With Amelia's presence, the problem with the lack of long-distance communication was solved, because she had an ability that allowed her to project herself or another person anywhere in the world at least that she or the person had ever been.
When Ayumi finished her meeting with Amanda Hangen regarding the damage at the Oukiwa Noble Academy, Luke introduced Amelia to her, who was very polite and respectful, due to the position the blonde Elf held. To people close to her like Luke, it might already seem commonplace to see Ayumi as an ordinary person, but to unfamiliar people she was still like a great figure.
Amelia found Ayumi even more beautiful in person than the descriptions that came to her, could portray.
After that, the trio could not return to the Strogueher estate, because Ayumi still had small meetings and Luke was to accompany her all day, to make up for the absence of Oliver, who was working with Shiro, Nathalia and the city guards.
At the end of the day, when they returned to Ayumi's residence, everyone was surprised by the beauty with the presence of a new member, Amelia. Especially the S-Class, who grinned from ear to ear at seeing one of her best friends again. At first, all those presents were wary of the new woman's presence, but the half-wolf explained what she worked on, who she reported to, and also the advantages of having her around, which made everyone less wary.
However, Ayumi's residence was a little emptier that day, because there were two people at the vigil who had just started an eight-hour vigil: Ynosuke and Meredith.
Both the man with Oriental features and the half-fox had an obligation to keep watch at the East Port from sixteen o'clock until exactly midnight. When this time came, they would swap posts with the next group, who in turn would stay from midnight until eight in the morning.
In any case, keeping a vigil was not an easy task, let alone during the night. The human body is genetically programmed to rest when night falls, that is, the human being is a diurnal animal, and this meant that as the night went on, they would not only have to pay attention to every inch of the harbor and beach, but they would also have to fight against the brain's desire to rest.
*
— Oukiwa City's East Port, 21 hours and 53 minutes. —
To be able to see any activity going on at the largest wharf in the area, Ynosuke and Meredith climbed onto the roof of one of the nearby warehouses. On most of this roof, the wood creaked and looked as if it would give way at any moment, but the duo managed to find a firm spot on the shed's gable and there they settled down.
It was another quiet night in that city, which seemed more and more dead. There was a great mist over the region, which was unusual for the current season. The winter had been harsh on the half-wolf pack during their return to Oukiwa, and they were thankful when their traces began to reduce.
"I wonder how much longer we will have to endure this cold..." Ynosuke spoke, as he rested his head on his right arm and, sitting down, enjoyed the still sea.
"Yaaawn! How long have we been here? Have you been counting?" asked Meredith, after stretching out. Actually, she was about to sleep a few seconds ago and only didn't do that because Ynosuke alerted her.
"I don't know... a few hours maybe? Time is a strange thing. When we want it to pass soon, it takes time; when we want it to take time, it passes quickly." Ynosuke was very bored and just wanted to keep talking so he wouldn't fall asleep.
The half-fox stood up, cleaned up what little bits of wood were in his pants, and looked at the horizon.
"That mist over the water, won't it get in the way of ships docking?" She asked Ynosuke. Her hope was to catch a pirate ship in the act, or rather a Smakusa ship full of slaves. She knew that something like that happening was practically impossible, but she still dreamed of such a simple outcome.
Ynosuke looked at her and asked:
"You don't know? Well, it is understandable not to know, because we have never stolen anything in this area... After sunset, it is forbidden to try to dock at Oukiwa. Boats that can't dock within that time must drop their anchors and wait until dawn."
"Hm... Why does that happen? Because of the darkness and fog?"
"Exactly because of that. In the past, an accident occurred in this very harbor and about a dozen boats sank. Apparently, a boat hit the harbor because there wasn't something to guide it. After that, they tried to put men with flashlights on the quay, but some people died that way too, especially on nights like these, with the thick fogs." Ynosuke explained.
"Erghhh... how horrible." Meredith said as she faced a group of guards walking on the mooring.
"What are you watching?" Ynosuke stood up a bit and looked in the same direction the half-fox was looking, and he saw the same men she did.
"We'd better stay down, or they might see us." She threw back some of her cloak and stayed on her knees, not losing sight of the guards.
Her watch partner nodded and knelt down as well. "Are they making rounds? Isn't it a little late for that?"
"Let me guess... they probably usually make rounds separately around the harbor, but tonight is a strange night because of this fog, so they were afraid to do it separately and joined together." The half-fox hunched over in such a genuine way that it left Ynosuke surprised.
However, even after Ynosuke was contentedly amazed at Meredith's ability to read the situation, he didn't manifest that. He never really understood what Meredith usually thought, so he also avoided complimenting her lest she become overconfident. In life, confidence can be both the key to victory and also the embrace of death, most often the second option.
When the group of guards approached the area where there were several boats anchored, all apparently empty, they split up due to the order of one of them, the one wearing obsidian armor.
Two of the five guards walked to the right and went to check a pile of empty barrels that were abandoned; if there were any symbols on them, the company, person, or family responsible should be fined. Two other guards went to the left, to check if anyone was sleeping in the smaller boats. Finally, their leader walked to the end of a pier, while illuminating the hulls of some boats with his lantern.
To Ynosuke and Meredith, this seemed to be just a standard check. In the past, the ports were not so well checked and watched, but everything changed when illegal activities were noticed, especially the trafficking of drugs and also of weapons.
Even though it seemed like just an ordinary round, Ynosuke and Meredith just kept watching, because they had nothing better to do.
At a certain moment, the leader of the guards looked back and realized that his employees were close by, but were still busy with their work. Then he looked at the water, and as he stared at it, he distinguished a stronger than usual ripple. At this point, he looked back once more, and seeing that his subordinates were still distracted, he jumped into the water with his lamp in hand and in his armor.
Obsidian armor is part of the heaviest group of equipment that can exist and when you fall into the water with this type of clothing, it is practically a death sentence. The other guards who were on the piers knew this, so when they heard the noise of falling into the water and noticed that their boss was gone, they had a quick conclusion about the situation.
"The boss has fallen into the water!"
"Let's help him!"
"Get a rope, Kainan! We have to run the rope across his back!"
"All right!"
All the boss's subordinates began to organize themselves to try to save his life, unaware that he jumped into the water on purpose. Obviously, the guard in obsidian armor didn't want to kill himself, even though he was committing a near-suicidal act, and it was clear because he started struggling and screaming for help.
Ynosuke and Meredith were shocked to see all this happening, and also very confused. As they watched the four guards trying to save their companion, they both suddenly had the same conclusion:
'This is a distraction!' They were wide-eyed and, without needing to communicate, began to scan the entire harbor for evidence to prove their common suspicion.
Then they saw from afar something that looked more like a legend, at the same time that the confusion with the guards was happening at one end of the dock, at the far-left end of the pier a boat seemed to appear out of nowhere in the mist. This boat was big like a fisherman's boat, but strangely dirty as if it had been abandoned.
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