By the time Yucheng and his companions finished receiving the crowd's cheers at the docks and arrived at the Kanjou Commission's residence, an hour had already passed. The people of Inazuma really were remarkably enthusiastic, and Yucheng felt too embarrassed to turn down their affection.
Mostly, listening to all those cheers really was rather addictive.
As the Hiiragi Clan's ancestral home, the Kanjou Commission's residence had originally been no less luxurious than the Regent's Office. However, when the Hiiragi Clan's assets were seized, the Raiden Shogun had bestowed all the curios, paintings, calligraphy, antiques, and other treasures the clan had collected over hundreds of years upon Yucheng, who had then moved the whole lot back to the Regent's Office.
As a result, the Kanjou Commission's residence now had something of a splendid facade concealing a shabby interior. Its furnishings simply did not measure up to its exterior.
Still, Kokomi was not someone who cared about appearances. After all, back on Watatsumi Island, she had left the vast, luxurious Sangonomiya unoccupied and insisted on working in a secluded cave instead.
Seeing the residence again immediately reminded Yucheng of the former Hiiragi Clan, so he casually asked Kokomi how they were doing.
After hearing about everything the Hiiragi Clan had suffered following the seizure of their assets, and how the entire family had left Ritou to settle on Seirai Island, Yucheng could not help remarking, "Human nature!"
Hiiragi Shinsuke, a crafty old hand who had spent decades navigating Inazuma's officialdom, had ultimately died in a dark alley where no one paid him any attention. What an utterly humiliating way to die.
At least Kujou Takayuki had gotten to speak his mind before the Raiden Shogun personally cut him down. Whatever else one might say, that counted as leaving his name in history