ad-fusion Chapter 131 : Chapter 131
Chapter 131 : Chapter 131
Chapter 131. White Harbor
The carriage came to a smooth stop in front of the Governor’s Residence.
Logaris West ignored the servants who had come out to greet him and strode straight through the corridor lined with exquisite murals, heading toward the office at the far end of the second floor.
Standing before the familiar heavy oak door, he did not even bother to consider the courtesy of knocking. Exhaustion filled his mind; he only wanted to finish his report as quickly as possible and then go back to sleep without a care for the world.
He pushed the door open directly.
“Sylvia, I’m back. About this recruitment—hmm?”
Halfway through his sentence, Logaris’s voice halted.
Sylvia was not alone in the office.
The fire in the fireplace flickered, casting its glow over two figures. Sylvia Van Astrelia, dressed in the resplendent attire of a governor, sat at the head seat. Opposite her, on the sofa, sat a figure clad in a pure white holy robe.
That iconic cascade of golden, wavy hair, shining like molten gold, and that face so sacred one hardly dared to look at it directly—who else could it be but Aurora?
Hearing the door open, both of them turned to look at him.
“It seems I’ve arrived at the wrong time,” Logaris said, standing at the doorway with a slight lift of his brow.
“No, I am the one intruding.”
Aurora rose to her feet, her face adorned with that flawless smile, as if painted by a divine hand. She gracefully adjusted her immaculate holy robe and gave a slight bow to Sylvia.
“Your Highness, the preliminary inquiry regarding the Skeleton King incident has concluded. Thank you for your cooperation. Since Professor West has matters to discuss, I shall take my leave.”
“Travel safely, Aurora,” Sylvia said with a nod.
Aurora moved with graceful steps. As she passed by Logaris, she paused briefly.
She turned her head slightly, her golden eyes—seemingly capable of seeing through everything—casting a meaningful glance at him.
“It has been a while, Logaris. You are still the same, barging in without knocking.”
“I am used to it,” Logaris replied expressionlessly.
“Some habits should be changed,” Aurora said softly, a faint, inscrutable smile in her voice. “After all, you are no longer that lawless student in the academy who could blow up laboratories without consequence.”
With that, she did not linger. Her figure disappeared beyond the doorway, and she even thoughtfully pulled the door shut from the outside.
Click.
With a soft sound, only Logaris and Sylvia remained in the office.
“When did the Holy Church’s nose become so sharp?” Logaris walked over to the fireplace and poured himself a cup of hot tea. “The bone fragments in the Raging Cold Valley have not even been cleaned up yet, and they have already caught the scent?”
“The official explanation is that they are investigating the divine power fluctuations that appeared on the Skeleton King summoned by the cultists,” Sylvia said, watching him. “They are worried that an evil god has polluted the Northern Territory.”
Logaris rolled his eyes. “They are worried about their own rule instead. After all, a monster summoned by heretics possessing divine power is not exactly reassuring.”
“Aurora is one of us. This visit is more about personally confirming the situation in the Northern Territory and helping us deal with the conservative faction within the Holy Church,” Sylvia explained.
“However, she warned me that the Judicator Knights have also come along. We should be careful not to give them any leverage.”
Logaris gave a noncommittal response and took a sip of tea, finally dispelling some of the chill from his body.
“Enough of these troublesome matters.” Sylvia stepped out from behind her desk and came to his side. “How was your trip back to the royal capital this time? You must be exhausted.”
“It was fine.” Logaris shifted his gaze toward the large map of the Northern Territory hanging on the wall. “I recruited the people and purchased all the materials. They are already on the way. Aaron will handle the arrangements.”
“That is good.” Sylvia withdrew her hand. “Since you have returned, it is time to put our previous plan on the agenda.”
She turned and walked to the map, drawing a circle around Winter City with her finger.
“Winter City and the surrounding towns have implemented the new policies quite smoothly. But farther out, those remote territories are all playing dead. Orders are sent down, yet it is as if they sink into the sea without a trace.”
Her voice turned cold. “It is time to go down there and knock on them a bit. Do you have any suggestions? Where should our first stop be?”
Logaris set down his teacup and walked to the map.
His gaze did not linger on the fertile agricultural regions, nor did it fall upon the mineral-rich mountains. Instead, it crossed most of the Northern Territory and landed directly on the eastern coastline.
There, a modest mark was drawn.
“White Harbor.” He extended his finger and tapped the name.
“White Harbor?” Sylvia was slightly surprised.
“Yes, White Harbor.” Logaris’s voice carried no particular emotion, yet each word was exceptionally clear.
“Your reasoning,” Sylvia said, watching him.
“First, White Harbor is the territory of the Tarassa family. This family is an old noble house of the Northern Territory, deeply entrenched, with enormous influence along the eastern coast. Our new policies impact them the most, and they are also the most likely to comply on the surface while resisting in secret.”
“Second, it is the farthest place from Winter City—a classic case of ‘the mountains are high and the emperor is far away.’ For such a long time, we have not even received a decent tax report from them. That alone says a great deal.”
“Third, and most importantly.” Logaris’s finger traced outward from White Harbor, pointing toward the vast, endless sea.
“This is the only natural deep-water port in the Northern Territory. Whoever controls this place controls the throat of all external trade. Smuggling, collusion with foreign enemies… there is far too much that can be done here.”
His reasoning was sound and meticulous, the logic flawless, leaving no room for criticism.
This was indeed the most critical strategic location that needed to be addressed in the Northern Territory.
Sylvia listened quietly. Her azure eyes first lingered on the words “White Harbor” on the map, then slowly lifted and settled on Logaris’s face.
She watched him.
She watched those seemingly calm eyes behind his lenses.
Something about Logaris today was off.
From the moment he entered, Sylvia had sensed it. His exhaustion was not feigned, but beneath that fatigue lay something else—something frozen, yet extremely sharp, brimming with a cold and violent edge.
It was not the impatience he showed toward the Holy Church, nor the obsession he displayed when facing a research bottleneck.
It was… an urge to destroy something.
Tarassa…
Sylvia silently repeated the surname in her mind. She did not recall any unpleasant history between Logaris and that noble family during their academy days.
But she did not ask.
She understood Logaris well. This man was like a precisely constructed alchemical creation; the more one tried to pry open his outer shell, the more fiercely the defensive spellwork within would rebound.
If he did not wish to speak, then she would not ask.
She only needed to know one thing: if he wanted to act, she would act with him.
“Very well.”
Sylvia turned around, picked up the governor’s seal from the desk, and stamped it heavily onto a blank inspection order.
“White Harbor it is.”
Her voice was decisive and crisp.
“We depart in five days. To avoid alerting them, it will be just the two of us. We will travel in secret under the pretense of inspecting the eastern trade route.”
“No problem.” Logaris nodded, a faint smile forming at the corner of his lips.