"Huh?" Shinobu Kocho had no idea what was going on.
Tetsu no Sosuke sighed and walked over to the carriage. Then he suddenly slapped the horse hard on the rump.
The horse reared up with a long neigh, then bolted forward. Before long, it had vanished into the night.
Tetsu no Sosuke watched it go, then said to Shinobu Kocho, "Let's go."
Confused as she was, Shinobu Kocho had no choice but to follow him.
As they walked, she asked, "What's going on?"
"What do you mean?" Tetsu no Sosuke looked puzzled. "I told the Serpent Pillar to pass on the order for everyone to withdraw quietly and move Noro Kira. Why do you seem to know nothing about it?"
Shinobu Kocho fell silent. After a while, she asked, "When?"
"When we first set out." Tetsu no Sosuke glanced at her. "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing." Shinobu Kocho shook her head. "How many groups did we split into?"
One way to prevent an enemy from tracking them was to take multiple routes.
Tetsu no Sosuke's decision was sound, but it also meant each group faced the same risk.
No one knew which group Kibutsuji Muzan would pursue. But everyone knew that if he caught up with them, they were dead.
Tetsu no Sosuke's plan amounted to sacrificing pawns to save the king.
But no one thought he was wrong.
Facing Kibutsuji Muzan head-on, especially when he had prepared thoroughly, was no different from seeking death.
Securing victory for the group as a whole with the fewest sacrifices was the right strategy.
As for how many routes they had taken, Tetsu no Sosuke thought for a moment. "I'm not sure. Twenty or thirty, maybe."
"..."
Shinobu Kocho was speechless. That was going a bit far.
Kibutsuji Muzan might be a demon,