With just a few photos, Kujou Sara studied them intently, her state growing increasingly unstable. She wanted to refute them as fakes, but the familiar handwriting and the official seal of the Kujou Clan Head on the photos didn't look forged.
"You... where did you get these?"
"Kujou Takayuki's room. It took me quite some effort to find these things."
"You dared to trespass into Lord Takayuki's room, you..."
"Oh, come on. Is Kujou Takayuki, who did all these things, still your Kujou Clan Head?"
Kujou Sara fell silent. Yuto was right; at this moment, dwelling on his crime of trespassing into someone else's room was clearly unwise.
"The resistance, Sangonomiya, the front lines... not a single word was mentioned. Are the fallen soldiers on the front lines and the suffering of the people here all not worth mentioning? He truly underestimates human life, Kujou Clan Head, why hide this?"
"Of course, it's to ensure the smooth implementation of the Vision Hunt Decree. If all of this were written in, what if the Raiden Shogun changed her mind?"
"The Fatui! The Kujou Clan Head, such an arrogant person, actually chose to cooperate with them. What good does promoting and issuing the Vision Hunt Decree do for them?"
"Naturally, it's to stir up social conflict in Inazuma and complete a secret experiment for the Fatui."
"A secret experiment?"
"The Second of the Fatui Harbingers, Dottore, developed an artificial Vision called a Delusion. It allows those without a Vision to wield elemental power, greatly enhancing their combat strength. However, the cost of using this Delusion is the overdrawing of one's life force.
To perfect the Delusion, a large number of people are needed to use it for data collection. But such a harmful device naturally cannot be used on the people of their own Snezhnaya.
The best solution is to find an unfortunate foreign country, preferably one that is currently in a state of war. Once war breaks out, ordinary people, to fulfill their ambitions, will surely choose to use the Delusion in large numbers."
"Is this the truth behind the Vision Hunt Decree? So, the suffering of the people of Inazuma now is all for the sake of this experiment? No, I must stop this."
Kujou Sara, hearing Yuto's words, began to gnash her teeth. She was now impatient to rush into the Kujou Clan Head's room, question if all of this was true, and then inform the Raiden Shogun of this conspiracy to stop the Vision Hunt Decree.
"It's useless. Since the Vision Hunt Decree has been successfully implemented to this day, it means the Raiden Shogun also approves of this policy. After all, she is a god who pursues eternity, and people often lose more in the process of pursuing their wishes.
The confiscation of Visions will not cause anyone to die from their Vision being taken away. Those who lose their lives are instead those who stubbornly insist on pursuing their wishes.
Although Kujou Takayuki, for his own selfish gain, deceived the Raiden Shogun into implementing the Vision Hunt Decree, for her, it is indeed a way to stabilize eternity. Otherwise, not so many people would support this policy. If you tell her now that this policy has led to instability in Inazuma and the suffering of its people, it will not change her mind.
As long as she is willing, whether it's the schemes of the Fatui or the current tense war, they will all vanish into thin air with her Musou no Hitotachi. Once these difficulties are resolved, there will be no obstacles to the implementation of the Vision Hunt Decree, right? Do you still have a reason to stop this policy?"
"But now, how many people have died because of this policy? To reach the situation you describe, how many more people will have to die? This is all depleting Inazuma's national strength!" Kuki Shinobu, who was beside them, could no longer hold back her anger and retorted against Yuto.
"Not many people have died, just the entire population of Watatsumi Island, right? To be honest, after the invasion war of Watatsumi Island ended back then, the Raiden Shogun should have wiped out the upper echelons of Watatsumi Island. Instead, she left Sangonomiya, a force not belonging to the Raiden Shogun's faith, to continue ruling Watatsumi Island.
Look at the Raiden Shogun's shrine there, it's so damaged and no one takes care of it, while Orobashi's shrine is still meticulously maintained from time to time. This war is just a continuation of the previous one. Since that root of disaster was left behind back then, it must be resolved eventually."
"No! Absolutely not! There must be another way, there must be."
Kujou Sara and Kuki Shinobu pondered reliable solutions together, but no matter how much they thought, they found no way to change the mind of such an emotionless Raiden Shogun.
Especially Kujou Sara, as the one who understood the Raiden Shogun best, she knew how firm the Raiden Shogun's pursuit of eternity was, and how difficult it was to make her change her mind.
Just as she was deep in thought, she looked up and saw Yuto sitting beside her, looking at her with a relaxed expression, occasionally picking up a piece of eel and savoring it, a satisfied smile on his face.
She suddenly realized something, slamming her hands on the table. This startled both Yuto and Kuki Shinobu. Kujou Sara's face showed difficulty, and after much deliberation, she gritted her teeth and finally made an astonishing move.
She knelt with her knees together, head held high, hands gathered on her thighs in a seiza posture. Then, she placed her hands on the ground in an inverted 'V' shape, leaned forward, and raised her upper body until her forehead touched the ground.
This series of actions left Yuto and Kuki Shinobu wide-eyed. This... this... this was Inazuma's highest form of bowing—the Dogeza!
A high-ranking general of the Tenryou Commission actually performed the Dogeza bow towards him. This made Yuto's head buzz a little, but this feeling was indeed very satisfying. No wonder later Japanese people often used it, though mostly for apologies.
"Lord Kujou, what are you doing? This is too much for a junior."
"Mr. Yuto, since you have already collected the crimes of the Kujou Clan Head and had someone inform me, you must be quite knowledgeable about the situation in Inazuma and have a solution in mind.
I, on behalf of myself, on behalf of the Shogunate Army soldiers, and on behalf of the common people of Inazuma, implore you, please save Inazuma now! Sara is eternally grateful!"
Only three dull thuds were heard. Hmm... from the sound, it was a good head-knocking.
The atmosphere in the private room fell into a strange silence. Kuki Shinobu, also affected by this atmosphere, instantly reverted to her original miko appearance and performed a bow second only to the Dogeza towards Yuto.
Seeing this, Yuto understood that the purpose of his trip had been achieved, but he had to maintain his demeanor and not agree immediately.
Yuto slowly picked up another oyster, slowly swallowed it, and then strategically took a sip of water.
Dogeza is the easiest act to crush a person's self-esteem. If a person performs the Dogeza, and the other party still does not act, it can basically be declared that the two have reached a point of no return.
Just as Kujou Sara felt her patience had reached its limit and wanted to leave, she finally heard words like sweet dew.
"You're right, I do have a way to break this deadlock."
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