The entire royal troop proceeded towards the pier, an immense wooden structure that extended into the sea for hundreds of meters, with dozens of branching paths opening to the side, allowing ships to dock. A distant part of the wood was still burning, further down the massive pier. At the beginning, where they stood, only the bloodied bodies blocked the way, some still aflame. They carefully maneuvered around the obstacles to avoid catching fire, each knight walking attentively, some with swords in hand. The King stayed further back, stepping on the solid ground where his soldiers had already tested. As they approached the source of the smoke, it filled the air, forcing them to stop. The harbor was filled with ships, but most of them appeared to be externally ravaged. By some miracle, a few ships remained untouched, not joining the bodies that sank into the depths of those waters. The commotion of the soldiers caused some sailors to emerge, shouting curses and pleas for help, which were completely ignored until they fell silent.
After a short wait, the wind helped dissipate the thick smoke, while the waves themselves crashed violently and oddly, aiding in extinguishing the fire that still struggled to survive. And then they saw it. What seemed to be the end of the pier was just the part devastated by the explosion. Dozens of meters extended over the sea beyond the immense hole that had formed in the pier. Four ships stood isolated, distant from the wooden connection to the solid land. One ship was adrift; perhaps the captain had managed to escape the chaos, or maybe they were heading towards their demise. Rufus wasn't sure if any ship was expected that day. But from where they were, they could clearly see the wreckage of five vessels on the right side of the pier. Sails floated along with bodies and other pieces of wood. The waves pushed and submerged the wreckage floating on the water. Two of the five ships were completely overturned, while the remaining three exposed only fragments of their bows, disappearing and reemerging as the waves surged. However, the most striking sight was the completely empty space in the midst of those ship remnants. Rufus concluded that the ship that had caused the explosion was there. Looking to the left side of the pier, four ships were submerged—one of them completely upside down, one tilted to the side, and the other two in various pieces. The remaining nearby vessels were pushed away from the pier, with the waves both pushing the ships further and crashing against that solid wooden platform.
"Could there be other ships ready to explode?" the question came from Illia. The King's right-hand man had his unsheathed sword protecting his lord's rear.
"Perhaps, but I believe if there were more, they would have already exploded. It seems to have been a single ship here," Rufus pointed to the enormous empty space in the water, a few meters ahead of their location, near where the rest of the pier had once extended.
"That's what it looks like. Well, there's nothing more you can do here, my King. I suggest you return to the castle and decide from there what needs to be done now," Illia sheathed his sword and rested his arms.
The King maintained an expression of uncertainty on his face, not fully understanding what had happened there. The disaster didn't have the scale of an accident. A single ship would hardly carry enough gunpowder for an explosion of that magnitude, and only one ship was completely pulverized in that harbor. The King was well aware of the organization of his city; he knew that the ships were placed side by side and rearranged completely when a ship departed. This organization, though it seemed laborious, ensured greater efficiency, preventing some vessels from occupying the more distant parts of the coast on their own. He concluded that his armor had been useless. All he could do there was witness the spectacle of bodies orchestrated by some criminal. Rufus nodded to Illia and, along with half of the men, made their way back to the horses.
"Stay and find out as much as you can, with caution," the King ordered his friend before mounting Violin and departing with the soldiers.