"Little Ayaka is a cute child. I think she's adorable and want to hug her. You intentionally arranged for her to interact with me, and I have no objections to that.
After all, when I'm with little Ayaka, our relationship improves because both she and I genuinely enjoy being friends together. That bond is pure.
I don't know what you told little Ayaka, but clearly this isn't something an innocent child should be exposed to.
The purity and beauty of a cute child's innocence is the most precious supreme treasure in this world!
I will absolutely not allow such a child to sell out the most genuine part of their childhood for the so-called interests of your Kamisato family."
Cid Kagerou thought of many things. Little Ayaka's behavior just now had been overly eager—probably because she had overheard some adult conversation about benefits and interests.
When children are present, Cid would become the trustworthy uncle they could rely on because of their innocent and pure nature.
But when no children were around, Cid didn't mind going full chuunibyou mode and truly acting as the so-called Lord Shura Anyakonsen-shou, who judged and executed with merciless severity.
At this moment, young lady Ayako stared blankly at this middle-aged man who usually seemed rather unserious in their home.
This uncle...
"Now the pretend-play friendly phase is over. Head of the Kamisato Clan—tell me now: what exactly do you want to use me for?"
The usual foxy smile on the Head of the Kamisato Clan's face had vanished, replaced only by seriousness.
Young lady Ayako, seeing her father without his mask for once, suddenly felt restless and uneasy.
"Inazuma has been in chaos for far too long, Lord Shura Anyakonsen-shou."
The Head of the Kamisato Clan took several small booklets from his sleeve.
He began showing Cid the current state of Inazuma's civilian life and conditions.
Only Inazuma City remained stable—because it was directly under the watchful eye of Her Excellency the Raiden Shogun, so no war or chaos had broken out there.
But once you stepped outside the bounds of Inazuma City...
What you saw was a series of shocking, heart-wrenching numbers...
"And this is only a small portion of what the Final Squad has managed to uncover. The Tenryou Commission and the Kanjou Commission are far from honest.
They raise tariffs externally while aggressively suppressing internally..."
If judged purely on administrative performance, no one would think there was anything wrong with those two Commissions.
Their numbers looked impressive.
But impressive numbers weren't a solution to the problems—they were merely treating symptoms, not the root cause.
Anyone who could see the essence understood that these two Commissions—one controlling the economy, the other the military—were uprooting Inazuma's foundations in exchange for superficially flourishing statistics.
Even though corruption had long since rotted them from within, the two Commissions didn't care in the slightest.
They treated human lives like grass, yet reported to the Raiden Shogun that everyone was happy.
They pocketed huge amounts of Mora for themselves, yet told the Raiden Shogun it was all going into the national treasury.
They deliberately nurtured bandits and threats to maintain their own power. To prevent the Raiden Shogun from taking direct action, they told her that bandits appearing was normal, that they could never be fully eradicated, and that she should leave it to them.
The Head of the Kamisato Clan knelt before the adventurer from Liyue, pleading for him to act.
"The Kamisato family has served Her Excellency the Shogun for generations! Yet we are powerless in the face of this situation! If this continues, Inazuma may face a total collapse! When that happens, countless lives will be lost in calamity...
I beg Lord Shura Anyakonsen-shou to step forward and advise Her Excellency the Raiden Shogun!"
Sigh...
So they were resorting to this kind of tactic after all.
The middle-aged man let out a sigh.
His peaceful, happy daily life with the children of Inazuma City had been enjoyable enough, but he couldn't forget about the children outside the city walls.
"The information you've given me isn't complete enough. Even if Her Excellency the Raiden Shogun saw it, she might not necessarily punish the Tenryou Commission and the Kanjou Commission."
"The entire Final Squad can mobilize to seize the core data from those two major Commissions. That much is doable."
At this moment, the Head of the Kamisato Clan gave Cid the impression that he was ready to go all in, no matter the cost.
What else could be done? Time to get moving and get busy.
"Give me the locations. I'll go retrieve it myself."