Laigushi nodded and said calmly:
"As far as I know, it's true."
"The Councilor Kenis we know is, strictly speaking, the twenty-seventh Kenis in history."
"Objectively speaking, the emergence of the Purifiers was inevitable—and necessary."
"But their vicious methods earned everyone's contempt, and history condemned them for it."
Dan Heng looked at the assassins before him and frowned.
"But they've survived as an organization to this day. They're even trying to obstruct the Journey of the Spark."
"Indeed," Laigushi said.
"Even as the world teeters on the brink, some people still profit from its troubles."
"Getting those who benefit from the current order to give up their status, wealth, and ambitions for a distant ideal may be no easier than the Journey of the Spark itself."
Before the Citizen Assembly, the Elder Council had enjoyed immense power and privilege.
Aglaea still had the final say on major matters, but the elders' opinions could sway the Chrysos Heirs' decisions.
Now, however, the elders placed on the inspection list had lost their former power.
Once they had stood above everyone else. Now they were rats hiding in the shadows, afraid to show their faces.
To change that, they had to eliminate the Chrysos Heirs.
Once the Chrysos Heirs were gone, they could again become the citizens' pillars of support and reclaim that sweet power over life and death.
"...If they targeted me, Yan Huan must have assassins after him too."
"I hope those Purifiers make it to prison alive."
The Nameless and the Chrysos Heirs had given the opposition elders countless chances.
They could have altered their minds or simply killed them. Either would have removed them.
But out of humanity and mercy, they had never done so.
"Lord Dan Heng... Are you all right?"
Not far away, Craterus came running with