"Danger from Intis?" Abner frowned. He suddenly remembered Xio mentioning Baron Larry's collusion with Bianca, the embassy's military attaché, and a thought struck him: Could Intis be planning to make Mr. Sarr take the blame? Was the danger to Fanny merely incidental?
Abner voiced his suspicion.
Mr. Sarr merely smiled. "The Sari Family holds several seats in parliament and wields considerable influence... Even if they needed a scapegoat, they wouldn't choose us. The price would be too high.
"After all, a Saint of the Church of Steam also bears the name Sari. Our family is no small force in Intis."
After the previous ambassador's assassination, even the Soren Family, a former Angel Clan, had only seized the opportunity to use Mr. Sarr to curb his son's rise. They had never considered bringing down the entire Sari Family. That would have cost too much in political capital and economic concessions, and could easily have backfired.
With that in mind, Mr. Sarr believed the danger Emma had mentioned was probably another underhanded move by a political rival.
Seeing how confident he was in his family, Abner thought it over. He had a point. With so many suitable scapegoats available, Intis had no reason to target a family with a Saint.
So was Fanny's danger really just the result of dirty political infighting?
Once they had reached that tentative conclusion, Abner took the chance to ask to use the Steam Workshop—after all, that was, in a sense, his main reason for visiting Mr. Sarr.
Mr. Sarr agreed generously. He let Abner use some of the supplementary materials stored in the workshop and even had his granddaughter Fanny stay to assist him.
The arrangement served two purposes. It gave the young pair a chance to grow closer, fulfilling his granddaughter's wish; and the workshop