Lakeside Town.
Rennala had dragged Rellana away, leaving Horace to return all alone.
Barely back, Horace had not even had time for a sip of water before the weight of reality nearly crushed the breath out of him.
Uriel reported the backlog of government affairs with a miserable expression. Although the old warrior had been forced to become adept at paperwork, all manner of complicated matters still piled up like mountains.
And that was not even the biggest headache.
Over at the Judiciary Hall, Messmer was nearly buried in case files.
Under Horace's guidance, the boy had quickly mastered the legal statutes and grown increasingly fair in his handling of cases, but the transition between old and new laws, civil disputes, friction among nobles, and conflicts of interest between the academy and local authorities...
All manner of cases sprang up like mushrooms after rain. Even with Messmer and his Judicial Officers working without sleep or rest, they could not keep pace with the growing caseload.
Horace had to immediately reassign personnel to help, barely keeping the Judiciary Hall from grinding to a halt.
Yet these were only the "routine" headaches. The issue of the Albinaurics was even more troublesome.
Gaius and his kin, who yearned to change their fate, were brimming with enthusiasm. Some of the best among them had already passed their assessments and were only waiting for Horace to return and bestow the Great Runes upon them.
Some had already begun participating in patrols as Probationary Members of the Order of the Great Rune Knights.
But a problem soon emerged: although the Carian Royal Family had not openly opposed this, deeply rooted prejudice among the populace was difficult to eliminate.
Many people still instinctively avoided patrols when they spotted Albinaurics among their ranks. Pointing and whispering was among