Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head.
"I've always stood on the side of justice."
"How could that be called betrayal?"
Besides—
I am justice.
How could I betray myself?
Sarutobi Hiruzen chuckled to himself.
He was playing both sides: he was the emperor and the minister, so there was no question of betrayal.
Besides, even without Budo's urging, Sarutobi Hiruzen would make the Empire flourish as it had in its early days, all to gather resources and earn Space-Time Source Energy.
"Governor!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen and Budo had just parted ways when—
A petite, graceful figure suddenly slipped inside.
It was Kurome, who had been sent on an assassination mission.
"The mission was completed successfully."
Over the past few days, besides having Run maintain order in the Imperial Capital and clean up its streets, he had also sent Kurome to assassinate corrupt nobles and officials. The following morning, 'Honest' would issue an order at court to fill their vacant positions with officials from the Moderate Faction.
Sarutobi Hiruzen wasn't an emperor who needed to balance political forces, nor was he an ordinary person.
With enough power to flip the table, he had no interest in dragging out reforms. He could just make those officials suffer through the upheaval.
After all, officials were easy to replace. Kill one batch, promote another—there would always be people willing to serve.
As for the assassinations of nobles and officials, the Revolutionary Army and Night Raid would take the blame.
But the Tyranny Faction officials are powerful, and they're no fools...
They've already noticed something's wrong.
They'll probably turn on 'Honest' soon.
They won't let someone who speaks for another faction remain as minister.
Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled to himself.
Too bad the real Honest was already dead by my hand...
*And I don't plan to keep Honest