Early the next morning, the area outside the royal city was already packed with people.
Mōsō's corpse hung in the most conspicuous spot. Beside it, a row of tightly bound rogue ninja knelt, every one of them wounded.
Members of the Fuma Clan stood on either side in masks, saying nothing.
A minister held a scroll and loudly read out Mōsō's crimes:
Poisoning the previous daimyo, Daisagi; assassinating the heir, Sagi; and disguising himself as a high monk to plot the usurpation of the throne.
Once the charges had been read,
Toki emerged from the royal city and declared that she was Toki, Sagi's younger sister and the previous daimyo's daughter.
From this day onward, she would inherit the throne.
When Minister Hongming received the news, he ran all the way over, intending to rush into the royal city,
but the moment he reached the gate, two masked members of the Fuma Clan stretched out their arms and stopped him.
"Queen Toki is holding her coronation ceremony. No one may approach."
Hongming panicked and shouted at them.
"You don't even recognize me! How dare you stop me?"
One of them immediately drew his sword and pressed it against Hongming's throat.
"Don't know you. Get lost!"
Hongming was stunned. In the Land of Birds, he had once been second only to the daimyo.
When Sagi had taken the throne, Hongming had openly opposed it and still walked away unscathed.
Now Toki had not only declared herself ruler outright, but also dared to send people to block him?
He stood there blankly for several seconds. Then he saw the row of kneeling rogue ninja in the distance and looked at the masked figures before him. It was as if something clicked in his mind.
"Those rogue ninja... you dealt with them? You're