee for my room for another three days. Please refund the others!"
Della said, "Oh, it's General Raiden, Miss. I've noted everything you said. Is there anything else?"
Raiden Ei handed 60,000 Berries to Della and turned to ask the Marine, "This is the room fee. Little brother, tell the boss what you want to drink; she'll put it on my tab."
Marine: "I'm sorry to trouble you, Boss, I want..."
Raiden Ei ordered a glass of juice for herself too and slowly drank it. The Marine little brother hadn't recovered yet; she decided to wait a few more minutes before leaving.
"Boss, this juice is delicious. What fruit is it made from?" Raiden Ei made small talk with the boss.
Della answered truthfully: "This is Sea Orange, bought from a merchant. I don't know where it came from."
"Are there many merchants here?"
"Quite a few! The Marines are stationed here, so pirates don't dare to cause trouble, and supplies are abundant. There are quite a few merchants."
Raiden Ei put down her empty cup: "Oh, I won't chat with you anymore. I need to get going. Marine little brother, we should leave now." She walked out of the inn with the Marine and continued toward the shipyard.
Raiden Ei and the Marine walked at a pace that was not as fast as before. They walked at a normal pace for nearly two hours, crossing the entire island before reaching the gate of the shipyard—or perhaps it shouldn't be called a gate, as there are no gates by the sea!
Before them were all sorts of lumber, and dozens of people were busy working there. Some ships were finished, and some were unfinished, all placed to one side. The entire scene looked messy, with shouts occasionally ringing out.
The Marine also breathed a sigh of relief. They had finally arrived and didn't have to walk with this monster anymore. She didn't show any signs of fatigue at all. He was a little scared of Raiden Ei, but he still had to complete the final procedure before leaving.
Marine: "General Raiden, Miss, this is the shipyard Major Kaiweiya mentioned. They have been building ships here for decades, and both the quality and reputation are guaranteed."
Raiden Ei stopped dwelling on why the place was so messy: "Mm, I see. Where do we find the person in charge now?"
Marine: "You don't need to worry about that. Major Kaiweiya gave me instructions before he left. I'll take you to see the boss here right away."
"Good, I'll trouble you then."
The Marine led Raiden Ei through the piles of lumber and walked up to a large sailboat stranded on the beach. However, this wasn't a real ship, just a structure shaped like one.
People around were constantly looking over. At this moment, the boss of the shipyard already knew that a Marine had arrived. Although he wasn't sure why, he also put down his work and rushed over.
The Marine knew the shipyard boss, otherwise, he wouldn't have been sent here. He introduced both parties: "General Raiden, Miss, this is the shipyard boss, Hades. Boss Hades, this is Major Kaiweiya's friend; the Major introduced her here to buy a ship."
Hades greeted her with a smile: "Hello! General Raiden, Miss."
Raiden Ei naturally returned a smile: "Hello! Boss Hades."
Seeing that both parties had met, the Marine figured there was nothing more for him to do and planned to return to the Branch: "General Raiden, Miss, my mission is complete. I should return to the Branch now."
Raiden Ei didn't stop him. She took out two million Berries from her system backpack and handed it to him: "Don't refuse. This is for Major Kaiweiya. He has been helping me all along; this is my Reward for him."
She then took out 200,000 Berries from the backpack and handed it to the Marine: "Since Major Kaiweiya can accept his Reward, you naturally can too. This is for you."
Raiden Ei ignored the conflicted Marine and began communicating with Hades: "Boss Hades, it's like this: I want to buy a small sailboat. Do you have one here?"
Hades naturally paid no attention to the back-and-forth between Raiden Ei and the Marine. Hearing her question, he immediately replied, "Of course, we do. Even if we didn't have one, we could build one for you. I'll take you to see the ships I have right now."
Raiden Ei had no objections: "Mm, lead the way!" She followed Hades away, leaving the Marine alone, conflicted. Finally, he gritted his teeth, took the 2.2 million Berries, and walked toward the Marine Branch.
Walking to the ship docking area, Hades showed Raiden Ei ships of varying sizes. Raiden Ei was not very satisfied until she encountered a small sloop. This was the smallest ship she had ever seen, and it was also very beautiful. She fell in love with it at first sight.
Hades noticed Raiden Ei's gaze lingering on a small commercial single-masted sailboat and started introducing it to her: "General Raiden, Miss, what excellent taste! This is our latest design for a small commercial single-masted sailboat. It's great in all aspects; I guarantee you won't lose out by buying it."
"Commercial??"
Hades said: "That's right. We originally planned to sell it to the nobles, but they complained that the ship was too small and didn't fit their status. Even pirates disliked it for being too small. So, it has just been sitting here."
Raiden Ei kept looking at the small ship, liking it more and more: "No need to say more, I'll take it!"
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