The archives of the Tenryou Commission.
Kujou Otake was currently lounging lazily in the chair that had once belonged to Lu Heng.
With his legs propped up on the desk, he sipped his tea contentedly, already plotting which izakaya in Hanamizaka he would visit to enjoy himself after work.
Right now, he felt an unprecedented sense of ease and satisfaction.
The liability waiver written by that scapegoat Lu Heng the day before yesterday had certainly done the trick.
The higher-ups had given it a single glance before letting him smoothly take over this lucrative post!
(Lu Heng: Even without the waiver, you would’ve been fine, but thanks for the four hundred thousand Mora anyway, you massive idiot Kujou.)
“Pfft, that Lu Heng is such a fool! He threw his life away for a measly four hundred thousand Mora!” Slouching back, he let out a nasty sneer.
“Serves you right! That’s what you get for extorting money from this young master!” Just as Kujou Otake was gleefully imagining Lu Heng’s miserable end—
*Bam!*
The heavy doors were ruthlessly kicked open!
Kujou Otake jolted in fright.
His hand slipped, splashing scalding tea right onto his crotch, making him howl in pain.
Turning his head in a rage, he saw two samurai clad in ornate violet and black armor, imperial tachi slung at their waists, marching inside.
Otake was merely a minor offshoot of the clan’s side branches and never had the right to even approach Tenshukaku.
Naturally, he could not recognize the Okuzumeshu, who represented the divine will of the Shogun.
“Oh? They aren’t from the Kujou Clan, yet they dare to be so arrogant! It seems they don’t show Kujou Otake any respect!” Seeing that these two did not bear the crest of the Kujou Clan, he slammed his hand on the desk and stood up.
“Hey! What kind of rogue samurai are you to barge into the Tenryou Commission?! Are you blind? Believe it or not, this young master can throw you into the dungeons right now!”
The two Okuzumeshu samurai cast a cold glance at him, completely ignoring his threats.
They merely looked down at the document in their hands.
After verifying its contents, they marched straight toward him.
“Hey—hey, what do you think you’re doing? I am Kujou Otake of the Kujou Clan! What are you doing?! Guards! Guards!!” This bully who crumbled before the strong had never seen such a formidable presence.
Terrified, he scrambled backward on all fours until his back hit the bookshelf.
With a clatter, several heavy scrolls fell and smacked him on the head, drawing a sharp cry of pain.
“Is this workspace that of Lord Lu Heng?”
One of the Okuzumeshu spoke expressionlessly.
His heart was currently filled with guilt and anxiety—to think that the execution efficiency of their Okuzumeshu was so far inferior to the devotion and loyalty of Lord Lu Heng!
Thus, upon receiving their orders today, they had rushed into the Tenryou Commission at top speed.
“Lu Heng? That fool should already be dead—”
*Slap!*
Before Kujou Otake could finish his insult, a blur flashed.
The Okuzumeshu samurai, white-hot with rage, swung his palm and sent the man flying with a brutal backhand!
Otake spun mid-air before crashing heavily onto the floor, spitting out a mouthful of shattered teeth and nosebleed.
To dare insult Lord Lu Heng, who put his very life on the line and possessed absolute loyalty to the Ogosho?
“Y-You… how dare you h-hit me…” He climbed up with a distorted expression, his words slurring due to the missing teeth.
“The Okuzumeshu are acting on the direct orders of the Almighty Ogosho!”
The Okuzumeshu samurai ignored his reaction entirely, expressionlessly unfurling an official document stamped with the Raiden triple-tomoe crest.
“The former clerk of the Tenryou Commission’s document office, Lord Lu Heng, is hereby promoted to Tenshukaku’s Sobayonin, tasked with a special executive mission! All of his personnel files and past signed documents are to be immediately retrieved, transferred to Tenshukaku, and classified as top secret!”
The moment he heard the word “Okuzumeshu,” Kujou Otake’s arrogance crumbled to dust.
By the time he heard the rest of the decree, his mind went completely blank, buzzing as if struck by a bolt of lightning.
What on earth?!
That fool Lu Heng, whom he had forced to sign the handover sheet and who was supposed to be executed at any moment…
had ascended straight to heaven and become the Shogun’s highest personal attendant?!
A person’s mind is never sharper than when they are terrified of their misdeeds being exposed.
He shuddered violently as a horrifying realization hit him.
“M-My lord… that responsibility handover document Lu Heng signed the day before yesterday… does… does that have to be taken too?” Kujou Otake asked, his face pale and his body trembling.
“Are military orders unclear to you?”
The Okuzumeshu rested his hand on his hilt, his gaze looking at Otake as if he were already a corpse.
