The Black Iron Glory
Shocking City

Chapter 39

Shocking City

"You're sure the net is here?" borkal asked doubtfully. They must have come to the wrong place.

"Should be .." Claude wasn't too sure if this was the location either. He only remembered Eriksson saying that day to leave a net there where the water depth was deeper than four meters. He doesn't really pay attention to the environment.

"I forgot .." Welikro shrugged without looking too concerned.

Eriksson looked around him closely before he said confidently, "Here is fine, I'm sure I remember it correctly. Those of us who live by the sea will never forget where we put the net. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't go wrong with this. "

"Then ... can someone take the net?" ask Borkal. If that really happened, then it would be very troublesome. That net belonging to the Eriksson family cost at least ten thales.

"It is impossible" said Eriksson, "The wooden buoy from the net has the mark of my family, Altronis. The people of the Whitestag will soon know that it's ours. The way the net is woven is also unique. Once the net is brought to shore, the pattern will be found soon, no one will hide it. But besides, the fishermen in Whitestag were rather honest. They can't take someone else's net … "

"Don't you say that there have been a lot of newcomers in the city over the past half year? There may be some dishonest ones among them" Borkal said.

"It's true that there are some new fishermen who don't know the rules, but they shouldn't have the guts to take my family's net. The inspectors at the city docks are also rather strict and will give severe penalties to anyone who breaks the rules. Did you know that the demand of our city's slaves was only half fulfilled? The inspectors could not wait for someone to break the rules to make up for the shortfall. "

Eriksson's right. There will be maintenance operations of the city's east highway for the east expansion of the city. But due to the lack of manpower and funds, the city government turned their attention to the slaves. When ordinary people in the city commit crimes, even the smallest offense will ensnare them for three months. All that will be given to them at that time is food and tools in exchange for their energy for free.

Even if someone took the net, there was no way they could escape. They will be found by the people in the harbor almost instantly. Even the black market shops in the city would not be willing to pay money to buy Altronis nets. It was something that easily reached the ears of Captain Altroni and both the net buyer and seller would definitely be in deep trouble.

"Let's look harder. Maybe it just floated somewhere else. Maybe it caught another boat passing by and accidentally moved," Welikro said.

"That's impossible. The net was weighed down by a little plummets. How could it float with all that weight? It is also impossible to be moved by another ship. The crew will soon find out if the nets were caught on their ship, "murmured Eriksson.

But half an hour searching around later, they finally found the location of the net.

"Surprisingly, how did this mesh end up here? We are now by the lake" said Eriksson, perplexed.

They were practically next to the post stone fortress, several hundred meters away from the location where the net was originally deployed. Were it not for the bright red color of the buoy, they probably would not have seen the net so quickly.

After trying to pull it, Welikro grimaced. "Why is it so heavy? It can't catch a water plant, can it?"

As the net was transported on board, Welikro let out a joyful cry. "There's fish! Big ones!"

There really was only one big fish inside, which died at that moment.

Fish is at least 1. It was 5 meters long and it pierced through one of the net holes. However, the widened hole was not big enough to let it slip away or come off. The fish had to fight quite a lot, bringing the net to where it was now, before dying of exhaustion.

By the time the fish was pulled, Eriksson laughed out loud. "It's a blacktiger! A very big blacktiger! Ahahaha! No one in this town has ever caught a fish this big!"

Blacktiger is a special type of fish found in Lake Balinga. They usually prefer to linger at the bottom of the lake and are very difficult to catch, but given their delicious meat, they are considered a delicious seafood. Blacktiger fish are also very grumpy and will quickly fight to the death after being caught, so there is no way to breed them.

It was another great gift they took on the way home. None of them thought that putting up a net and leaving it there would give them an incredible catch.

"Enter into livewell. Blacktiger fish turn very bad when exposed to sunlight, so we have to soak it even if it is dead. We'll reach the dock in two hours, so we can show it off by then" Eriksson said with a beaming expression. He happily thought of how he would show off their incredible catch when they reached the pier.

Claude couldn't be bothered to care about the fish. After he put the fish into livewell, he decided to sleep on the deck. The all-nighter he pulled finally made him feel sleepy.

Claude couldn't be bothered to care about the fish. After he put the fish into livewell, he decided to sleep on the deck. The all-nighter he pulled finally made him feel sleepy.

After sleeping peacefully for some time, Claude was woken up by Borkal. "Hey, Claude, get up and shine. We're here."

He opened his eyes to see that Altronis' private dock was not far ahead. The owner of the ship, Old Sunny, also waved towards them there.

Eriksson had just turned the ship to dock while Welikro stood at the bow with a paddle in hand. When Claude moved his hand to clean his face and refresh himself, he finally noticed the blanket he was wearing on him.

As he stood on the deck, he felt his legs give up, almost falling back to his knees on the deck. He hurriedly gripped the side of the ship to stabilize himself.

After a loud yawn, he asked, "We're already here? Hurry."

Eriksson laughed and said, "Quick? You've been sleeping for over two hours. Welikro said that you also spent the whole night awake and asked us not to wake you up. Borkal was the one who gave you the blanket."

"Thank you, my brothers," said Claude as he yawned, "But why do I still feel so sleepy?"

