Chapter 761: 761: Western Cooperative Port

「Is that Gordicia?」

「Sure is! You can clearly see the barrier at this distance.」

「Nn. Amazing.」

「Woof!」

No wonder Fran and Urushi were so impressed.

Just like we've heard, the continent of Gordicia visible from the ship was covered by a translucent dome. But seeing it in person was even more impressive than we had imagined.

The huge translucent dome, which could easily be mistaken for a giant mountain range, stood tall above the white mist that covered the sea.

If someone told you this was an act of God, you could not help but agree.

It also looked a little science fictiony. Like if the underwater city of the super advanced civilization Atlantis had risen to the surface of the sea.

Our ship was getting closer and closer to the giant dome, and the continent of Gordicia.

「It gets foggier from here, so we'll follow the guide lights.」

The area around the Gordicia continent was constantly foggy. There would be a high possibility of accidents if ships come and go as they pleased.

So they have installed something similar to a lighthouse in the harbor, and by following its light, they would reduce the number of accidents that occur.

The blue light shining on us indicated the arrivals lane, and the red light in the distance was the departure lane. They really thought this through, huh?

While Brunen returned to the cabin for a moment to deliver some instructions, Fran sat at the bow of the ship gazing at the continent of Gordicia.

Her face showed a variety of emotions. Not only curiosity and anticipation, but also anxiety and melancholy at the same time.

「The fog is lifting.」

「Once we get closer to the continent, the fog will almost completely disappear.」

As the ship continued forward, the fog suddenly thinned, then dissipated.

We were greeted by a huge port, far larger than we had imagined.

The port of Bulbora was also quite large, but it was nothing compared to this port. Bulbora was even supposed to be one of the largest ports on that continent, capable of holding more than a hundred vessels.

By all accounts, this was more than ten times the size of Bulbora. The number of ships in the harbor was too many to count at a glance.

Moreover, half of them were super-sized ships like the one we were on now. The sight of these huge ships in a row was simply spectacular.

「Western Cooperative Port of the Gordicia Continent. As you can clearly see, it's one of the biggest ports in the world.」

「Are there other ports as big as this one?」

「Yeah, and all of them are in Gordicia.」

「?」

「There are equally large ports on every side of Gordicia: North, South, East, and West.」

These were four huge ports funded and built by all the nations of the world. They were treated as common properties, used for the defense of the world, and placed under the joint control of all nations.

He said they made an organization to manage the facilities of Gordicia, but it was apparently not supposed to be beholden to any country.

「"Supposed to"? Then what's the truth?」

「Well, it's not like there's one country controlling everything behind the scenes or anything. It's just that the will of a small country with little money is not always taken into account.」

While they say it is under joint control, things were more likely to reflect the opinions of the major powers. That said, no country forced extreme disadvantages to others, or tried to privatize the facilities of Gordicia.

That would be condemned by the rest of the world and, in some cases, be used as an excuse for war.

In the end, the only thing any country could do was to provide a certain amount of funds or forces, and solemnly fulfill their Gordician Duty.

After that, the ship we are on slowly entered the harbor, guided by the harbor staff.

Oh, and we haven't passed through the barrier yet. The divine barrier was a little smaller in diameter than the continent of Gordicia. This meant the coastal area, including the harbor, was completely outside the barrier.

The distance from us to the barrier was about 300 meters. It looked like a huge glass wall was plopped down in front of us.

『Man, there are so many ships from different countries...』

「Nn.」

As I observed the ships, I noticed that they were flying a variety of flags.

It seems rare to find a country with only one ship like the Kingdom of Belioth. Some countries even had large fleets containing dozens of ships.

As I was watching the other ships, Brunen came over and called out to Fran.

「We're disembarking. All personnel except those in charge of the ship are to move to our lodgings.」

「Aren't you going to put the ship away?」

「In Gordicia, no one will bother us for leaving our ship in the harbor. We'll need to unload our supplies too, right? And we didn't bring the storage with us in the first place.」

The Kingdom of Belioth was a land without ports. They had sailors since there was a huge lake, but not many people were capable of sailing on the distant seas.

There were only three naval admirals, including Brunen, and they deployed only when the Gordician Duty required them to travel between continents.

In a country like that, there were not many ships for sea travel, nor could they be kept afloat on the sea on a regular basis.

Therefore, they used a special magic item to store the huge ship, and when needed, they rented a port in another country to set sail.

I thought that they would do so this time as well, but it seems that there is no problem in keeping large ships afloat in the huge ports of Gordicia.

Leaving the unloading to the soldiers, Fran disembarked from the ship with Brunen. We joined up with Hilt and the others who have already disembarked.

「Hiltoria-dono, the cargo will be carried by the soldiers. I believe we should head for our quarters for now, is that alright with you?」

「I'll leave the decisions to you since I was only hired.」

「Thank you very much.」

Brunen's words were brief, but they felt strangely heavy. It was not only me, Hilt felt it too. She wore an expression of doubt.

「Hahaha... Strong people generally have an ego to match, like a certain high elf......」

You're comparing her to Weena Rhyn? Well yeah, I suppose Hilt would look well-behaved compared to her.

「I heard that adventurers are basically free to do as they please, correct?」

「Our country wants a small number of elites, so we hire adventurers of rank B or higher in most cases. Rather than incorporating them into our forces, we get better results if they are given free reign.」

「I see what you mean.」

「Besides, we usually have Weena Rhyn-dono, so we had little need for anyone else.」

Normally, Weena Rhyn would do the work of thousands of soldiers. That's why they wanted Dimitris instead.

「......Are you sure you'll be okay this time?」

「It might be tough. We'll be relying on you guys for the results.」

「I see...... Then let us group with your main forces. I can't say that I am capable of replacing Weena Rhyn-sama, but it's always better to have more hands, right?」

「Are you sure?」

「Yes, but we are not used to the continent of Gordicia either. It would be nice if you could give us some instructions.」

「You don't mind if I order you around?」

「That's alright with me.」

「Truly! It's been so long since I've had a high-ranking adventurer who listens to my command. I look forward to working with you!」

Hey, why did you glance at us like that? Fran has listened to everything you said.

I knew it! This wise guy must think of Fran as a freak.

Fine. I'll make sure he fully understands that Fran is a good, honest and pure girl by the time this job is over!