“We said *everything*. From the day he joined, every single word he wrote is now an absolute secret of Inazuma. If even a single sheet is missing, your heads will pay the price.”
It was over.
Everything was completely over.
At this moment, the only thought left in Kujou Otake’s mind was that his livelihood was finished.
Seeing the samurai impatiently gripping his hilt, Kujou Otake scrambled backward in sheer terror.
“Hai!”
Kujou Otake hurriedly began gathering the records.
Since he had not touched or processed a single document since taking over, Lu Heng’s files and archives were still stacked there completely untouched.
Within moments, the Okuzumeshu ordered their attendants to clear out several large, heavy wooden chests before sweeping away.
Only when they had completely disappeared did the department director—Otake’s father, Kujou Daichi—scramble in, panting heavily.
Staring at the empty filing cabinets and his son sprawled on the floor, Kujou Daichi felt his vision go dark.
With so many falsified ledgers and loopholes, once they were placed directly on the Shogun’s desk, the Kujou Clan would face total ruin!
Seeing Kujou Otake still dazed, Daichi rushed forward in a fit of rage, unleashing a barrage of hard slaps left and right, spinning him around like a top.
“Useless trash! What are you standing there for?! Follow me to beg the Clan Head for forgiveness!”
Disregarding everything else, the two rushed toward the Kujou Clan estate’s main hall.
The Kujou Clan Estate, Main Hall.
*Crash!* A precious white porcelain teacup was slammed violently against the floor, its shards flying outward and slicing the forehead of the kneeling Kujou Daichi.
“Idiots! Good-for-nothing fools who can only ruin things!”
The current head of the Kujou Clan, Kujou Takayuki, stood with a livid face, pointing at the father and son as he roared at them.
“I ordered you to quietly set him up as the scapegoat for those dead accounts. Yet you not only let him escape, but you also watched as he placed a blade right against the throat of our Kujou Clan!”
“Clan Head! I… I also didn’t expect that he wouldn’t run, let alone secure a connection in Tenshukaku…”
Kujou Takayuki frowned, not wanting to spare them another glance.
He waved his hand, and the family ninjas standing in the shadows immediately stepped forward, gagging both of them and dragging them away like dead dogs.
Left alone, Kujou Takayuki paced back and forth in the room, filled with anxious restlessness.
“We must get rid of this Lu Heng. The risk is far too great!”
But that boy was now the Shogun’s Sobayonin, living right inside Tenshukaku!
Send assassins into Tenshukaku?
He wouldn’t dare even if he had ten times the courage!
The only way was to send someone of sufficient standing, with a unique status, and who was absolutely “stubbornly loyal” to Tenshukaku to test him—or even eliminate him through legitimate means.
“But who should go?” He pondered for a long time.
“Clan Head, I have returned.” A cold, clear female voice sounded outside the door.
Kujou Takayuki paused.
A flash of cruelty and ecstasy flickered in his eyes as a plan materialized in his mind.
Quickly masking his expression, he adopted a grave tone, as if burdened by the weight of the nation.
“Ah, Sara. Come in.”
The heavy wooden door was steadily pushed open by a hand clad in a black mesh glove.
The daylight from outside spilled through the widening gap, instantly slicing through the dim, stifling air of the main hall.
Kujou Sara stepped over the threshold, silhouetted against the light.
Her posture was perfectly upright, like a renowned blade drawn from its sheath.
She wore a form-fitting Shogunate general’s uniform that accentuated her powerful, athletic physique.
What stood out most was not the cool, pale skin exposed at her shoulders and long legs, but the snowy-white fur lining her collar!
The white mantle formed a striking contrast with the pitch-black armor plating at her sides.
Today, she had been overseeing matters regarding the Vision Hunt Decree in Inazuma City, and had returned to report her duties.
*Thud.*
Her high-heeled tengu geta stepped heavily onto the solid wood floor, producing a dull, arresting thud.
As she came to a crisp stop, the gauntlets at her wrists rubbed together with a cold, metallic sound.
“Clan Head.”
Sara bowed slightly in greeting.
Her neat, indigo-blue bob slid forward slightly with the movement, revealing the crimson tengu mask worn askew on the side of her head.
The fangs on the mask gleamed in the half-light, exuding an aura that warned others to keep their distance.
Looking at his adoptive daughter before him—who was fiercely loyal to the Shogun and could not tolerate even a speck of deceit—Kujou Takayuki spoke slowly with a heavy, grief-stricken voice.
“Sara, you have returned at the perfect moment. A treacherous rogue has entered Tenshukaku, and he is deceiving the Almighty Ogosho!”