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CA : 80 New Lord!
🕑 Added 2024-12-28 16:00:02 +0000 UTCThe towering lord's mansion was entirely different from the slums below. The high walls surrounded intricately built courtyards and attics, where Yomogawa Kenshou and his family enjoyed everything this place had to offer.
Yomogawa Kenshou took his only daughter, Yomogawa Ayame, to the station to welcome his esteemed guests for the day, Mumei and Shimon, who had descended from the Koutetsujou.
In essence, they weren't esteemed guests since their status was even below that of nobility. However, they were subordinates of the greatest noble in Japan at present, the shogun's son, Amatori Biba.
As a local official, Yomogawa Kenshou could not afford to offend Amatori Biba, especially now that Biba was renowned throughout Japan for his ruthless campaigns against the Kabane, earning him the reputation of a savior among the people.
Unaware of the sordid thoughts lurking in Amatori Biba's heart, Yomogawa Kenshou had received a letter from him in advance, which prompted him to come to the station.
After greeting the two, the four of them began to move slowly toward the lord's mansion under the protection of the samurai. There was quite a distance from the station to the mansion, so to showcase the local landowner's pride, Kenshou purposely led Mumei and Shimon through the central area of the city, displaying what the famous Aragane Station looked like under his governance.
After the tour, he finally brought them to the lord's mansion and led them to the reception room, where they could overlook the entire Aragane Station and begin their conversation.
In the reception room, there were four people. Yomogawa Kenshou and Yomogawa Ayame represent the Yomogawa family, and Shimon and Mumei represent Amatori Biba's side.
However, they were completely unaware that there was a fifth person in the reception room. Altair. He had also entered when they did, having come directly to the lord's mansion after eliminating six captains, finding a high spot to wait while watching Kenshou lead Mumei inside and then into the reception room.
As they spoke, Altair lay nearby, this time positioning himself next to Ayame. He was somewhat surprised to find that Ayame didn't seem to be as impressive as Mumei. No matter how viewed, whether from the side or below, she didn't compare to the curves of Mumei... absolutely stunning!
The main focus of the conversation was on Kenshou and Shimon, who were mostly exchanging trivial compliments, while the two young women served mainly as background figures, saying little.
Altair was in no hurry, lying beside Ayame and listening to the two men exchange flattery until Mumei suddenly stood up.
Mumei had not spoken the entire time; she disliked such gatherings. After listening for a while, she decided she couldn't take it any longer and wanted to leave.
Shimon, Kenshou, and even Ayame watched as Mumei stood up and walked toward the windowsill, planning to jump down.
However, just as Mumei was about to leave, a voice suddenly echoed in the room.
"It's almost time."
Everyone turned toward the source of the voice, which was near Ayame.
Suddenly, a golden-haired man appeared on the once empty floor.
"Who are you?!"
Yomogawa Kenshou immediately pulled Ayame behind him, looking warily at Altair, who had suddenly appeared next to his daughter. It was terrifying.
Though Shimon was some distance away, he immediately recalled Altair because of his unexpected entrance.
"It's you! The one from the Koutetsujou!"
Mumei also recognized Altair. She stopped in her tracks, looking at him in confusion. This man had appeared again... too strange!
"Shimon, do you know him?"
Kenshou stared at Altair, asking Shimon.
"No, I don't know him."
Shimon shook his head in response.
"This man is someone we saw at the Koutetsujou. We only met him once there, just like now, suddenly appearing in our compartment and then disappearing. At the time, we thought we were mistaken, that we had imagined it, but now it seems we were not."
Shimon's explanation did not satisfy Kenshou, as it contained no important clues. He furrowed his brow, staring intently at Altair.
"Who are you?"
Altair did not answer; instead, he slowly sat up from the floor and remained there, casually picking up Ayame's teacup.
"Amatori Biba was commanded at twelve years old to lead four hundred thousand troops to subdue the Kabane. However, while fighting against the Kabane, he was sabotaged by his father, the shogun, who provided no support or supplies, leading to the disastrous defeat of the army, with almost all of them killed or wounded. This left Amatori Biba deeply scarred and filled with hatred for that father of his."
"What are you talking about?"
Kenshou was taken aback, not understanding what Altair meant... was he discussing the shogun's family matters?
But Shimon understood; he grasped what Altair was implying and immediately drew his sword, rushing at Altair with a swing.
"Shut up! You are not allowed to call Biba-sama by his name!"
