As Melissa and her knights waited for the ships to return, another group appeared at the other end of the road leading to the port. The knights turned to look warily at the other group, but relaxed again when they saw the flags the other group was carrying.
Their flags carried the emblem of the Bernards, so Carl guessed that the one leading this group must be the tax official of the port, Rick Bernard.
The port had been attacked by the pirates the night before as well, so even though Melissa had warned them beforehand and made several arrangements to reduce the number of casualties, the structures at the port still took a hard hit. The office of the tax official, in particular, was badly damaged because it was one of the main areas that the pirates had targeted.
Melissa had been certain
