Nothing had been stolen.

Though it turned out the thieves had come for something expensive, John Santos had, something he shouldn't have brought into the ship.

The thieves have got to know about it somehow and come to steal it.

They had failed to get it, for which John Santos had thanked Captain Julian many times. The man still seemed quite angry, even if he tried to hide it.

He is not the only one who is angry; I am too quiet angry, and so is everyone.

This is an official trip; he is not authorized to bring such expensive things without prior permission, but he did not get it.

It not only put his safety at threat but also the rest of us.

I shouldn't be on the deck after what had happened, but I wanted to clear my mind after I learned the reason for the attack.

So, I am on the deck.

I am not the only one; others are present too, and like me, they too are silent. Nobody seemed to be in the mood to talk after what had happened.

Unlike me, those people were safe; they were surrounded by guards in captains' quarters the moment the horn had rung out, not to mention the rogues had not gone for them.

By the time they have walked out of the captain's quarters, all the rogues are gone, but they are still shaking in fear.

The only reason they are on deck is that many guards are on it, and we are near Deerpond; we could see it from the deck.

I looked at the biggest city in Renwell Region; it is over a thousand years old and has been destroyed many times and rebuilt again, the latest three years ago.

First, the undead had at it before the Empire attacked and conquered it in one go.

It is a city surrounded by huge walls, bigger and thicker than those of the Greltheaven. It is not only big but also has a huge population, four hundred thousand, more than ten times of Greltheaven.

Still much less than the capital of such a large region, Renwall region is bigger than any two regions of the Empire combined.

It is the size of the standard Kingdom but does not even have a fifth of the population compared to the smallest region of the Empire.

Every regional capital of the Empire has at least one and a half million people, but here, the whole region has that many people.

It is all because of the wasteland; it does not have the resources to sustain the large population.

Still, the region at a very important place, and if managed wisely politically, it could thrive.

Trade could transform everything.

Finally, the ship appeared in front of the Deerpond, and it is beautiful.

Even at this time, the port is busy with ships coming and going out of it.

As I was watching the city, I saw two boats coming toward us while us showing down, but not stopping entirely.

Soon, the ship named 'Deerpond Patrol 27' came beside us, and a middle-aged man jumped out of it and landed on the deck without much shaking.

On earth, it is impossible to take such a high jump, but here with high levels and skills, it is very much possible.

"I am patrol leader Carlson; your message said that your ship had been attacked half an hour ago?" asked the middle-aged Captain Angus and Julian.

"Yes, Captain Julian had fought with them, and he can explain to you in more detail," said Captain Perry, and patrol leader Carlson turned to Captain Julian.

He began to state the details while the middle-aged man noted them down.

At the same time, the second ship had appeared on the other side, and people on it began to climb on it through the ladder.

With how things have changed, Captain Julian had asked for more guards since John Santos had been unwilling to drop that expensive thing here.

So, more security. These people are from the Greltheaven's office in Deerpond.

"My apologies that you had to suffer such an attack; I have noted down all the details, which I will send to the city, and they will start an investigation about it immediately," said the patrol leader Carlson.

He may be saying those words, but it will be hard to find those people unless they have put in the effort.

The Rogues are slippery; they are careful and have skills that help them remain undetected.

"I hope the great city Deerpond finds those damned thieves," said Captain Perry angrily. "Don't worry, captain, we will find them," said the patrol leader Carlson and jumped out of the deck into his small boat.

After he left, the ship began to speed up again.

I stayed out till we passed the Deerpond before going back to the cabin, which now had two guards guarding it.

Aside from Dan, there is one extra guard posted at my door; it couldn't help but make me feel relieved.

I went inside my cabin and studied it for an hour more before sleeping. By the time I woke up in the morning, we had passed the Riverbell and now moving toward the Inam.

I freshened up and had my breakfast with everyone, which had been silent; the only thing we had talked about was work, and after we finished, each of us went back to our cabins.

