The City of Srivi gradually appeared on the horizon.
Even from several kilometers away, its towering stone walls could be distinguished from the surrounding landscape.
Watchtowers rose at intervals along the fortifications, their weathered structures connected by walls that had once been built to protect the border city from whatever dangers might emerge beyond them.
Javier sat quietly inside the carriage, his back resting against the cushioned seat.
After a moment, he slowly raised one hand.
A faint current of mana flowed from his body and spread beyond the carriage, travelling across the road, the surrounding fields, and eventually toward the distant city.
The world began to take shape within his mind.
He could sense the road stretching ahead, the uneven terrain surrounding it, the walls of Srivi, the towers rising above them, and beyond those walls, countless traces of life.
Hundreds of people were scattered throughout the city.
Perhaps thousands.
Yet Javier’s expression slowly changed.
Something was wrong.
For a city of Srivi’s size, the concentration of mana should have been lively and dense, filled with countless overlapping presences.
Instead, what reached him felt strangely weak and uneven.
Some people barely seemed to be moving at all, while others lay completely motionless for long periods of time.
Javier’s brow tightened beneath the edge of his blindfold.
What is happening in that city?
He extended his Mana Detection farther, allowing it to spread deeper into Srivi.
The weakened inhabitants became clearer, but so did something else.
A faint presence lingered throughout the city, almost completely buried beneath the mana of its people.
It did not feel human.
Javier rested his fingers against the side of the carriage, concentrating on that unfamiliar sensation.
Something is wrong.
Several minutes passed before Alaric’s voice reached him from outside.
“Your Highness, we will reach the city shortly.”
“Alaric.”
“Yes, Your Highness?”
“Open the carriage window.”
There was a brief pause before the wooden panel slid aside.
“Of course.”
Fresh air rushed into the carriage.
Javier took a slow breath, and almost immediately, his expression tightened.
Smoke, rotten vegetables, filthy drainage water, and garbage that had been left beneath the sun for far too long filled the air.
The smells overlapped until the air itself seemed stale and unpleasant.
Yet beneath all of them was another scent, faint but unmistakable.
Blood.
Javier remained still.
Now that the window was open, he could hear the city as well.
Or rather, he could hear how little life there seemed to be within it.
There were no merchants loudly competing for customers, no cheerful conversations filling the streets, and no children laughing as they ran between houses.
Instead, Javier heard slow footsteps dragging against stone, the occasional creaking of wooden carts, and coughing from somewhere beyond the carriage.
A child began crying nearby.
The sound continued for several seconds before an exhausted voice quietly begged the child to stop.
Javier’s fingers curled slightly against his knee.
His mana spread farther through the streets.
People were everywhere, yet most of them were weak.
Some possessed barely enough mana to sustain their bodies.
He sensed someone lying beside the road, another person struggling to walk, and several others whose movements were slow and irregular.
Then that unfamiliar presence returned.
A thin trace of mana drifted through Srivi like mist, cold and deeply unpleasant.
It did not remain in one place.
It seemed to have settled over the city itself.
Javier’s expression grew more serious.
This isn’t normal.
The carriage passed through the gates and entered Srivi.
Its wheels rolled over uneven stone as Javier quietly listened to everything around him.
Somewhere nearby, a door slammed shut.
A woman whispered something from inside a building.
Another violent cough echoed from farther down the street.
Then silence returned.
That silence disturbed him more than anything else.
Srivi was supposed to be a city filled with thousands of people.
Instead, it sounded like a place waiting to die.
As the carriage continued through those lifeless streets, an old memory surfaced within Javier’s mind.
The heavy silence surrounding him slowly transformed into another silence, one he remembered all too clearly.
The throne room of Sylvaris Palace.
He could still remember the anger in his father’s voice and the weight pressing against his chest as he knelt before the throne.
It was the day King Leontinus had summoned him to answer for what had happened during Roman’s birthday celebration.
King Leontinus sat upon his throne with his brows deeply furrowed.
Thick veins stood prominently across his forehead, resembling roots forcing their way through the earth, while anger had turned his face a deep shade of red.
The entire throne room seemed to grow heavier beneath his presence.
Javier remained on one knee before him, his head respectfully lowered.
“Do you not realize that what you did ruined the most important celebration for Roman?”
Javier lowered his head slightly further.
“I beg your forgiveness, Father.”
King Leontinus drew in a long breath.
His chest rose slowly as though he were desperately attempting to restrain the anger building within him.
It did not last.
“DID YOU INTENTIONALLY HUMILIATE SYLVARIS IN FRONT OF OUR GUESTS?!”
His voice thundered throughout the throne room, striking the walls and returning as a powerful echo.
Javier’s hands tightened against each other.
He had never intended to destroy Roman’s birthday celebration.
Even now, he could remember the confusion and pain surrounding what had happened that night.
Yet whatever his intentions had been, the result remained the same.
He had caused chaos before nobles and honored guests from across the kingdom.
“No, Father,” Javier answered quietly.
“I did not.”
His fingers tightened once more before slowly relaxing.
“I am prepared to accept whatever punishment you deem appropriate, Your Majesty.”
King Leontinus stared down at his eldest son for several long moments.
He eventually rose from the throne and descended the steps, each measured footstep echoing throughout the vast chamber.
Javier remained kneeling.
The king stopped before him.
“As punishment for your actions, I hereby order Javier Sylvaris to travel to the border city of Srivi.”
Javier’s head lifted slightly.
“You will remain there and help rebuild the city. I expect you to develop Srivi properly and restore it to a condition worthy of the Kingdom of Sylvaris.”
For the first time since entering the throne room, genuine surprise crossed Javier’s face.
Srivi?
He had expected punishment.
Perhaps confinement, the loss of certain royal privileges, or something even harsher.
Being sent to a distant border city had never crossed his mind.
Still, Javier lowered his head.
“Your command shall be obeyed, Your Majesty.”
Before anything more could be said, another voice hurriedly came from nearby.
“Forgive me, Your Majesty, but the City of Srivi is too…”
“Silence!”
King Leontinus turned sharply toward Alaric.
“I will not say it twice, servant Alaric.”
Alaric immediately lowered his head, his posture stiffening beneath the king’s furious gaze.
“My deepest apologies, Your Majesty.”
Silence returned to the throne room.
Javier remained kneeling, but something about the punishment had begun to trouble him.
He could not explain why.
There was nothing particularly unusual about a member of the royal family being entrusted with governing territory.
And yet something felt wrong.
That feeling had remained with him throughout the entire journey.
Even now, after travelling so far from the capital and finally entering Srivi itself, Javier could not rid himself of the suspicion that there had been something more behind his father’s decision.
The memory disappeared abruptly when the horses screamed.
“NEIGHHH!”
The carriage lurched violently forward.
Javier was thrown from his seat, barely managing to brace himself before colliding with the opposite side.
Outside, Alaric immediately pulled hard against the reins.
“Whoa! Whoa!”
The horses came to a sudden stop.
Several supplies stored behind the carriage toppled over with a heavy thud, and almost immediately Javier heard the guards drawing their weapons.
“What happened?”
“Someone is blocking the carriage!”
Javier slowly straightened himself.
Beyond the carriage, he could hear someone breathing.
Quick.
Uneven.
Terrified.
It belonged to a child.