Srome stood at the administrative heart of the City of Srivi, serving as the center from which nearly every matter concerning the city was supposed to be managed.
Taxes were collected and recorded within its offices, food and medical supplies were distributed through its administration, and matters involving the military and public security passed through the hands of the officials working there.
Trade permits, land ownership, public works, criminal records, and countless other affairs concerning the lives of Srivi’s citizens were meant to be carefully documented and reviewed inside the building.
In a properly functioning city, Srome should have represented order and authority.
Yet from the moment Javier arrived, something about the place immediately felt wrong.
Unlike the rest of Srivi, Srome appeared remarkably well maintained.
Its stone floors were polished, its walls were free of the grime that covered much of the city, and even the wooden furniture seemed far better cared for than anything Javier had encountered since passing through the gates.
Armed guards stood at the entrance while several others patrolled the corridors within, giving the building an appearance of discipline that stood in stark contrast to the starving people and neglected streets outside.
From the exterior alone, Srome seemed almost untouched by the suffering that had consumed the rest of Srivi.
That appearance began to crack the moment Javier’s carriage arrived.
“He’s here!” someone shouted from inside, followed almost immediately by another startled voice.
“What? Already?” A sudden commotion erupted throughout the building as hurried footsteps crossed the polished floors and officials rushed between rooms.
Papers were hastily gathered and shoved into drawers, cabinets were locked, and doors that had remained open moments earlier were suddenly pulled shut.
One official nearly knocked an entire stack of documents from his desk in his panic, while another hurriedly straightened his clothes and wiped the sweat gathering across his forehead.
“Please watch your step, Your Highness.” Javier slowly stepped down from the carriage and remained still for a moment, allowing the sounds around him to settle into something he could understand.
He did not need sight to know that his arrival had caused a disturbance.
There were too many hurried footsteps coming from inside Srome, too many nervous breaths, and far too many conversations that suddenly became whispers whenever he drew near.
Javier quietly extended his Mana Detection, allowing the interior of Srome to gradually take shape within his mind.
The entrance emerged first, followed by the long corridors stretching deeper into the building, the numerous offices lining either side, and the people scattered throughout them.
There were fewer officials than he had expected for a place responsible for governing an entire city.
Several offices were completely empty, while in one room, someone sat motionless with his head resting against a desk, apparently asleep.
Another official was drinking something whose strong scent left little doubt that it was alcohol.
Javier’s brows drew together beneath the edge of his blindfold.
This is supposed to be the administrative center of Srivi?
Before he could investigate further, a pair of unsteady footsteps approached from inside the building.
A heavyset man who appeared to be in his thirties stumbled toward him, dressed in expensive official robes that had been left untidy in several places.
His hair was disheveled, his face flushed, and every step seemed to require more concentration than it should have.
Javier smelled the alcohol before the man even reached him, followed by cigarette smoke and the faint scent of expensive perfume clinging to his clothes.
The man stopped before Javier and made an obvious effort to straighten his posture.
“Y-Your Highness. My apologies for keeping you waiting.” Javier offered no immediate response.
The man’s heartbeat was unusually fast beneath the slurred words, betraying a nervousness that the alcohol could not conceal.
After an uncomfortable pause, he lowered his head and introduced himself.
“I am Gardo, the Chief Minister of Srivi.”
“Chief Minister Gardo,” Javier repeated, tilting his head slightly toward the man’s voice.
Gardo quickly answered, “Yes, Your Highness,” before bowing, though the gesture was shallow and careless.
Javier noticed the lack of respect in the movement through his Mana Detection, and judging by the sudden tension behind him, Alaric had noticed it as well.
Standing slightly behind the Crown Prince, Alaric’s expression gradually hardened.
Javier had travelled for nearly a month to reach Srivi, yet the official entrusted with overseeing the city had greeted him drunk and barely capable of maintaining proper posture.
Gardo, however, was hardly the only problem.
Several officials standing nearby had begun whispering among themselves, seemingly believing that distance and lowered voices would prevent Javier from hearing them.
“Is that really the Crown Prince?” one of them whispered.
Another quietly replied, “I heard he’s blind.” A third voice soon joined them.
“Why would His Majesty send him here? I thought the Crown Prince would remain in the capital.” Javier heard every word but gave no indication that he cared.
Before the whispers could fade, however, a drunken official among them let out a quiet chuckle and muttered, “What a troublesome day.”
Alaric’s gaze immediately shifted toward him.