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After I returned from the awkward breakfast, I read a little before again starting to study the contracts.

I only stopped when we reached the Inam, and the city, without a doubt, was huge.

It had two walls; the central wall held about two hundred people who were rich too well off, while the other wall held millions of people from middle-class to poor.

It is the last city wasteland but is part of the Halsad region.

"It is really a wonderful city," said Locke Hercule as he saw the city. "You have stayed here for a long time, right?" I asked.

It seemed to surprise him, but a moment later smoothened his expressions and nodded.

"Yes, for a decade." He replied, looking at the city with reminiscent eyes.

"If you don't mind me asking, why do you shift to a small and dangerous place like Greltheaven from huge and prosperous Iman?" I asked.

He did not answer me immediately; I thought he might not, and I opened my mouth to apologize for the intrusive question when he opened his mouth.

"You know how things are in our big mercantile houses," he said softly, still looking at the city. "Here, everything belongs to house; while I had control over a great wealth, I do not have the independence I need."

"I could do nothing to leave my mark here,"

"So, when I saw the opportunity, I packed my bags and moved to the Greltheaven, investing every penny I had in my name there," he said with a smile.

"The house gives great power, but it also constrains us; Greltheaven is a place where we can have the best of both worlds with a small dose of risk," I said, and that brightened the smile on his face.

"Well, said Remus Silver, well said," he said and patted my back.

Soon, the ship passed through the small canal and entered the sea; as it did, the sails opened up further, and half of the runic enchantments which had been silent till now had lighted up.

A few seconds later, I felt the ship picking up speed, and within a few minutes, the speed of the ship had near doubled than what it had been on the river.

Which was already greater considering we were moving with river and had activated enchantments for speed.

"Have you been to Namdar, Remus?" asked Locke, to which I shook my head. "Then you are for a great treat; it is unlike any city of Empire," he said.

"I heard," I said with a smile.

I have heard a lot of things, and one of the greatest things about it that some of the laws of the Empire are not strictly followed there.

It is a lot more independent and open compared to the other cities of the Empire; one can see things there that are not allowed in the Empire.

I am quite excited to see it, as it will give me an idea of how far I could stretch things when I moved to the grey zone.

Currently, I am doing everything by the book, but I do not plan to; in a year or two, I plan to move into the grey zone, but before I do that, I need to see the limits of the Empire.

In these things, one needs to be very careful; one wrong step, and I would end up in jail, and even all the power of the house would not be able to help me.

Sigh!

I sighed and looked at the endless Atal sea; it immediately made me feel serene.

I stayed on the deck till it was time for lunch; I had lunch with others, which was less awkward than the morning.

After lunch, we had a meeting with lawyers and John Santos, where we discussed the business.

The Namdar city is very important; our success will increase the trade to the city, which will benefit every merchant here directly and indirectly.

We have our everything for the success of this trip.

Soon, the day passed, and the night came, which looked even more beautiful.

In the night, I stayed on the deck reading for more than two hours before I went inside my cabin.

The morning came, and we started the work right after breakfast; we will reach the city of Namdar today and begin our work tomorrow.

Our plan is to stay for three days, where we will the general contracts and then negotiate on important ones; signing even a third of those would be great for the merchant guild and the city.

Hours passed when we finally began to see the islands.

There were thousands of tiny islands; some were small as a few hundred meters, while others were miles long.

The merchant houses of people on the ship owned at least one island here, including the house of Silver; we owned two islands here, and one was grandfather's private island.

He comes there every year and spends at least one week; being invited there is considered a great honor in the family.

One and a half hours passed when a huge island came into view.

Through it, thousands of ships could be seen coming and going to the Empire and many kingdoms and continents.

Gasp!

A few more minutes have passed, and the island became clear. I could finally see the city, and as I saw it, I couldn't stop myself from gasping in wonder.

All the praise I have heard about it pales compared to what I am seeing right now.