239 Vol. 4 pt. 42 Patch 7.0: (2/2)
”You have three hours!” Nell says.
”Before what?”
”Before gaming time is over for the day!”
”Have you been keeping track? Doesn't feel like that much time has passed.”
”It does not matter, my hero. Your girlfriends are always right!”
”Sure, sure. Alright, I'll be back within three hours,” Fenrir says before kissing both Nell and Cassiel. Serra, despite coming with him, also asks for a kiss and gets one.
When Fenrir turns around, he sees Oleander standing on the tips of his toes with closed eyes and puckered lips.
Fenrir flicks him in the forehead and steps aboard The Shoebill.
Tabitha, Rao, Cassiel, and Nell are left behind to get started on building as the rest head toward the town that Rao spotted earlier.
With good winds and Tabitha's engine, the wooden walls of the other town come into sight before long. Somebody posted in a guard tower even flashes a light at The Shoebill after noticing the vessel.
”That was faster than I thought it'd take,” Fenrir says.
”Why are they flashing us?” Serra asks.
”To welcome us, I hope.”
”Or to tell us that they'll kill us if we come any closer!” Oleander shouts from The Shoebill's wheel.
”Well, they're not doing anything threatening, and Rao said they seemed friendly enough, so… let's try and show some good faith,” Fenrir suggest as he pulls the cannons back.
Serra and Corwin work together to pull the other cannons back as well.
”Rao didn't mention this part,” Fenrir says as a new sight comes into their vision.
The town's wall completely surrounds whatever is within, and the town even extends out into the water and has to rely on a gate built into the wall to let vessels come and go from the harbor. The entire length of the wall in the water, save for the gated section, has breakwaters stacked up against it and spreading out into the water.
”What are those?” Serra asks.
”What?” Fenrir asks back.
”The… triangle things?”
”The stuff along the wall? They're used to break up waves. Waves will break on them instead of hitting the wall at full force, I'm guessing. If these guys have put up a wall in the water and have those all around it… I'm thinking we might need something similar. The waves must get pretty bad here.”
”Great,” Oleander says. ”The ocean is just as cruel in-game as it is in real life! I thought games are supposed to provide escapism?”
”You only care about games providing sex,” Fenrir retorts.
”You're not wrong about that.”
A man standing on the wall above the gate waves at The Shoebill and signals them to come on in.
”They're either desperate for visitors or this is a trap and we're screwed,” Fenrir says.
”We could always just park her out here,” Oleander suggests.
”Then we'll have to swim to and from – wait.”
Fenrir looks out to the ocean just in time to see a certain serpent swing her tail up over the surface.
”Yeah, we've got support, so we'll be fine. If we go down, she'll be taking this wall of theirs down,” Fenrir says.
”Having a giant serpent friend is really useful,” Oleander says.
”She's best girl,” Serra says with a nod.
With confidence from knowing that if they get attacked, their favorite non-humanoid serpent is here to avenge them, The Shoebill sails past the gate and into the calm waters of the town's harbor.
While the town may not be anywhere as large as Port Tugator is, it puts a smaller settlement such as Coastedge to shame. More importantly, it brings a large smile to Fenrir's face.
Why?
Because almost every single boat in the harbor looks like it's meant for fishing. The harbor is full of people transporting fish and fishing supplies, the boats are lined with fishing rods and nets, and there's a station on the dock for some fishers to hang their catches from to measure and weigh them – and, probably, to take screenshots with.
Just from the harbor alone, Fenrir feels like he's at home and a burning desire to go fishing this very moment gets lit within him.
Unfortunately, he has to take care of boring business stuff first.
”You totally trust them just because they're a bunch of fishers, don't you?” Oleander asks after noticing how excited Fenrir is. Fenrir may not realize it, but his ears are perking straight up and his tail is excitedly wagging behind him.