The docks were supposed to be closed.

Supposed to was the key word. The city was on lockdown, but the dock was as lively as ever. The guards at the wall separating the port from the rest of the city were scanning anyone who wanted to go through. There was a decent amount of people who had seen the destruction from the jailbreak and decided that they wanted out. After a few hours of not being able to find the Demihuman Adventurers or Sipher, the guards had started letting people through to whittle away at the growing crowd. The guards at the city gates were still keeping them closed, which was driving people this way.

In the dock guards' defense, there was over twenty-five thousand feet of waterfront and multiple gates along that wall as well as people on both sides demanding to be let across. As long as you weren’t an Adventurer, they were letting people out of the city, most of which were buying passage on any ship that would take them out of the city.

It was the morning after everything had happened, so there weren’t quite as many people anxious to leave, but there was still a decent sized crowd that we were able to mix with. I was beginning to doubt the craftsmanship of the CB as I approached the gate.

“Mundane!” The guard that was scanning people motioned for me to walk through the gate to the other side. “NEXT!”

I headed for the docks and began looking for the Night’s Shadow. It was a smaller ship that was heading to Gues with lots of crystals from the Dungeons in Kire. The three Dungeons in Kire had rock monsters, aquatic monsters, and desert monsters in them. Most of the crystals would have their material extracted from them, then most of it would be used to build parts for vehicles, which would then be assembled, then transported to various cities to be sold.

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For this particular ship, Guyle had convinced the captain to stop at Haux on their trip up the western coast of the Sanctum Ward. From there we’d be able to buy a Chaser and get back to the Desolation of Tine in about ten hours. That would still give us a week before everyone was supposed to show up for the demonstration.

The black ship wasn’t hard to spot. As I walked up to where it was docked, a minotaur in threadbare clothes was sitting on a crate in front of the pier it was tied to with his hooves up on another crate. He had a straw hat covering his eyes and it looked like he was sleeping.

“You Captain Arway?” I hadn’t been told that I was looking for a Minotaur, but I’d barely been told anything about what to expect during any of this mission. I was starting to think that was how this crowd did things. General ideas and improvisation.

“Who’s asking?” The Minotaur lifted the brim of the hat to look at me.

“Whisper Kire.” I folded my arms. “Guyle booked passage for me.”

“You’re one of those.” The Minotaur pulled his hooves down and stood up, towering over me at almost seven feet tall. The white and black speckled bull-man nodded towards the ship. “One of your friends is already on board. Stay below and I’ll send someone down to get you when we get there.”

I looked over the ship as I walked down the pier. It wasn’t as long as the others, nor as heavily stacked with cargo. A lot of boats were only made to stay close to the coast because of the monsters that had gotten loose during Dungeon Surges. The open waters were a dangerous place to be and even a Tier Five boat could be sunk if a big enough Tier One monster pulled it underwater. But a lot more could fit on a ship than on a transport vehicle, and it was also easier for Adventurer security to patrol on a boat than it was in a vehicle. So even though there were different dangers out on the water, that didn’t stop people from sailing.

There was only one way to get below deck, an open door below the glass room that housed the bridge. The minotaur crew ignored me as I walked around looking for the other member of my party.

“You’re here!” Sipher smiled widely as the golden bandit stepped out from behind one of the crates. “Let me show you where we’re holed up.” He put his arm around me and lowered his voice. “And you can tell me how you convinced that lovely lady to settle for you.”