Six names, corresponding to the six heads of the conglomerates who had been inside the Black Room.
Normally, even someone like Tokugawa Shingen would've had to spend a great deal of effort to find out who exactly had issued the orders behind the scenes, layer after layer of infiltration, activating the agents buried deep inside the consortiums, and so on.
But this time, the subordinates of those six men had practically all called in at once.
Tokugawa Shingen only needed to do a brief reverse trace before he completely grasped the entire chain of cause and effect.
"...Father also told me to ask you something," Tokugawa Yukino said.
Ryosuke glanced at the list and asked, "What is it?"
Tokugawa Yukino grinned slyly, her smile like that of a desert fox who had just succeeded in a scheme. She tapped lightly on the window and said pitifully, "Please, let me come in and say it. It's top secret, if someone overhears, it could be dangerous if leaked."
Ryosuke shook his head but opened the window again anyway, only to see the princess of the desert nation nimbly climb in through the window and sit down squarely on his bed.
However, perhaps fearing that she'd be thrown out again, Tokugawa Yukino didn't waste time with tricks this time. She straightened up a bit and said honestly, "Father told me to ask what you plan to do."
Ryosuke thought for a moment and understood instantly. "The consortiums want to buy their lives?"
"That's right."
Tokugawa Yukino brushed her wavy brown hair back behind her ear, the motion graceful and smooth, revealing her fair underarm.
Ryosuke, however, kept his eyes on the list of six names the whole time, not giving her any attention at all.
"Damn it," Tokugawa Yukino cursed silently, then continued, "The consortiums are willing to pay a huge sum to buy their lives. I've seen the amount, it's quite a lot, enough to rebuild the entire city of Gorin."
On one side was Gorin City's reconstruction.
On the other, the culprits who had slaughtered countless innocents.
Tokugawa Yukino crossed one leg over the other, toying with her shoe using her toes. Her shiny toenails sparkled like diamonds under the light. She was curious to see what Ryosuke would choose.
'Would he vent his anger and uphold justice? Or be pragmatic, ensuring the living could move on first?'
'If it were me… definitely the first one. Who cares how much money they offer, just kill them all.'
Tokugawa Yukino wasn't the kind of person who'd say, "Why don't they just eat cake."
She knew very well that she could make such a choice because she'd been raised in wealth and comfort. She never needed to care about who had money, after all, few had more than her father.
She waited quietly, but what she got in return was a light chuckle.
Ryosuke placed the list back on the table, picked up his teacup, blew away the tea leaves floating on top, and said in the calmest voice, "Since when do meat pigs have the right to make choices?"
"People, I'll kill."
"But not secretly. There'll be a public trial, a public verdict, their crimes read aloud, and their execution announced in the open."
"Money, I'll take as well."
"Not the amount they offered, double it. The city's reconstruction needs money. And for the people's hearts to climb out of despair, that needs money too. I'll issue compensation to the families of the deceased."
After he finished, Ryosuke took a sip of milk tea. "Did you understand?"
"Ah?"
Tokugawa Yukino sat dazed on the bed. Then suddenly, her body went weak and she collapsed backward onto the mattress.
Ryosuke frowned slightly. 'What kind of trick is this woman playing now?'
But this time, he misunderstood her.
Tokugawa Yukino didn't have any other schemes. She was truly overwhelmed. His string of orders had left her breathless, her head spinning.
Over the past three days, she had often hidden in the shadows, secretly watching Ryosuke treat patients and heal the petrified.
He was always so gentle with the wounded, so kind it felt like sunlight. But she hadn't expected that same man, who smiled as warmly as the morning sun, to face the consortium's offer with such cold, absolute, unreasonable conviction.
So ruthless.
So irresistible.
Tokugawa Yukino couldn't help swallowing hard again.
Ryosuke looked at her blank stare. "Did you hear me clearly?"
She had. To be exact, she knew she'd probably never forget those words, or the man who'd said them.
She nodded.
"Then please pass this message to Tokugawa Shingen for me," Ryosuke said calmly.
"Tell him to discuss it with the consortium representatives. If they refuse, give me an address, I'll go myself."
"If you really think that's too much trouble, then why don't we just, eh?"
Once again, she was standing outside the door.
When she looked back, Ryosuke had already drawn the curtains and turned off the lights.
Tokugawa Yukino sighed, her shoulders slumping. She stepped down from the porch and climbed into her palanquin.
A maid beside her asked curiously, "Miss, you're not actually falling for Lord Ryosuke, are you?"
Tokugawa Yukino folded her arms and snorted. "Don't be ridiculous. I just want to play with him a little."
The maids obediently nodded and lifted the palanquin to head back to the daimyo's residence.
But none of them noticed that Tokugawa Yukino had quietly lifted the corner of the curtain, peeking out at the tightly closed door behind her.
She didn't even know what she was hoping for. She just wanted one more look.
Even after the palanquin turned the corner, the door never opened. Tokugawa Yukino lowered the curtain in disappointment.
———
The next morning, Ryosuke set out alone on the journey back.
Just like when he came, there were bureaucrats gathered, nobles surrounding him, processions, and bands playing.
And of course, the indispensable desert girls dancing in skirts with their long legs exposed.
But Ryosuke knew that nothing was the same as before.
He nodded to Tokugawa Shingen and waved to the citizens who'd come early to see him off, bidding farewell to this radiant desert capital.
"Let's go."
The camels began to move, and what had once been a small group of five had now become a grand caravan of nearly a hundred people.
Over thirty wagons were packed with documents, gold, silver, minerals, and high-precision machinery.
This was the first batch of war reparations for Gorin City. The second and third batches would be delivered later.
Shiratori stood among the crowd, watching Ryosuke's distant figure.
Back when Ryosuke had made it rain inside the city, Shiratori, collapsed in an alley, had heard the shouts from the battlefield. He reacted instantly.
Petrify the severed limb.
Aside from his arm, Shiratori had no other major wounds. As long as he could petrify the severed part, he wouldn't die.
Using the last of his strength, he had stumbled to the center of the battlefield, plunged his broken arm into the rainwater, and survived.
Afterward, because he was the one who exposed Kurosaki's conspiracy, the remaining members of the Rats discussed it and decided to make him their new leader.
Although Shiratori didn't want to be called "boss," with everyone panicking, they needed someone to lead, so he reluctantly agreed.
As the new leader of the Rats, Shiratori had many things he wanted to say to Ryosuke. He knew that, based on Ryosuke's reputation, the man probably wouldn't refuse a visit.
But… in the end, Shiratori didn't go.
The Rats of Gorin City had stopped the Empty Shinobi Corps' conspiracy and saved the city.
And they... they were a bunch of fools who'd been played like puppets by a schemer, nearly causing catastrophe.
They didn't have the face to see Ryosuke again.
Shiratori raised his puppet prosthetic arm and waved farewell to Ryosuke's distant silhouette.
A man in a gray robe came up beside him.
"Boss Shiratori, I've told everyone, keep an eye on any strange movements in the city, especially from the consortiums or the daimyo's officials... But, even if we get intel, who do we report it to?"
"Don't worry about that," Shiratori said, lowering his arm and turning to walk away with his companion.
"Last night, a guy named Kamihara Hayato sent me a telegram."
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