Kujou Sara

Night had fallen, but there was still work to be done. For the Shogun's Will of Eternity to be made manifest was her only dream in life. To carry out anything that she commanded her to do.

That was what she, Kujou Sara lived for. Unwavering Loyalty to the Raiden Shogun was her clan and life's creed. Just a few hours ago, she had been informed by her father who was the clan head, Kujou Takayuki; for her to leave Inazuma City to join the civil war personally.

Her father had mentioned that the Raiden Shogun had approved of his decision, and told her that the Electro Archon was well aware of what was happening at the front lines - desiring a swift end to the conflict.

The inefficiency of the generals in charge of the war had allowed the Resistance to gather strength, and now they were a force to be reckoned with. Yashiori had already fallen to rebels and they had advanced at lightning speed to the Kujou Encampment in only one month since the war started.

If Kujou Encampment were to fall … the whole of Kannazuka and Mikage Furnace would fall into the hands of the resistance. The Shogunate's position would be extremely dire. She couldn't allow that to happen.

There was a knock on her door.

"Yes? Come in …"

The door swung open to reveal a soldier standing there, holding a stack of papers in one hand.

"Good evening, General Kujou."

"Same to you. You're efficient as always, Toranosuke."

"It is nothing compared to yours. I have finished compiling the information of the newly recruited forces via the compulsory military draft we issued a week ago."

She motioned for the soldier to have a seat.

"Proceed."

"Based on the number of the newly conscripted soldiers, we have reorganized them into two groups - the fifth and sixth armies. Their sizes number roughly about five thousand each."

"That will be more than enough." Sara nodded. "With second and third armies at the Kujou Encampment. That will be sufficient for us to push the front lines all the way and finally lay a decisive siege to the resistance forces at Fort Fujitou. Do we have an idea who the leader of the resistance forces is?"

Toranosuke paused for a moment, shuffling the papers in his hands.

"The name of their leader is Sangonomiya Kokomi."

"The Divine Priestess that represents Watatsumi Omikami? Judging from the battles the Shogunate Army has with the resistance so far, it would seem she is more proficient as a military strategist than as a priestess..."

The soldier took out a piece of paper and placed it on the desk. "Also, there's another problem as well."

"Oh?"

"The incidents involving rogue ronins have increased exponentially in recent weeks. We have multiple reports of villages on Narukami Island being completely pillaged and burned down. There are already a total of seventeen such incidents reported to the Tenryou Commission alone this month. A preliminary estimate of the number of villagers that have died in their hands is around the thousands."

"Unforgivable..." Sara clenched her hands. "And what has the Tenryou Commission done to address this problem?"

"All the available manpower has been directed to the front lines to handle the resistance, so there isn't much we can spare." Toranosuke's face was crossed by agony. "Not only that, they have even captured the minor city of Yatari in the north a few days ago. What do we do now, general?"

She kept her silence for a moment and thought over it while holding her forehead. For the bandits to capture a city; albeit a minor one, was unheard of. Did they have vision bearers now in their ranks? That was the only explanation possible. Even the most poorly defended cities in Inazuma should surely have enough manpower to deal with bandits.

In normal circumstances, she would have just mobilized the entire 1st Army stationed in Inazuma City to bring the matter to a swift conclusion. But given how serious the civil war in Inazuma had devolved into, there was a possibility the resistance might find a way to attack Inazuma City.

Sara could never allow the city where the Raiden Shogun resided to be disturbed and tainted by the rebels.

"Is it not possible to submit a petition for Her Excellency to bring forth the Heavenly Raijin? None can surely stand against her divine thunder."

"You overstep your boundaries. It would be unbefitting of the Shogun and beneath her status to sully her time and attention with those rebels, let alone lowly bandits."

The man lowered his head. "S-sorry."

"We will start by dealing with the rogue ronin first. Given the scale and frequency of attacks, it's likely they've organized themselves into a group. In a way, it is quite convenient for us that they have gathered at Yatari. We can finish them off in one move."

"But what about reinforcing the front lines?"

"If we neglected the situation right in our backyard, it could have the potential to turn into something worse. The new forces shall be split. You will take the 6th Army to Kujou Encampment and I shall personally lead the 5th Army to relieve the citizens from the tyranny of the bandits in Yatari. Now is the time to fulfil our duty."

"As you command."

She looked at a painting of the Shogun that hung on the wall of her office. "Glory to the Almighty Shogun and her everlasting reign!"

Toranosuke stood up. "Glory to the Almighty Shogun!"

(924 words)

-A minor edit made on 11th Oct 2021

-Edit/Rewrite made on 8th Feb 2022