Sorin's office in the Erbaia city administration building was a sight to behold.
The room was vast, and its walls were adorned with giant bookshelves filled with ancient tomes and scrolls. Multiple semi-transparent spectral screens levitated into the air, showing different corners of the city of Erbaia. These screens allowed Sorin to monitor the city at a glance.
The office also had various elemental and non-elemental arrays that Sorin could use to control various facilities available to the citizens of Erbaia. As Sorin used the space-element array to teleport to his office, he found Crown Prince Rodrick Renar waiting for him at his desk.
Rodrick looked smart and confident, and Sorin could see that he was growing in his role as the crown prince of Edinburgh. Although there was nobody else in the office, Sorin knew Rodrick's guards were close.
Rodrick turned around when Sorin appear in the office out of the blue. He smiled and tried to get up from his seat, showing his polite and respectful demeanor. "Master Sorin, thanks for giving me your valuable time," he said in a respectful tone.
Sorin stopped Rodrick from getting up, gesturing for him to remain seated. "It's my pleasure, your highness," Sorin said, as he quickly took his usual seat across from Rodrick's desk. "Tell me what I can do for you?"
Rodrick took a deep breath and leaned forward in his chair. "I've come to discuss the kingdom's security with you, Master Sorin," he said, his voice confident and clear. "As you know, there have been some troubling reports of bandits active on the waters of River Lithe. So I want to focus on getting rid of these internal turmoils before focusing on the war with Layos."
'Edinburgh is up to something. A move on House Slughorn?'
Sorin could tell Rodrick was about to engage him in bureaucratic bullshittery after listening to his words. He could tell Rodrick was here to stop him from helping House Slughorn's vessel that was about to come under the bandits' attack.
At this point, Sorin doubted if the group that was about to launch an attack on Slughorn's vessel was made of fluvial bandits. Still, he wanted to play safe by acting as Erbaia's city protector.
"Your Highness, I would like to engage with you on this topic with all my heart and attention. But unfortunately, there's an emergency happening in my jurisdiction right now. One of House Slughorn's main vessels is under threat from fluvial raiders.
I need to form a squad and offer them my help as dictated by my obligation as Erbaia's city protector. Can we..." Sorin replied before being cut off by Rodrick's denial.
"I'm sorry, Master Sorin. But this cannot wait. As for House Slughorn's vessel under threat, I'm sure it has its own security protocols in place. I don't think it needs your assistance. Your valuable time is better utilized in these discussions with me," Rodrick said humbly with a smile on his face.
The crown prince paused for a moment, thinking before addressing Sorin once again, "Master Sorin, have you sent any prior reinforcement towards House Slughorn's vessel in question?"
Sorin nodded and answered, "Yes, your highness. Expert ranker Rhea Bloodweaver is approaching the site with her squad as we speak."
Rodrick sighed when he heard Sorin's confirmation. He reclined in his chair and tapped his finger on the study table before speaking up, "Call her back. Tell her not to engage in any conflict with either party."
Sorin pressed his lips against each other before suggesting a third option, "Your Highness, we can use Rhea as our eyes to keep an eye on the conflict by asking her to send us the live footage of the conflict..."
Rodrick's eyes narrowed on Sorin as he spoke in a grim voice. "Master Sorin if you want to get into my good books, do as I tell you to do. If I wanted live footage of the site, do you think I would have required your help?"
Rodrick let silence reign over their conversation for a moment or two before speaking again. This time, his voice was back to normal. "I mean, I appreciate the gesture, Master Sorin. I really do. But we don't want to put an Expert ranker's life at risk by asking her to be a witness to the scene."
Sorin looked at Rodrick with a face that said he had loads of questions swirling in his mind at that point. Rodrick ran his fingers through his hair before speaking neutrally.
"Let's just say that there's a 'raider' involved in this conflict who might not like the fact that he is spied on. He'll kill anyone and everyone and blame his kills on the circumstances. We don't want Expert Rhea to die in an accident, do we?"
Sorin nodded. By this point, he had realized that House Slughorn was about to fall from its grace because Edinburgh itself was conspiring against it.
It had barely been a week since Sorin took charge as Arbaia's city protector. Still, he could tell that House Slughorn was up to something with the way it carried out its business inside the city.
Sorin was about to wait a few days before launching an internal investigation into the same case. But his investigation seemed unnecessary. Edinburgh was about to launch a preemptive strike.
Sorin was about to contact Rhea Bloodweaver using the communication array, asking her to return to the port and remain on standby. Suddenly, he received another message and his face turned grim.
It was another message from his intelligence unit.
Sorin looked at Crown Prince Rodrick seriously. "Your Highness, how confident are you in those "raiders" to take care of the job?" he asked curiously.
"What do you mean?" Rodrick asked, with a look of puzzlement on his face.
Sorin summoned another spectral screen over the table before showing Rodick the message he had just received from his Intel unit.
"Myriad Potioner– Sebastian Slughorn is aboard the ship."
Rodrick's eyes widened in surprise when he read the message. He couldn't believe that someone like Sebastian Slughorn would be caught first in the net that he and a certain raider cast for the entire clan.
'That man is either extremely lucky or extremely unlucky. There's no in-between.'
Rodrick smiled wryly. Sebastian Slughorn was like a shark about to get caught in a net meant for the School of Salomons. He wasn't sure the net would hold up.
AN: Sebastian Slughorn was mentioned in chapter 832.
