Six names, corresponding to the six heads of the powerful business groups in the dark room.
Normally, even Tokugawa Shingen would have to spend a lot of effort to find out who gave the order from behind the scenes, infiltrating layer by layer, and activating hidden contacts within the conglomerates.
But this time, the subordinates of these six people called him almost at the same time.
Tokugawa Shingen just did a little reverse investigation and thoroughly understood the whole story.
"…Father also wants me to ask you something." Tokugawa Yukino said.
Linto glanced at the list and asked, "What is it?"
Tokugawa Yukino chuckled, her smile like that of a desert fox who had just played a clever trick. She gently tapped the window and said pitifully,
"Please, let me come in and say it. This is confidential. If someone overhears it, it will be dangerous if it leaks."
Linto shook his head and opened the window again. He saw the princess from the desert country skillfully climb through the window and plop down on Linto's bed.
However, as if afraid of being thrown out again, Tokugawa Yukino did not play coy any longer. She became a little more serious and said straightforwardly, "Father wants to ask, what are you going to do?"
Linto thought for a moment and understood, "The conglomerates want to buy their lives?"
"That's right."
Tokugawa Yukino pushed her falling wavy long hair behind her ears, her movement graceful, and she casually revealed her smooth armpits.
Linto kept staring at the list with the six names, not even looking at her little trick.
"Damn it!"
Tokugawa Yukino cursed inwardly and continued,
"The conglomerates are willing to pay a large sum to ransom their lives. I saw the amount, it's a lot, enough to complete the reconstruction of Koling City."
On one side, the reconstruction of Koling City.
On the other side, the culprits who caused the deaths of many innocent people.
Tokugawa Yukino crossed one leg and hooked her shoe with her toes, her shiny toenails glittering under the light like diamonds. She was very curious about what choice Linto would make.
Would he vent his anger and uphold justice, or would he be practical and let the survivors live well first?
"If it were me... it would definitely be the former. No matter how much money they give, I'll just take care of them."
Tokugawa Yukino was not someone who would say "let them eat cake." She knew very well that she could make such a choice because she had lived a life of plenty since childhood. She wouldn't care who was rich; they were probably not as rich as her father.
Tokugawa Yukino waited quietly, but only heard a soft chuckle.
Linto placed the list on the table, picked up his teacup, blew on the floating tea leaves, and said in the calmest tone,
"Since when do 'fat pigs' have the right to make choices?"
"People, I will kill."
"It cannot be an execution in secret. It must be a public trial, a public sentencing, with their crimes read out, and a public execution."
"Money, I will also take."
"Not just one portion, but double the amount they mentioned. The city needs money for rebuilding, and people's hearts need money to emerge from the gloom. I want to give compensation to the families of the deceased."
After speaking, Linto drank some milk tea and asked, "Did you understand?"
"Huh?"
Tokugawa Yukino sat dazed on the bed. Suddenly, her body went limp, and she collapsed onto the bed.
Linto frowned slightly.
What trick was this woman playing now?
This time, he misunderstood.
Tokugawa Yukino truly had no other ulterior motives. She was so shocked by the string of commands that her breathing became rapid and she felt dizzy.
For the past three days, she had often hidden in corners, peeking at Linto treating the sick and injured.
He was very gentle with those wounded people, but she never expected that this man, who smiled as warmly as the morning sun, would be so unreasonable, so…
delicious and tempting, when faced with the choice offered by the conglomerates.
Tokugawa Yukino couldn't help but swallow again.
Linto saw her staring blankly.
"Did you hear me clearly?"
Tokugawa Yukino heard clearly. In fact, she probably wouldn't forget these words for many years, much less the person who said them.
She nodded.
"Then please trouble you to convey this to Tokugawa Shingen and ask him to communicate with the conglomerates. If that doesn't work, have him give me an address, and I'll go."
"If you really think I'm troublesome, why don't we—hey?"
She was standing outside the door again.
Looking back, Linto had already closed the curtains and turned off the lights.
Tokugawa Yukino sighed, her shoulders slumping. She walked out of the courtyard and got into the sedan chair.
A maid beside her saw her in this state and asked curiously, "Miss, you haven't really fallen for Sir Linto, have you?"
Tokugawa Yukino hugged herself and snorted,
"Don't be ridiculous. I just want to play with him."
The maids nodded obediently, lifted the sedan chair, and returned to the Daimyo mansion.
However, the maids and attendants did not see Tokugawa Yukino quietly lift the gap in the sedan chair window and look towards the tightly closed room door.
She didn't know what she was expecting, she just wanted to look a few more times.
Until the sedan chair turned the corner, the door did not open. Tokugawa Yukino disappointedly lowered the curtain.
…
The next morning, Linto and his party began their journey back.
Just like when they arrived, there were still officials gathered, dignitaries escorting them, as well as honor guards and bands.
Of course, there were also the indispensable desert girls dancing with their bare legs.
But Linto knew that everything was different from when he arrived.
He nodded to Tokugawa Shingen and waved to the citizens who had rushed to see him off early in the morning, bidding farewell to this dazzling desert city.
"Let's go."
The camels began to move, and the convoy, which had originally consisted of five people, swelled into a magnificent nearly one hundred people.
More than thirty carriages were filled with documents, gold and silver, minerals, and many precision instruments.
This was the first batch of reparations for the Koling City war. There would be subsequent second and third batches, which would be transported to Koling City in batches.
Shiratori stood among the crowd, watching Linto's departing back.
Just as Linto had descended a torrential rain in the city when they arrived, Shiratori, who was lying in a small alley, heard shouts from the battlefield. He reacted immediately—
Petrified severed limbs.
Shiratori had no other wounds except for his arms. As long as he could petrify the severed limbs, he wouldn't die.
He used his last ounce of strength, stumbled to the center of the battlefield, and immersed his severed arm in the water, thus escaping death.
After surviving, because Shiratori had exposed Kurosaki's plot, the remaining members of the Rats, after deliberation, decided to make him their new leader.
Although Shiratori did not want to be the so-called "boss," under the panic of the people, a leader was needed, so he had no choice but to agree.
As the new leader of the Rats, Shiratori had many things he wanted to say to Linto. He also knew that, given Linto's rumored personality, he would likely not refuse his visit.
But… Shiratori ultimately did not go to find Linto.
The Rats of Koling City had thwarted the plot of the Sky Ninja Legion and saved the entire city.
What about them?
A group of people were played for fools by a schemer and almost caused a great disaster.
They felt too ashamed to face Linto.
Shiratori extended his puppet prosthesis and waved goodbye to Linto's retreating back.
A man in a gray robe walked up to Shiratori.
"Boss Shiratori, we've instructed everyone. From now on, we'll keep a close eye on any developments between cities, especially concerning the conglomerates and the Daimyo… However, even if we get intelligence, who should we tell?"
"You don't need to worry about that."
Shiratori lowered his arm, turned, and left with his companions, saying as he walked,
"Last night, a guy named Kambara Hayato sent me a telegram."