Welikro nudged the stone wall of the pier with his paddle to help docked at the ship. After putting it down, he handed the docking line to Old Sunny before returning to Claude. "You were surprised yesterday. Now, you finally reacted normally. I was quite troubled yesterday when you looked completely fine even though you just fought a huge python to the death.

"But that's not enough. You need more sleep than that to rest properly. When I go hunting with my father, I usually need to sleep for ten hours every time I return. How about you come back to get some more rest right away?

Claude understood that he had been lulled to sleep from the sense of security he felt. After killing the python in the ruins yesterday, he had been hung on this matter the entire time as Welikro described as if he was expecting another ambush that could come at any moment. The reason she was so energetic the night before was because she did not feel safe enough to fall asleep. Only after they left could Egret finally relax and start to feel tired when he felt safe enough to do so.

After the third yawn, Claude nodded. "Alright, then I'll be back now. Greet the train for me. I guess I'll fall asleep on my way back if I have to walk."

After he had carried his backpack, Claude immediately boarded the carriage and could barely stay awake during the return trip. The coachman dropped Claude off and left immediately; Eriksson had already asked the coachman to charge him for the trip for sending Claude home.

She groggyly greeted her sister Angelina as she entered, not not not noticing the crying symptoms on her face, before climbing into her little attic and diving into her bed first. At least, he did not forget to take off his backpack before falling asleep.

She groggyly greeted her sister Angelina as she entered, not not not noticing the crying symptoms on her face, before climbing into her little attic and diving into her bed first. At least, he did not forget to take off his backpack before falling asleep.

After some time, Claude woke up once more. He opened his eyes to see his mother and Bloweyk.

Bloweyk was already in his bed and crawling over Claude's body. Seeing him awake, his mother asked, "Claude, what's wrong? Do you feel unwell?"

Shaking his head, he carried Bloweyk to his arm and ignored his struggle. Smiling, he replied, "It's nothing. I pulled up at night to watch the night without sleep, so I felt more tired than usual."

Madam Ferd heaved a sigh of relief. "Then come down to eat. Your father has something he wants to talk to you about. Also, you guys went fishing together. Why did you end up staying up all night? Are they bluffing you?"

Claude just shook his head while smiling. He did not feel like explaining it to his mother and gave Bloweyk two loud kisses on his cheek before descending.

"Brother, carry me," said Bloweyk flirtatiously.

"Alright, I'm coming" Claude said as he lifted his sister over his shoulder. "I'll go down now."

"Supervise the door, don't hit it!" his mother shouted anxiously.

Claude acutely crouched down a little as he exited the door, causing Bloweyk to laugh.

He descended the stairs quickly and lowered Bloweyk when he reached the dining room.

Morssen and Arbeit sat next to the dining table. Hearing the sound of dishes being washed in the kitchen, Claude knew that he was the only one who had not eaten.

"Dad, what do you need me for?" claude asked as she pulled the basket of white bread towards him.

"Thank you, our dinner was very plentiful today" Morssen said after laying down his pipe.

It was then that Claude realized that the food on the table looked familiar. There was deer jerky, goat legs with potatoes and even grilled python meat. "

"Thank you, our dinner was very plentiful today" Morssen said after laying down his pipe.

It was then that Claude realized that the food on the table looked familiar. There was deer jerky, goat legs with potatoes and even grilled python meat. "

"Huh?" Claude pondered, "Why aren't there blacktigers? Did Boa and the others not send fish? No way, it's huge. I should have gotten a big part. Has it been eaten?"

"Fish Blacktiger, huh?" Morssen said, "Nothing. The one you caught was bought by the head chef of the tavern, Pjard, for a high price. He wanted to buy venison and pythons, but Boa and the others refused to sell them . "

"W-how do you know ..." Claude almost choked on his bread.

"You go back to sleep as soon as you get home. I'm sure you don't know what kind of commotion your friends have in town. They exposed the huge snake skin on the pier and created a large crowd of inquisitive spectators. That type of python is not something you see every day.

"There are also deer skin and a very large blacktiger fish. I'm not thinking that you're going to get a really big catch of your little 'fishing trip. Some store owners in the city almost got into a fight for buying pythons and deer skins. Boa was quite capable. He started the auction at the dock itself and managed to sell it at a high price.

"Oh, too, this deer jerky, goat's leg and python meat were all sent by Wero. He said it was your catch. It really confused me, so I told him that you said that you were going fishing. I asked him if you fished pythons and deer from the water as well. "

It was then that Claude realized why his mood was not good. He lied about going fishing to hide the fact that he went hunting. His father was angry because he was lied to.

"Sorry, Dad. I thought you wouldn't let me go, so I just told you about the fishing section. We brought weapons with us and had planned to hunt from the very beginning while we were fishing," Claude admitted his mistake honestly and sincerely.

"Who's carrying a gun?" ask Morssen.

"Wero and Eyke. They took the guns from their father. Actually, I also want my own gun …"

Morssen said nothing more and just lightly knocked on the table, as if he had a hard time thinking about something. What made Claude curious was how the pitiful Arbeit did not make any sound at all, as if he was already mute. Normally, he would jump at the chance to taunt Claude from the side when he was reprimanded by their father.

"Please and finish your meal. We'll put this behind us, just don't make up stories to lie to your family in the future." Morssen released Claude easily and left.