Without slanting their eyes, the patrol team passed them in goose steps.After a long time, Vincent said, “We have conclusive proof that the sheriff in Bluewater Harbor must be a player, but we don’t know about the tax officer yet.”

“Do you want to meet them?” Liz jumped off from the carriage and said, “This is their territory anyway. Wouldn’t it be rude if we don’t pay them a visit?”

Roland waved his hands. “That’s unnecessary. We’re not here to make trouble. If any tourist has to visit the player in charge, I would’ve been occupied every day in Delpon.”

Vincent chuckled.

Liz felt that it did make sense. She only proposed the suggestion because of her habit as a Priest of the Water God Church.

It was a rule of the Water God Church that their Priests had to register in the temples of the church when they visited other cities if there were such temples.

That was a measure to help locate those Priests. After all, the Water God Church was too small. If anything happened to the Priests, it would be easier to investigate if they knew where the missing person last showed up.

Though the Priests of the Water God Church were battle maniacs, they were quite united amongst themselves.

Roland and his crew checked in at an inn and took a rest for the day. Then, they asked the boss how to rent a boat in Bluewater Harbor, not one of the cargo boats but only one that could accommodate a couple of people.

But the boss whispered to them, “Kämpfer the White Beard is the boss at the port. He’ll only charge some taxes if you are a capable merchant team with your own boats, but it wouldn’t be so simple when there are only so few of you, especially not when you have a beautiful woman with you.”

Roland frowned. “Is the local sheriff not doing his job?”

“She certainly is. The new sheriff is very nice. The city is much safer than before.” The boss sighed and said, “But it’s really tricky on the port. Kämpfer the White Beard has a dozen professionals and hundreds of sailors under his command. Even the sheriff can do nothing about him for now.”

Roland thought a moment and said, “It seems that we really need to pay the sheriff a visit.”

His companions all heaved a sigh too.

Then, they went to the city hall. Hardly had they revealed their identity when they were let in by the guards, who seemed to be expecting them.

In the room, Roland and his team had just sat down, when a brawny woman who had a pretty face walked in.

Seeing her look, Roland knew that she was a Warrior who focused on Charm.

She was a typical battlefield commander. High Charm allowed her to learn many commanding skills, and a strong constitution ensured her survival on the battlefield.

While pure Warriors were focused on individual strength, the Charm Warriors relied on teamwork.

The moment the woman came in, Vincent and Liz both exclaimed, “Brenda, it’s you?”

The woman named Brenda smiled at them and looked at Roland. “You’re finally here, Roland.”

Stunned, Roland connected the leads in his head and slapped his thigh. “We’ve been tricked. Hawk intentionally manipulated me to come here.”

Both Vincent and Liz were confused.

Brenda chuckled. “As expected of a Mage. You’re truly responsive. It’s true that we manipulated you to come here, but we didn’t lie to you. There’s indeed a blue fiery sword sealed on an offshore island.”

Andonara pulled Roland’s arm and asked, “What’s wrong? How did Hawk manipulate us? Is the sword not real?”

It was really true that women with bigger boobs tended to have less brains.

Roland sighed and said, “They’re from the same guild. I imagine that Hawk and Link were here for a while, but you couldn’t deal with the criminal group that occupies the port, so you drew us here with the fiery sword.”

Brenda personally poured a cup of fruit tea and gave it to Roland with both hands. “Hawk didn’t have a choice. After all, things didn’t end well between Silver Wings and you. He couldn’t simply ask you to help us. But when you’re offered a piece of intelligence on some good equipment, you can clear some villains and accomplish some quests for it. Isn’t it much more acceptable?”

Roland shook his head but chuckled a moment later.

Though Hawk played a trick, it was not too annoying.

The man’s intelligence was real. Though they were slightly manipulative, they had expressed their sincerity by giving away what was likely to be a piece of epic equipment.

“Then let’s talk about this Kämpfer at the port.”

“So you’re willing to help?” Brenda’s eyes sparkled.

Roland nodded.

At this point, he had to help them, or this trip would be for nothing.

“Thank you.” Brenda couldn’t be more delighted.

Then, she introduced the situation at the port.

As it turned out, the port at Bluewater Harbor was actually not controlled by the mayor of the city.

The mayor had a lot of troops, but they weren’t good at sea battles. Kämpfer the White Beard conquered the port with six warships thirty years ago, but they didn’t attack the mayor because they were bad at land battles.

There was nothing the mayor could do about the six warships, either.

They were caught in this predicament for years. After they both lost a lot of men, an unspoken agreement was established.

The taxes of Bluewater Harbor were divided into halves. Kämpfer levied taxes on the business ships, and the cargoes would be taxed again on the land by the mayor.

It would be fine if it was only about taxing, but the problem was that Kämpfer often crossed the line.

Now and then, he would capture the women in the city and sell them to other cities as slaves.

Also, the areas near the port were very unsafe. Crimes happened all the time.

Brenda said, “After I took the post of sheriff, I confronted Kämpfer’s men more than twenty times, with more losses than victories. I only managed to maintain the situation and even reclaim some of the areas he occupied because I’m undying, but that was the best I could do. The enemy is very cunning. He would go back to his warships and seal the port if things didn’t look right. In the end, we had to negotiate with him and apologize to him.”

“So you want me to blow up his warships?”

“Yes.” Brenda nodded. “It’s barely possible for other people, but it’s as easy as pie for a high-altitude bomber like you.”

“Not a problem. Why don’t you describe the warships for me?”

Delighted, Brenda said, “They’re easy to recognize. There are altogether six warships, all anchored outside of the port, with the symbol of a white-bearded old man on their sails.”

Roland pointed at the table and said, “Heat the wine for me. I’ll be back shortly.”

Then, he turned around and left.

Vincent gasped. “I found that scene very familiar.”

Brenda thought that she had seen it from somewhere else too.

At this point, Liz said gloomily, “It’s how Lord Guan cut Hua Xiong while his wine was still warm[1]!

After a daze, Vincent burst into fury and slapped the table. “Damn it, that’s so awesome. I’m so jealous of him. I want to be as cool as him! Why can’t I? Why?”

[1] a story from Romance of the Three Kingdoms