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"My Lord, the Tenryou Commission still refuses to open the gates."
Thoma, the steward of the Kamisato Clan, returned to the Komore Tea House with a troubled expression. He delivered the news with visible frustration. While the loss of Kamisato Ayaka might not have been a catastrophic blow to the Yashiro Commission as a whole, for Kamisato Ayato personally, it felt as though the very sky had collapsed. Having raised his younger sister since they were children, he had long considered her and the Kamisato Clan the most important things in his life.
Yet, Ayaka had not been seen for a week.
Even with the repeated assurances from Kujou Sara, he remained deeply unsettled. The gates of the Tenshukaku had remained firmly shut, and besides Yae Miko of the Grand Narukami Shrine, only Kujou Sara had the clearance to enter. However, even Sara had not caught a glimpse of the Raiden Shogun herself.
This sparked a terrifying thought in Ayato: had the deity of Inazuma actually perished? Was the divinity residing within the Tenshukaku merely a facade? Perhaps that foreign god had already departed the grounds of the palace entirely. Speculation was one thing, but Ayato lacked the courage to uncover the truth. His only fear was that his sister had witnessed the reality of the situation and had been imprisoned for it. Or worse, a possibility he refused to entertain.
"I will go myself this time."
In the past, he had relied on Thoma to petition for access. This time, Ayato intended to seek an audience with the deity in person. Regardless of the outcome, he needed to know the state of his sister.
He was not the only one with this intention. Kujou Takayuki of the Tenryou Commission had arrived as well. Since the Raiden Shogun had ceased appearing in public, his anxiety had only deepened. The fact that Yae Miko had been continuously transporting supplies into the Tenshukaku lately only added to the suffocating sense of mystery. While Takayuki wanted someone powerful to shoulder the burdens of Inazuma, he did not want to be kept in the dark.
In front of the gates of the Tenshukaku, he encountered Ayato. They had never been on good terms, but the circumstances had changed. Inazuma was mired in crisis, and their god was nowhere to be found. If he could not ascertain the truth, he would never know peace.
"Long time no see, Lord Kujou."
Ayato despised the head of the Tenryou Commission, yet despite his loathing, they were both high-ranking officials serving the three commissions under the Raiden Shogun.
"It seems we share the same concerns, Lord Kamisato."
There was a trace of disdain in Takayuki's tone. The Yashiro Commission had been in decline for some time, and with the young Ayato serving as its current head, the elder Takayuki naturally carried an air of superiority. He held little regard for the diminished influence of the Yashiro Commission, though, in front of the Tenshukaku, he maintained the necessary courtesies. The commission might be struggling, but it had not yet vanished.
The two men, though divided in heart and mind, reached an unspoken agreement: they would proceed to the Tenshukaku together. After all, besides the Raiden Shogun and Yae Miko, they were two of the three most powerful figures in Inazuma. If they went together, they might finally be granted an audience with the divine.
"My apologies, my Lord, Lord Kamisato. Without the permission of the Almighty Shogun, no one is permitted to enter the Tenshukaku!"
Kujou Sara blocked their path.
"Sara, I have urgent matters to report to the Shogun."
Takayuki was displeased, but he stopped short of forcing his way in. His adopted daughter held a significant position within both the Tenryou Commission and the Shogunate forces.
"Then please entrust those matters to me, and I will report them to the Shogun myself."
Sara could not allow them inside. Whether it was the warnings from Yae Miko or the words of Ayaka, the gravity of the situation weighed heavily on her. Ayaka had explicitly warned her that any carelessness could trigger a collapse of Inazuma's political order. That prospect chilled Sara to the bone. Whether it affected the three commissions or something greater, the stakes were clear. As Ayaka had hinted, the vacancy might soon extend to the god herself.
This realization left Sara unable to afford even a moment of complacency. She was determined to execute Yae Miko's orders with absolute precision. Aside from delivering the daily meals, she had not taken a single step inside the Tenshukaku herself. Even with the heads of the Kujou and Kamisato clans standing before her, she would not budge. She remained a silent guardian outside the gates, never once wavering, even as news of the tense situation on the front lines reached her.
"Will you not grant us any leniency?"
Ayato recognized the iron resolve in Sara's eyes. She truly intended to let no one through.
"This is a matter of the utmost importance! I must report to the Shogun personally!"
Takayuki's eyes widened with fury. That a mere adopted daughter dared to speak to him in such a tone was, to a man obsessed with power, an act of pure defiance.
"Soldiers, take heed! If anyone attempts to force their way into the Tenshukaku, seize them immediately! My orders are to show no mercy!"
Sara issued the command without hesitation. Compared to the divine authority of the Raiden Shogun, the Kujou clan meant nothing to her. Even if the clan were to fall for this, she would not falter.
Takayuki's expression turned sickly, but as he watched the Shogunate soldiers leveling their spears in his direction, he found himself paralyzed by the situation.
"Then... Miss Sara, could you at least allow my sister to come out and see me?"
Ayato lowered his expectations of entering the palace. His primary goal was simply to confirm that his sister was safe. If Ayaka was well, then everything else was manageable.
"My apologies... unless it is the time for meal delivery, even I cannot step foot inside the Tenshukaku. If you wish to see her, I can relay your request to Miss Ayaka, though that depends on whether she is willing to come out herself."
Sara did not believe Ayaka would emerge. While she herself was in the dark regarding the inner workings of the Tenshukaku, she knew that Ayaka understood precisely what was happening inside. If the situation was as dire as she feared, perhaps Ayaka had no desire to come out at all.