"How are things, Galahad?"
The prince paced rapidly around the room with a grim expression, occasionally walking to the window to glance outside.
"Not good, Your Highness. We've already begun gathering the Harbor Guard. Barricades have been set up at the boundary between the upper and lower districts, but... we have too few men. Only a small portion has answered the recall."
"Why?"
"Most of the Harbor Guard are stationed in the barracks on the eastern side of Blood Port. There's still no news from there. Some of the rest have been recalled, some have been blocked outside by the cultists, and some..." Galahad hesitated slightly, but under the prince's gaze, he finally stammered out the words.
"Some have defected."
"Defected?" The prince looked at the chaotic streets outside and spoke softly. "You mean they abandoned their posts in the Harbor Guard and joined the cultists?"
"Perhaps the cultists used some Transcendence means to beguile people again. That's what they're best at."
"Using Transcendence power to beguile people?" The prince sneered. "We've been here for months. Don't we know what this place is like by now? Do you need Transcendence power to sway people who can barely afford to eat? Those Mother Goddess Church cultists only need a few slogans to incite the commoners into rebellion, but that wouldn't be enough to turn the Harbor Guard."
"How many men are in the Harbor Guard? The Mother Goddess Church doesn't have enough Transcendents to control them all. Those men in the barracks can afford to eat. They must have been promised greater benefits to betray us."
The prince withdrew his gaze from outside.
"There are no more new maritime merchants coming to Blood Port. This place is nothing but a huge garbage heap slowly rotting away. The only things of value