In a remote patch of space far from the battlefield.
Aboard the Oda Shogunate flagship, which had just emerged from a spatial jump.
"Once we return to the shogunate,
I will take responsibility and request permission to perform seppuku at Seireitei.
When the time comes, you will serve as my second."
Aboard the flagship.
Takeda Naruse spoke to the chief of staff, his expression calm.
Although he was consumed by anxiety over the consequences he would soon face for fleeing in the middle of battle,
when he heard Takeda Naruse's words,
the chief of staff still couldn't stop his eyes from reddening.
How could he not understand what Takeda Naruse meant?
He would perform seppuku at Seireitei, the place where the Oda Shogunate's military spirit was rooted.
He would end his life in the most agonizing way and take full responsibility for this defeat.
The failure in this war against the Black Stone Duchy.
Takeda Naruse certainly bore primary responsibility for fleeing in the middle of battle.
But did the other high-ranking members of the Oda Shogunate cabinet bear no responsibility?
The Guardian of the Mountains had been captured by the Black Stone Duchy and suddenly appeared during the battle, turning the tide.
The Oda Shogunate had known nothing about such crucial intelligence.
Didn't the minister of military intelligence bear responsibility?
The Black Stone Duchy had plotted and schemed, upsetting the balance of power in this star region and turning a three-way struggle for dominance into a case of two rivals fighting while a third party profited.
Didn't the prime minister, who oversaw the nation's overall policies, bear responsibility?
And, when all was said and done,
the reason Takeda Naruse had to bear the disgrace of fleeing in the middle of battle
was to save the Three Chi Qiong Gou