"What is the Head of the Clan thinking? To order an advance on the front lines at a time like this!"
Inside the tent, General Kujou Sara paced back and forth. She lowered her head, trying to discern the meaning behind Kujou Takayuki's order.
But no matter how she thought, she couldn't find many benefits to the "advance the front lines" order. On the contrary, the more General Kujou Sara thought about it, the more she felt it was a foolish move.
"No, I must go and see the Head of the Clan!" General Kujou Sara shook her head and was about to leave the main tent to meet Kujou Takayuki.
As she lifted the tent flap, General Kujou Sara's eyes met two long spears crossed together.
"General Kujou, you have been toiling on the battlefield and are surely weary. Please rest for a while. This is the Head of the Kujou Clan's order."
The guarding soldiers bowed their heads, showing all due respect, but their weapons did not move an inch.
"You…" Seeing this, General Kujou Sara immediately clenched her fists, gritting her teeth.
But as she caught sight of the patrolling Sergeants around, the anger rising within her was ultimately suppressed.
"You are ruthless! Interfere with military affairs, and bear the consequences yourselves!" Leaving a mild warning, General Kujou Sara could only helplessly return to her tent.
"How was it? I told you it wouldn't work, didn't I? You're no longer a commanding General now."
Kujou Masahito, who remained calm, saw General Kujou Sara return empty-handed and felt no surprise.
Both of their positions had been stripped away. At most, they were just children of a noble family.
And the kind of scions who held no official positions.
"Kujou Masahito, aren't you worried about the Shogunate Army's victory or defeat?! You're not unaware of how severe the consequences of a rash attack can be."
General Kujou Sara saw Kujou Masahito's leisurely appearance and couldn't help but slam the table, shouting loudly.
"I am worried." Kujou Masahito nodded, then put down his teacup and sighed, "But what's the use of worrying? We two can't say anything now."
General Kujou Sara also fell silent at his words. She sat cross-legged opposite Kujou Masahito and picked up the teapot, chugging its contents, much like someone drowning their sorrows in alcohol.
However, neither General Kujou Sara nor Kujou Masahito drank alcohol.
"Thinking about it differently, isn't it quite leisurely this way?" Kujou Masahito saw General Kujou Sara sulking and could only offer this comfort.
"Leisurely? If you're leisurely, then I'm busy." A distinctly angular steel helmet slowly rose from beneath the table, startling both General Kujou Sara and Kujou Masahito.
"Cough, cough, cough!" General Kujou Sara put down the teapot and furiously patted her chest a few times, causing a large wave to appear in the camp far from the coast.
However, neither Ember nor Kujou Masahito had the mind to notice this "spectacle" before them, as they both had more important things to pay attention to.
"Where did you come in from?" Kujou Masahito was startled when he saw Ember's figure, then he quickly looked towards the tent flap, fearing someone might enter at that moment.
"Don't worry about that. Also, you can speak louder, because I've soundproofed this area."
Ember dug at his ears and pointed to the distorted, flowing air nearby. He had already soundproofed the area.
"Shouldn't this be where secret weapons are stored? Why is it just the two of you?"
Ember looked around. Besides ordinary daily furniture, there wasn't even a shadow of a weapon here, let alone any great killing machines.
"Secret weapons? What secret weapons could the Shogunate have? When the victory of a war is placed on a certain weapon, the vortex of defeat has already come knocking."
After stating a simple profound truth, Kujou Masahito took several deep breaths, "As for us, as you can see, we are currently under house arrest."
"…"
Ember looked up at Kujou Masahito and General Kujou Sara, unsure what to say.
"You… aren't you two direct descendants of the Kujou Clan? How can you be under house arrest?"
After a long silence, Ember finally asked, covering his forehead.
This was a lot of information; he needed to process it.
The Kujou Clan had three direct children: the eldest son Kujou Masahito and the eldest daughter General Kujou Sara. With two of them incapacitated like this, how could the main Kujou Clan stand its ground?
"Even as direct descendants, we cannot defy the will of the Head of the Clan, especially since the current Head of the Clan is my father."
"His authority does not permit anyone to question it, except for the General, even if we are his children."
Kujou Masahito shook his head. With such a strong-willed Head of the Clan and father, he was powerless.
"Defy the Head of the Clan's will? So, that huge crowd outside wasn't sent out by you two, then?"
Ember twitched his ears. Question? What could Kujou Masahito and General Kujou Sara question? Most likely, only the order to deploy troops.
Kujou Masahito nodded, acknowledging Ember's statement.
"That's good. I actually have a good impression of you, and if I had to make a move, I was worried I wouldn't be able to!"
Seeing this, Ember withdrew the straight sword in his hand. This made Kujou Masahito and General Kujou Sara, who were on the side, twitch their eyelids.
They had originally thought Ember brought a weapon to cut open the tent and sneak in, but they hadn't expected it to be used to threaten them.
"Yu… Ember, you're joking. We certainly wouldn't issue such an order." Kujou Masahito could only give two awkward laughs after hearing this.
"That's not right. I can understand your opposition, but General Kujou Sara…"
"Hmm?"
Ember looked at General Kujou Sara behind Kujou Masahito and snorted twice. As an enforcer of the Vision Hunt Decree, General Kujou Sara should obey orders from above unconditionally, shouldn't she?
"Don't look at me like that. I know I don't understand much about politics. But when it comes to armed conflict, marching, and deploying troops, I am quite confident."
"The Shogunate Army and the resistance have been in a stalemate for a long time, not because we are afraid to fight. It's because with the Shogunate's current strength, we can only push the front lines this far."
"Such a reckless attack, besides wasting military strength, offers no beneficial outcome for the war."
"That's why I opposed the Head of the Clan's order. The most important thing now should be to gradually erode the resistance's power, and once quantitative change leads to qualitative change, then launch a full-scale attack!"
General Kujou Sara slowly revealed her internal plan. She had a general grasp of the direction of the war for a long time to come.
Unfortunately, her internal plan now truly remained just a plan. There was no opportunity to implement it.
Even if she could one day be reinstated, it would surely be after the Shogunate Army had suffered a bloody defeat.
At that time, her strategy would certainly be different from what it was now.
"Haha, I didn't expect General Kujou Sara to have thought so much. I was just simply soft-hearted and didn't want to attack, that's all."
Kujou Masahito felt a little ashamed upon hearing that General Kujou Sara had so many considerations in her mind.
His opposition to Kujou Takayuki's order was simply because he didn't want to see rivers of blood, nothing more.
"Brother, you are not suited for this position." General Kujou Sara glanced at Kujou Masahito.
As the saying goes, a benevolent heart does not command troops. This doesn't mean that officers in the military truly don't value soldiers' lives, but rather that one must have a reasonable foresight of casualties for each battle.
Send out the most suitable troops to meet the enemy, and do not let necessary casualties cloud one's judgment or delay military opportunities.
Doing so would only result in greater casualties.
"I know, and haven't I stopped being in that position? Besides, I don't plan to get involved in military affairs anymore."
Kujou Masahito showed no embarrassment at General Kujou Sara's advice. A soft heart was his weakness, and it was something Kujou Masahito himself was well aware of.
He genuinely didn't want to get involved in military affairs. Becoming the commander of the Shogunate Army was purely his father's doing, forcing him into the position to consolidate the Kujou Clan's power.
This position of commander, it was better not to have it at all!
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