“Josh?” The prince frowned and thought for a moment, then looked toward Galahad. “Do you remember him?”
“I don’t either, Your Highness William, but refugees from the Northlands are quite easy to identify. We can also look through the port records from that time.”
After speaking, Galahad turned his head to Zoe. “What was the name of the ship the refugees came on?”
“The *Black Pearl*.”
“I’ll send someone to check the recent arrivals and departures of ships. As soon as there’s news, I’ll inform you. Will you all be staying in Blood Harbor a little longer?”
Zoe hesitated, glanced at Erwin, then replied, “We’d like to discuss that among ourselves.”
“Very well. The results of the investigation will also be sent to you later. Galahad.”
Galahad escorted the people from Castel back to the mansion. The Holy Guard soldiers who had been detained along with Connor were also gradually released.
Connor and the others hadn’t been mistreated—on the contrary, they had even received favorable treatment. Of course, this was probably because he had immediately revealed that he was from Duke Cohen’s domain.
As for their next move—Zoe had initially leaned toward returning to Castel first, but something Erwin said made her change her mind.
“Why would the prince not know about refugees from the Northlands?”
Erwin rubbed his chin and suddenly asked this.
“You mean, he deliberately hid the matter of Josh and the others?”
“No, that’s unlikely.” Erwin furrowed his brows. “Why would he? Castel has already proven its value. Right now, what the prince wants most is to build a good relationship with the Earl. What trouble could someone like Josh cause?”
“Uh, maybe he persecuted Josh and doesn’t want us to find out?”
“He even detained Mr. Connor, didn’t he? But he still released him. Even if there had been some conflict, he could brush it off as a misunderstanding. I think the more likely explanation is—he really doesn’t know about this group of refugees.”
Connor, after listening for a while, interjected, “That shouldn’t be. A whole ship of refugees from the Northlands—he’s the lord of this place. He should’ve known… unless…”
“Unless what?”
“Unless the refugees deliberately hid themselves. I’ve been under the prince’s soft confinement, and I know nothing about recent happenings in Blood Harbor. Has something occurred here that needed to be deliberately covered up?”
Erwin and Zoe exchanged glances and both nodded.
Blood Harbor had indeed not been peaceful. After the prince’s departure, the place had plunged into chaos. And as it happened, the refugees had arrived around that same time.
“They probably encountered trouble and needed to go into hiding. With so many people, they were most likely targeted by cultists. But what I find strange is—if they were being hunted by cultists, why didn’t they seek our help once we arrived?” Erwin said slowly.
“Seek help…” Zoe’s eyes lit up as if she’d suddenly remembered something. “Didn’t Josh send you a message before?”
“Yes, he warned me to be careful of the prince. After that, we lost contact.”
Zoe scratched her head, troubled, then suddenly clapped her hands. “Don’t we have Granny? Can’t she investigate the situation in Blood Harbor directly?”
As she spoke, she turned to Granny, eyes full of anticipation.
As a Chrysalis of the Moths Chasing Fire, Granny excelled at sensing and hiding—this much had become well known during the Deep Sea War.
After all, Castel had been pushed to its limits in dealing with the monsters that kept pouring in. Both the Banshees and the Moths Chasing Fire had once fought alongside the islanders in Castel.
Everyone looked toward Granny.
The old woman, who had been quietly sitting on the sofa and listening, revealed a warm smile. “Only now do you remember this old woman when you run into trouble? Scrambling to gather intel last-minute won’t help—you need to prepare in advance.”
Zoe looked a bit sheepish. “Ah… I… I only just thought of it. Would you mind checking things out for us?”
“Don’t worry. I haven’t been sitting idle in this house these past few days—”
Before she could finish her sentence, her body suddenly collapsed lightly like a piece of paper. Then the door creaked open, and a hooded figure appeared in the doorway. She pulled down her hood, revealing Granny’s kind face.
“—I’ve been out and about occasionally.”
“Ah! Granny! Y-you just went out!?”
Granny shook her head. “I never actually entered this mansion. Among your group, I’m the only one with extraordinary powers. If the prince had any ill intentions, and I was inside as well, wouldn’t we all be captured in one fell swoop?”
Zoe was utterly shocked. She looked at Erwin and saw that he, too, was stunned.
As expected of a Chrysalis of the Moths Chasing Fire—concealment and caution were etched deep into her soul. Even the few of them hadn’t realized that Granny had been hiding within Blood Harbor all along.
“You… you’ve been in Blood Harbor this whole time?”
“More or less. Mostly lingering nearby. Blood Harbor has many places that are quite dangerous—even for someone with extraordinary powers like me, they’re not easy to tread.”
“Ah…” Zoe’s eyes widened. “Is… is it cultists?”
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Granny nodded.
Zoe had long heard that cultists ran rampant in Blood Harbor, but to her, it had always seemed like an empty warning. With the prince’s forces protecting them, naturally no cultists dared to cause trouble. As for what Blood Harbor was truly like, they hadn’t really known.
Cultists…
Zoe glanced back at the Holy Guard soldiers in the room. Suddenly, she felt uneasy. They had advanced bolt-action rifles—but could bullets really compete with supernatural powers?
The “Granny” on the sofa was still lying there. Now they knew it was a fake, but it had conversed and interacted with them over several days without raising a single suspicion.
Granny was their ally, so that fake body merely lay quietly on the sofa now. But what if she had been their enemy? What if she had carried a weapon and aimed to kill them… what could they have done?
What kinds of strange and terrifying tricks might the cultists have up their sleeves?
Zoe swallowed hard.
Even Erwin loosened his collar uneasily.
Granny, on the other hand, looked at them with some amusement.
“What? Scared already?”
“You just met that prince, didn’t you? Wasn’t he interested in your weapons? Asked a lot about the bolt-action rifles, didn’t he?”
Zoe nodded. The prince hadn’t asked directly, but he had subtly probed for many details—about Castel, about the advanced firearms. He was clearly very interested.
“He’s interested in your guns… but is he interested in extraordinary powers?”
Zoe was momentarily stunned, then shook her head.
The prince had not asked a single question about the supernatural. Even when he learned that sea monsters had attacked, he only inquired briefly and nothing more.
Erwin’s expression turned thoughtful.