"Sangonomiya-sama, what should we do next? Their terms are outrageous. We can't agree to them!"
Seeing Sangonomiya Kokomi lost in thought, a Sangonomiya soldier beside her could not help speaking up.
In his view, agreeing to those terms would mean the end of Watatsumi Island! It was practically... surrendering to the Shogunate Army and giving up their military authority. Wouldn't that leave them at others' mercy...?
Especially those bastards from the Tenryou Commission!
So many of their brothers had died at the hands of the Tenryou Commission. They could not agree to this. What was more, they wanted Sangonomiya Kokomi to shoulder all the responsibility!
"..."
What could Sangonomiya Kokomi say to that?
They could not agree?
They had never been a match for the Shogunate in the first place. Their soldiers were inferior, their equipment was inferior, and they did not even know when the Raiden Shogun might make her move.
They were gambling with the nation's fate! Gambling on whether the Raiden Shogun's blade would fall.
And now, the Shogunate had gained Lady Raiden Mei, someone who rivaled the Raiden Shogun. What did Watatsumi Island have to contend with them? Negotiations?
And besides... did he think she wanted these terms?
She would bear all the responsibility. Though Sangonomiya Kokomi had made that decision from the beginning... when the moment truly came, she realized she was not as indifferent as she had thought.
At the end of the day, her greatest dream had only ever been to become a strategist hidden behind the scenes. She never wanted to face crushing workloads or deal with such major affairs!
The higher one climbed, the more one walked on thin ice.
"Let me think about it. You should leave first..."
Sangonomiya Kokomi gave no definite answer, merely speaking listlessly. Her head was