"Hurry up! We need to load the shipment within an hour." A man in uniform hollered through a conical instrument, making it behave similar to a megaphone. His voice resounded throughout the respective port where their ship was docked.
He stared at the actions of the labourers, grumbling in response, "Look at them! Such weaklings that they need four of them to lift a single crate. Back in my day, two were enough."
"Sir, here's the tally." A subordinate saluted upon arriving behind him, handing out a scroll.
The man unfurled the scroll and observed the contents, "Seven tonne of wheat, eleven tonne of rice, one tonne of pepper, two tonne of cotton, two hundred thousand litres of pesticide, and eight hundred tonnes of fertilizer. Man, that's a massive shipment."
The listed items were Garobu City's most prominent exports. They also exported other spices and pulses, but the production of such goods wasn't high. It was only twice the capacity required by the populace in the city.
So, orders for such goods were only encouraged with limited capacity.
The man made checks on the crates as he ticked the list, "Wharu City has made another big purchase."
He stared at the line of ships, "To think all these are going to just Wharu City. Are they preparing for a war or something?"
"They probably experienced a flood once again." His subordinate commented, "Nothing grows on their land other than coconut trees. So, they have to rely for everything on imports."
"Why do they even insist on living in such an unforgiving land?" The subordinate expressed momentary disgust.
"Idiot," The man mocked the subordinate, "Don't go revealing your stupidity when no one asked."
"S-Sorry, sir." The subordinate turned meek immediately when chided.
"There's a reason they live there." The man said, "Wharu City is a sandy region with zero fertility and faces constant floods. Every time the region faces a flood, the soil fertility drops further. But, that doesn't mean it's hard to survive there."
"Once the flood recedes, it leaves behind a plethora of marine products, from pearls to corals. It's not to mention their glass manufacturing that maintains a market monopoly. But most of all, it's oil." He stated in all seriousness, "A special oil is found underneath their land. It's the substance that is vital for our ships. They are also rich in mineral resources necessary for construction."
"So," He tapped the subordinate on the forehead, "Wharu City is actually richer than our City. Don't go around pandering your ignorance."
"I will keep it in mind, sir." The subordinate bowed in response.
"Wharu City, huh? That place seems decent enough to hide in for the time being." Observing their conversation from nearby, having disguised herself as a sailor was Spring, or to be more accurate, it was Winter now.
She stealthily crept into the warehouse, keeping watch over the flow of people as the moment she got an opportunity, she snuck into a cotton crate and waited calmly until she was loaded onto the ship.
As to how she made her way until this point, the corpses floating in the river along the dead of the night were the only explanation.
Once she felt the ship set sail, Winter sighed and got out of the crate, having enough strength to move the lid that needed two men to use tools to open.
She stared at the tattoo of the Devil Skull on her wrist, observing it cackle in response. She focused on it for a minute before closing her eyes to digest her gains.
Through the Stigma, Winter was able to absorb the souls of her target. The souls were consumed as fuel and mildly empowered her while some memories and experiences of the target became available for her use.
By killing and absorbing the souls of some people involved in the port, Winter gained the necessary knowledge to sneak into the cotton crate.
At present, she was only capable of employing her Stigma at a basic level, for that was all she was taught by her dad. Her four personalities weren't homogeneous in terms of memories.
Her dad taught each of them knowledge unique to their own. So, what Winter knew wasn't known by the other three personalities. The same applied to everyone.
'I only know this one application.' Winter thought, 'The moment I removed Iota's tattoo, I gained access to the power within the Stigma. But at the same time, it revealed my presence to the Devil that placed this curse on my family. And once I reach maturity in two years, I'll be devoured.'
'To avoid that, I need to bring the other three on board.' She frowned in response. At present, it was only her decision to make Iota her scapegoat to escape.
Spring was overly reliant on Iota while the other two had their respective thoughts too. 'I need to do something about this.'
"Come find me soon, Iota. I know you won't die from being implicated like this." She let out a smile before suddenly wincing in pain, "Damn, already?"
Spring's personality was already surfacing. It was the least capable but most stable of the four personalities, and hence, she dominated control over the body most of the time.
Winter frowned in worry, 'Damn, she can't do shit and she wants to come out?'
Winter unfurled a scroll and began to write some information in it, sighing as she pocketed the pen once done and closed her eyes. Immediately, her sharp temperament vanished, replaced by a worried, bubbly self.
Spring had returned!
"Where…am I?" She was in a fluster, 'Did that old lady do something to us?'
Her immediate reflex was to look for Iota when she began to sneeze, for she had been in the cotton crate all along.
Hatch!
Her sneeze was loud, echoing around the storage when her eyes fell on the scroll before her, easily spottable because it was right on her face. There was a set of words written on it that Spring read aloud, "Idiot, I escaped from Garobu City. We're now en route to Wharu City. Follow my instructions and bring me out once we reach our destination."
"Also, Iota is stuck in a crisis in Garobu City. So, don't look for him until he finds us himself. He will come to us soon."
"He'll come to us? How?" Spring tilted her head in confusion, unaware of what her dad did to Iota.