The initial reaction to Warren's suggestion wasn't all that enthusiastic.
For starters, there was no proper dock on the branch of the Belton River which flowed past Redwood Town. This wasn't too surprising as it was just a small tributary that was too small and shallow for anything much bigger than canoes to use.
The main body of the Belton was 8 km downstream of this tributary, but the closest point where there was both an open shore, and deep enough water for large ships to anchor, was actually some 15 km north-east of Redwood Town.
This little nook, often referred to as Sandy Cove by the locals, was sometimes used by fishermen from the Newton Barony as a camping spot, but it had no permanent infrastructure at all.
Although Sandy Cove wasn't directly on the route from Redwood Town to Harold City, there was a rough dirt path which branched off the main road that went there, so getting there was still relatively easily, but after that, many problems arose.
For able-bodied travelers on foot, it would probably take 4 hours or so to hike from Redwood Town to Sandy Cove, but no one in the meeting could estimate how long it would take to transfer several thousand people from the shores to the ships.
With no dock on the shore, people and supplies would have to be ferried to the ships in the deeper part of the river on smaller boats. This would undoubtedly be a difficult and time-consuming process.
There was also the question of where they were going to get that many large ships in the first place.
Commercial river ships were fairly common in the Rockwell Kingdom, but only in and around the major ports along the nation's waterways.
If a city didn't have a bustling trade economy, and a deep enough harbour, ships wouldn't even sail there since there was simply no profit to be made.
Unfortunately, the area around Harold City was precisely one of these less profitable regions.
That didn't mean ships didn't stop in Harold City at all, just that there were far fewer of them than one would expect for a settlement of its size.
If Redwood Town wanted to evacuate the rest of its population by river, they would have to hire these limited ships from Harold City, which would bring up problems of availability and cost.
Even with all these difficulties, though, many soon began coming around to this idea.
Anna and Drake's recent trip had been quite perilous, with many members of their party suffering serious injuries along the way. Just thinking about trying to move 4,000 people across the same route, all while trying to protect them from constant beast attacks, was causing severe headaches for the leaders in Redwood Town.
By comparison, the challenges of using river transport seemed far less daunting.
"I think it's an option worth exploring," Celestina nodded before turning to the merchant who had made the proposal, "We'll have to depend on you for this to work, Mr. Warren."
"Of course, of course!" Steward Warren replied with great enthusiasm.
Ever since Warren had learned that Celestina Balfour was in Redwood Town, he had internally been panicking; after all, he had basically tested her, then scammed her with Lucas' soap and maple sugar just a few months ago.
While he didn't think that the Marquess would be petty enough to call for his head over such a small matter, being fired by the Rising Sun Merchant Guild would probably be the best outcome he could hope for.
Now that he had a chance to make it up to Celestina, Warren certainly wasn't going to let it pass.
"Excellent," Celestina smiled happily before her gaze grew sharp, "So, how much do you think this will cost us? And don't say it's for free, there's nothing more expensive than something a merchant gives you for 'free'."
Warren, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, began sweating again when he heard this. He had indeed been planning to offer the services of the Rising Sun Merchant Guild's ships for free, not because he was some great humanitarian or because it was the right thing to do, but because he wanted to have the Balfour Marquess owe him a favour.
Now, however, that avenue had been decisively cut-off, so Warren quickly began recalculating things and hesitantly replied, "The Guild regularly rents out its ships for transporting cargo at a rate of about 150 Gold per day. Given the current circumstances, with my authority as a Steward, I can offer our boats to Redwood Town for just 100 Gold, but…"
Seeing the awkward look on Steward Warren's face, Celestina quickly understood, "But your Guild doesn't have enough ships in Harold City to meet our needs, does it?"
Lowering his head, Warren nodded, "Currently, the Guild has 3 ships available in Harold City, each capable of carrying about 100 adult passengers."
Hearing this, everyone in Charles' office felt deflated, with Sasha even asking, "How can the Guild only have 3 ships in Harold City?"