Before the official realized his mistake, Alaric stepped forward and struck him sharply across the face.
SMACK!
The force sent the man stumbling sideways, his drunken amusement disappearing instantly as he pressed one hand against his burning cheek and stared at Alaric in disbelief.
“Show some respect when speaking in front of His Highness,” Alaric said.
His voice never rose, but the coldness behind it was enough to drain the color from the official’s face.
“M-My apologies…” The man immediately lowered his head.
Alaric took another step toward him, his jaw still tense, but Javier calmly raised a hand before the situation could escalate further.
“Enough, Alaric.” The former commander stopped at once.
He remained silent for a moment before stepping back into his position behind Javier, though the look he gave the official made it clear that his patience had already begun to wear thin.
Javier turned his attention back toward Gardo.
“What do you see when you look at me?” The question caught the Chief Minister completely off guard.
Gardo froze before hesitantly answering, “I… I beg your pardon?” Javier did not repeat himself.
“Answer me.”
Gardo swallowed, his eyes briefly moving across the black blindfold covering Javier’s eyes before he lowered himself onto one knee.
“You are the First Crown Prince of Sylvaris,” he answered carefully.
“The eldest son of His Majesty… and the man who may one day inherit the throne of this kingdom.” A faint chuckle escaped Javier as he reached forward and rested one hand upon Gardo’s shoulder.
The Chief Minister stiffened beneath his touch.
“Then remember that while I am here.” Javier withdrew his hand and stepped past him.
“Take me to my office.”
“Yes, Your Highness.” Gardo immediately rose and began leading the way, with Javier following him deeper into Srome while Alaric and the remaining officials walked behind them.
Javier kept his Mana Detection spread throughout the building as they moved, quietly observing every room and presence they passed.
The farther they went, the more uneasy he became.
Srome was simply too quiet for a place responsible for governing the lives of thousands of people.
Several offices remained empty.
In one room, an official slept with his head resting against a wooden desk, while two others sat comfortably elsewhere, talking over drinks.
Farther down the corridor, Javier sensed another man repeatedly turning the pages of the same document whenever their footsteps drew near, pretending to work until the Crown Prince had passed.
The pattern soon became impossible to ignore.
These people did not seem particularly concerned about the condition of Srivi.
They were concerned about Javier discovering how little they had been doing.
“Please forgive us, Your Highness,” Gardo said as they continued down the corridor.
“Your arrival was completely unexpected. Had we been informed beforehand, we would have prepared everything accordingly.” Javier’s footsteps stopped.
Gardo immediately did the same, and the officials behind them fell silent.
“My people are starving,” Javier said.
Gardo’s breathing became noticeably shallower, but Javier continued before he could answer.
“They are sick. They are suffering, and some of them are struggling simply to survive another day.” The image of Aslan returned to Javier’s mind, a starving child standing before armed guards with a trembling knife because his younger siblings had not eaten for two days.
His expression remained composed as he turned his face toward Gardo.
“Do you truly believe I have the luxury of delaying my arrival so that you can prepare for me?”
Gardo lowered his head.
“No, Your Highness.”
“Good.” Javier resumed walking, leaving Gardo with no opportunity to offer another excuse.
Several minutes later, they arrived before a large wooden door.
Gardo hurried forward and opened it before stepping aside.
“Your office, Your Highness.” Javier entered without a word, only to be greeted by the stale scent of old books, damp wood and dust.
The air itself seemed trapped inside the room, carrying the unmistakable smell of a place that had remained neglected for far too long.
Javier approached the large wooden desk and brushed his fingers across its surface, feeling a thick layer of dust cling to his fingertips.
He rubbed them together slowly before moving toward the shelves, where his hand passed over old books, cabinets and neglected documents coated in the same grime.
Through his Mana Detection, he could sense the size of the room and the sparse arrangement of records around it.
For an administrative center responsible for a city the size of Srivi, there were simply too few documents.
Javier remained beside the shelves for a moment before turning toward Gardo.
“Bring me every important document concerning the city.” The Chief Minister’s posture stiffened almost immediately.
“Your Highness?” Javier calmly wiped the dust from his fingertips as he answered, “Food supplies, medicine, military affairs, city security, taxes, trade and public works. I want the records for all of them.”
The officials standing behind Gardo became noticeably still.
Javier could hear the slight changes in their breathing and the faint rustling of clothes as several of them shifted uneasily where they stood.
He allowed that silence to remain for a moment before turning his face toward them.
“Everything.”
No one moved.