The Emperor and Roa (8): Sakuri's Melancholy

“Things seem to have gone rather differently than we were told.”

Sakuri was met with cold stares from his lord and the people around him. He quietly accepted their reprimands.

The plan had been to isolate the Tenth Order of Knights, kill Reiz Stein, and seize Rudek’s capital with the help of Rudek’s First Order of Knights in the meantime.

He had rebelled to make that happen, but look at the reality. They had only gained northeastern Rudek.

This was a meeting to condemn Sakuri over the outcome.

“We should have wiped out the Tenth Order of Knights at the ruins,” someone said. “Absolutely,” and “Quite right,” came the sycophantic replies.

Munar had been listening silently behind Sakuri, but even he thought that was going too far.

Sakuri’s original plan had been to join forces with Golbel and wipe out the Tenth Order of Knights. But the Righteous Guidance faction had objected.

They had asked, “If we use Lifrean soldiers and lose, who will take responsibility?”

They had also asked, “Golbel only just lost to the Tenth Order of Knights. Can we really trust such weak soldiers?”...