63: General Budo's Misgivings, A Battle That Can Be Foreseen / 64: Seeds of Doubt, Chelsea's Conflicted Feelings

A guess he had been unwilling to admit was drawing ever closer to reality.

The only thing separating them was a single sea.

Yet that was also his last remaining hope of returning home.

General Budou's doubts, an inevitable battle

"The Revolutionary Army is cooperating with the Foreign Tribes."

"Looks like those bastards are about to jump the wall in desperation."

Inside one of the Imperial Palace Guard's residences.

More than a dozen armored generals and several civil officials had gathered in a hall.

General Budou held the letter delivered by Yorii Tsugikuni of the Security Force, his brow tightly furrowed.

"That newly appointed Security Force captain is a highly capable man. We have also investigated him, and his relationship with Honest is not as close as the rumors claim. We should try to win him over."

"If he stands with us, we will have a chance to drive Honest from power."

Before Budou, a military officer stepped forward. He was Budou's adjutant, and aside from Budou himself, he carried the greatest prestige among them.

"What are you trying to do?"

"Military officers do not interfere in politics. That is our ancestral rule. We only need to protect officials like him."

"As long as Honest has not crossed that red line, we should not interfere."

As the supreme commander of the Empire's military, General Budou had always been a model of strict adherence to the ancestral rules.

Hearing his subordinate's words, General Budou's tone turned stern.

"As for that young man, he has courage. If he runs into trouble, we only need to do our best to protect him."

Budou rose from his seat. How could he not know about the Empire's corruption? In his eyes, the struggles among civil officials were nothing much.

If military officers were allowed to join those struggles as well,

then the Empire would not be far from destruction.

By then, warlords would likely carve up the land, and before long, the Empire would be torn apart.

In his view, so-called power struggles were worthless before absolute strength.

All these years, he had been waiting for the Young Emperor to grow up.

In his view, as long as the Young Emperor matured and thoroughly understood how to become a monarch, combined with the military power Budou had always held firmly in his grasp, those so-called power struggles would be nothing but a joke.

"But if we do not try to win him over, then one day Honest might control him..."

"Enough. Say no more. Dismissed."

The adjutant did not want to give up. He looked at General Budou, prepared to continue persuading him.

But before he could finish, General Budou cut him off.

Could it be that my convictions are wrong?

Hearing General Budou's words, the people gathered in the hall left in disappointment.

After everyone had gone, General Budou looked at the empty hall.

Standing in the reception room, he recalled the complicated expressions on his subordinates' faces and could not help but waver slightly.

This was not the first time he had received such persuasion.

Every time, it ended with everyone parting on bad terms.

And the number of officials visiting his hall had dwindled each time.

That included colleagues who had worked alongside him for decades.

"Goodbye, Master."

It was another new day.

After morning training ended and Tatsumi bid Yorii Tsugikuni farewell,

he led a squad of Security Force members to the slums.

During this time, aside from morning training, he spent nearly all his time in the slums.

"Tomorrow is our day off."

"I'm going to sleep for an entire day. I feel like these past two weeks have nearly worked me to death."

After morning training, Ieyasu stuck out his tongue like a dog.

Spurred on by Tatsumi and Sayo, he had been extremely diligent during morning training lately, and his hard work had paid off.

After Sayo, Tatsumi, and Seryu, he was the fourth to master the Breathing Techniques.

"I'm leaving first. Today, I'm catching ten bad guys."

Unlike Ieyasu's listlessness, Seryu was the complete opposite. Brimming with energy, she took Koro and leaped straight out through the Security Force's gate as if she had been injected with stimulants.

She left behind two deep footprints in the courtyard.

After practicing the Breathing Techniques, even without using the power of her Imperial Arms, Seryu's strength had improved greatly.

Although she had been the last among the four to learn the Breathing Techniques,

she had learned them the fastest out of all of them.

"Sister Seryu seems to have gotten stronger again."

"She trains more seriously than any of us."

Looking at the large pits in the courtyard, Sayo sighed with feeling.

No one knew when it had begun, but Seryu had become exceptionally serious about training.

She had never missed a single morning session.

"Seryu is indeed very diligent."

Yorii Tsugikuni nodded.

As their master, he could naturally tell at a glance how each of them was progressing.

However, Yorii Tsugikuni was somewhat worried about this.

After all, awakening markings came at far too great a cost.

"Master, I'm afraid we need to recruit more people."

"The workload has been too intense lately. Many members have resigned."

Back in the office, Sayo placed a stack of resignation letters before Yorii Tsugikuni.

Yorii Tsugikuni had expected this long ago.

In fact, he had been using this method during this period to weed out the Security Force members who were unwilling to work.

Now, after only half a month, only around one-fifth of the entire Security Force remained.

"We can go to the slums and select some people there."

After thinking for a moment, Yorii Tsugikuni quickly came up with an idea.

Compared to those who had relied on connections to enter the Security Force just to idle away their days,

refugees who could not even afford food would surely cherish a job with the Security Force far more.

It could also save at least some of those refugees.

"Mm."

Sayo nodded.

She knew about the conditions in the slums.

Having grown up poor herself, she knew very well that if those people were given a way to survive, they would certainly give it everything they had.

"We meet again."

"Captain Yorii, the intelligence you provided yesterday caused quite a stir at court."

A knock sounded at the door. When Sayo opened it, Kurome stood outside.

"Of course, that is not why I came this time."

"General Esdeath asked me to deliver this invitation. Captain Yorii, please attend the banquet on time."

Kurome smiled mysteriously, then placed an invitation on Yorii Tsugikuni's desk.

When she had first received this request,

she had found it somewhat hard to believe. But when she recalled how Yorii Tsugikuni had once defeated five Imperial Arms Users working together,

she immediately understood.

Esdeath was a battle maniac. Kurome could even foresee that a duel would inevitably break out between the two.

Thinking of that, she could not help feeling expectant.

Who would win between the man before her, known to the outside world as one of the strongest men in the Empire, and Esdeath?

Seeds of suspicion, Chelsea's complicated feelings

Why was she looking for me?

Facing Esdeath's invitation, Yorii Tsugikuni was somewhat confused.

Although he had met Esdeath once, they had no real connection.

As Kurome smiled faintly and left, Yorii Tsugikuni's brow creased slightly.

"Master, have you run into something troubling?"

"Perhaps I can help."

As Sayo organized documents for Yorii Tsugikuni, she saw his pensive expression, sat down in a chair, propped her chin on her hand, and asked with concern.

"General Esdeath has invited me to a banquet three days from now."

"I do not know her well, so I am somewhat puzzled."

Yorii Tsugikuni pushed the invitation Kurome had delivered toward Sayo.

It listed the time and location of the banquet.

"Perhaps she wants to ask about the Foreign Tribes and the Revolutionary Army."

"Or perhaps she wants to meet you, Master, since you are such a famous figure."

Sayo put away the invitation for Yorii Tsugikuni. Though she had heard of Esdeath long ago, all she knew were a few legends.

What kind of person Esdeath truly was,

she did not know.

"By the way, Master, tomorrow I want to visit a church outside the city."

"I heard the god there is especially efficacious."

Sayo, Tatsumi, and the others were all believers of Anning Dao. In their countryside, many people worshipped Anning Dao.

"Then take Adai with you."

"Seryu asked me to bring some food to the children at the orphanage."

Yorii Tsugikuni was somewhat worried about letting Sayo go alone.

He took away the book from Adai's hands as Adai sat nearby reading and gave the order, "Protect her."

"Understood, understood..."

Hearing Yorii Tsugikuni's words, Adai turned his square-shaped head.