"What’s happening over there?"

Kujou Sara, who had just returned from the front lines, noticed a very violent sound and realized that something might be happening there. She rushed to the scene of the explosion at top speed.

Too many things had happened today. First, the Raiden Shogun’s Duel Before the Throne ended in defeat, followed by the decree to abolish the Vision Hunt Decree, and... and the order to investigate the Tenryou Commission—Kujou Takayuki.

These matters were almost suffocating her. The resistance on the front lines had not yet settled down. If it weren’t for her bloodline, she would have collapsed long ago.

After hastily dealing with matters at the camp, she was about to return for a rest, planning to continue working tomorrow, when she heard the violent explosion.

Which scoundrel dared to cause trouble in Inazuma at this time? She was incredibly annoyed these days, so she would use these people to vent her emotions.

Kujou Sara quickly arrived at the scene. As she was about to speak and intervene, the sight before her left her speechless.

Two people were responsible for all this, and she knew both of them. One was the envoy from Snezhnaya—The Lady.

Kujou Sara disliked this person. She disliked all the Fatui. If The Lady hadn’t held the title of envoy, Kujou Sara wouldn’t even have spoken a word to her.

On several occasions when this The Lady met with the Raiden Shogun, she looked at her with ill intent, clearly wanting to do something to the Raiden Shogun.

However, such a person was now helplessly held, her aura almost completely faded, a mere step away from death.

A giant claw held her body, a claw she had seen during the day; it was the weapon Durandal summoned to fight the Raiden Shogun. This meant... Durandal was the one who had reduced The Lady to this state.

"Still a step too late, huh."

Even though she had tried her best to end this battle as quickly as possible, she was still found. This was troublesome.

The Lady, utterly incapable of resistance, accepted her end without a struggle. Perhaps she should have died long ago, burned to ashes by her own flames.

If she had died earlier, perhaps she could have met him. Would he be waiting for her? Had she... made him wait too long?

Would he still recognize her in her current state? Seeing her like this, would he still treat her as he did before?

"Rustan..."

In a daze, The Lady seemed to see her lover, who had died five hundred years ago, appear not far away, smiling at her.

He was still the same as before. The Lady wanted to reach out and hold his hand, wanting to hear him call her "Rosalyne" as he used to.

"You are tired, Rosalyne. Rest well. I will be by your side this time."

"Mm, thank you for waiting for me so long, Rustan."

It was truly wonderful to see you as I burn away. The Lady... Rosalyne had no regrets.

"You... wait a minute!"

Kujou Sara, having come back to her senses, wanted to do something, but Durandal clenched her right hand tightly, and the claw holding The Lady’s body also tightened fiercely.

In the blink of an eye, this arrogant individual turned to ash and dissipated into the air, vanishing without a trace.

The Lady was dead, not only due to Durandal but also because she had consumed herself. The flames that ignited on her body were continuously Burning her away.

All that The Lady left behind was the mask she always wore on her face. Besides this, she had nothing else remaining in the world.

Durandal picked up the mask from the ground, pondered for a moment, and chose not to destroy it, but rather put it away.

She merely considered it a trophy, to be shown to other Fatui Harbingers later to let them see how many Harbingers she had dealt with.

Ah, come to think of it, last time when she dealt with The Doctor, she didn’t take anything from him... never mind, just being in contact with such a person already disgusted Durandal. Asking her to take something from him as a trophy was something Durandal couldn’t bring herself to do, it was too disgusting.

Now that The Lady was handled, the problem was Kujou Sara. She couldn’t just let her leave.

Looking at Kujou Sara, who was still standing in place, Durandal slowly walked towards her, unhurriedly, just like the Raiden Shogun’s entrance during the Duel Before the Throne.

Kujou Sara was intimidated by the aura Durandal exuded and wanted to turn and flee, but she saw that with each step Durandal took, her body would dissipate into black mist, then reappear a few meters ahead.

Each time Kujou Sara blinked, Durandal would flash a certain distance, giving her little time to mentally prepare before Durandal appeared before her.

Durandal stood before Kujou Sara, her scarlet pupils fixed on her. She had not yet exited her combat state.

"You..."

Kujou Sara was about to speak when Durandal extended her index finger to her lips, preventing her from continuing.

She slowly closed the distance with Kujou Sara, observed her eyes, and said, "I remember you. During the Duel Before the Throne, you were standing nearby, watching, right?"

She seemed to be from the Tenryou Commission and also the Raiden Shogun’s close attendant, the person closest to the Raiden Shogun.

"Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be investigating Kujou Takayuki? Even if you’re not investigating Kujou Takayuki, you should still have the resistance from Watatsumi Island to deal with, right? Why are you here?"

"I..."

"Hmm~ I see. You are very tired right now. Returning to Narukami Island this time, you probably intend to report on the resistance’s situation, then rest for a while, and then proceed with other matters."

"..."

You’ve already guessed almost everything, so what’s the point of asking me this question? Is she teasing her? She must be teasing her, right!

No, Kujou Sara. It’s still unclear what this person wants. She just dealt with Snezhnaya’s envoy, and as the sole eyewitness, she might want to silence her.

Although she couldn’t give in, in order to continue serving the Raiden Shogun, she couldn’t die here. She had to cooperate a little and wait for an opportunity to escape.

"You are very good. Compared to others who do nothing, you are constantly working hard to make Inazuma better. However, pushing yourself like this will take a toll on your body. You should rest properly for a few days; with your physique, you can fully recover."

Is this... is she worried about her? Kujou Sara blinked, expecting Durandal to say something else, but it turned out to be this.

"Tha... thank you for your concern, but now is not the time to rest. Inazuma still has many problems that I need to handle. As the Shogun’s subordinate, I must share her burden."

"Hmm, that’s a good thought. However, Inazuma currently has too many things to deal with. Besides Shogunate matters, there’s also the resistance from Watatsumi Island and the Fatui. Do you think your current energy can handle so many problems?"

"This..."

How does Durandal seem to know more problems than she does, an insider? Where did she learn all these things?

Could it be that she visited the Grand Narukami Shrine and learned some secrets from Guuji Yae?

Thinking of that mysterious Guuji Yae, Kujou Sara felt it was possible. That person once said she had eyes and ears all over Inazuma. She used to think The Lady was joking, but now it seemed that statement might be true.

Sure enough, she is a very dangerous individual. I must be wary of her from now on.

"Ah-choo!"

Yae Miko, resting at the Grand Narukami Shrine, had just picked up a light novel when she let out a very cute sneeze.

"What’s going on? Did I catch a cold? Impossible, how could I catch a cold now? Could it be someone is badmouthing me behind my back?"

Hmph, woe betide them if she finds out who committed such a wicked act, or that rude individual will surely get a taste of her wrath.

Durandal didn’t know what Kujou Sara was thinking. As a general of the Shogunate, she had many matters to deal with daily and couldn’t handle various troublesome affairs outside like Lumine.

Recently, with the cancellation of the Vision Hunt Decree and the rectification of the Three Commissions, General Kujou Sara would undoubtedly become exceptionally busy.

Now was not the time for Kujou Sara, this excellent tool, to collapse from exhaustion. She had to work a little harder.

How could she be made to work overtime for a bit longer? The best way, of course, was to eliminate her current fatigue.

Thinking of this, Durandal extended her index finger and touched Kujou Sara’s chest. Those two Slimes significantly impeded Durandal’s movement, but as long as she touched her body, it was fine.

A strange sensation washed over Kujou Sara. Just as she was about to question what Durandal was doing, she suddenly felt her body lighten, and the fatigue accumulated over this period gradually vanished from her body.

Immediately after, she saw Durandal extract a ball of black energy from her chest. As the energy ball was drawn out, she felt as if all the weariness in her body had been released, and her body felt light enough to float.

"This is..."

"The fatigue in your body. I didn’t extract all of it; a small portion remains. The residual fatigue will allow you to fall asleep. You’ll be fully recovered after just a few hours of rest."

This was Durandal’s accumulated experience; there was no need for complete recovery. Leaving a little fatigue that could induce sleep, then resting for a few hours, constituted true rest.

Otherwise, completely eliminating fatigue every time would leave one sleepless, which wasn’t helping but harming.

"Why are you helping me?"

"Because only by quickly resolving the issues can Inazuma’s situation stabilize. Once stable, we can then think about how to improve the country’s conditions, and the problem of not having enough food will no longer occur."

Tomorrow, I’ll go to Ritou and see how Hiiragi Shinsuke is doing and what the current situation is for the foreign merchants living there.

If Hiiragi Shinsuke does nothing like that Kujou Takayuki, he will be in serious trouble.

Without further communication with Kujou Sara, Durandal transformed into a black mist and vanished from the area, leaving only Kujou Sara to observe the situation before her.

"She... what kind of person is she, exactly?"

Kujou Sara was completely bewildered. What was the purpose behind all these things she was currently doing?

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