Altair raised his left hand, and a wooden dialogue board instantly blocked Shimon's staff sword. At the same time, his right hand pulled out the beam saber from his 4D Pocket and struck down directly at Shimon, who quickly raised his sword to defend himself.
Swoosh!
A blade of magical energy appeared, instantly melting Shimon's staff sword and severing his arm at the root.
With one slash, Altair's left-hand dialogue board disappeared, acknowledging that Shimon had lost his combat ability and that the fight was over.
"Amatori Biba, harboring hatred, has been searching across the country for orphans and other unfortunate souls, offering them assistance to become their spiritual support. He trains and nurtures them, instructing his subordinates to study the Kabane, extracting the Kabane virus from their bodies, and injecting modified Kabane virus into these individuals, turning them into beings that exist between Kabane and humans. They possess the powers of the Kabane but retain human consciousness. He refers to these individuals as Kabaneri."
Shimon's eyes widened, wishing he could kill Altair with his glare. However, with his severed arm, enduring the pain was already difficult, and he had no strength left to fight.
Meanwhile, Yomogawa Kenshou was utterly shocked.
"Do you know my brother?"
Mumei looked at Altair in surprise, realizing she was one of the superhumans created by Amatori Biba through this method.
Altair still ignored everyone, planting the beam saber into the ground, resting one hand on the hilt, and continued explaining to himself.
"Amatori Biba used these individuals with special powers to hunt down the Kabane across the country. Many people think of him as Japan's savior, cleansing the land of Kabane. However, he only needed enough Kabane as research material and needed his subordinates to be trained to master the powers within them. Oh, and he also became one of these Kabaneri."
"And after gathering enough material and training his subordinates sufficiently, Amatori Biba can begin his revenge against his father, the shogun."
"Using their powers, Amatori Biba captured many Kabane and released them into human-populated cities, leading to the destruction of one city after another. He even devised a method to control the Black Smoke, allowing one of his subordinates to become the core of the smoke and direct the Kabane to form a collective force to breach city walls."
"His goal is singular. to kill the shogun. However, the shogun is extremely afraid of death, which is why for the past decade, he has never allowed Amatori Biba to enter the Kongoukaku, preventing him from rebelling."
"Thus, the brilliant Amatori Biba came up with a clever idea. to destroy all the cities outside the Kongoukaku, forcing the Kongoukaku to take in the survivors from those destroyed cities. His forces could then pose as saviors and enter the Kongoukaku. But considering the shogun's fear of death, he figured the shogun would still never allow his forces to enter, even under such circumstances. So he devised a countermeasure. to hijack another fine city and hide his men within it to infiltrate the Kongoukaku, for example, the Koutetsujou's recent arrival at Aragane Station."
"What?!"
Yomogawa Kenshou felt he had heard something unbelievable.
"Of course, to ensure the Koutetsujou could smoothly reach the Kongoukaku, he needed to do one thing first. let Aragane Station fall."
"Impossible! Such a thing cannot happen! Aragane Station's defenses are always strong; Kabane cannot get in."
"Very simple. let a train loaded with Kabane charge directly into Aragane Station. For instance, Aragane Station was scheduled to receive Fusoujou today. To prevent early detection, he would delay Fusoujou's arrival until night when there is no light, so the samurai on the walls wouldn't notice anything unusual about Fusoujou. Even if they did see it, Fusoujou would be too close by, and there wouldn't be time to respond."
"Who exactly are you..."
Shimon finally managed to suppress his pain and questioned Altair.
This question immediately made the politically experienced Yomogawa Kenshou realize that Altair was speaking the truth, for Shimon was indeed one of Amatori Biba's people.
"It's actually true?! He wants to destroy my Aragane Station?!"
Shimon lowered his head in pain.
"At this moment, there are no living people left in Fusoujou; everyone has turned into Kabane. That train, having calculated the timing, is rapidly heading toward Aragane Station. It is expected to arrive after nightfall; tonight will be the day Aragane Station falls."
After finishing his statement, Altair pulled the beam saber from the ground, placed it behind him, and spread his arms facing the four.
"Alright, I've said what I needed to say. I declare that from now on, I am the new Lord of Aragane Station. Who is in favor, and who is against?"
Originally, the four, influenced by Altair's words, were experiencing various emotions... anger, shock, or despair... but now they all looked utterly bewildered.
"Huh?!"
