"But, Lord Tenryou Commissioner, these people caught red-handed here are all members of the Snezhnaya diplomatic delegation! With such an obvious outcome right before us, could it possibly be fake?"
As the Kujou patriarch raised his doubts, someone among the surrounding crowd—no one knew who—voiced a challenge to his words.
The onlookers, finding this point equally reasonable, began chiming in one after another.
"Yes, Patriarch Kujou, how do you explain these Snezhnayan envoys caught with undeniable evidence?"
"Her Excellency the Shogun would never deceive us, so how dare a mere Tenryou Commissioner like you question her!"
"Patriarch Kujou, watch your words! Her Excellency the Shogun is not someone to be casually doubted!"
Listening to the murmurs of the surrounding crowd, a flash of darkness briefly crossed the Kujou patriarch's aged, deeply wrinkled face. But he quickly recovered his composure, forcing out a smile.
"Heh heh, everyone jests. As the Tenryou Commissioner, I am responsible for all of Inazuma's public security, governance, and other major affairs. Given the gravity of this matter, which involves envoys of a foreign nation and has implications for the relations between two countries, one must be exceedingly cautious! So I hope everyone can understand."
The Kujou patriarch chuckled, his aged face all smiles as he delivered this grand-sounding reasoning from his official standpoint.
"After all, it's entirely possible that these Snezhnayan envoys were infiltrated by other villains, or perhaps they were turncoats from the very beginning!"
His words came across as rather far-fetched. The notion that a diplomatic mission dispatched by a nation could be infiltrated by criminals or have been traitors all along was practically absurd.
Yet, when one considered his position as Tenryou Commissioner, it couldn't help but seem to carry a sliver of plausibility.
From the side, Ei cast a cool glance at the Kujou patriarch. A faint sense of oddity stirred in her heart—she couldn't help but feel as if the man before her today was a completely different person.
Standing together with Yuki, Yae Miko's beautiful eyes were now ceaselessly scrutinizing the Kujou patriarch.
"The Kujou patriarch is very strange today," she muttered under her breath, her slender willow-like brows furrowing slightly.
Yae Miko's gaze then inadvertently swept toward Yuki. Noticing the faint, mocking smile playing on the man's face as he looked at the Kujou patriarch, she couldn't help but wonder if he knew something.
She then shifted her body a little closer to Yuki, leaning her head slightly toward him. In that instant of proximity, the intense masculine presence emanating from Yuki nearly overwhelmed her, and a faint blush crept onto her cheeks.
Fortunately, Yae Miko was still able to rein in the stirrings within her heart, steadying her breathing.
Huff, huff.
"Mr. Yuki, what do you make of the Kujou patriarch?" Yae Miko asked tentatively.
"How do I see it? Hmm... how should I put it? One could only say his courage is commendable. When nearly everyone else is in agreement, he still dares to question Ei, the very deity of this land—indeed, that takes considerable courage." Yuki smiled calmly, gazing toward the Kujou patriarch with keen interest, as if he were watching something highly amusing.
Noticing his expression and putting it together with his words, Yae Miko guessed that Yuki seemed to have already seen through something. "Has Mr. Yuki perhaps noticed something?" she pressed on, her tone a little more urgent.
This time, however, Yuki did not answer directly. Instead, he countered with a question of his own: "Miss Yae, do you think the Kujou patriarch standing before us now is truly himself?"
The moment those words left his mouth, Yae Miko's eyes widened in shock, instantly grasping what Yuki's question was implying.
In truth, Yuki had indeed seen through it—the Kujou patriarch before them was not the real one, but rather Varnava in disguise.
It had to be said, this Executive Officer's transformative ability was truly exceptional. Not only could he replicate the appearance perfectly, but he could even completely mimic one's aura and scent.
That was precisely why so many people here, even Kujou Sara, who was his adoptive daughter, had failed to see through the disguise.
As for Raiden Ei, the deity herself—had she ever paid close attention to those serving under her in the past, she would have noticed that the current Kujou patriarch had long been replaced.
Because while Varnava's transformation ability was indeed near-perfect, it was not entirely without flaws. The flaw lay in his own strength. If the gap in strength between the impersonator and the one being impersonated was large enough, then others could detect the ruse from that angle.
So if Ei had previously understood the Kujou patriarch's level of strength and now probed carefully, she would have naturally discovered that today's Kujou patriarch was not the real one.
Of course, even without that flaw, no matter how perfect his transformation ability was, it could never escape Yuki's eyes. After all, given Yuki's level of power, no form of transformation or disguise could ever deceive him.
"Don't be hasty. Leave this to me."
Having realized that the Kujou patriarch before them was an impostor, Yae Miko was ready to step forward and expose him. But before she could even open her mouth, Yuki held her back. One of his hands rested gently on her exposed shoulder.
The sensation that met his touch was that of exquisitely smooth, tender skin—bouncy and supple, just like a peeled egg. Yuki briefly savored the touch, then quickly let go, not lingering beyond a taste.
As for Yae Miko beside him, the moment she felt that warm, large hand make contact, a slight tremor ran through the depths of her heart. A tingling, numbing sensation like an electric current coursed through her entire body, quickening her heartbeat and reddening the tips of her ears.
This was the first time she had experienced skin-to-skin contact with a man, and it left her feeling slightly flustered inside. Don't be fooled by how long she had lived, or the fact that she was a kitsune. In truth, this was the very first time a man had touched her body in such a way. So in a certain sense, Yuki was her first.
Yae Miko forcibly suppressed the emotions rising within her and glanced back at Yuki beside her. On the surface, she maintained a composed expression, nodding and offering a small smile in acknowledgment. Yet deep within those violet eyes, a flash of shyness briefly flickered.
Meanwhile, over at Raiden Ei's side, she had just responded to the Kujou patriarch's doubts.
"Patriarch Kujou, I can understand your skepticism. However, since I have reached this conclusion, I naturally have evidence to support it."
"Oh? And where does Her Excellency the Shogun's evidence come from?" Ei responded with an expression that remained perfectly composed. Seeing how calm she was, the Kujou patriarch actually began to feel a little unsettled inside.
"As for the evidence, I shall have this friend of mine reveal it to everyone. After all, it was he who saw through the Fatui's scheme and informed me of it." Ei turned around to face Yuki, entrusting the next part to him.
Yuki nodded and then stepped forward to stand beside Ei.
At that moment, the onlooking crowd, along with the Kujou patriarch and the others, all wore expressions of astonishment. They were stunned by Yuki's status—that he could actually be called a friend by a deity.
That alone meant he could not possibly be an ordinary man. And hearing that he was the very one who had uncovered this conspiracy only made the crowd all the more curious.
Varnava, disguised as the Kujou patriarch, felt a jolt of shock in his heart. He had never imagined that the scheme he had so painstakingly crafted would be exposed by this man before him. This prompted him to cast several extra glances at Yuki, a flicker of curiosity rising within him.
Yuki, for his part, didn't waste any words. He stated plainly that the evidence lay in the memories of these captured Fatui members. All they needed to do was examine their memories to find out who was truly pulling the strings. As for how to do that—naturally, Yuki would take care of it.
Then, right before everyone's eyes, Yuki picked a random person and extracted their memories on the spot, projecting them across the entire plaza like a grand illusion. In an instant, everyone saw the Fatui's plotting and the entire course of their operation laid bare.