(Thank you very much to 'Kaede no Chōrei' for the reward!)
Dereliction of duty!
It truly was dereliction of duty!
As mentioned before, the traitors had all come from the destroyed cities of the Baruba Empire. They were powerful individuals who had surrendered to Xie Ming in an attempt to save their own lives, only to infiltrate the Royal City afterward, betray humanity, and work for the magical beasts.
Those traitors who came from other cities could either be ordinary cultivators born and developed in those cities, or people like Milina, dispatched from the three great families to administer those cities.
Even if ordinary cultivators infiltrated the Royal City, without background, status, or identity, it would be difficult for them to accomplish anything. Therefore, the ones who truly needed to be guarded against were the traitors from the three great families.
The high-ranking officials in the palace hall yesterday were practically all figures with immense status and influence within the three great families. Such people could not possibly have been dispatched to other cities. Not only would that look like exile, but it would also be a waste of their talents. That was why Kotori had laid everything bare in front of so many high-ranking officials.
She had done so for two reasons. First, those high-ranking officials who had not been transferred from other cities could not be traitors. Second, the traitors who could cause major consequences were basically members of the three great families. Their identities and numbers were still unknown, and it would be nearly impossible for the girls or the limited few people like Goda to secretly find them all. They could only get these high-ranking officials to act together.
That way, the efficiency of rooting out the traitors would be much higher, and those tumors could