Harold City wasn't very large, with a population barely exceeding 30,000, but if the entire County was considered, then there were over 100,000 customers who the Rising Sun Merchant Guild could sell to from this one location.
It was impossible for the largest chamber of commerce on the continent to have just 3 ships servicing a population of over 100,000 people, even if this was one of the poorer and more rural places in the kingdom.
Scratching his head awkwardly, Warren coughed and tried to explain, "Ever since the explosion in the Great Western Forest, there has been… a significant increase in the demand for ships in Harold City. So, naturally, a number of the Guild's vessels have already been rented out to other clients…"
Many brows twitched when they heard this.
Clearly, those with money and connections in Harold City were buying up whatever ships they could get their hands on in order to escape the disaster. These nobles and wealthy families would also not just leave with the shirts on their backs, they would try to take as much money and property with them as possible, so large ships were sure to be highly sought after.
The owners of these river ships were certainly also overjoyed with this situation. Extremely high demand for their limited services meant they could charge a huge premium.
Obviously, the Rising Sun Merchant Guild had also recognized this opportunity and fully embraced it, and since Warren was the one in charge of the Guild's operations in Harold City, he must have been the one who authorized their rental to various other factions.
It seemed, even in moments of crisis, there was profit to be made. Or perhaps, it was exactly in times of desperation that the greatest profits could be reaped.
After grumbling for a bit, Celestina took the lead again to ask, "If you were to return to Harold City and negotiate with the other merchants and boat owners personally, how many ships do you think you could acquire for us, Steward Warren?"
Why did I even open my fat mouth, Warren was kicking himself right now, knowing that if he couldn't come up with a satisfactory answer, he would be offending the Marquess again, which would not bode well for his career.
On the day the explosion occurred, the Guild actually had 9 ships in Harold City's port, but within 24 hours, Warren had rented 6 off them out for exorbitant prices, ranging from 600, to as much as 1,000 Gold per day.
The only reason he didn't rent the last 3 ships as well, despite receiving many offers for them, was just in case the Guild also needed them to evacuate.
If it had been 3 days ago, Warren might still have been able to negotiate to get these boats back, but before he left Harold City yesterday, 4 of them had already set sail, with the other 2 scheduled to depart shortly after. In other words, no matter how much he wanted to, there was no way for him to get more ships.
Backing down now wasn't an option, however, so Warren wracked his brain for a moment before proposing, "If… If money isn't an issue, I may be able to negotiate with other merchants in Harold City to use their boats… but it won't be cheap."
Seeing the displeased looks of everyone in the room, Warren hastily added, "Of course, if Marquess Balfour could come to Harold City personally, I'm sure many would be willing to assist you free of charge."
"Impossible," Celestina flatly rejected the idea, "We have no idea where the Saberclaw pack is right now. If they've left the area, then there won't be an issue with me leaving for a few hours; however, if they're still lingering nearby…"
There was no need for Celestina to complete her thought out-loud. Everyone understood that without the powerful High-Rank Adept standing guard, even if it was just for a few hours, the Saberclaw Alpha alone could tear through Redwood Town and turn all of them into food for its pack.
"We also can't afford to send out more than 1 Spirit Initiate," Vanessa added with some frustration.
While it was true they had turned back the raptors, that was only with the combined strength of Celestina and every Spirit Initiate in Redwood Town. Losing one of them might still be acceptable, but sending 2 or 3 of them to pressure the leaders in Harold City would be ill-advised at this moment.
In normal times, even a messenger carrying Celestina's seal would have been enough to get most nobles and merchants to bow their heads, but in times of crisis, people tended to be bolder and more selfish.
Only with a strong enough display of force could these self-interested parties be 'reasoned' with.
Warren, who was well aware of all this, wasn't really expecting Celestina or a group of Spirit Initiates to accompany him back to Harold City. He simply wanted to illustrate the difficulty of his position in hopes that they wouldn't blame him for something beyond his control.