Inside the Kujou Clan.
In the end, the Kujou Clan's "purge the court of evil" operation ended before it even properly began.
The old thief Kujou Takayuki, facing the Raiden Shogun herself, obediently handed over his military authority.
It's just a pity that the current Raiden Shogun is no longer the politically naive figure from before. Whether the military power handed over by the Kujou Clan concealed any private forces or not, the Shogun could still clearly see through it.
"Shogun-sama, these five hundred axe-wielding soldiers are merely the Kujou Clan's bodyguards for protecting the household..."
The Shogun seemed somewhat weary. Compared to little Yoimiya, this kind of filth that has some use yet cannot be simply cut down felt utterly disgusting.
"Shura Anyakonsen-shou, I'll leave this to you here."
The Shogun chose not to exchange any more words with the old thief Takayuki and instead went outside to deliver a speech to stabilize the troops' morale.
After all, those soldiers had only rebelled in a daze due to a lack of information. Don't forget, the slogan the old thief Takayuki had used was still "purge the court of evil."
Now that the Shogun, who held the highest prestige, had arrived, the people of Inazuma who saw her immediately surrendered and listened to the Shogun explain the misunderstanding.
Thus, inside the core room of the Kujou Clan headquarters, only the Shura Anyakonsen-shou and the old thief Takayuki remained.
"How about you say a few words first? I permit you to speak like a human being."
The Shura Anyakonsen-shou spoke with impeccable politeness.
"Don't think you've won just because you have me! You're only relying on the Shogun-sama's favor...!
Our Kujou Clan has served the Shogun-sama for a thousand years, and yet we end up like this! You absolutely won't have a good ending either!"
After losing completely and utterly, the old thief Takayuki finally gave up all pretense. The usual refined upbringing of the Kujou Clan was completely thrown aside.
The Shura Anyakonsen-shou, however, seemed thoughtful about this.
If his own changes to the Raiden Shogun's concept of eternity were noticed by the Raiden Shogun...
Would the Shogun cut him down with one strike?
Probably not. By that time, the Shogun should also have become wiser and would be able to see that progress cannot be stopped.
But now wasn't the right time to think about that, because there was new material worth pondering.
The Shura Anyakonsen-shou looked at Kujou Takayuki.
In this old thief's heart, was there truly any loyalty toward the Raiden Shogun? Or was it merely using the family's honor to satisfy his own selfish desires?
Deep down, the Shura Anyakonsen-shou still hoped that people could have some complexity. Though it might waste some time, the brilliance of human nature was always worth exploring.
"You place great importance on your family and your reverence for the Raiden Shogun?"
"Our Kujou Clan has served the Raiden Shogun for generations. Naturally, I am proud of my family and hold the deepest respect for the Raiden Shogun!"
Spoken beautifully, yet the actions were all filthy deeds.
"Then why do you engage in nurturing enemies to strengthen your own position? Can't you see the people below suffering and wailing?"
"This is also for the sake of making the people below love and respect the Shogun-sama. Without crises, how would the people below think to revere the Shogun-sama?"
Utterly high-sounding.
Has this old thief already deceived even himself?
"Sigh... how truly rare. You say, why is it that when I simply told the Shogun-sama about all those things you claimed were 'for the Shogun-sama's good,' the Shogun turned the Kujou Clan into this state?"
"The Shogun-sama will one day understand the loyalty and righteousness of our Kujou Clan!"
Sigh, one can never wake a person who is pretending to sleep. To truly see a person, never look at what they say, but at what they do.
To see the true face of this old thief was extremely simple.
Just force the Kujou Clan and himself into a binary choice.