In Shinjuku, a towering spire rose like the tip of a spear. Black Samurai clad in full armor stood guard or patrolled between the different floors.
The higher one went, the tighter the defenses became.
In the lavish top-floor chamber, the figure standing before the floor-to-ceiling windows and surveying the entire city turned around in surprise upon hearing the report.
"What? The Three Knight Classes in Akihabara are fighting?"
"If the intelligence is correct, that should be the case, Shogun."
Inside the hall, a black-haired, violet-eyed woman in a black-and-blue patterned dress, holding books and documents in her arms, gave an affirmative answer with a wry smile.
The woman had a graceful figure, alluring without being coquettish. Every gesture radiated a rich scholarly air, and her entire body exuded pure intellectual refinement.
Unlike Hinako Akuta, that fake literary girl, this was a genuine writer and poetess.
One of the Shogunate's Four Cavalry Classes—Caster, Murasaki Shikibu.
A Heian-period writer, waka poet, and the creator of The Tale of Genji.
She was the obedient, exemplary-student type. Cultured, sensible, and steady-tempered, she had once served as a court lady. Thus, she now attended the Shogun, handling secretarial work and assisting with central coordination.
At that moment, the figure by the window pinched her brow, confusion flickering in her crimson eyes.
"Have they been corrupted so quickly? They shouldn't have been..."
"No, that isn't it!"
Hearing the Shogun's thoughts heading in a dangerous direction, Murasaki Shikibu's expression tightened, and she hurriedly waved her hands in explanation.
"According to feedback from eyewitnesses at the scene, they remained lucid."
For Servants like them, prolonged night watches would inevitably allow some latent force to erode their minds, gradually causing them to lose themselves.
And the consequences of losing oneself were terrifying.
They would attack every living being