Chapter 17 S-Rank Saniwa Meeting 3

They had only been there a short time when Hanzhou, who was about to drink tea, abruptly put down her teacup. Even though she didn't show any change in expression at that moment, after spending some time together, Kashuu Kiyomitsu could sense Hanzhou's emotions.

"My lord?"

He called out softly with concern.

"It's alright, let's go to Wanwu to buy some tea after the meeting."

Tea? I just bought some...

Kashuu Kiyomitsu, who was initially somewhat puzzled, quickly realized that only a few ancient swords in the citadel enjoyed drinking tea. Today, his attendant was one of them.

So... is this implying we should hurry back to the citadel once it's over?!

Did something happen at the citadel?

But Hanshu remained motionless, and Kashuu Kiyomitsu's somewhat panicked heart calmed down considerably. Although he didn't know what had happened, he trusted his lord and his comrades in the citadel.

"Now that you esteemed guests have arrived, I will get straight to the point."

A political staff member in a suit walked in with documents in his hand and bowed slightly to the three people present.

"The sole purpose of appointing you all this time is to eradicate the corrupted spirits."

Han Zhou looked at the tea in his cup, showing no surprise. In his office in the citadel, he meticulously recorded every instance of corruption that threatened the political situation.

She had asked Kitsunenosuke, and he said that such detailed information was only available to the Saniwa of S-rank Honmaru. Other ordinary Saniwa would only be informed about the reasons and dangers of the corruption of sword spirits.

She knew it wasn't a coincidence that those documents were in the office. And... judging from the expressions of the other two, they had carried out this mission more than once.

He handed the documents in his hand to the three people present. There were three corrupted spirits that needed to be eliminated:

Five Tigers Retreat, Kashuu Seiko, Fudo Yukimitsu

Han Zhou was in charge of Fudo Yukimitsu, who had repeatedly disrupted the Honnoji Incident.

The document contained information about the corrupted spirits, which she glanced through and found to be fairly detailed.

"Once you have completed the cleanup, your rewards will be sent to your accounts within one hour. That concludes this meeting."

Han Zhou, who was about to leave with the documents in hand, was stopped by Yu Yuwu.

"Um... the corrupted spirit is very powerful, and this is your first time undertaking this type of mission. Please be careful."

Han Zhou looked down at the petite woman. Through her spiritual power, she could sense that the woman genuinely cared about her. Although she had no intention of befriending Yu Yuwu, it was still... unacceptable to ignore someone's sincere concern.

That would be extremely rude.

"I understand, thank you for your concern."

Yu Yuwu was somewhat surprised, thinking that the other party wouldn't pay any attention to her. Her previously uneasy expression turned into a bright smile.

"Would you be so kind as to visit me sometime in the future?"

To enter another's citadel, you must know its coordinates. Even though the citadel is constantly changing, the spiritual power that sustains it is unique.

This will give the citadel a core coordinate.

Imagine the core coordinates as the center of a circle; the citadel will move within a certain range. The stronger the Saniwa's spiritual power, the wider the range, and the harder the citadel is to find.

"Don't casually reveal the core coordinates of the citadel to others."

Watching Han Zhou turn and leave after speaking, Yu Yuwu paused for a moment, then looked at Qing Ye beside her and teased him with a smile.

"Looks like you, someone who's not good at expressing themselves."

"...I didn't."

——

Why has our lord distanced himself from that official?

"What I'm going to do will only drag those around me into this mess."

Therefore, it is best not to have too much contact with humans. With his heart set on the Honmaru, Hanshu immediately brought Kiyomitsu back to the Honmaru.

The swords on guard in the citadel breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the beam of light emitted by the time-space converter. They all headed towards the courtyard.

"My lord, what happened that made you rush back to the citadel during the meeting?" Kashuu Kiyomitsu asked impatiently as soon as he returned to the citadel.

"Yes, someone is trying to track the core coordinates of the citadel. If I hadn't had a backup plan, they probably would have found it."

Through the activated magic circle, Han Zhou could sense the opponent's strength. Although he didn't know who the opponent was, he was certain that the visitor was hostile.

"Aruji!"

A light and cheerful voice called out before she even saw who it was, and Ran Toushirou rushed into Hanshu's arms like a little cannonball.

"The sky above the citadel just flashed, it was terrifying!"

Ran Toushirou wasn't actually frightened by that scene, but that didn't stop him from acting cute towards Kanshu.

"Hey—aren't you being a little too clingy to your lord?"

Kashuu Kiyomitsu looked at Ran Toushirou, who was clinging to Hanshu and refusing to let go, and his tone carried a hint of resentment.

"Mr. California is just jealous of me!"

Those beautiful, sapphire-like eyes blinked, instantly seeing through the little scheme of the initial blade before them.

"Who's envious?!"

Ran Toushirou in his arms and Kashuu Kiyomitsu beside him were bickering. After everyone had arrived, Hanshu gently patted Ran Toushirou's head.

"Alright, let's go to the main hall. We learned quite a lot from this meeting."

Whether it's the corrupted spirits or matters concerning the core coordinates.

What made Han Zhou most wary was the latter; she had been in the citadel for some time now. Why, of all times, did she choose to track the citadel's core coordinates while Han Zhou was attending a political meeting?

There's only one reason: they're afraid of attracting Han Zhou's attention.

If it's merely a defensive measure by the government, as long as the Saniwa (Master) isn't in the citadel, they won't be able to detect that the citadel's core coordinates have been leaked. After all, as humans, even if they possess immense spiritual power...

Unable to perceive the situation of the citadel across time and space.

The change in sky color within the citadel was due to the activation of a formation left behind by Hanshu. To avoid arousing suspicion, the formation, while repelling the invasion, also used false coordinates to mislead the enemy.

The other party's only objective is the core coordinates.

"Wow, according to what you're saying, the core coordinates of the other two S-rank Honmaru have probably already been leaked without the Saniwa's knowledge."

As Tsurumaru Kuninaga spoke, he swayed back and forth in a frivolous manner.

"The desire to control the core coordinates of an S-rank citadel is probably also to prevent those two lords from standing on the opposite side of the current political situation," Shokudaikiri Mitsutada stated his opinion.

"What a pity~ The one tracking the coordinates of the citadel is probably not someone from the government."

"Yes, my guess is the same as my brother's. The citadel is ultimately provided by the government, so they don't need to go to any extra trouble."

The Genji brothers spoke their opinions one after the other.

So... who could it be?

"They're probably from one of the three major families."

Taikogane Sadamune looked at Tsurumaru Kuninaga, who had spoken, with a puzzled expression.

What are the three major families?

"The current administration was founded by the first heads of the three major families, and they wielded considerable influence within it. Strictly speaking, they are not aligned with the current administration," Han Zhou answered Taiko no Kanesuke's question.

All of this information was available in Hanshu's office. Besides playing pranks in the citadel, Tsurumaru Kuninaga often spent his time in Hanshu's office reading books and documents.

Several old swords would randomly spawn in her office, a fact known to the Genji brothers and Mikazuki.

The three major families are: Morikawa, Taniguchi, and Kiyama. They only care about their own interests and sometimes their positions clash with those of government officials.

However... its reach is quite long, extending even to the S-rank citadel.